T. Belman. Israel is in a stronger position than you might think. Contrary to Blinken’s threat, Israel has no obligation to rebuild Gaza. It is the Americans that want Gaza rebuilt. In fact, it is an imperative for them because they want the Palestinians to remain in Gaza. If Gaza is not rebuilt, the World must take them in.

A movement is afoot in Israel to reesatablish the Jewish settlements that were abandoned in 2005.

This conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is not about the absence of a Palestinian state, but about the existence of the Jewish state, he said.

TOVAH LAZAROFF, JPOST   JANUARY 19, 2024

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu linked his political future with the prevention of a Palestinian Authority-run Palestinian state, precisely as the Biden administration has been pressuring Israel to return to a two-state diplomatic process.

“I can say something about what they call the day after Netanyahu. I do not love to speak of myself in the third person. But those who speak of the day after Netanyahu are talking about the creation of a Palestinian state led by the Palestinian Authority,” the Prime Minister told reporters during a press briefing in Tel Aviv.

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T. Belman.  I find it odd the the Israel military should prepare a plan  for the day after.

MENA – The New Arab Staff   02 January, 2024

In a plan reportedly drawn up by the Israeli military, unspecified local ‘clans’ would rule a post-war Gaza in separate ’emirates’.

Under the plan, Israel’s current invasion force in Gaza would assume military control of the territory [Getty]

The Israeli military is due to present a post-war scenario to the government war cabinet on Tuesday, which will reportedly suggest dividing Gaza into different sectors or “emirates” ruled by local clans or tribes rather than a single political entity.

According to Israeli public broadcaster Kan 11, the military plan, informally referred to as “the day after”, would see these unspecified clans and tribes take the reins of civil government away from Hamas.

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 After 12 staffers accused of involvement in Oct. 7 attack

By Barak Ravid, AXIOS

The State Department on Friday said it is pausing additional funding for the UN Palestinian refugee agency after Israel alleged 12 UNRWA employees were involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack.

The big picture: It’s the first step by the Biden administration against UNRWA since renewing U.S. funding to the agency after the Trump administration completely cut it off.

• State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the U.S. is “extremely troubled by the allegations” and the administration has “temporarily paused additional funding for UNRWA while we review these allegations and the steps the United Nations is taking to address them.”

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The “cause” is the process of finding those willing to kill.

By Daniel Greenfield, FRONT PAGE                          24 January 2024

E. Rowell:  This brilliant analysis explains how the Democrats are holding tryouts for future killers.  It also helps to understand the Israeli left.

After Hamas supporters were caught screaming “shame on you” at children receiving cancer treatment at a Manhattan hospital (“make sure they hear you, they’re in the windows”) some people wondered what they were trying to accomplish.

Questions like that only reveal the vast gap between the pro-Hamas mob and everyone else.

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by Andrew Tucker, thinc.

Today the International Court of Justice issued its ruling on “provisional measures” in the case brought in The Hague by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide of the Palestinian people.

The Court did not grant South Africa’s request for a cease-fire in Gaza. But the Court did accept there is a possibility that Israel is committing genocide, and it has ordered Israel to ensure genocide is not committed, and to grant humanitarian aid.

Nevertheless, the carefully-worded ruling leaves Israel a lot of scope to continue the military campaign.
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T. Belman. The court did not accuse Israel of Genocide as the sub-title asserts. It merely claimed that “At least some of South Africa’s complaints appear to be capable of falling within the Genocide Convention.”

As I understand the law, Israel has the obligation to feed the people and provide medical care once they are “in occupation” but not during a war.  Israel is not yet “in occupation.” .I wonder if the court considers them in occupation at this stage.

The Court ordered Israel to abide by the law. Everybody has to abide by the law. Nothing new there.

But I am far from an expert. I look forward to reading what legal experts have to say about the interim order.

International Court of Justice (ICJ) issues ruling on South Africa lawsuit accusing Israel of genocide.

Israel National News   Jan 26, 2024, 3:07 PM

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Friday afternoon began a hearing during which it would announce its decision on the case.

At the start of the hearing, the court said, “At least some of South Africa’s complaints appear to be capable of falling within the Genocide Convention.”

For this reason, the court claims, it has refused to dismiss the case.

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Something of priceless value is emerging on the battlefields of Gaza. Opinion.

