IF THIS IS ISRAEL'S PROPOSAL, IT MEANS THEY ARE SURRENDERING TO HAMAS AND HAVE LOST THE WAR

‘It’s time for this war to end,’ Biden says, laying out Israeli ceasefire proposal

“At this point, Hamas no longer is capable of carrying out another Oct. 7,” the U.S. president said. 

 

By Andrew Bernard

 

JNS

May 31, 2024

 

 

U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the White House on the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, May 31, 2024. 

 

U.S. President Joe Biden laid out the terms of a new Israeli ceasefire-for-hostages proposal on Friday that includes a permanent end to hostilities and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip.

Speaking in the State Dining Room at the White House, Biden said Israel proposed a three-phase ceasefire deal to Hamas through Egyptian, Qatari and U.S. mediators.

“For the past several months, my negotiators, of the foreign policy, intelligence community and the like, have been relentlessly focused, not just on a ceasefire that would inevitably be fragile and temporary, but on a durable end of the war,” Biden said. “That’s been the focus—a durable end to this war.”

At a background briefing after the speech, a senior U.S. administration official told reporters that the Israeli proposal was “nearly identical to Hamas’s own proposals.”

“If that’s what Hamas wants, they can take the deal,” the official said. “Alternatively, if its leaders choose to live deep underground, holding innocent hostages, including women, the war goes on and the people of Gaza suffer. That would be their choice.”

Biden described the deal as “the Israeli proposal,” although the senior U.S. official said that “this proposal has been accepted by Israel.” 

JNS sought clarity on the apparent discrepancy between the White House and the National Security Council. “This is ultimately an Israeli proposal that was put together in coordination with the U.S., Egypt and Qataris,” a National Security Council spokeswoman told JNS.

The U.S. president said he wants a future “without Hamas in power” but described a series of steps that did not include the elimination of the terror group or its surrender.

“The first phase would last for six weeks,” Biden said. “Here’s what it would include: a full and complete ceasefire. The withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza. Release of a number of hostages, including women, the elderly, the wounded, in exchange for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.”

That phase, which would also include the return of some of the remains of dead hostages and the continued daily delivery of 600 trucks of aid to the Palestinians, would lead to an indefinite period of negotiations between Israel and Hamas to end the war, he said.

“During the six weeks of phase one, Israel and Hamas would negotiate the necessary arrangements to get to phase two, which is a permanent end to hostilities,” the president added. “The proposal says if the negotiations take longer than six weeks from phase one, the ceasefire will still continue as long as negotiations continue.”

The United States, Egypt and Qatar “would work to ensure negotiations keep going until all the agreements are reached and phase two is able to begin,” Biden added.

In the second phase, “Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza” and release additional Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of all remaining living hostages, the president said. Quoting the text of the proposal, he said that at that point, the ceasefire would become “the cessation of hostilities permanently.”

The third phase would include the reconstruction of Gaza and the return of any remaining dead hostages. 

During the third phase, Biden said that the United States, Arab nations, the international community, along with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, would ensure that Hamas is not allowed to rearm.

The second and third phases are open-ended, allowing for additional negotiation, but the senior U.S. official told reporters that each is envisioned to last about 42 days.

Offer not possible three months ago, says official

According to Biden, Qatar transmitted the Israeli proposal to Hamas “today,” although the U.S. president later referred to the initiative as being made “yesterday.” (“It was transmitted yesterday,” the National Security Council spokeswoman told JNS on Friday.)

Qatar hosts many of Hamas’s leaders in its capital city of Doha. Still, U.S. officials have said that Hamas’s ultimate decision-maker regarding a ceasefire is Yahya Sinwar—the leader of the U.S.-designated foreign terror group—in Gaza and one of the architects of the Oct. 7 attacks.

Biden said that the Israeli public should accept the deal because Israel has already achieved its war aims against Hamas.

“The people of Israel should know they can make this offer without any further risk to our own security because they’ve devastated Hamas forces over the past eight months,” the president said. “At this point, Hamas no longer is capable of carrying out another Oct. 7.”

The senior U.S. official repeated that point and said Israel’s military operations since Oct. 7 made the deal possible.

“I think the reason the Israelis are able to make this offer is because of some of the success they’ve had in degrading Hamas’s military capacity,” the senior official said. “I don’t think this offer would have been possible three months ago.”

Hamas’s leaders “are dead or in deep hiding,” the senior official added.

Biden did not name Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or any other Israeli politicians but said that Israeli leaders should stand by the deal despite some members of the Israeli cabinet opposing a withdrawal from Gaza.

“I know there are those in Israel who will not agree with this plan and will call for the war to continue indefinitely. Some are even in the government coalition,” Biden said. “They’ve made it clear they want to occupy Gaza. They want to keep fighting for years, and the hostages are not a priority to them. Well, I’ve urged the leadership of Israel to stand behind this deal despite whatever pressure comes.”

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir are among the Israeli politicians who have called for some form of a permanent Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip post-Oct. 7.

Biden also addressed the Israeli people and said he was speaking as someone who has had “a lifelong commitment to Israel.”

“I ask you to take a step back and think what will happen if this moment is lost,” Biden said. “Indefinite war in pursuit of an unidentified notion of total victory will only bog down Israel in Gaza, draining the economic, military and human resources, and furthering Israel’s isolation in the world.”

“That will not bring hostages home,” he said. “That will not bring an enduring defeat of Hamas. That will not bring Israel lasting security.”

‘I need your help,’ says the president

Biden claimed that the deal could also lead to calm on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, and eventually, to a normalization of diplomatic relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia.

After the speech, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office issued a statement confirming that Netanyahu approved the proposal. “The government of Israel is united in its desire to return the hostages as soon as possible and is working to achieve this goal,” the office stated.

“The prime minister authorized the negotiating team to present a proposal to that end, which would also enable Israel to continue the war until all its objectives are achieved, including the destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities,” Netanyahu’s office added. “The actual proposal put forward by Israel, including the conditional transition from one phase to the next, allows Israel to uphold these principles.”

The war in Gaza has created a significant rift within the Democratic party and prompted substantial street protests against Biden and other administration officials.

Biden campaign re-election events are now routinely disrupted by anti-Israel protesters with chants like “Genocide Joe has got to go,” and Arab-American and left-wing anti-Israel voters could play a key role in swing states like Michigan in the November presidential election.

Biden concluded the speech with a call to end the war.

“I need your help,” Biden said. “Everyone who wants peace now must raise their voices. Let the leaders know they should take this deal. Work to make it real, make it lasting and forge a better future out of the tragic terror attack and war.”

“It’s time for this war to end,” he added. “For the day after to begin.”

NETUREI KARTA

Who are the antizionist Jews aligning with Israel's enemies?

By supporting groups that openly call for the destruction of Israel, the Neturei Karta are effectively selling out their fellow Jews and becoming "token Jews" by providing convenient cover for the most extreme and antisemitic elements to claim that they are not antisemitic, but merely antizionist.

