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Thursday, July 27, 2023

07/27 Links Pt1: Israel is America’s top ally outside English-speaking world; Cruz Moves to Block FTC From Penalizing Israeli Companies

From Ian:

Mark Regev: Netanyahu should have been in the room with Herzog and Biden
Over the last seven months, Biden has repeatedly expressed his discomfort with Netanyahu’s government, its “extremist” cabinet members, behavior in the West Bank, and judicial reform proposals. Although in his CNN interview with Fareed Zakaria, the president did offer some backhanded praise, saying: “Hopefully Bibi will continue to move toward moderation.”

Jerusalem-Washington ties have gone through periods of tension in the past, with numerous examples of American presidents adopting a confrontational approach towards an Israeli prime minister, to secure a policy change. But the White House tactic of involving Israel’s ceremonial president in such a dispute is a relatively new development.

New York Times columnist Tom Friedman recently reminded his readers of the March 1975 Israel-US “reassessment” crisis. Then, president Gerald Ford and his secretary of state Henry Kissinger got tough with Israel, believing that the government of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin was being intransigent in the negotiations over an Egypt-Israel interim agreement.

Kissinger abruptly ended his Cairo-Jerusalem shuttle diplomacy and returned to Washington, where the administration declared it was reconsidering its entire approach towards Israel – and in the meantime suspending arms deliveries, including the supply of new F-15 aircraft.

During the “reassessment,” Ford didn’t consider inviting Israeli president Ephraim Katzir to the White House for a president-to-president meeting to demonstrate that despite the administration’s troubles with Rabin, it really did have Israel’s back.

Another crisis in Israel-US ties erupted in June 1990 between the administration of president George H. W. Bush and the government of prime minister Yitzhak Shamir.

Differences over the composition of a Palestinian delegation for peace talks had secretary of state James Baker theatrically tell Israel that “the phone number [for the White House] is 202-456-1414. When you’re serious about this, call us.” Baker was threatening a US disengagement from Arab-Israel peacemaking.

Then, too, America’s 41st president did not invite his fellow head of state, Israeli president Chaim Herzog – the father of the incumbent – to the White House to parade his administration’s love for Israel and to demonstrate it only had a problem with the “hardline” and “inflexible” Shamir.

A precedent was broken in June 2012 when, for the first time, Israel’s president was inserted into some adroit American triangular diplomacy.

President Barack Obama had a testy relationship with Netanyahu, with their differences over Iran, the Palestinians, and settlements constantly creating friction.

But during his reelection campaign, Obama didn’t want to be seen as hostile to Israel. He decided to award the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom to president Shimon Peres in a White House ceremony; the photographs of the US president adorning a beaming Peres with the medal seemingly attesting to Obama’s heartfelt friendship for the Jewish state.

None of this is to say that Herzog should not have gone to Washington. It is almost impossible to reject a White House invitation and an opportunity to speak before Congress. Moreover, it appears that Herzog was working in tandem with Netanyahu – as indicated by their pre-visit coordination meeting.

It is even possible that Herzog’s imminent visit had something to do with the timing of the US president’s phone call to the Israeli prime minister, and the announcement that a Biden-Netanyahu meeting was finally being scheduled.

Israelis followed their president’s US visit with pride. Herzog excels as the nation’s chief diplomat, a picture of consummate statesmanship.

Although pleased with their president’s performance and delighted by Washington’s lauding of the Israel-US partnership, Israelis would do well to remember that the Biden White House is playing a very serious diplomatic game – hugging their ceremonial head of state, while snubbing their elected head of government.
Peter Baker: Biden Takes His Battle for Democracy Case by Case
With Mr. Netanyahu defying him, the question is whether Mr. Biden will go beyond jawboning. The United States provides billions of dollars a year in security aid to Israel, but Mr. Biden appears unlikely to use leverage beyond entreaties to pressure Mr. Netanyahu to back down.

“So far, Biden’s pressure has only been rhetorical, and not only is that insufficient to challenge Netanyahu’s expanding authoritarianism, it indicates how out of sync Biden is with his own voting base,” said Phyllis Bennis, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and a longtime critic of Israel’s handling of the Palestinians.

The president’s aides said his words were important. “I wouldn’t say it’s just rhetoric,” said Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary. “When the president speaks, it sends a message.”

