By Dick Morris January 9, 2023

The GOP Leadership team for ’23-’24 of Donald Trump and Kevin McCarthy came out of the speakers fight in great shape. They will have to reenact their teamwork together many times before and after Trump is finally sworn in as president, but it was glorious maiden

It’s not just that Trump whipped his people into line as Pelosi would have, but he did so by reforming the process to make it more conservative, anti-spending, and transparent. Those who opine that McCarthy will emerge as a weakened speaker do not understand that democracy strengthens you. It does not weaken you.
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By Daniel Greenfield, 08 Jan

In 1981, the Israeli Labor Party held an election rally in Tel Aviv. The Left hoped to wrest power back from Prime Minister Menachem Begin: the country’s first conservative leader who had unthinkably broken the socialist monopoly and opened up free enterprise to the public.

The Left pathologically hated Begin, calling him a fascist and a racist monster. They hated his supporters, poor middle eastern Jews, Holocaust survivors and traditionally religious Israelis, even more. At a Tel Aviv rally for the elites, TV star Dudu Topaz told the crowd that it was a pleasure to see that there were no middle eastern Jews here.

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by Bassam Tawil, GATESTONE  •  January 9, 2023

• A confidential leaked document, composed by the EU mission in east Jerusalem, shows that the Europeans are actively working with, and on behalf of, the Palestinian Authority to take over Area C of the West Bank — although the area was clearly agreed on, by both Israel and the Palestinians, until further negotiations, to be under Israeli control.

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T. Belman. Jordan and the PA won’t be missed except by the US.

As teams from Israel, Arab allies meet in UAE this week, senior US official says Arab states will be keeping eye on policies of new hardline Israeli government

By JACOB MAGID, TOI        8 January 2023, 4:02 pm  

Closing their talks at the Negev Summit, (from left) Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid al-Zayani, Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Morocco’s Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, and United Arab Emirates’ Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, March 28, 2022, in Sde Boker, Israel. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)

A senior State Department official lamented Jordan’s expected absence at the latest Negev Forum gathering of Israel and its Arab allies that will take place on Monday and Tuesday in Abu Dhabi.

Jordan will be the only Arab country with full diplomatic relations with Israel that will not be sending a delegation to the United Arab Emirates where, for the first time, interagency teams known as working groups will be gathering from the US, Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Egypt to discuss joint regional projects in a variety of fields.

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National Security Minister instructs Police Commissioner to allow every policeman on duty to remove PLO flags.

By Hezki Baruch INN   9.1.23

Itamar Ben Gvir and Kobi ShabtaiYonatan Sindel/Flash 90

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Sunday instructed Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai to order the police to remove any Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flag from public places and to stop any incitement against the State of Israel.

The Minister delivered to the Office of the Commissioner of Police an order which said that every police officer of any rank, during a shift, will be permitted to remove PLO flags.

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Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the reappropriation of funding from the Palestinian Authority to victims of terror.

By Hezki Baruch, INN 8.1.23

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the offset of funding transferred to the Palestinian Authority and its re-appropriation to families of terror victims.

“We promised to amend, and today we are amending. There is no bigger justice than offsetting. This is not condolence, but this is justice,” stated Smotrich.

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by Ryan Hass, JERUSALEM STRATEGIC TRIBUNE     January 2023

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia December 8, 2022. Photo credit: REUTERS

The Biden administration does not view US–China competition in the Middle East as a zero-sum prize for one side to enjoy at the other’s expense. This measured response to China’s growing influence could change, however; outlined below are factors that could shift US policy toward great power confrontation in the region.

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Just as uniformity can result in both stability and stagnation, so too can diversity sometimes ensure either dynamism or bedlam.

By Victor Davis Hanson, AMER GREATNESS   January 2, 2023

What do all our notable fabricators—George Santos, Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Barack Obama—have in common?

Well, quite like the Ward ChurchilIs or Rachel Dolezals of the world, one way or another, they lied about their identities. Or they sought fraudulent ways of suggesting their ancestries were marginalized. Or they had claims on being victims on the theory their constructed personas brought career advantages.

George Santos claimed, apparently in search of a victimized status, that he was an “American Jew” and a “Latino Jew,” and a descendent of Holocaust survivors.
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by Pete Hoekstra, GATESTONE  •  January 8, 2023

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Samarkand, Uzbekistan on September 15, 2022. (Photo by Alexandr Demyanchuk/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)

• The recently released Biden National Security Strategy points to the “acute threat” posed by Russia to United States national security. Yet the administration continues, with the support and encouragement of the European Union, its futile attempt to restart the “nuclear deal” to enable Iran’s expansionist regime to have as many nuclear weapons as it likes and the ballistic missiles to deliver them — and on top of that, using Russia, of all countries, as its proxy negotiator.

