By David Israel, JEWISH PRESS 17 December 2023
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant./Ministry of Defense
Dozens of IDF war martyrs’ families on Sunday sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war cabinet ministers stating, “We, the families of IDF soldiers who fell in the war since Simchat Torah, parents, spouses, and children, have lost what was most precious to us, but we are proud of the fallen and the legacy of heroism they left behind: they went into battle without hesitation and fought bravely and selflessly, out of love and confidence in Israel’s eternity, to save lives and protect the people and the homeland from the cruel enemy who came to annihilate us.”
By Ted Belman Dec 12, 2005,
America was founded by Protestants fleeing from religious persecution. They not only had an appreciation for the need for religious liberty, but also had respect for the Hebrew Bible. As a result, the Constitution of the USA reflected both. One hundred years prior to the Constitution being written, Jews and Protestants in Europe were being burned at the stake for religious heresy.
But before writing the Constitution, America’s founders had to declare their independence from the tyranny of Great Britain. In doing so, they declared, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” What a powerful expression of the ethos of the America.
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Chris Cuomo, NewsNation Dec 15, 2023
NewsNation host Chris Cuomo is among the journalists who have attended a private screening of raw footage from Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. After watching it, Cuomo says it’s clear that “Hamas wanted war and wanted the Jews to know that they want them to burn. Again.”
By Michael Ordman, VGNI
So many positive news articles last week focused on regenerating life for individuals, communities and in other areas.
Medical regeneration involved rehabilitating wounded IDF personnel; reuniting separated families; two Israeli therapies for regenerating the lives of traumatized children, and another that generates companionship for the elderly. Israelis are able to generate thousands of clinical trial simulations, regenerate eye functionality in glaucoma patients, and can show how dormant bacteria regenerates. An Israeli female Israeli professor is responsible for generating three startups including one that regenerates spinal cords. And an Israeli IDF reservist donated her bone marrow to regenerate a patient’s immune system.
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A combination of reduced combat intensity with increased humanitarian aid could prolong the duration of fighting, certainly if we add to this the morale Hamas can draw from the harm it has inflicted on our forces, the political pressure on Israel, and the bargaining chips it holds. Israel could then find itself slipping into a protracted quagmire, which will necessarily also increase the risk to our soldiers.
By Meir Ben Shabbat ISRAEL HAYOM 16 December 2023
“Hamas poses an existential threat to Israel. There’s no question about the need to take on Hamas. There’s no question about that. None. Zero. They have every right,” President Joe Biden declared once again this week, in a speech he gave at a campaign event, ahead of the presidential elections.
In an attempt to deflect reports about pressure from Washington, he clarified: “We’re not going to walk away from providing Israel what they need to defend themselves and to finish the job against Hamas. He later, at a fundraising event, expressed his concern about the weakening support for it from other countries of the world “following the indiscriminate bombings that occurred.”
By Majid Rafizadeh GATESTONE 16 December 2023
Iran’s militia and terrorist group in Yemen, the Houthis, has ratcheted up attacks on ships in the Red Sea, and escalated the launching of missiles and attack drones at Israel. Pictured: Guided missiles on display at a Houthi military parade in Sanaa, Yemen, on September 21, 2023. (Photo by Mohammed Huwais/AFP via Getty Images)
Dr. Steve Turley
‘It’s like asking me how often I drink water. Antisemitism was everywhere.’ Apostates, former Islamists, and an almost-terrorist on how they changed their minds.
By Madeleine Rowley, FREE PRESS Dec 16/23
Iranian protesters burn an Israeli flag during an anti-Israel rally at Enqelab-e Eslami (Islamic Revolution) Square. (Sobhan Farajvan via Getty Images)
The following five ex-Muslims grew up in Canada, Europe, and the Middle East, but they were all indoctrinated, they say, with the same views on Jews and Israel. They remember a childhood shot through with antisemitic moments ranging from the mundane (one woman recalls her aunt claiming Jews put cancer in her vegetables at the market) to the deadly (a former extremist went as far as to pick a location in London for a terrorist attack he planned to carry out at 17).
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By Daniel Greenfield, JIHAD WATCH DEC 15, 2023 1:00 PM
The betrayal is official. Similar stories appeared a week ago from Israeli media outlets, but the Biden administration is now saying it out loud.
Here it is in the New York Times.
The Biden administration has told the Israeli government that it wants Israel to end its large-scale ground campaign in the Gaza Strip around the end of the year and transition to a more targeted phase in its war against Hamas, four senior U.S. officials said.
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T. Belman. This article suggests that Netanyahu is among them but in reality he is the main voice trashing the TSS and the PA, Gantz, Lapid and Herzog don’t want it talked about because they support if but the people don’t.
But in reality,now is not the time for discussing the day after nor who is culpable for Israel’s failure to protect Israelis. Israel should not talk about either until after Hamas is defeated. There is time enough to discuss it once that happens. But Biden wants to talk about it now while the war progresses because he has more leverage against Bibi now. He wants a commitment.