To Mr. Netanyahu’s supporters, the president’s outrage over democratic erosion in Israel feels selective. For one thing, they argue the prime minister’s plan to limit the authority of the courts is not anti-democratic but instead puts more responsibility in the hands of elected leaders.

Moreover, Mr. Biden has advanced legislation on “the slimmest possible majority” plenty of times. Indeed, Vice President Kamala Harris just matched the record for most tiebreaking votes in the Senate in American history.

“There’s no question Israel is being treated differently,” said John Hannah, a senior fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, a nonpartisan organization in Washington focused on advancing the U.S.-Israel strategic partnership.

He noted that in France, President Emmanuel Macron ran roughshod over parliament to enact unpopular pension changes without the broad consensus Mr. Biden has insisted Mr. Netanyahu seek, generating strikes, street demonstrations and sporadic violent protests. “Yet you’ll search in vain for even a single word from President Biden of real criticism against his French counterpart’s handling of these purely internal French matters,” Mr. Hannah said.

Richard Fontaine, chief executive of Center for a New American Security, said America’s approach to promoting democracy abroad “has always been a model of inconsistency.” Mr. Biden is right that the world currently faces a contest of democracy versus autocracy and that the United States should stand up for the former, he said, but he must balance it against other objectives.

“The inconsistency and whataboutism are inevitable byproducts of a foreign policy that seeks changes in other countries’ domestic situations,” he said. “That’s not ground for abandoning the effort to support democracy abroad — just for understanding that it’s no easy task.”
Poll: Israel is America’s top ally outside English-speaking world
Nearly all (94%) of those who named Israel as America's top ally said defense ties are very important to the relationship, higher than those who said so about the UK (86%) or Canada (78%).

More of those who named Israel also said that shared values (79%) are very important than those who named the UK (72%) or Canada (69%).

Asked who is the biggest threat to the US, China led with 50%, followed by Russia at 17%. North Korea was tied with the US itself at 2%.

The last time Pew asked the question, in 2019, China and Russia were tied. In 2014, Russia was considered the leading threat. In 2017, it was Iran, which no longer ranks among the top responses.

The poll was conducted among 10,329 American adults on May 30-June 4, 2023.


Jake Wallis Simons: Netanyahu’s judicial reforms are not the end of Israeli democracy
For this reason, it is important to cut through the hysteria. Without at all downplaying the grave situation in the Holy Land, this is not the end of Israeli democracy. Even if the entire agenda of the current government is implemented – which I for one pray does not occur – the country would still be the most open and democratic in the Middle East. The catastrophising comes from the Israeli left, which was marching against Netanyahu long before the current crisis, amplified by those Israelophobes around the world who have latched onto the chaos with the particular glee of wish-fulfillment.

Setting aside the unpleasant characters influencing the government, Israel’s political system does need reform. In the absence of both a written constitution and a second parliamentary chamber, unelected judges have gradually assumed more and more power, beginning with its activist president Aharon Barak in the nineties. Memories of the Brexit wars of 2016, when judges blocked Theresa May’s attempts to trigger Article 50, show the populist fury that is evoked when judges frustrate the ‘will of the people’. The can has been kicked down the road since 1948.

There is, however, a profound lesson in all this. Over the last two thousand years, Jews have been both hated as the Christ-killers and elevated as the Chosen People. Christianity made the Jewish homeland the Holy Land, the Jewish city the Holy City, and a Jewish prophet the Son of God. This has been the foundation of western civilisation and culture, with Jews both held to higher standards and derided, seen as a toxic blend of Übermenschen and Untermenschen, often with blood-soaked results. It is not difficult to see how Israelophobia, the latest form of antisemitism, fits into all this.

In truth, however, the Jews have always been a people like any other, and their country is a normal country: exceptional in many ways, flawed in many others, but a product of frail humanity, like the rest of the world. The current political crisis gripping the Jewish state is deeply disturbing, but it does not mean the end of democracy, and it does not mean that Israel is evil, any more than Britain’s turbulent political history did. It means that it is simply a real place. Not an idealised vision.

