THANK YOU BEN FOR BEING THE STRONGEST VOICE IN AMERICA DEFENDING JEWS AND ISRAEL.

By Christopher Holton, CSP

House Democrats have moved to squash an effort to impose additional sanctions on the terrorist organization Hamas, yet another reflection of not only an anti-Israel sentiment but a pro-Hamas orientation among a vocal Democrat faction.

As described by Fox News:

House Democrats rejected a Republican push on Tuesday to consider legislation that would apply sanctions on Hamas militants amid an escalating military conflict with Israel.

Democrats blocked a bid to bring the Palestinian International Terrorism Support Prevention Act up for consideration in a 217-209 vote along party lines. The bill, introduced by Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., would impose sanctions on foreign entities known to have provided financial assistance to Hamas, among other measures.

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T. Belman.  As can be expected, Haaretz trashes Netanyahu. This article also recognizes the reality “the structural limits Israel faces fighting a terror organization which operates from an area densely populated with civilians.” and “the White House had run out of patience with Israel’s bombing of Gaza.”

It is worth noting that in the previous Gaza War in 2014, when Obama was president, the ceasefire was delayed for 51 days. In this war under Biden, it was announced in only 11 days. So why did Biden run out of patience in only 11 days?

Without doubt, a change of strategy and tactics is in order. The battle plan relying on only smart bombs and the avoidance of Arab casualties will never bring a different result. It amounts to mowing the lawn. It doesn’t bespeak of victory over Hamas. In future Israel should commit to victory instead. Victory can only be achieved by a massive land invasion. Before the invasion Gazans should be warned to withdraw from the first battlefield. Then the area should be bombed to smithereens to reduce resistance. Then the IDF should invade to take control of the area. This process should then be repeated on the adjacent area and so on. Once in control of a land mass, the IDF can pump water from the Mediterranean and flood the tunnels.

The IDF’s success in the Gaza operation appears to have been limited, but they are not the reason a cease-fire was called

By Amos Harel, HAARETZ

Israeli artillery unit fires shells towards targets in Gaza Strip, May 2021.Credit: Tsafrir Abayov,AP

In the long, difficult and turbulent relations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the defense establishment, Thursday night marked a new low. Initially, Netanyahu tried, through an official statement, to place responsibility for the cease-fire – which was forced on him by U.S. President Joe Biden – on the Israel Defense Forces and the other security branches. Shortly afterward, dirt on the army’s performance during the Gaza campaign was leaked to the media, with the goal of insulating Netanyahu from any hint of blame for the defeat.

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T. Belman. How’s this for asymmetry. Israel must cover the enormous cost of the war with little assistance. Hamas on the other hand gets a free ride and then some. Biden just promised “to provide rapid humanitarian assistance and to marshal international support for the people of Gaza and the Gaza reconstruction efforts.” What’s the rush. Let them suffer the consequences.

“We will do this in full partnership with the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, the PA, in a manner that does not permit Hamas to restock its military arsenal,” Once again he considers the PA blameless and doesn’t even mention Iran. No one believes that he will prevent the restocking of Hamas’ arsenal. Empty words.

Despite intense surveillance and tight restrictions, the terror group manages to produce and procure thousands of long-range rockets and other arms

AGENCIES

Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza since Hamas, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, seized the territory from the internationally-backed Palestinian Authority in 2007. It says the blockade is in place in order to prevent weapons and other military equipment from entering the Strip.

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By Daniel Gordis

An Israeli mother shields her daughter after they pulled off the road when sirens blared this week

Away from the headlines

In recent hours, the cease-fire that we all knew would come has set in, and so far, seems to be holding. The worst is hopefully over (for now), but even in our neighborhood, which was spared rocket fire the entire time, it’s been a long night. The muezzin from the local mosques blared their loudspeakers to the max, intentionally making it impossible to sleep. So I gave up and went downstairs to write this; from my window at this very moment, the sound of gunfire (presumably into the air) from a nearby Arab village is peppering the early morning dark. A crowd is chanting away in Arabic – it’s clear that the rage that these two weeks have sparked has not even begun to dissipate. Where it might lead is far from clear.

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Start a war, blame Israel, help the terrorists.

By Daniel Greenfield, FPM         Wed May 19, 2021

Terrorists have only one thing to offer. It’s right there in the name.

The business model of terrorism is killing people and then demanding a payoff. The game always works the same way. The terrorists attack, their targets fight back, and a third party sends in the diplomats to negotiate on behalf of the terrorists before they get hit too hard.

The Islamic terrorist war against Israel has worked exactly this way for generations.
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TIMES OF ISRAEL IS LIVE BLOGGING

Mutual Ceasefire. Sa’ar and Mayor of Sderot are against it.

Hamas official: We received assurances on Israeli policies in Jerusalem

Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan tells Al-Mayadeen that the ceasefire will go into effect at 2 a.m.

“The resistance has forged a new equation and a new victory,” Hamdan says.
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T. Belman.  I find this very concerning. What troubles me is that such a bazaar notion as transgenderism has so many people who will go to the mat in support of it and no one who will stand up for this woman. To top it off the school itself joined in on the pile on.  The same goes for every cause of the woke culture aka cancel culture.

This is nothing short of a revolution and the revolutionaries are winning. What is shocking is that such ideas are being supported by the Democratic Party, the MSM, Big Tech and the Deep State.  No wonder they were able to flip society.