By Melanie Philips, INN                                                 25 January 2024

Master Sgt.(Res) Rabbi Elkana Vizel, who fell in Gaza on January 22

Already numb with grief over the flower of Israel’s youth falling in the war in Gaza, Israelis have been further shattered by the killing on Monday of no fewer than 21 reservists in one deadly incident and three other soldiers the same day.

Not surprisingly, this has increased calls from the public for an end to the war. Even more understandably, the families of the Israeli hostages are becoming ever more desperate about the captives’ likely horrific fate in the dungeons of Hamas, and are stepping up demonstrations calling for a deal to end the war and secure the hostages’ release.

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T. Belman. The West has known about UNRWA, like forever, but turned a blind eye and continued to finance it.

The truth about UNRWA by T. Belman.

UNRWA should be prosecuted for complicity with war crimes

By MELANIE PHILLIPS

Play performed in UNRWA school

The United Nations was set up to promote peace and justice around the world. Instead of doing so, however, it has become a key weapon against peace and justice in the global armoury of evil causes.

Nowhere has this been more baleful and done such appalling intergenerational harm than in the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which administers health care, education and welfare for the Palestinian Arabs of Gaza.

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T. Belman. This trend will only continue. Bibi is the strongest voice representing the wishes of the people.

By  David Israel, JEWISH PRESS  January 26, 2024

For the first time since the outbreak of the war, a Thursday News 14 and Direct Polls survey shows that were the elections held this week, Likud would be the largest party in Israel with 27 mandates, compared with only 26 for Benny Gantz’s National Union party, which is down by three mandates since DP’s previous survey.

The mandates are distributed as follows:

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Wall Street Journal reports that the US secretly warned Iran about ISIS’ plan to carry out the terrorist attack in Kerman early this month.

Elad Benari, INN  Jan 25, 2024

The US secretly warned Iran that Islamic State (ISIS) was preparing to carry out the terrorist attack in Kerman early this month that killed dozens of Iranians, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing US officials.

The confidential alert came after the US acquired intelligence that Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan, ISIS-Khorasan, or ISIS-K, was plotting to attack Iran, the officials said.

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Peloni :  The move by the Halevi to try to block this relevant and vital inquiry only amplifies the toxic atmosphere in which rumor and suspicion have been left to grow on this topic unabated over the past months.  There can be no earnest explanation why the needed documentation should not be compiled as requested and assessed for explanations of the gross security failures which took place on October 7.  Even as war is being waged in the south, war on multiple fronts seem more possible with every day’s passing.  The need to explain and remedy the failures of that fateful day would seem most evident, even as Halevi’s efforts to needlessly delay such an inquiry well into the future only serves to raise even more questions than are already being wildly speculated upon.

By Jeremy Sharon, TOI   25 January 2024, 7:57 pm

Left: IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi gives a statement to the media at an army base in southern Israel, December 26, 2023; Right: State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman walk at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on December 28, 2022. (Flash90)

State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman insists in a letter to IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi that the examination that his office has begun into the multi-system failures leading up to, and on, October 7 is both necessary and feasible despite the ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.

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Peloni:  Also see  “After Netanyahu criticism, US touts Qatar’s ‘irreplaceable’ role in hostage talks”

The distinction between the assessment of Qatar by the US and Israel is a  revealing consequence of America’s realignment towards Iran.

written by David Mark, Israel Unwired   January 25, 2024

Click on picture to hear leaked recording:

Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu told the families of the hostages that he considers Qatar to be a problematic mediator between Israel and Hamas. In the video belowPrime Minister Netanyahu can be hear saying: “Qatar, from my point of view, is no different in essence than the United Nations… and the Red Cross, [Qatar] is even more problematic.”

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By Kenneth Timmerman, AFPI                                    23 January 2024

THE OCTOBER 7 ATTACKS: HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?

October 7, 2023 was the single largest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust. “Never again” actually happened—again—for every Jew in Israel to see.

Three generations of Israelis have grown up believing that the events of the Third Reich were history and that the Israel Defense Force (IDF) protected Jews from similar massacres. On October 7, they woke up to see the atrocities happening again, but this time inside Israel.

The sheer size of the October 7 attack—15 times as many causalities per capita as 9/11 in the U.S.—has affected every Israeli. In addition to the families of those killed and taken hostage are the families of some 300,000 IDF soldiers and reservists currently fighting Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in northern Israel. Every Israeli family has someone directly involved.

How could Israel so thoroughly have let down its guard?