 

Israel Hayom

May 31, 2024

 

 

Members of the antizionist Hassidic Jews group, Neturei Karta, carry signs during a rally against the creation of the state of Israel in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighbourhood on May 14, 2024, as the country marks the 76th anniversary of its creation  

Opposing the Jewish state from within

In the complex and often divisive landscape of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there exists a small but highly controversial group of Jews who have taken an extreme stance against the very existence of the State of Israel. This sect, known as the Neturei Karta, Aramaic for "guardians of the city," has gained an outsized reputation due to its radical beliefs and actions, which have often put them at odds with the broader Jewish community.

The Neturei Karta's staunch opposition to Zionism and their advocacy for the dismantling of the world's only Jewish state have left many in the Jewish community and beyond outraged and perplexed. What could possibly drive a Jewish group, especially an ultra-religious one, to take such an extreme position against their own people's self-determination, even going as far as to endorse antisemitic groups and undermine the safety and security of the Jewish community?

The roots of religious antizionism

To understand the Neturei Karta's ideology, we must delve into the historical and theological context of the relationship between Judaism and Zionism. While the early Zionist leaders were mostly secular and focused on the practical realities of building a state, many devout Jews wrestled with the theological issues surrounding the establishment of a modern Jewish state.

Religious Zionists saw the creation of the State of Israel as the first miraculous step in the coming of the Messianic era, a fulfillment of the Jewish people's long-held desire to return to their ancestral homeland. However, religious antizionists, like the Neturei Karta, believed that the Zionists had overstepped their bounds, taking "God's job" and building a secular state instead of a theocracy governed by Jewish law.

 

 

Arab-Israeli Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the Arab-Israeli Islamic Movement (L) and members of Neturei Karta, Ultra-Orthodox Jews who oppose Zionism, sit in a protest tent in East Jerusalem on October 6, 2009

The three oaths: A theological barrier to Zionism

At the heart of the Neturei Karta's opposition to Zionism is an obscure discussion in the Talmud regarding the "three oaths" that govern the Jewish people's relationship with God. While many Jews consider these oaths symbolic, the Neturei Karta see them as a religiously binding contract.

First, Jews are forbidden to return to their homeland en masse while in exile. Second, Jews are forbidden to rebel against the governments of the countries where they live. Third, the world's nations are forbidden to persecute Jews too harshly.

In the Neturei Karta's view, the establishment of the modern State of Israel and the mass immigration of Jews to their ancestral homeland violated the first two oaths, and they believe that this violation has led God to nullify the third oath via the Holocaust. Essentially, this fringe group believes that the murder of six million of their people was a divine punishment for Israeli statehood.

The Neturei Karta's extremist alliances

The Neturei Karta's rigid and uncompromising ideology has led them to form alliances with some of the most extreme and antisemitic groups in the world. In the 1930s, during the Arab Riots in Palestine, the Neturei Karta refused to cooperate with the Zionist paramilitaries like Hagganah, even as hundreds of Jews were being murdered. This hardline stance ultimately led to the formation of the Neturei Karta as a splinter group in 1938.

After the 1948 War of Independence, Leib Weisfish, a leader of the group, crossed into the enemy territory of Jordan to petition for weapons to fight Zionists. He was unsuccessful but set a dangerous precedent. The Neturei Karta has partnered with Israel's enemies ever since.

Over the years, the Neturei Karta have continued to align themselves with Israel's enemies, including the PLO leader Yassar Arafat, Hezbollah, Hamas, and even former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has openly called for the violent destruction of the Jewish state.

 

 Delegates of Neturei Karta, Orthodox Jews opposed to Zionism, are escorted by Hezbollah bodyguards during their solidarity march with Hezbollah and Palestinian factions for a "Global March to Jerusalem" to mark Land Day near Beaufort Castle in Arnoun village in southern Lebanon on March 30, 2012  

 

Weaponizing Judaism for nefarious purposes

The Neturei Karta's actions are not just misguided, but actively harmful to the Jewish community and the cause of peace in the region. By aligning themselves with groups that openly call for the destruction of Israel and the targeting of Jewish civilians, the Neturei Karta are effectively selling out their fellow Jews and becoming "token Jews" by providing convenient cover for the most extreme and antisemitic elements to claim that they are not antisemitic, but merely antizionist.

This tactic of "weaponizing" their Jewish identity and appearance to lend credibility to their cause is a clever but deeply troubling strategy. It allows the Neturei Karta to present themselves as the "real" representatives of the Jewish people, even as they undermine the safety and security of the Jewish community as a whole.

Confronting the Neturei Karta's influence

The Jewish community and others must confront the Neturei Karta's dangerous influence and ideology head-on. While theological disagreement is a long-standing tradition in Judaism, the Neturei Karta's willingness to align themselves with Israel's most ardent enemies is a line that cannot be crossed. The wider Jewish community must make it clear that the Neturei Karta's actions and beliefs are not representative of the Jewish people.

YOUNG PEOPLE LIVE IN A DIFFERENT WORLD

“Today it’s Israel, tomorrow it could be Taiwan”

Taiwan in the shadow of the Chinese threat and in solidarity with Israel – an exclusive Israel Today report.

 

By Yossi Aloni 

 

Israel Today

May 31, 2024

 

A pilot is photographed operating an aircraft of the Air Force under the Eastern Theatre Command of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) during a combat readiness patrol and 'Joint Sword' exercises around Taiwan in April 2023

 

“People like me know the threat from China. But I have to say that the younger generation has never experienced this kind of threat. People like me at my age are ready. In the shadow of the threat from China, we are always ready. Young people live in a different world, they have never experienced a disaster, except natural disasters. We have two very important examples before us: one is the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel. We are trying to tell young people: today it’s Israel, tomorrow it’s Ukraine. It could also be Taiwan, so prepare yourself.”

That’s what Taiwan Deputy Foreign Minister Tien Chung-Kwang told us as China began a large-scale military exercise around Taiwan, practicing a siege of the island and simulating attacks against key military targets. The exercises began just three days after the inauguration of new Taiwanese President Lai Chingde (also known as William Lai), who, like his predecessor Tsai Ing-Wen, is firmly opposed to unification with the communist regime in China. Lai’s inauguration speech, in which he called on China to stop threatening and declared that the island’s future would be determined solely by its 23 million people, was strongly condemned in Beijing.

Chinese media reported that dozens of fighter jets with “live missiles” took part in the exercise, while CNN said there were about 30 aircraft. A senior Taiwanese security official told the US broadcaster that the fighter jets had crossed the so-called “median line,” which extends into the detection range of Taiwanese air defense systems. It is not an official border line, but China does not recognize it, and until a few years ago its planes and ships avoided crossing the line that runs through the Taiwan Strait, a sea route very important to the global economy that separates the island from mainland China.

 

Swearing-in ceremony for the 16th President and Vice President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), May 20, 2024.

 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called it a “disgraceful” speech, and Chinese state media labeled the new president’s remarks as “very offensive” and responded by saying that the island’s future should be decided by all 1.4 billion Chinese people, not just the island’s 23 million inhabitants (even though China is not a democracy). A Chinese military statement said the drills were “a harsh punishment for the separatist actions of Taiwan’s independence forces and a stark warning against interference and provocation by foreign powers” – a message, of course, to Taiwan’s most important ally, the United States.