As the Zionist icon Ze’ev Jabotinsky wrote in 1911: ‘We are a people as all other peoples; we do not have any intention to be better than the rest. As one of the first conditions of equality we demand the right to have our own villains, exactly as other people have them.’ Given the villains in Israel today, these words ring truer today than ever. But – take heart! – they are vastly outnumbered by the decent majority. Take the bigotry out of the picture and the hysteria fades as well.
"Netanyahu to ABC News: Judicial Reform Plan is ‘Minor Correction’ to Activist Court, Common to All Democracies"
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC News GMA host George Stephanopoulos on Thursday that his government’s planned judicial reforms – described by opposition leaders as the “end of Israeli democracy” – are actually a “minor correction” to an activist court.

“It’s silly and when the dust settles, everybody will see it,” Netanyahu said.

This Monday the first element in the planned judicial overhaul was passed by the Knesset in a 64-0 vote, with the opposition lawmakers having walked out in protest. The vote was followed by left-wing hysteria and mass demonstrations by anarchists around the country.

Netanyahu told Stephanopoulos, however, that he still holds out hope the opposition will negotiate a compromise on the remaining elements of the planned overhaul.

“Now that they can see that we’re prepared to move without them – we have the majority – maybe we will be able to move with them,” the prime minister said.

“I hope the opposition leaders show responsibility and come to the middle. There is a middle out there.”


Ehud Barak’s poisonous pyromania threatens Israeli democracy
On the day after Tisha Be’Av, it would be nice to write about national unity, shared destiny, moderation, and restraint. But I cannot ignore the kasach – the unbridled confrontation, the inflammatory demagoguery, the violent warmongering – that has become standard and acceptable behavior for some of Israel’s once and supposed leaders.

There are very specific people responsible for this degradation, with Ehud Barak taking first place in the ugly contest for the most hateful, most extreme, most seditious rabble-rouser of all.

Former prime minister Ehud Barak appears at every anti-government protest rally and in every foreign television studio with preening self-confidence, sky-high arrogance, and the most untamed political language heard in this country in decades. He savages Prime Minister Netanyahu and anybody to the right of him as “dark and dangerous ultra-nationalists who are undermining the foundations of Zionism and Israeli democracy.”

He blabbers uncontrollably about Israel becoming a “fascist state” and an “apartheid” country. He even called a recent Israeli Supreme Court ruling that went in Netanyahu’s favor “a Weimer Republic-like decision.”

This year he has escalated his rhetoric to talk about the “shattering of Israeli democracy,” the “darkest days Israel has known,” “imminent dictatorship in Israel,” and “silencing” by the right wing. (Funny, Barak doesn’t seem so silenced.)

In one speech I heard, Barak hurled the epithet “fascist” at Netanyahu three times, “dictator” at Justice Minister Levin four times, and “apartheid” at right-wing West Bank settlement policies another three times. He then accused all Israelis to his political right of wearing Nazi-style “selection eyeglasses” (mishkefei selectzia shel hayamin) – which is a disgusting political slur whether used by an antisemitic non-Jew or a born-again wannabe Israeli leader.

To this, Barak recently has added piercing, scornful characterizations of Netanyahu and his cabinet ministers as “jokes,” “jackasses,” “pissers,” “drivellers,” “simpletons,” and “people sick with autoimmune diseases.”

Barak delivers all this dreadful demagoguery alongside incessant use of the epithet “messianic” in describing policies of the right wing. This, of course, is supremely ironic, since the only messianism that exists in abundance in Ehud Barak’s presence is his own messianic self-assurance.
Jonathan Tobin: American Jewry’s dangerous intervention in an Israeli culture war
Finding a way to bridge the gap between these two groups is essential to Israel’s future. But the assumption that the only way civil peace is to be preserved between them is by the majority conceding that it has no right to govern is actually antithetical to democracy.

Yet that is the position that the leading American Jewish groups are taking.

This pits the purported voices of American Jewry against a group of Israeli Jews that was clearly in the majority the last time the nation headed to the polls. Indeed, the hysteria of judicial reform opponents is a function of their justified fears that the left might never win a Knesset majority again due to the country’s changing demography.

The stark divide between the nationalist and more religious Jewish population of Israel, and the largely liberal and secular majority of American Jewry, has already led some in the latter to dub the former a “red state.” By taking sides with the liberal minority in Israel in this manner, the AJC, ADL, JCPA and others who agree with them are essentially sending a message to Israelis who are not Ashkenazi secular liberals that American Jews don’t see them as members of the same Jewish family. Their intervention in this already bitter dispute must be seen as an expression of the same contempt for the voters who backed the current coalition that has become a staple of the street protests.