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T. Belman. “This is the best plan that there is for the future. No other Plan comes close”. That was my first assessment..  I have since changed my mind. Wise wants to allow 1.8 million  Palestinians into Israel in the belief that they will abandon their hatred of Israel.  He doesn’t even discuss how this is to be done. The predominat thought in Israel is Israelis don’t want to live next to a palestinian state let alone invite them into Israel.

Turning the “Day After” into Lasting Peace: 

Israel Must Declare Sovereignty and Preserve the Rights of the Palestinians  

1.     Introduction

There is a raging debate with respect to the “Day After” plan for Gaza and the West Bank.  What will be the status of Gaza and West Bank after Israel accomplishes its mission in Gaza? President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken have adamantly supported the creation of a Palestinian state as a critical element of the “Day After” Plan. They believe that the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people can only be realized with the creation of a Palestinian state encompassing Gaza and the West Bank (Judea & Samaria) and that a two-state solution is critical for future peace in Israel.

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By Bassam Tawil, GATESTONE                                    25 January 2024

• “It’s disheartening to know that among the fallen heroes are Bedouin and Druze soldiers, Muslims, and Christians who courageously defended our country. The Bedouin community mourns all civilian victims, regardless of their background — Jews, Christians, or Muslims. This brings me to a crucial point: we all share the same destiny, and our strength lies in unity. Unfortunately, there are those who seek to undermine cooperation between different sectors, sowing seeds of mistrust. I urge you not to be swayed by such attempts and to stand strong in our shared commitment to unity.” — IDF Sergeant First Class (reserve) Ahmed Abu Latif, 26, a husband and father to a one-year-old baby, who was killed on January 22 during the fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Facebook, November 13, 2023,

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‘Let me know of one Palestinian in Gaza who tried to save a Jew and maybe I’ll change my mind’

By Deborah Danan, TABLET    24 January 2024

Palestinians cross the Gaza-Israel border fence in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Oct. 7, 2023/© YUSEF MOHAMMED/IMAGESLIVE VIA ZUMA PRESS WIRE

Eyal Barad was in the safe room of his home in Nir Oz for more than 12 hours on Oct. 7 while Palestinians went on a rampage of his Gaza envelope kibbutz, eventually kidnapping or murdering more than a quarter of its residents.

Every so often, Barad, 40, was forced to cover his 6-year-old daughter’s mouth with his hand to stifle her squeals. The little girl, who is autistic, thought the whole thing was a game. Most of the time, though, Barad was glued to his phone, watching the live feed of a camera he had recently installed outside his home to monitor speeding cars. Images from the feed, which I obtained, show Palestinian women and children—some appearing as young as 8 years old—taking part in the horror of that day.

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T. Belman. I met with the author of this article who happens to be a long time friend of mine for well over an hour. He is pushing the One State Plan as the answer to Oct 7. It involves the annexation of A, B, and C. All Arabs living there would be given Blue Cards. This article explains it further.

T. Belman. This idea is far from dead,Currently activists are approach ing
Ted Cruz and Michael Johnson to pas a resolution demanding all Arab states that receive US Aid to take in Gazans or have their aid cut.

By David Israel, JEWISH PRESS  jAN 2/24

The debate continues in Israel about voluntary migration as the only effective solution for the festering humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, and even as a whopping majority of Israelis tell pollsters that they support the move (68% in a December 24 Direct Polls survey supported it strongly, and 15% were quite supportive), the political echelon is far from reflecting the public’s mood on the subject.

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T. Belman.  I agree with the government.  No more work permits. I am not concerned about a potential intafada, I do not believe it will happen. But if it does they will get their asses kicked.  Why should we want to strengthen the PA?

In unusual move, officials speak-out against decision made by political leadership including to prevent Palestinian workers from entering Israel, ignoring and weakening PA further amid financial crisis, while Hamas funnels funds into West Bank

By Elisha Ben Kimon, YNET

Security officials have been voicing concerns over a possible flare-up in the violence on the West Bank that could lead to a third intifada, Palestinian uprising, due to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to further prohibit Palestinians from entering Israel for work.

In an unusual move, a defense official spoke out against the political leaders who are preventing a discussion on the matter. “The same politicians who are inciting, calling for the Palestinian Authority to be dissolved and insisting on preventing Palestinian workers from entering the country, are knowingly and maybe intentionally, leading to a third intifada,” he said.
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