According to CNN, about 12 warships were deployed around Taiwan during the exercise, and about 12 more Chinese coast guard ships were sent near the smaller islands in the strait, which are under Taiwanese control and border mainland China. The exercise was codenamed “Joint Sword 2024A,” and various media outlets point out that the “A” in the name indicates that China may conduct more exercises in the future.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry condemned China for the military exercises, calling them “senseless provocations that undermine peace and stability in the region.” It said it was pursuing the Chinese armed forces and had sent fighter jets into the air and put land, sea and missile troops on alert in response. “We are prepared with determination and restraint. We are not seeking confrontation, but we will not avoid it either. We are confident that we can maintain national security,” the Defense Ministry said.

 

Taiwan’s new President William Lai at his swearing-in ceremony on May 20, 2024. 

 

For the new president, it is the first test of office, into which he was sworn in just early last week. Lai, 64, had served as deputy to outgoing President Tsai Ing-Wen for the past four years and succeeded her as chairman of the Progressive Democratic Party, which has been in power for more than a decade. Lai, a trained doctor, called on China in his inaugural speech not to threaten the island’s democratic government. “By standing side by side with other democratic countries, we can create a peaceful world community that can demonstrate the power of deterrence and prevent war, and we can achieve our goal – peace through strength,” he said.

In response to the Chinese military exercise, Lai’s spokesman said: “It is regrettable that China is threatening Taiwan’s democracy and freedom, as well as regional peace and stability, through unilateral military provocations. In the face of external threats and challenges, we will continue to defend democracy.” The President’s spokesman, like the Ministry of Defense, stressed that Taiwan is confident in its ability to defend itself. President Lai himself visited a military base and raised his fists in the air together with the fighters there to demonstrate strength.

 

Swearing-in ceremony for the 16th President and Vice President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), May 20, 2024. 

 

Taiwan is the island where the government of the “Republic of China” took refuge after it was defeated in the civil war against Mao Zedong’s Communist Party in 1949. Since then, the majority of Taiwanese residents have opposed life under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party, and the Taiwanese government has stressed that it alone has the right to decide its future and has firmly rejected pressure from Beijing for reunification.

The communist regime in China has never given up on the possibility of Beijing taking over Taiwan by force, and although President Xi Jinping has called for a process of “peaceful reunification,” he has made it clear that China’s takeover of Taiwan is ultimately “inevitable.” Over the past two years, China has already conducted several large-scale exercises around Taiwan, including in retaliation for a visit by then-Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi in 2022.

The Chinese exercise surprised me while I was on the island, where I was invited to the presidential inauguration. The truth is that there was no sign of anything on the streets. People continued with their lives.

 

Swearing-in of the 16th President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), May 20, 2024. 

 

But more and more people I’ve spoken to understand that we’re entering a new era in which the likelihood of a Chinese invasion of the island is increasing. The Taiwanese aren’t taking any chances. They’ve taken two important steps: They’ve extended the military service for young people from four to 12 months. “This is probably the first step we’ve taken to make young people understand that this is a real threat that we have to take very seriously,” Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister said. In addition to extending the duration of military service, Taiwan has also increased investment in defense from 2 percent of the GDP to 2.5 percent last year. The island’s ruling party has set a goal of increasing the defense budget to 3 percent.

“China’s drills are a show of force for the sake of this new government,” Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister told me. “We have to understand that there is now a broad consensus in the world about how to ensure security, peace and stability in Taiwan. This is an important issue for all democracies. Such actions endanger peace and stability. We are not provocateurs. Our main goal is to maintain the status quo. We want to send a message to everyone in the world who is trying to destroy the status quo. That is how I see the exercises that China is conducting. We are building our own defense and trying to make it clear to the world where we stand. We will keep the economy going,” he added.

The Taiwanese understand what happened to Israel on October 7. For them, it only strengthened the identity of values ​​- the alliance of democracies, liberal countries that promote human rights. The democracies of the free world were under attack by authoritarian regimes and needed to help each other.

After October 7, Taiwan embraced Israel. Taiwan’s representative in Israel, Abbi Lee, donated over a million dollars to Israel, including food packages for families, donations to Magen David Adom, and security equipment for the Center for Local Government. Not everyone in parliament was happy about these donations – and there were inquiries from members of the opposition about which units of the IDF Taiwan had donated to. There have also been some demonstrations against Israel in Taiwan. But there have also been large solidarity events, including an emotional event by the Christian community in Taipei last Saturday.

And as if that wasn’t enough, the Taiwan Office even participated in an agricultural volunteer day to help with the harvest and took a trip to the north of Israel together with the Confrontation Line Forum the represents communities under siege near the Lebanon border. The Israeli mission in Taiwan has received many inquiries from Taiwanese citizens. A Taiwanese blogger who visited Israel after October 7 even published a book in Chinese about October 7, which will help Israel gain more exposure in China.

Taiwanese admire Israel’s resilience and want to learn from it. After October 7, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense set up a task force to study the war between Israel and Hamas. The task force was created with the understanding that intelligence is a key factor in preparing for possible enemy attacks, Taiwan’s defense minister explained. In other words, Taiwanese want to make sure they too are not caught off guard, as Israelis were last year.

Taiwan’s deputy foreign minister said his country supports Israel’s right to self-defense after October 7. “The October 7 attack not only hit Israel, but the entire region. It set off a chain reaction. We learn from what is happening in Israel on all issues of international cooperation and mobilizing allies. We strongly condemned the Hamas attack. Our stance against terrorism is clear. Any attack by terrorists is obscene, and when North Korea fires missiles, we condemn it in every way,” Kwang added.

My Taiwanese companions were amazed to hear about the dramatic night of April 13, when Israeli interceptors stopped hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles fired by Iran at Israel. “Israeli technology is amazing. Exactly what we need,” said one of my Taiwanese companions. But he also knows that there is no chance of Israel providing military assistance to Taiwan. The last thing Israel needs is to get into a fight with the Chinese. Incidentally, Israel has already turned down a request from Taiwan to help train an active reserve formation—something Israel specializes in.

 

Tien Chung-Kwang, Taiwan’s Deputy Foreign Minister. 

 

I asked the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs how Taiwanese see themselves. He replied: “In the past, if you asked people here, half said they were Chinese and half said they were Taiwanese. Today, over 70 percent say they are Taiwanese. Period. And fewer and fewer say they are Chinese. In the past, 40 percent of our exports went to China. That is no longer the case. Since 2016, we have introduced a new policy to diversify our business in 18 countries. Exports to China have dropped to 33 percent.”

For Kwang, it is important to emphasize that Taiwan sees itself as a source of good for humanity. That was the case during the Corona pandemic, when Taiwan was the first country to inform the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of the virus in Huan, though the WHO ignored it. At that time, Taiwan donated 50 million masks to the world. But today, under pressure from China, it is prevented from attending World Health Organization meetings even as an observer, although it has much to contribute. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus, Taiwan has trained doctors and medical personnel from 80 countries in its hospitals, successfully fighting the pandemic.

