By Pamela Geller – on July 17, 2023
Israel is one of the most highly vaccinated countries in the world, with 81.5% of its population having received at least one dose.
In 2023, the majority of the population have become anti-vaxxers.
This is from a year ago.
18 July 2023, 1:35 pm
US President Joe Biden meets then-opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu (right) at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, July 14, 2022. At left is Secretary of State Antony Blinken; 2nd-left is US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides. (GPO)
US President Joe Biden’s Monday decision to gift Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with an announcement of plans to meet after nearly seven months appeared ill-timed, if not off-message.
In late March, Biden declared that a White House invite was off the table for the “near term,” urging Netanyahu to “walk away” from his coalition’s judicial overhaul legislation, which he feared was threatening the viability of Israel’s democracy. Then last week, the US president lamented the “extreme” nature of Netanyahu’s coalition, particularly the belief of certain members that they could “settle anywhere we want” in the West Bank while denying Palestinian rights to the same land.
T. Belman. Not so fast. the GOP and Trump must do something about election fraud or we will see a repeat of 2020 and 2022.
President Trump has a quasi-incumbency advantage for the Republican nomination, but there is much chatter about how he can officially seal the deal on his third primary victory.
However, one thing he does not have to do is “unite” the party, at least not in the way some believe.
Read more…
The surest way to whip up the Palestinians, to provoke their anguish and anger, is to claim that “Al-Aqsa is in danger.” More on this charge, and its malign consequences during the last century, can be found in this enduringly relevant article from mid-May: “‘Al-Aqsa Is in Danger’: The Anatomy of a Lie,” by Chaim Lax, Honest Reporting, May 18, 2023:
By Alexander G. Markovsky, AM THINKING APRIL 2023
On April 22, 1919, on his 50th birthday, Lenin gave an interview to London’s Daily Chronicle and made stunning revelations about the Bolshevik’s struggle to destroy capitalism. The next day the interview was published in the New York Times as “Talk with Bolshevist Head.”
“Experience has taught us it is impossible to root out the evils of capitalism merely by confiscation and expropriation, for however ruthlessly such measures may be applied, astute speculators and obstinate survivors of the capitalist classes will always manage to evade them and continue to corrupt the life of the community,” he said.
To accomplish this, Lenin declared, “Debauch the currency to overturn the basis of society.” The destruction of currency was the main component of the Bolshevik strategy.
T. Belman. This suggestion bears thinking about. We don’t want to join the left in accepting an Arab party in the government or do we? In the past the right preferred not to form a government if it had t invite the Arab Party though it considered it. It would make it easier to form a rightwing government if we could consider including an Arab party.
On the positive side, it would be best if the Arabs were the ones empowered to clean up crime in the Arab cities. But isn’t Ben Gvir doing this already?
United Arab List leader MK Mansour Abbas on Wednesday spoke with the Arab language Radio Nas and said that he would be ready to join Netanyahu’s government.<
With this, Abbas posed a condition: “We are ready to join the Netanyahu government today if we receive the portfolio for ending crime and violence in the Arab community. I challenge Netanyahu if he really cares about the lives of the Arab citizens.”
Jul 19, 2023, 7:00 AM
When one with honeyed words but evil mind; Persuades the mob, great woes befall the state? Euripides, Ancient Greek playwright & poet (c. 480 – c. 406 BC).
As the Machiavellian demonstrations, malevolently crafted and mendaciously choreographed, rage across the country, one thing is becoming ominously clear. The bellows of “DEMOKRATIA” by the protesters are being increasingly exposed as being just as hollow and hypocritical as they are absurd and artificial.
By The Editorial Board, WSJ 13.7.23
Why does President Biden go out of his way to snub, criticize and give marching orders to the government of Israel? At least rhetorically, the President and his Administration treat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his governing coalition worse than they do the ruling mullahs in Iran.
Mr. Biden declined again this week in gratuitous public fashion to invite Mr. Netanyahu to the White House, pointing to the Prime Minister’s elected coalition partners. Tom Nides, Mr. Biden’s departing Ambassador to Israel, chimes in that the U.S. must speak up to stop Israel from “going off the rails.” Each gibe makes headlines in Israel.
Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly pledged in a conversation yesterday (Monday) with the President of the United States Joe Biden that he will freeze construction in Judea and Samaria until the end of the year.
According to Yaron Avraham’s report on Channel 12 News, no more new towns will be approved and no new housing units will be planned or built throughout Judea and Samaria.
Amid the domestic strife over the government’s proposed judicial reform, Israelis received a stark reminder this week of the danger that a Palestinian state would pose to Israel’s existence.
In a frightening development, Palestinian terrorists near Jenin in northern Samaria fired two rockets at the nearby Jewish community of Shaked. Fortunately, no one was injured, but that in no way diminishes the importance and severity of the incident, which demands an immediate Israeli military response.
By Summer Said, Dion Nissenbaum, Stephen Kalin and Saleh al-Batati, WSJ, July 18, 2023
MBS, left, once saw MBZ, right, as a mentor, but the two leaders have lately been in conflict. Above, the pair in 2018 in Abu Dhabi. PHOTO: SAUDI ROYAL PALACE
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gathered local journalists in Riyadh for a rare off-the-record briefing in December and delivered a stunning message. The country’s ally of decades, the United Arab Emirates, had “stabbed us in the back,” he said.
“They will see what I can do,” he told the group, according to people at the meeting.
By Yoni Kempinski, INN 17.7.23
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated in an interview with Israel National News – Arutz Sheva that a significant part of the recent tensions between the Biden Administration and the Israeli government is due to his policies in Judea and Samaria.
“Our mission first and foremost is to provide security to the citizens of Israel in the settlements and all over the country. When we talk about the fight against terrorism there are two legs: the first is the development of the settlements and strengthening our grip on the territories of the Land of Israel. After all, terrorism is designed to weaken our grip – and our true answer that will eradicate it and make terrorism futile – will be further construction. When you look at Judea and Samaria, this government is building, regulating, developing, both in construction and in infrastructure on an unprecedented scale,” said Smotrich.
The Vast Power of the Saudi Lobby
Whatever Saudis Want, Saudis Get by Ted Belman – 2007
Saudi Arabia and the Peace Process By Ted Belman – Apr 4, 2010
by Alan M. Dershowitz, THE DAILY BEAST Aug 29, 2010
Lost in all of the controversy over the mosque is the fact that the Arab lobby is one of the strongest in America—even stronger than Israel’s, says a controversial new book. Alan Dershowitz on how Arab governments influence U.S. politics.
While the media and politicians engage in frenzied debate about the virtues and vices of building—or preventing the building of—a Muslim community center (cum mosque) near the “sacred ground” of 9/11, Iran continues to build a nuclear weapon, as the Israelis and Palestinians take a tentative step toward building a peaceful resolution to their age-old conflict. Inevitably, whenever Middle East issues take center stage, the question of the role of lobbies, particularly those that advocate for foreign countries, becomes a hot topic. This book by longtime Middle East authority, Mitchell Bard, is a must read for anyone who cares—and who doesn’t?—about the role of lobbies in influencing American policy in the Middle East. Its thesis, which is sure to be controversial, is easily summarized:
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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.
By Lilach Shoval and i24NEWS 17.7.23
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a cabinet meeting Monday that threats by IDF reservists to refuse to serve unless the government halted the judicial reform were endangering the security of Israelis.
“In a democracy, the military reports to the elected government and not the other way around. Whereas in a military regime, the government is subordinate to the army and more precisely to a group within the army. This is the fundamental difference between a democracy and a military regime,” Netanyahu said.