That gives the lie to their talk about Jewish unity. It also sets a precedent that will give cover to the growing wing within the Democratic Party that wishes to downgrade, if not break, the alliance between Israel and the United States.

American Jews who genuinely care about Israel are entitled to their opinion about who should govern it and what they ought to do. But the liberal groups’ stand on judicial reform is more than a policy position. By joining in the Israeli culture war that is now unfolding, it’s essentially a declaration of war on much of the Israeli population and an indication that American Jews will only support a Jewish state that looks, thinks and prays just like them.

That’s not a viable blueprint for a relationship between the two communities or the two nations. It’s a formula for the cutting of ties between them. And that—rather than whether or not judicial reform is a good idea—is a disgrace that illustrates the bankrupt nature of these legacy organizations and their unfitness to speak for either Jewish values or the interests of the Jewish people.
Cruz Moves to Block FTC From Penalizing Israeli Companies
As Congress prepares to grant the Federal Trade Commission power to penalize foreign companies, a Republican lawmaker is working to ensure the agency can’t use its newfound authority to punish Israel.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) is offering an amendment to legislation before the Senate Commerce Committee that would let the FTC issue fines and other penalties to any online seller that does not accurately disclose where their products are made. Cruz’s amendment, a copy of which was obtained by the Washington Free Beacon, would block the FTC from penalizing Israeli companies based in contested territories like the West Bank and Golan Heights.

Supporters of the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement have long worked to strip the "Made in Israel" label from products manufactured in so-called settlements, which they argue are not technically part of Israel. The Obama administration pursued similar policies, including a contested 2016 order directing "trade community" to stop labeling goods produced in the West Bank as "made in Israel."

Under Cruz’s amendment, the FTC "may not discriminate against any community or entity in Israeli territory," including Jewish communities in contested areas.

Congressional sources tell the Free Beacon that the amendment would effectively stop the Biden administration from bolstering its efforts to target Israel as it clashes with the conservative government of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The White House last month barred the federal government from collaborating on scientific research projects with Jewish Israelis living in contested areas.
Israel Is Not a "Racist State"
Comparing Israel to apartheid South Africa ignores the reality that is visible to anyone who stands on an Israeli sidewalk. Israel's demography is far more complex than critics imagine. One out of every five Israelis was either born in Morocco or the descendants of Moroccans. Another fifth hail from elsewhere in North Africa or East Africa, such as the Ethiopian Jews.

Then there are the Israelis from the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Syria, and Iran. Then there are Jews who hail from the former Soviet Union, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and other eastern lands. And, of course, there are European descendants of the Nazi horror. Israel also has many Christian and Muslim citizens who fully participate in public life.

American non-Jews support Israel in larger numbers than American Jews, according to numerous polls. Many U.S. Christians support Israel because their Bible-focused religion makes Israel a familiar place. They have grown up reading and hearing about ancient Israel and have no trouble translating that into an affection for modern-day Israel.

The writer, a Moroccan publisher, is on the board of the Atlantic Council, the International Crisis Group, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Foreign Policy Research Institute, and the Center for the National Interest.
Senate’s foreign budget bill sets up clash with the House
The Senate Appropriations Committee approved its version of the 2024 State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs bill last week, setting up a clash with the House over funding for a range of foreign policy programs.

Debates over topline foreign spending levels and whether and to what extent to continue U.S. support for the United Nations and aid to the Palestinians are likely to be some of many disputes in the coming weeks between the Senate and House as they scramble to finalize 2024 government funding ahead of a Sept. 30 deadline. The stark divisions between the House and Senate’s positions on government funding are fueling concerns about a government shutdown this fall.

Where the House bill seeks to cut much of the U.S. funding to the U.N. and the Palestinians and significantly tighten conditions on such aid, the Senate bill maintains the funding, including $75 million for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency and $225 million for aid to the West Bank and Gaza.

Language in the explanatory report accompanying the Senate bill argues — in stark contrast with the House’s bill — that remaining on the United Nations Human Rights Council is “one of the best ways for the United States to counter” anti-Israel bias in the body. The Senate report does, however, ask the State Department to report to Congress on potential plans to leverage U.S. contributions to compel reforms to UNRWA.