Despite the great distance, Taiwan provided humanitarian aid in Ukraine and, after natural disasters, also in Turkey and Japan.

“We know that China is much bigger and much stronger,” the deputy foreign minister added. “We know that, but we have more support in the democratic world. What China does affects not only Taiwan – it can affect the stability and security of the entire region. Fifty percent of world trade passes through this region. A blockade of Taiwan can affect many countries in the region. It can also lead to harassment of other countries, and that is why the world should take this to heart.”

The deputy foreign minister warns that a continued blockade of Taiwan could impact the export of semiconductor chips from the island to the world. Taiwan is considered a computer chip powerhouse and is one of the largest chip manufacturers in the world.

What lessons do you draw from the Hong Kong model, especially when China promises peaceful reunification with Taiwan?

“China promised a country with two systems. Hong Kong actually joined China. China promised not to change the system in Hong Kong for at least 50 years. And what happened? They changed the whole system there. Now they are offering Taiwan the same model. But they messed it up. In the end, China’s promises are empty. It is unfortunate what happened to Hong Kong, but Taiwan has learned its lesson well.”

In the island nation, there are fears that Taiwan could be the next victim after Ukraine and Israel. And they are preparing for war – with a focus on defense. In the streets of the capital Taipei, signs point the way to the nearest bunker. Recently, residents received a disturbing text message warning them about the launch of a Chinese rocket or satellite into space – something Taiwanese are not used to. The US Congress recently passed an $8 billion aid package for Taiwan—the bipartisan majority for aid to Taiwan was even larger than the majority for the aid package for Israel. Taiwanese people take heart from this when they talk to us about the possibility that American support for Taiwan could decrease or be stopped completely after Donald Trump returns to the White House.

People we spoke to on the street were divided about the threat of a Chinese invasion. Chen Yun, a shopkeeper in central Taipei, is not worried: “There will be peace. There will be no war,” she says confidently. And I remind her that the day before the war, almost all residents of Ukraine were sure that Russia would not invade. John Lu, a local student, on the other hand, says that Chinese aggression is very worrying, and that people are afraid of war.

 

Swearing-in ceremony for the 16th President and Vice President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), May 20, 2024. 

 

The Taiwanese army is being modernized with Western weapons and is preparing for scenarios of a military invasion by China. The regular Taiwanese army comprises 180,000 soldiers and about 1.7 million reservists, according to publications. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Taiwan has been training its reserve forces. Taiwan’s strategy is to deter China from invading and, if it does invade, to delay it through asymmetric warfare. In previous polls, 73 percent of Taiwanese said they would defend the island if China invaded.

Recently, the Taiwanese even built their own attack submarine for the first time, called the “Sea Monster.” The emphasis is on deterrence and defense – not attack.

President Lai’s inauguration was a celebration of democracy, a veritable carnival of music and dance, but, as mentioned, also a show of force with soldiers, 21-gun cannon salutes and fighter planes. The impressed vice president shed a tear. At the end of the ceremony, the President and his Vice President sang and danced with children.

 

Swearing-in ceremony for the 16th President and Vice President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), May 20, 2024. 

 

An honor guard of soldiers throwing their rifles in the air was followed by dance, music and acrobatic groups, baseball players, judo teams, a motorcade of scooters, hip-hop dancers, Taiwanese rap artists, children’s groups and even paper kites and a giant horse puppet that spit smoke. New and old. Modern and traditional. Beauty as an expression of strength and determination. The Taiwanese deliberately chose a ceremony with many children and young people – to convey a message: the government is on the side of the young people who want to preserve their independence from China – against the opposition and the older generation who want to unite with the Chinese.

HAMAS CONTINUES TO MAKE DELUSIONAL DEMEANDS

Hamas: No hostage talks unless Israel ends war

Israel previously denounced demands by Hamas to end the war in return for the freedom of some of the hostages as “delusional.”

 

Israel Today 

May 31, 2024

 

Screenshot from a Palestinian Islamic Jihad propaganda video showing hostage Sasha Trufanov released on May 30, 2024.

 

The Hamas terror organization reiterated on Thursday night that it intends to end ongoing negotiations with Israel, which would see the hostages being held in the Gaza Strip released in exchange for a ceasefire and the release of terrorists in Israeli custody, unless the Jewish state first ends the war in Gaza.

Hamas “will not accept to be part of this policy by continuing negotiations in light of the aggression, siege, starvation and genocide of our people,” the organizations said, according to Reuters.

“Today, we informed the mediators of our clear position that if the occupation stops its war and aggression against our people in Gaza, our readiness (is) to reach a complete agreement that includes a comprehensive exchange deal,” the terror group said.

Of the 252 people whom Hamas and other terrorists kidnapped on Oct. 7 and took to Gaza, 125 remain in the Strip.

Israel previously said that Hamas’s demand to end the war in return for the freedom of some hostages was “delusional.”

John Kirby, the National Security Council communications advisor, told reporters on Wednesday that there is a new proposal as part of renewed indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.

“Another proposal now is on the table, a fresh one, and we are doing everything we can to see if we can’t get that advanced because it could lead to the ceasefire in a temporary way that could also lead to something more sustained,” Kirby said.

“Our view and our opinion is we got to get this hostage deal now. The time is now to do it, to get that temporary ceasefire, and to end this conflict as soon as possible,” Kirby added.

Also on Wednesday, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group released a second propaganda video of 30-year-old Alexander “Sasha” Trufanov, who was abducted from his family home in Nir Oz on Oct. 7.

The two-minute clip—Trufanov’s second sign of life this week after 236 days in captivity—was produced by Islamic Jihad for propaganda purposes. JNS is not publishing the footage.

In the video, terrorists force Trufanov to speak in favor of protests against the Israeli government and urge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow Qatar’s Al Jazeera to broadcast from the Jewish state.

Trufanov is an engineer employed at Annapurna Labs, an Israeli chip company that was acquired by Amazon in 2015. Friends have repeatedly tried to convince the US tech giant to demand its employee’s release.

Jeff Bezos, who founded Amazon, also owns The Washington Post.

UNRWA GIVEN NOTICE TO GET OUT OF JERUSALEM

Israel gives UNRWA 30 days to evacuate Jerusalem facility

The Israel Land Authority found that UNRWA was holding “without consent” 36 dunams of land in the capital’s Ma’alot Dafna neighborhood.

 

By David Isaac 

 

Israel Today

May 31, 2024

 

 

A sign protesters placed on the outside of UNRWA Jerusalem offices, March 20, 2024.

 

The Israel Land Authority notified the UN relief agency UNRWA that it must immediately vacate state land and buildings in northern Jerusalem, which it had occupied illegally.

The Israel Land Authority is also demanding retroactive compensation of $27 million shekels (~$7 million) for the years the United Nations Relief and Works Agency used the land.

Yitzchak Goldknopf, minister of construction and housing, announced the decision on Wednesday afternoon, at the annual meeting of the Israel Bar Association in Eilat.