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https://rumble.com/v10jgtz-caroline-glicks-epic-speech-about-settlements-and-jewish-rights.html

As U.S. and Allied forces crumble in the face of the Turkish offensive.

by Christine Williams, FPM

An article published in Sahara Reporters provides an immediate insight into an ongoing, but largely forgotten battle with the Islamic State. The Islamic State (ISIS) threat continues in the Levant, despite the destruction of the caliphate by American and allied forces several years ago. In 2022 in Syria, America and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) killed 466 ISIS jihadis; 215 were taken prisoner. In Iraq, 220 ISIS jihadis were killed and 159 captured. The consequent total of 686 killed and 374 captured doesn’t provide the full picture. Between July and September, ISIS carried out 74 attacks in Syria and 73 attacks in Iraq.

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By Steve Apfel, AMER THINKER

You could say that Israel overdoes democracy. Governments are sworn in with head-spinning alacrity – 37 in 75 years, and elections exceed that number. This ought to be a consolation for   critics outraged by what many call a “far-right” and “undemocratic” coalition. It surely can’t be too long before a moderate one, patched-up and terminal, comes to power.

Besides, a week is held to be a long time in politics; the government may defy the predicted plague on the house of Israel. For one thing allies and investors could force moderation on it. For another, US Secretary of State Blinken has praised the election and promised that Washington will not turn on Israel, negating the hue and cry from sour grape opponents.
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By Michael Ordman, VGNI

Already in 2023 we see Israel building for a better future.  And it promises to be a healthier future for everyone, with Israeli treatments for cancer, migraine, essential tremor, burns, and dental implants – all having made major advances in the past week. Israelis are also building up the skills of medics in Ethiopia.  It’s good to see Israel building up its diplomatic relations with Turkiye (Turkey) and Azerbaijan, building new business opportunities with Gulf states, and building cultural ties with Mexico and Serbia.

On the technology front, Israeli startups are building quantum computers; new facilities to convert waste into hydrogen and bio-plastics; new sustainable products, and a “green” cover for one of Israel’s busy highways.

In the 8th Jan 23 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
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Finance Minister responds to former Supreme Court President who denounced judicial reforms in series of interviews.

Israel National News     Jan 8, 2023, 5:21 AM

Religious Zionist Party chairman and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich responded on Saturday night to former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak, who blasted the judicial reforms announced by Justice Minister Yariv Levin in a series of media interviews.

“The law and justice reform, which was at the center of the election campaign and won the trust of the people, will return Israeli democracy to its glory before the judicial revolution that Barak carried out in a violent unilateral coup without permission and without authority and without any consultation with the people or its elected officials, and it will be carried out with God’s help,” said Smotrich.

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Contemplating, a US-Russia Alliance by Ted Belman and Alex Maistrovoy in 2016

By Eric Mack, NEWSMAX    07 January 2023

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) bangs the Speaker’s gavel for the first time after being elected the next Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives in a late night 15th round of voting on the fourth day of the 118th Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., January 7, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein[/caption]

Former President Donald Trump was derided for having some of his staunch supporters holding out against House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., but Trump’s dramatic call to House chamber to Reps. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., and Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., is credited for closing the deal.

“Thank you Kevin,” Trump posted Saturday morning to Truth Social, along with video of the newly tapped speaker hailing Trump’s late-night call. “It was my great honor!”

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Ironically, it was the opposition that created a storm over the appointment of Itamar Ben-Gvir as prime minister, which as by now spread throughout the world.

By  Moria Kor, ISRAEL HAYOM

While campaigning, Itamar Ben-Gvir vowed to “protect the house,” a.k.a. Israel. He got right to it – having been sworn in as national security minister – this week by visiting the Temple Mount, a move that prompted hysteria at home and abroad.

He was afterward subjected to unprecedented criticism – especially by the Israeli Left – to which he responded sarcastically, saying he and his wife Ayala were used to “weekly death threats.”

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US diplomats scrambling to reassure Middle East allies on Jerusalem holy sites, imploring Israel not to cozy up to Russia and heading toward an impasse on the Palestinian issue

By TOI STAFF 

Newly sworn-in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, December 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, Pool, File)

WASHINGTON  — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government is little more than a week old but it’s already giving the Biden administration headaches.

Just days into its mandate, a far-right member of Netanyahu’s hard-right cabinet riled US diplomats as well as Israel’s regional allies with a visit to a Jerusalem holy site that some believe may be a harbinger of other contentious moves, including vast expansions of Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank.

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All major and minor operatives on the Israeli left have long insisted that if our elected leaders stray from the left’s positions on either domestic or strategic issues, the gates of hell will open to Israel on the international stage.

By Caroline Glick, JNS

(January 5, 2023 / JNS) Does the Israeli left protect Israel from international condemnation and prosecution? This has been the left’s key claim for more than a generation. From former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak to opposition leader Yair Lapid and his colleagues, to the last of Israel’s leftist reporters, commentators and activists, all major and minor operatives on the Israeli left have long insisted that if our elected leaders stray from the left’s positions on either domestic or strategic issues, the gates of hell will open to Israel on the international stage. They are Israel’s protective vest, shielding us from the hostile forces at our doorstep.
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