UN human rights chief tells Israel to ‘heed the calls’ of anti-overhaul protesters
The UN human rights chief on Thursday urged the Israeli government to “heed the calls” of anti-overhaul protesters to preserve civil rights and maintain checks on power.

In a statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said that he has been “closely following developments” in Israel in recent months amid the fierce debate over the coalition’s plan to radically overhaul the judiciary.

The growing movement of mass protests “demonstrates the extent of public disquiet at the extent of fundamental legislative changes,” wrote Turk. He stressed the importance of allowing the High Court to hear petitions against the just-passed reasonableness law “according to due process of law, and free from political pressure or interference from any other quarter.”

The High Court said Wednesday that it was setting a hearing date for September to weigh the seven petitions already lodged with the court against the reasonableness law, which prohibits judicial review of the “reasonableness” of governmental and ministerial decisions.

In addition, Turk said he was urging “those in power to heed the calls of the people in this movement — people who have put their trust in the enduring value of an independent judiciary to effectively hold the other branches of Government to fundamental legal standards and – ultimately — protect the rights of all people.”
UN Watch: U.N. singles out Israel for violating women's rights
Libya, Qatar, and Zimbabwe were among members of the UN’s 54-nation Economic and Social Council, a principal organ of the world body, who voted on July 26th to single out Israel as the only country in the world to be rebuked by the council this year for allegedly violating women’s rights.




Caroline Glick Show: What's Nasrallah Thinking? The Possibility of War between Israel & Hezbollah
Is the threat of Hezbollah growing as Israel is focused on the judicial reform crisis?

While the Israeli Left’s insurrection is capturing the nation’s attention, Hezbollah continues its acts of aggression and extortion along the Lebanese border. The prospect of a major war rises daily.

To analyze the situation, Caroline’s guest on the Caroline Glick Show this week is Tony Badran from the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracy.


US slams Ben Gvir’s ‘unacceptable’ Tisha Be’Av Temple Mount visit
The United States slammed as “unacceptable” National Security Minister Ben Gvir’s visit to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount on Thursday, to mark the annual Tisha Be’Av fast.

The Biden administration “stands firmly for the preservation of the historic status quo with respect to the holy sites in Jerusalem,” a spokesperson for US Embassy in Jerusalem said.

“Any unilateral action or rhetoric that jeopardizes the status quo is unacceptable,” the spokesperson said.

The move also sparked condemnations from the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Egypt.

Ben Gvir said it was particularly important for him to visit the site where the former Jewish Temple stood particularly on the day where Jews around the world mourn its destruction 2,000 years ago.

"This place - this is the most important place for the people of Israel - where we have to return to show our governance,” he said.

His walk across the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound together with the visit there on Thursday of over 2,000 Jews sparked fear in the global community that Israel was violating the status quo that regulates the religious site, which is the holiest one to Jews and the third holiest to Muslims.
Jordan condemns Ben-Gvir over Tisha B'Av Temple Mount visit
Jordan on Thursday condemned what it termed as the "storming" by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of Jerusalem's Temple Mount, warning of its dangerous consequences.

"The move by an Israeli minister to storm the Holy Al Aqsa Mosque and violating its sanctity and the practices by (Jewish) extremists is a provocative act and a flagrant violation of international law," Sinan al Majli , a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said. Jordan, which acts as a custodian over the site and has a peace agreement with Israel, said such visits along with other Israeli steps in Jerusalem "threaten to trigger new cycles of violence."

Ben-Gvir was joining what will likely to be hundreds of Jews visiting the Temple Mount compound to mark of Tisha B'Av, a day of mourning and repentance when Jews reflect on the destruction of the First and Second Temples, key events in Jewish history.

"This is the most important place for the people of Israel which we must return to and show our rule," Ben-Gvir said in a video released by his office, with the golden Dome of the Rock in the background.

The Palestinian Authority's Jerusalem Affairs Ministry warned that the government and extremists like Ben-Gvir would "push things toward religious war" by "provoking the feelings of Muslims all over the world." The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it considered Ben-Gvir's visit to the sacred compound as an attempt to impose Israeli sovereignty over the site.
Seth Frantzman: Rocket in West Bank feeds the Iranian, anti-Israel media loop - analysis
It is important to understand how the pro-Iran media nexus operates in this context.