In a letter sent Wednesday to UNRWA’s leadership, the ILA said: “According to our inspection and the information we have, you are occupying and holding without the consent of the Israel Land Authority, a division of land in an area of ​​approximately 36 dunams [3.6 hectares, or 8.9 acres] located in the Ma’alot Dafna neighborhood in Jerusalem.

“There are buildings on the land that were built without a legal permit,” the letter continued.

“You are hereby required to immediately stop any unlawful use, destroy everything you have built in violation of any law, vacate the land of any person and/or object and return the land to the authority, and this within 30 days from the date of this letter,” the Israel Land Authority said.

The agency’s Jerusalem headquarters is in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, north of the Old City.

Zionist NGO Im Tirtzu, which has protested for months outside UNRWA’s Jerusalem offices, celebrated the move. “We are excited to learn that the public pressure has borne fruit. Kudos to Minister Goldknopf for his determination,” the group said in a statement.

The Knesset on Wednesday passed in preliminary reading a bill designating UNRWA as a terrorist organization, and another bill ithat seeks to strip UNRWA of various immunities, involving among other things taxation, imports and exports and lawsuits.

In January, Israel revealed that UNRWA staff took part in the Oct. 7 massacre.

Also in January, a comprehensive report published by UN Watch documented a Telegram group for UNRWA teachers in Gaza in which many glorified the massacre and advocated the execution of Israeli hostages.

A Nov. 6, 2023, report by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) revealed evidence of the connection between the curriculum sponsored by UNRWA and the atrocities committed on Oct. 7, reflecting years of hate taught in its schools.

“Time and again we have warned that UNRWA staff and school materials have created a breeding ground for terror,” IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff said.

The U.S. is UNRWA’s largest donor, disbursing almost $1 billion in funds to the UN agency over the last five years, followed by the European Union and other countries, Sheff said.

SIX BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS AND POLICIES SUBVERT ISRAEL'S RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENSE

Does Biden reject Israel’s right to self-defense?

The administration’s effort to stymie military action, coupled with its continued criticism as to how Israel is conducting a just war against a terror group, puts the Jewish state at risk in the region and the world. 

 

By Caroline Glick

 

JNS

May 31, 2024

 

Israeli tanks roll into center of Rafah on May 28, 2024

 

The most basic function of all governments is to provide for the collective defense of the governed. The most basic foundation of sovereignty is a state’s right to defend its country from aggression. Take away a state’s right to self-defense, and you’ve effectively transformed it into a non-sovereign state.

Six Biden administration actions and policies subvert Israel’s right to self-defense. Whether analysed separately or all together, they make it difficult to avoid the conclusion that the administration’s ultimate end is to undermine to the point of ending Israel’s right to self-defense, and so end Israel’s sovereignty, for all intents and purposes.

The six policies the administration is undertaking relate to the battle in Rafah, Gaza’s border town with Egypt; its posture vis-à-vis the International Criminal Court amidst the ICC’s stated intention of issuing arrest warrants against Israel’s leaders on false war crimes charges; the administration’s effort to coerce Israel into accepting Palestinian Authority control over post-war Gaza as a stepping stone towards the swift establishment of a Palestinian state in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, and parts of Jerusalem; the administration’s policies in relation to Saudi-Israeli normalization; and finally, the administration’s determination to block Israel from taking any effective action to prevent Iran from building a nuclear arsenal.

1. Rafah

Sunday, the IDF carried out an airstrike targeting two senior Hamas terrorists in Rafah. Some 45 people Hamas asserts were civilians were also killed in the bombing. Immediately after the incident, the administration harshly criticized Israel for the operation. Vice President Kamala Harris said “the word tragic doesn’t even begin to describe” the loss of human life in the incident. Other senior officials voiced similar revulsion at Israel’s alleged killing of innocent civilians as a result of its killing of two senior terrorists. The U.S. State Department announced it would investigate the incident, which it referred to as “heartbreaking.”

Within moments of the airstrike, IDF forces on the ground were reporting that the fire that caused the deaths of the additional Palestinians was sparked by a secondary explosion. Early assessments were that the explosion was caused by Hamas rockets hidden adjacent to the encampment.

It was also clear, immediately after the bombing, that the operation was not carried out in a humanitarian safe zone, as Hamas alleged. At Israel’s urging, in recent weeks nearly a million residents of Rafah fled to the zones, which the IDF set up to protect them from the crossfire of battle. The bombing was carried out in the war zone, where civilians had already left.

It was also known immediately after the incident that the Air Force used the smallest ordnance permitted to limit to the greatest degree the possibility of the attack causing additional deaths beyond the two terror commanders Israel targeted.

In the two days after the incident, the IDF released intercepted phone conversations between people on the ground who stated outright that the fire in the tents that caused the additional deaths was the result of a secondary explosion of Hamas munitions. Israel played no role in the carnage. Hamas was entirely responsible for everything that had happened.

Given the fact that Israel’s careful prosecution of the war has led to the smallest ratio of civilians to militants killed in the history of modern war, its ally, the United States, could have been expected to give it the benefit of the doubt and not rush to pile on international condemnations of the Jewish state based entirely on Hamas footage and propaganda.

But the fact is that for months, Washington did everything possible to block Israel from carrying out its vital operation in Rafah, knowing all along that Israel cannot defeat Hamas if it leaves the international border under Hamas’s control. The administration’s latest effort to delegitimize Israel’s operation in Rafah by embracing Hamas’s quickly discredited rendition of events follows the administration’s now-established pattern of undermining the operation.

The administration’s tireless efforts to first block Israel from seizing control over Rafah and then embrace Hamas’s lies to criminalize the Jewish state signal that its opposition is not about humanitarian concerns.

If the United States successfully coerces Israel to abstain from controlling Rafah, including the border zone, then Hamas will survive. And if Hamas stays in power, Israel will lose the war. So by undermining Israel’s operation in Rafah, the administration is protecting Hamas from destruction while effectively criminalizing Israel’s war to protect itself from further aggression against Hamas.

2. International Criminal Court

The International Criminal Court has been trying to build cases criminalizing Israel and denying it the right to self-defense for at least a decade. Its pursuit of criminal charges have taken many forms and moved in many directions. It is notable, therefore, that when ICC prosecutor Karim Khan began indicating his intention to issue arrest warrants against Israel’s leaders a month ago, his claims ignored years’ long ICC investigations of Israel, and instead, simply parroted the administration’s rhetorical assaults on Israel. For months, the administration has been accusing Israel of denying sufficient “humanitarian aid” to the Palestinians, causing them to live in conditions of acute food insecurity that at a minimum border on starvation. The administration has also consistently accused Israel of killing “too many” civilians

The first allegation was never true. The second is entirely subjective, and given that the civilian-to-terrorist death ratio in Gaza of 1.3:1 is far lower than any similar ratio in the history of modern warfare, the U.S. designation is absurd

The U.S. allegation relating to humanitarian aid formed the basis of the administration’s consistent demand that Israel permit ever-increasing quantities of food, water and medicine into Gaza. That demand, which Israel acceded to, guaranteed Hamas constant resupply. Since Hamas remains the most powerful Palestinian force on the ground, it has been able to maintain total control over the aid and used that to maintain its power over the population. In other words, the U.S. demand that Israel provide all but limitless quantities of goods to enter Gaza protected Hamas and its regime from destruction.