Request not just being made by PM, but Herzog, Gantz and Lapid as well, who argue that framework has no support post Oct. 7; US official says Washington in no position to heed call
By JACOB MAGID, TOI 15 December 2023, at 2:36 pm
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, second right, confers with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, right, during their meeting with US President Joe Biden, left, to discuss the war between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv on October 18, 2023. (Miriam Alster/Pool Photo via AP)
WASHINGTON — Israeli leaders have been privately urging the Biden administration to refrain from publicly talking about the two-state solution in the fallout of Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught, four Israeli and US officials told The Times of Israel this week.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan flew to Israel for emergency consultations with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday. According to press reports from Israel, Sullivan told Netanyahu that Israel must “transition to the next lower intensity phase in a matter of weeks, not months.”
Netanyahu should ignore Sullivan.
T. Belman. There you have it in a nutshell. Netanyahu is against the TSS and against the PA ruling Gaza. Gantz is all for it. Gantz continues to kiss Biden’s ass, while Bibi stands up against him. This will be the core issue in the next election.
Remember Gantz gave away part of our gas fields to Hezbollah and part of Area C to the Arabs by allowing their settlement there.
Looking to Gaza’s future, National Unity Party leader stresses Israel’s willingness to work with US and moderate Arab nations to build Gaza anew after Hamas rule is toppled
By JACOB MAGID and TOI STAFF Today, 10:06 am
War cabinet minister Benny Gantz appeared to criticize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday night, calling out those who harm Israel’s ties with the Biden administration by engaging in “manufactured disputes” amid the war against Hamas.
During a press conference in Tel Aviv, Gantz carefully avoided identifying Netanyahu by name, but he voiced similar accusations as Opposition Chairman Yair Lapid, who in comments Wednesday did make a point of calling out the premier more directly.
Biden administration, Iran, Israel: Interesting times go high order.
By J. E. Dyer OPTIMISTIC CONSERVATIVE 5 December 2023
Sometimes timelines speak louder than argument. We’ve found that on a number of occasions in the last several years, and a fresh occasion has arisen in that regard. Two events on Sunday, 26 November 2023 were end brackets for a timeline that bears at least cursory inspection, and that is our task here. It will be informative.
By Victor Davis Hanson 14 December 2023
Nihilism is the religion of the Left. Anarchy is now at the core of the new Democratic Party.
If the Left wished radically to alter the demography of the U.S., it could have expanded legal immigration through legislation or the courts.
Instead, it simply erased the border and dynamited federal immigration law.
By fiat, nihilists ended the wall, and stopped detaining and deporting illegal aliens altogether.
T. Belman. Whatever did he mean by “fake divisions”. Perhaps he is referring to Bibi’s acceptance of possible annexation in whole or in part.
Minister Benny Gantz holds press conference and comments on how, in his eyes, the future in the Gaza Strip should look.
Israel National News Dec 15, 2023, 3:03 AM (GMT+2)
Minister Benny Gantz held a press conference on Thursday evening in which he commented on how he thinks the future in the Gaza Strip should look.
“Our mission, as a political echelon, is to allow the soldiers to continue and complete the mission – in the south as well as in the north, to return the hostages and allow the residents to live safely,” Gantz said. “To that end, we must preserve the legitimacy and freedom of action, and plan the continuation of the fighting. Unlike in the past, we will not end with ‘quiet will be met with quiet.’ In this war, there is no ‘day after’, there is a long, difficult and necessary process, with varying intensities. Days, and months, and years.”
Opinion: US Administration concerned over Israel’s intent to keep forces in northern part of Strip, Netanyahu’s position on the PA’s role there and “settler violence” on the West Bank, all to be elements in PM’s political campaign to remain in power
To understand the comments made in the past days by U.S. President Joe Biden, regarding the diminishing support for Israel in the international community over the war in Gaza and his criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, it is vital to understand what senior U.S. officials have been told by Israel.
Washington has raised two major matters. The first is the failing of the Palestinian Authority and the second is a concern that the Israelis will hold on to territory in the Gaza Strip indefinitely. On both, Israel’s stated positions have been disappointing to American ears and in fact have been cause for anxiety.
New poll finds the Yesh Atid Party is falling to 10 seats. A party led by Naftali Bennett wins 12 seats.
A new poll published on Thursday evening finds that the Yesh Atid Party, led by Yair Lapid, continues to collapse.
In the poll, which was published by WBN Group, carried out through iPanel and analyzed by Elad Wolf, the National Unity Party led by Benny Gantz continues to gain strength, winning 33 seats.
T. Belman. As a result of Israel doing what the US demanded, Israel is taking more casualties. Ten soldiers were killed Tuesday. That follows five Monday and seven Sunday.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan meets with Israeli leaders
By Gordon Lubold, Andrew Restuccia and Dov Lieber, WSJ DEC 14/23
National security adviser Jake Sullivan told Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv on Thursday their campaign needed to transition to more precise, target military operations in Gaza, according to U.S. officials. Photo: Israeli Government Press Office/Anadolu/Getty Images
WASHINGTON—National security adviser Jake Sullivan pressed Israeli leaders to shift from a reliance on airstrikes and ground assaults in Gaza toward targeted military operations and warned that a protracted conflict would make the Palestinian territory harder to govern after the war, U.S. officials said.