It all started when a fringe of the left started attacking religion some 60 years ago. One more sea change that I noticed at the same time was that educators were valuing cooperation as opposed to competition.

By Samantha Chang, WESTERN JOURNALISM             May 20, 2021 at 8:06am

A female law student at Abertay University in Dundee, Scotland, is facing expulsion for stating the scientific fact that women have vaginas and are generally not as physically strong as men.

The brouhaha erupted during a video class on “gender feminism and the law” while students were discussing the appropriateness of a man who identifies as female fighting women in mixed-martial arts bouts, according to The Times of London.

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Ted Belman

Israel has informed Egypt — which is mediating a ceasefire between the Jewish state and Hamas — that it is willing to halt its military campaign in the Gaza Strip, Al-Jazeera reports.

But that’s all they are prepared to do.  No mention of a Ceasefire Agreement.  Perhaps they are hoping for  a mutual cessation of attacks.

6:33 P.M. Hamas official: If Israel announces unilateral cease-fire, we’ll assess how to proceed

Husam Budran, a member of the Hamas political bureau, told a radio station Thursday that no agreement with Israel has been reached and that if reports that Israel is preparing to announce a unilateral cease-fire prove true, Hamas will make an assessment of the situation and decide how to proceed. (Jack Khoury)

The Israeli cabinet is meeting now.

Perhaps it is Hamas that should announce a unilateral ceasefire.  Why Israel.

T. Belman. Lets’s face it.  A ceasefire resolution is not about bringing the fighting to an end but about condemning Israel and absolving the Palestinians. But for the latter, it would be much easier to achieve except that Israel isn’t ready for a ceasefire. Biden wants to avoid vetoing the resolution because it would alienate the EU, Iran and the Left in America.  He much prefers to pressure Israel to wind down its offensive.

Israel does not want to accept a negotiated ceasefire as it, of necessity, would involve concessions to Hamas. She prefers to stop the offensive when she is ready and to not make a ceasefire agreement. I hope that Bibi hangs tough.

Unlike previous drafts, Paris’s proposal condemns indiscriminate rocket fire at civilians; but US official highlights country’s own diplomatic efforts as solution to Gaza fighting

By JACOB MAGID, TOI Today, 9:05 am  

The UN Security Council chambers in New York. (Norway Mission to the UN/Twitter)

The US indicated Wednesday that it intended to veto a UN Security Council resolution proposed by France calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, ending deadly fighting that has been ongoing since early last week.

The French proposal does not explicitly criticize either side for the fighting, but unlike previous drafts does include condemnation of “indiscriminate firing of rockets.”

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Israel must implement a unilateral ceasefire. We cannot accept Hamas’ demands for any kind of involvement in Judea, Samaria, or Jerusalem.

By  Vice Adm. (ret.) Eliezer Marom, ISRAEL HAYOM       05-20-2021 16:06

When the current round of violence broke out, it was a total surprise. It wasn’t just the firing of rockets at Jerusalem but Hamas’ ability to set additional arenas on fire. The rioting inside Israel in addition to the events caught the police off guard, making the surprise all that greater. Thankfully, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has an interest in maintaining quiet and preventing Hamas from recording any victories in Judea and Samaria. This is also an opportunity for Israel to bolster its ties to Abbas and weaken Hamas as a result.

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By Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger, May 19, 2021,

Hamas and war on terrorism

1. All pro-US Arab regimes – such as Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Morocco and Sudan – have refrained from tangible support of Hamas, which is a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. The latter constitutes an existential threat to each pro-US Arab regime, aiming to topple every Muslim/Arab regime, in order to establish a universal Islamic society through political, social and terroristic means. Eventually, it aspires to bring non-Muslims, and especially Western democracies, to submission.
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TOI Today, 2:38 pm

A ball of fire erupts from a building in Gaza City’s Rimal residential district on May 20, 2021, during Israeli strikes on the Hamas-controlled enclave in response to rocket fire (MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)

A survey cited by Channel 12 news finds that the majority of Israelis do not believe Israel should negotiate a ceasefire now.

The poll finds that 72% say “the operation should continue,” with the number rising slightly in the south of the country to 73%.
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By Mordechai Ben-Menachem

Gaza is not a prison as many claim.

Israel does not, and never has kept people from leaving Gaza or any part of the Gaza Strip area, however, Israel does generally, though not always, limit freedom of movement of person that leave Gaza via Israeli territory.  Of course, anyone is perfectly free to leave Gaza directly or through Egypt.

Unfortunately, Hamas, which in additional to being a terror organisation, is also a criminal organisation, does sometimes limit persons from leaving Gaza or demand from them payment of a large ransom to do so.

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It is vitally important for you to realize and remember Hamas is the main cause of suffering for you, my fellow Arabs in Gaza. Op-ed.

By Bassem Eid, INN      May 20 , 2021

Building hit in Gaza  Atia Mohammed, 

I know that the past 10 days have been incredibly devastating and equally bewildering. Why is the world letting the Israelis do this to you? I am writing to you, my Palestinian brothers and sisters, to open your eyes from the disinformation that your real captor, Hamas, is feeding you.

To my Palestinian Arab brethren, I implore you: please do not let Hamas brainwash you into thinking it has “achieved” anything on our behalf.
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