Khan announced on May 20 that he intends to charge Israel’s leaders with war crimes for starving Gazans by preventing sufficient humanitarian aid from entering and for “killing civilians.” It’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that in determining what to charge Israel with, the ICC opted to align itself with the administration

His decision seems to have paid off. On Wednesday, Israel was blindsided when contrary to explicit messaging from U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken in testimony before the Senate on May 21, National Security Council communications advisor John Kirby announced on Wednesday that the administration opposes the bill now moving through Congress to sanction ICC personnel for advancing an unlawful and scurrilous prosecution of Israeli leaders.

If the ICC’s bid to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for the crime of carrying out a just, lawful war for Israel’s survival is successful, the ICC will deny Israel’s right to self-defense and so delegitimize its very existence as a sovereign state. By refusing to support sanctions on the ICC for its unlawful, discriminatory action against Israel, the administration is signaling that it supports the ICC’s goal.

3. Gaza Pier

Two months after President Joe Biden promised to build a temporary pier in Gaza to massively expand the amount of humanitarian aid going to the local population, the structure was declared operational. In mid-May, the first convoy of aid drove off the causeway, after vessels along the pier fitted them with pallets of aid. Those pallets were seized and plundered by a mob shortly after they left the pier. On May 26, the pier disintegrated as its components fell apart and began sinking or floating to the shore. Vessels deployed to repair it were similarly marooned on the Israeli coast. And now the entire project is under repair in Ashdod.

As former U.S. naval intelligence analyst J.E. Dyer explained this week, the pier never was supposed to have the capacity to supply more than a fraction of the humanitarian aid the U.S. insists that Gaza requires. Given this state of affairs, it becomes difficult to avoid the conclusion that the pier project was never about providing food, water and medicine to a suffering population in a war zone. Dyer argues convincingly that the purpose of the pier is strategic, rather than tactical. By deploying a pier to the coast, the United States directly undermines Israel’s ability to operate independently in Gaza generally and to maintain its maritime blockade of Gaza specifically. As Dyer notes, Israel first imposed a maritime blockade of Gaza following its first military exchange with the Hamas-controlled territory in 2009. The blockade is lawful—indeed required—under international law since Hamas is controlled by a terrorist organization.

The move to impose the pier on Israel is being conducted to advance the Biden administration’s goal of “protecting” the Palestinians from Israel rather than helping America’s ally achieve its goal of eliminating Hamas as a military and political entity in Gaza. Consequently, imposing the pier on Israel is a hostile action. Kirby insisted on Wednesday that the administration would not allow the damage that the pier incurred in its first week of operation—or its steep cost of $320 million before it disintegrated—to stop the administration from maintaining the project.

4. Palestinian statehood

In a press appearance on Wednesday, Blinken addressed Israel’s unwillingness to agree to the administration’s plan for the “day after” the war in Gaza. Since the outset of the war, Biden and Blinken have sought to coerce Netanyahu to accept their plan to transfer control over Gaza to the Palestinian Authority. Netanyahu rejected the plan insisting that Israel will not replace “Hamastan” with “Fatahstan.”

As Netanyahu’s stark description of the U.S. effort indicated, the transfer of responsibility over Gaza to the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority involves transferring responsibility over the area to a terrorist organization that shares Hamas’s goal of annihilating Israel and has, in fact, been a full and steady partner in Hamas’s war effort. True, the administration operates under the delusion that Fatah terrorists in the P.A. are better than Hamas terrorists, but Israel does not share (nor can it afford to) in the Americans’ delusions.

Moreover, since Hamas is more powerful than Fatah, any transfer of power to Fatah will involve transferring power to Hamas. Indeed, P.A. leaders themselves have made this clear repeatedly by emphasizing their goal of integrating Hamas.

Finally, if Israel were to accept the U.S. plan, then the restoration of Palestinian rule in Gaza after Oct. 7 would be universally viewed as a massive victory for jihad. It would tell everyone in the Muslim world and beyond that while talking with Israel will get them nowhere, committing a one-day Holocaust will result in a U.S.-backed strategic victory over the Jews and begin the countdown for the ultimate destruction of Israel.

5. Normalized relations with Saudi Arabia

The 2020 Abraham Accords, which former President Donald Trump ushered in with Netanyahu and the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan marked a historic and strategic shift in the Arab-Israel conflict. For more than a generation, peace between Israel and the Arab world was blocked by the Palestinian veto. It dictated that no Arab state would be allowed to have normal, peaceful relations with the Jewish state as long as the Palestinians refused to first make peace with Israel. The Abraham Accords canceled the Palestinian veto, and permitted Israel and the participating Arab states to pursue their joint interests as regional partners and neighbors while leaving the door open for the Palestinians to join them whenever they are ready.

Since entering office, the Biden administration pursued a policy of restoring the Palestinian veto. Through a series of bilateral talks with Abraham Accords partners and through U.S.-sponsored summits, Blinken worked assiduously to place the Palestinians at the center of every meeting agenda and transform the accords from a regional cooperation framework into a means to pressure Israel to make concessions to Palestinian terrorists or risk undermining its relations with its Arab partners.

In the months preceding Hamas’s invasion and slaughter on Oct. 7, the State Department made clear that Israel’s goal of normalizing its relations with Saudi Arabia would be contingent on Israel agreeing to a clear path towards Palestinian statehood. This has remained the U.S. position since then.

Post-Oct. 7, the vast majority of Israelis recognize the implications of Palestinian statehood for Israel’s survival, and as a result, some 90% of Israeli Jews oppose Palestinian statehood. All the same, the administration is insisting that normalization with Saudi Arabia would be the consolation prize for submitting to the United States, enabling Hamas to survive and paving the way for a Palestinian state. Aside from being a non-starter for Israel and far from advancing the cause of peace, the American plan for Israeli-Saudi normalization would destroy peace. The U.S. position implies that the only way for Israel to achieve peace with its neighbors is to lose the war. But if Israel loses the war to Hamas, no Arab state, including those who already have peace agreements with Israel, will wish to accept Israel as a permanent entity of the region. The Abraham Accords, together with the peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan, would be rendered dead-letter deals. Without a right to defend itself—and in this case, that means defeating Hamas—Israel is of no value to its regional neighbors.

6. Iran

Seemingly on a daily basis, Iranian officials threaten to attack Israel with nuclear weapons. This week, former head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, parliament member Fereydoun Abbasi said, “We have the technology to produce atomic bombs and the ability to launch satellites. If the enemy threatens, we will fight.”

This week, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran’s supply of enriched uranium is 30 times greater than the amount agreed upon in the 2015 nuclear deal the United States and its allies concluded with Iran.

Last month, IAEA director Rafael Grossi warned that Iran had enough highly enriched uranium for “several” nuclear bombs.

Although officially, the Biden administration is committed to preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, it has done everything in its power to remove obstacles from Tehran’s path. It has provided Iran with the financial means to advance its bomb program by not enforcing U.S. sanctions against Iranian oil and gas exports; by unfreezing billions in Iranian assets; and by paying Iran billions more to secure the freedom of American hostages.