How do Iranian, anti-Zionist media outlets operate?
Media such as Al-Mayadeen, Fars News in Iran or others tend to re-report what they read in Israeli media. For instance, they will report that Israeli experts or commentators have warned about threats to Israel. Then they use these warnings to affirm their own belief that their propaganda has worked.

For instance, several days ago a video emerged of Hezbollah members near the border with Israel. When this report was covered by Israeli media, the pro-Iran media then reported that Israel was concerned about another incident like the attack that led to the 2006 war. In essence, this is a feedback loop. The loop occurs like this: Hezbollah or Hamas or another group will do something, then that “thing” will be reported in Israeli media and then the pro-Iran media machine uses the Israeli reports of the “thing” to affirm their own view that the “thing” successfully threatened Israel. This “thing” could be a Hezbollah member walking near the border, or an image of a simple rocket in the northern West Bank.

The feedback loop then affirms the narrative in the Iranian regime and its octopus-like affiliate groups, that Iran is succeeding against Israel. it is “unifying” the fronts and the Israeli “spider web” is weak. In a recent research by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Joe Truzman, he pointed to Iran and its “network of nineteen terrorist organizations on Israel’s borders.” He noted that “over the last four decades, the Iranian regime has built a network of armed groups on Israel’s borders to create instability and foment terrorism. Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, and a mosaic of other terrorist organizations receive funding, training, and weapons from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Quds Force (IRGC-QF).”

The groups include Hamas, Hezbollah, Liwa al-Quds and many others. In essence, Iran can use these groups like keys on a piano, playing them to the tune it wants and then using that tune to achieve the feedback it wants.

Iran also seeks to feed off other destabilizing factors and chaos in the region and around Israel’s borders. In an article called ‘Guns, Drugs, and Smugglers: A Recent Heightened Challenge at Israel’s Borders with Jordan and Egypt,’ By Matthew Levitt and Lauren von Thaden at the CTC Sentinel, the authors highlighted other challenges. The report notes that “the guns and drugs that are flowing into Israel are creating societal problems and public safety issues.”

Furthermore, “this increased arms smuggling occurred against the backdrop of over a year and a half of violence that began with an 11-day battle between Israeli forces and Hamas in May 2021 and continued through a string of terror attacks in the spring of 2022 that prompted a sweeping Israeli military campaign with nightly West Bank raids targeting terrorist operatives.”

The issue here is that Iran also plays a role in supporting the smuggling of weapons and it feeds off the destabilization. It feeds off the vacuum of power in the northern West Bank and it also sees violence in Israel as an example of the weakness of Israel at this time.

Therefore, although the rocket in the West Bank isn’t directly connected to the smuggling phenomenon, the guns that are being moved to groups in the West Bank create the conditions for the potential rocket fire and this feeds the Iranian media cycle that perceives Israel as vulnerable.
Jenin terrorists fire rocket at Israeli town
Palestinian terrorists on Thursday fired a rocket from the Jenin area in Samaria towards the Israeli moshav of Ram-On in the Gilboa region.

The Gilboa Regional Council said that security forces located a rocket launch pit and had increased its search measures in the area.

“We emphasize that this is preliminary information and the Israeli army has not completed the investigation and has not yet announced any findings,” the Gilboa Regional Council spokesperson said.

The rocket launch did not trigger any alerts and there have been no reports of damage or injuries.

Hamas’s Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades earlier on Thursday claimed that it fired a rocket in response “to the aggression of the occupation and settlers on Al-Aqsa.”


IDF Weighs Return to Jenin
The Israel Defense Forces completed an anti-terror operation in the Jenin refugee camp three weeks ago, but it appears a return may be necessary.

Sources in the security establishment reveal that Palestinian terrorists are attempting to rebuild, focusing on infrastructure, producing potent charges, and collecting renewed munitions.

After the IDF withdrew, Palestinian Authority personnel stepped in to re-establish governance. Dozens of terrorist operatives were arrested.