 

 

This week The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration is pressuring its allies at the IAEA not to censure Iran for its non-compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in the upcoming Board of Governors meeting.

As for Israel, the administration tried to force Israel not to respond to Iran’s massive missile and drone strike against Israel on the night of April 13-14. When Israel finally responded, due to massive U.S. pressure, it did nothing more than signal its capabilities. Iran incurred no damage to its nuclear, missile or regime installations in retribution for its unprovoked, unprecedented and massive attack on Israel.

In interfering and seeking to block altogether Israel’s retaliation for the Iranian strike, the administration used its position as Jerusalem’s ostensible ally to subvert its strategic independence and ability to defend itself effectively against Iranian aggression. In so doing, the United States empowered Iran against Israel and emboldened it to move forward with its nuclear-weapons program, which the U.S. is using its diplomatic power to protect at the IAEA.

All of the administration’s actions against Israel in Gaza—throughout the region and in relation to Iran—undermine and subvert Israel’s sovereign right to self-defense. When seen together, the conclusion that this is the Biden administration’s actual goal becomes impossible to avoid.

WHEN PEOPLE ACCURATELY POINT OUT THAT GEORGE SOROS HAS FUNDED FAR-LEFT DISTRICT ATTORNEYS, THE LEFT SHRIEKS ABOUT ANTISEMITISM

Jewish groups respond to Trump guilty verdict

The RJC called it a "political prosecution," and DMFI said a convicted felon shouldn't hold the presidency. 

 

JNS

May 30, 2024

 

Former President Donald Trump arrives at Trump Tower after his conviction on May 30, 2024 in New York City.

 

Jewish groups on both sides of the aisle responded to a New York jury’s conviction of former President Donald Trump on all 34 felony charges.

“Without question, this is a political prosecution of a political opponent.
It’s a weaponization of the legal system,” stated Matt Brooks, CEO of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

“The case is deeply flawed and will likely be overturned on appeal,” Brooks added. “The Democrats think this will hurt Trump, the reality is that it will likely propel Trump to victory in November.”

Mark Mellman, president and CEO of the Democratic Majority for Israel, noted that Trump had been innocent until proven guilty.

“He has now been proven guilty by a jury of his peers,” Mellman stated. “It will be up to voters to decide how to weigh these convictions in the election. For our part, we do not believe a convicted felon should hold the highest office in the land.”

After the jury read its decision, Trump said that “the real verdict is going to be Nov. 5 by the people, and they know what happened here and everybody knows what happened here. You have a Soros-backed D.A. and the whole thing, we didn’t do anything wrong. I’m a very innocent man.”

Some accused Trump of being antisemitic when he noted that Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, had the support of George Soros, who is Jewish.

Jason Bedrick, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Education Policy, responded to that criticism.

“Y’know it’s funny. When people are screaming genocidal slogans about the world’s one Jewish state, the left bends over backwards to declare that it’s not antisemitism,” he wrote. “But when people accurately point out that Soros has funded far-left D.A.s, even without referring to his Jewish ethnicity at all, the left shrieks about antisemitism.”

“We all see through this tired, politically motivated game,” he added. “Stop cheapening the charge of antisemitism.”

这只小狗不需要任何狗粮

China's military shows off robot dog with automatic rifle mounted on its back

 

ByBrad Lendon and Nectar Gan

 

CNN

May 29, 2024

 

China's military displayed a machine gun equipped robot battle "dog" during joint drills with Cambodia

 

It looks like something out of the dystopian show "Black Mirror," but it's just the latest adaptation of robotics for the modern battlefield.

During recent military drills with Cambodia, China's military showed off a robot dog with an automatic rifle mounted on its back, essentially turning man's best (electronic) friend into a killing machine.

"It can serve as a new member in our urban combat operations, replacing our (human) members to conduct reconnaissance and identify (the) enemy and strike the target," a soldier identified as Chen Wei says in a video from state broadcaster CCTV.

The two-minute video made during the China-Cambodia "Golden Dragon 2024" exercise also shows the robot dog walking, hopping, lying down and moving backwards under the control of a remote operator.

In one drill, the rifle-firing robot leads an infantry unit into a simulated building.

The latter part of the video also shows an automatic rifle mounted under a six-rotor aerial drone, illustrating what the video says is China's "variety of intelligent unmanned equipment."

Military use of robot dogs - and of course small aerial drones - is nothing new. A CCTV video from last year also highlighted China's rifle-armed electronic canines in a joint exercise involving the Chinese, Cambodian, Lao, Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese militaries held in China last November.

In 2020, the US Air Force demonstrated how it used robotic dogs as one link in its Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS), which uses artificial intelligence and rapid data analytics to detect and counter threats to US military assets.

And since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, drones have become commonplace on the battlefield, on the land, sea and air, with cheap remotely controlled vehicles able to knock out sophisticated military machines like tanks and even warships.

The lethal abilities of drones seen on the Ukraine battlefields has shown them to be great equalizers, enabling military forces with small defense budgets to compete with substantially better armed and funded enemies.

China is one of the world's leading drone exporters, but last year its Commerce Ministry placed export controls on drone technology, citing the need to "safeguard national security and interests."

Nevertheless, the robotic dogs seem to be getting plenty of publicity for the People's Liberation Army.

And the dogs have been popping up on China's heavily regulated social media for at least a year.

According to the state-run Global Times, the presence of the robotic dogs at exercises with foreign militaries indicates an advanced stage of development.

"Usually, a new equipment will not be brought into a joint exercise with another country, so the robot dogs must have reached a certain level of technical maturity," Global Times quoted an unnamed expert as saying.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Title pronunciation and translation

Zhè zhǐ xiǎo gǒu bù xūyào rènhé gǒu liáng

This doggie doesn't need any dog food

CA BUDGET FIGHT IS UP AND RUNNING

By Bob Walsh

 

The tentative CA budget proposal from Gavin "God I Want To Be President" Newsom is a hair of $288 billion.  Even he admits that, just right now, he is about 10% in the hole.  That hole could be more than 20% depending on who you ask, like the Legislative Analysts Office.

Theoretically Gavin is filling the hole by slashing vacant state jobs and manuvering other spending cuts, like delaying the considerable raise that health care workers are supposed to be getting very soon.  Too bad he doesn't think that eliminating government paid health care for illegal aliens or free state paid lawyers to fight deportation would be a good thing to slash.  

The state has 16 days to pass a budget bill.  They have often cheated on that in the past but that is harder and harder to do as the general public has been really unpleasant when this happens and they suspend the pay of the members of the legislature for the period of time in which they have NOT done their job.  In the past the legislature has always agreed to pay themselves back once a budget is passed.  Might not be possible now.

In any event we are about to see an orgy of "whose ox gets gored" over the next two weeks or so.  Enjoy the fight.

TRUMP FOUND GUILTY ON ALL 34 COUNTS

By Bob Walsh

Not a surprising outcome, but disappointing.  Based on my extensive training and experience in constitutional law I predict that this will never stand up on appeal.  That being said it doesn't matter.  What the Democrat-Socialists wanted to be able to do was label Donald Trump a CONVICTE FELON every time they say his name.  And they will certainly do so, every chance they get, for as long as the conviction stands.  