However, the IDF remains aware that it cannot rely solely on the Palestinians.
The Israel Guys: ISRAEL’S ARMY Stops Three Terrorists & Gets Blamed For Murder
Al Jazeera said that three Palestinians were killed in the West Bank yesterday and a spokesman for Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas said that Israel committed a war crime. But what actually happened? We’ll get into all that on today’s show as well as Bibi Netanyahu’s brother questioning Joe Biden’s mental health and Israel and Vietnam signing a trade agreement.


MEMRI: Palestinian Columnist: Arab Media Would Do Better To Examine Suppression In Their Own Countries, Rather Than Gloat Over The Political Crisis In Israel
In his July 25, 2023 column in the Palestinian Al-Quds daily, Hamdi Faraj addressed the Arab media's coverage of the protests in Israel, describing the coverage as bordering on gloating and expressing hope that the situation in the country will deteriorate into civil war. He urged the Arab journalists to examine the judicial systems in their own countries rather than echo the reports about the Israeli judicial system. He also suggested that they consider how in 30 weeks of demonstrations in Israel not one protester has been killed, while in demonstrations in Arab countries dozens, if not hundreds, are killed, and why in the Arab world not one leader or relative of a leader has ever stood trial for corruption, as happens in Israel.

"The Arabs' jaws drop in amazement at what is taking place in Israel, the country of their enemies. They lift their arms to the sky [in supplication to] Allah to sow ever more division among [the Israelis], to destroy their unity, to divide their ranks... to usher them into the furnace of a civil war, as have been experienced for many decades in many of their own countries, and are still ongoing in some, such as Sudan, Yemen, Libya, etc.

"The Arabs refuse to examine the reasons for these protests and demonstrations – [now marking] about seven months, [that is,] 30 weeks – which are connected to what the [Israeli] government calls judicial reform, while the opposition calls the destruction of democracy. Almost all the Arab media echo these reasons [for the protests], but forget or ignore the situation of the judicial system in their homelands, which is closer to divine decree and to an obedient servant dragged behind the ruler...

"Over the past century [in the Arab world], we have never heard of a ruler or any of his relatives being brought to trial despite his multifaceted corruption [as happens in Israel]... The Arab media – broadcasters, reporters, commentators, and editors – speak extensively about the Israeli Supreme Court and the blow to its authority, while never once asking themselves: What about our Supreme Courts, in numerous Arab countries?

"Have the Arabs asked themselves, throughout the 30 weeks of these protests, why not one demonstrator has been killed, as happens when our protests are suppressed? Why does suppression [of protests in Israel] end with water cannons – while in our [countries] it is the cannons on tanks that are responsible for suppressing our demonstrations, felling dozens if not hundreds; [additionally,] a curfew is imposed and campaigns of arrests, imprisonment, and torture are launched, [to the point where] participating in a demonstration becomes a kind of enterprise of mortal danger..."[1]


Abbas, Haniyeh hold ‘unity talks’ with Erdogan in Turkey
Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas terror master Ismail Haniyeh held a joint meeting in Ankara on Wednesday with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Abbas and Haniyeh met together with Erdoğan behind closed doors, according to the Turkish leader’s office.

Palestinian media said the talks aimed to forge unity between Abbas’s Fatah faction, which predominately rules in Palestinian-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria, and the Gaza Strip-based terrorist group.

Erdoğan said that ongoing divisions among the Palestinian leadership were playing into the hands of those “who want to undermine peace.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to travel to Turkey on July 28, in the first visit to Ankara by an Israeli premier since 2008. However, the trip was postponed after he underwent surgery to implant a cardiac pacemaker.

On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke with his Turkish counterpart Yaşar Güler.

They discussed security cooperation and agreed to strengthen communication on defense matters, according to Gallant’s office.




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Oleh Musings: "The most comprehensive Zionist blog I have seen."
Carl in Jerusalem: "...probably the most under-recognized blog in the JBlogsphere as far as I am concerned."
Aussie Dave: "King of the auto-translation."
The Israel Situation:The Elder manages to write so many great, investigative posts that I am often looking to him for important news on the PalArab (his term for Palestinian Arab) side of things."
Tikun Olam: "Either you are carelessly ignorant or a willful liar and distorter of the truth. Either way, it makes you one mean SOB."
Mondoweiss commenter: "For virulent pro-Zionism (and plain straightforward lies of course) there is nothing much to beat it."
Didi Remez: "Leading wingnut"
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