Will it be enough to sway voters?  Hard to say.  It is certainly possible.  It seems likely that this election will hinge on less than 100,000 votes total in 3 or 4 or 5 states.

Did a patently false claim of election interference just morph into the most massive actual case of election interference in the history of the republic?  Probably yet.  

Stay tuned for more info as available.   

SOME THOUGHTS ON TRUMP'S CONVICTION

Trump's lawyers were hoping for a hung jury, instead they got a hanging jury

By Howie Katz 

 

After two days of deliberation, a New York jury found Donald Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.

I do not believe any other person would have been so charged. This was simply a political persecution. The Democrats are desperate in trying to keep Trump from regaining the White House.

Having said that though, there was plenty of evidence that Trump covered up the fact that he paid Stormy $130,000 to keep her quiet about their making whoopee between the sheets. 

Paying hush money is not against the law, but covering it up by falsifying business records is. It's the coverup that always gets one into trouble.

Now we're left with the predicament of choosing between a convicted felon and a feeble old man who may croak in the middle of his term if he is reelected.

Will Trump's conviction help or hurt him? Right now the election appears to be very tight.

For the short haul, the conviction will energize Trumps base. But he needs more than his base to get elected. For the long haul, Trump needed this conviction like another hole in the head.

More important than the conviction is the abortion issue. Trump needs the women's vote. But his pronouncement on that issue may very well have cost him that vote.

Also important are the Biden-Trump debates, if they actually take place. If Trump does poorly during the scheduled June 27 debate, he's toast.

Add the abortion issue and a poor debate performance to Trump's conviction, and the nation's voters will elect the first woman president of the United States.

THE IDF DOES WHAT IT HAS TO DO

IDF takes control of Gaza's entire land border after seizing strategic corridor between Palestine and Egypt - raising tensions between Israel and Cairo

IDF announced last night it had captured the Philadelphi Corridor in Gaza

 

By David Averre

 

Daily Mail

May 30, 2024

 

 

Israel's military has seized control of a strategic buffer zone along Gaza's border with Egypt, in effect taking total command of the Palestinian enclave's perimeter as it continues its assault on the southern city of Rafah. 

The IDF announced last night it had captured the Philadelphi Corridor, a narrow demilitarised zone that runs the 8.6-mile length of the Gaza side of the border with Egypt and includes the Rafah crossing.

Israel says the corridor is peppered with at least 20 tunnels that have funnelled weapons and other goods for Hamas - despite a yearslong blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt - and now aims to locate and destroy all the shafts.

But taking the corridor could complicate Jerusalem's relations with Cairo, which are already strained after an Egyptian soldier was shot dead on Monday in a brief skirmish with IDF troops.

Egyptian media, quoting security sources, also dismissed Israel's claim that the Philadelphi Corridor was filled with Hamas tunnels. 

It comes as the IDF deepened its incursion into Rafah, sending thousands more troops to join existing operations and seizing control of Tel al-Sultan - the neighbourhood where 45 Palestinians perished in a fire Sunday night following an Israeli bombing raid. 

 

Israeli tanks roll into centre of Rafah for the first time following global outrage over refugee camp airstrike that left 45

This handout picture released by the Israeli army on May 29, 2024 shows Israeli soldiers during military operations in the southern Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas

Israeli armored personnel carriers move along the border with the Gaza Strip on May 29, 2024 in Southern Israel

Dozens of wounded Palestinians are brought to the European Hospital in Khan Yunis city for treatment after the Israeli army attacked aid warehouses east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 29, 2024

Palestinians packed up their tents and fled to safe areas with what they could take with them following the Israeli army attack on a refugee tent encampment in Rafah, Gaza on May 28, 2024

Mobility of tanks, armored personnel carriers, trucks and military jeeps belonging to the Israeli army continues on the border line near the city of Rafah, Gaza on May 29, 2024

 

Speaking last night, Israel's military chief spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said: 'The Philadelphi Corridor served as the oxygen line of Hamas through which Hamas carried out weapons smuggling into Gaza on a regular basis.'

And another Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said troops had already found some 20 tunnels, including some previously unknown to Israel, were found, as well as 82 access points to the tunnels. 

Hamas had free rein of the border with Egypt since its 2007 takeover of Gaza, and smuggling tunnels were dug under the partition to get around the Israeli-Egyptian blockade. 

Hamas brought in weapons and supplies, and Gaza residents smuggled in commercial goods, from livestock to construction materials.

But that changed over the past decade as Egypt battled Islamic militants in Sinai.

The Egyptian military cracked down on the tunnels and destroyed hundreds of them - though Hamas is thought to have maintained several access points in and out of Gaza. 

Officials in the US - Israel's top ally and provider of weapons - said that the seizure of the Philadelphi Corridor would be consistent with the 'limited' ground operation Israeli officials briefed President Joe Biden's team on for the city of Rafah.

'When they briefed us on their plans for Rafah it did include moving along that corridor and out of the city proper to put pressure on Hamas in the city,' national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters Wednesday.

But Egypt has sounded the alarm over the Israeli takeover of the corridor, saying that any increase in troops in the strategic border area would violate the countries' 1979 peace accord. 

Under the peace accord, each side is allowed to deploy only a small number of troops or border guards in the zone, though those numbers can be modified by mutual agreement. 

Egypt has repeatedly expressed concerns that the Israeli offensive could push Palestinians across the border - a scenario Egypt says is unacceptable - and previously complained about Israel taking over the Rafah border crossing - the only crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

Meanwhile, the deadly violence in Rafah continues. 

 

Palestinians examine destroyed makeshift tents after Israeli army attacks in Rafah, Gaza

Palestinians mourn near makeshift tents after the Israeli shelling of a refugee tent encampment in Rafah

At least 36,170 people have been killed across Gaza since the start of war

MAY 29: Israeli armored personnel carriers move along the border with the Gaza Strip on May 29, 2024 in Southern Israel

Palestinian families sheltering in a warehouse belonging to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) pack up their tents and migrate to safe areas

Palestinians fleeing with their belongings ride atop their vehicle in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 29, 2024

 

The IDF said that a fifth brigade - up to several thousand soldiers - joined troops operating in the city where tanks were spotted for the first time earlier this week. 

An Israeli military official also said yesterday that IDF troops had taken 'tactical control' of Tel al-Sultan, a neighbourhood on Rafah's northwest edge.

That district was devastated by an Israeli bombing raid on Sunday night, with 45 Palestinians said to have burned to death in tents. Israel said it was investigating and the blaze may have been caused by a secondary explosion.

The Gaza Health Ministry said an apparent Israeli strike also killed two ambulance crew members on their way to evacuate the casualties in Tel al-Sultan.

Subsequently, Israeli shelling of al-Mawasi, a district west of Rafah, is believed to have killed 21 people and injured dozens more in another area designated as a safe zone for displaced Palestinians.  

The fighting in Rafah has displaced 1 million people, the United Nations says, most of whom were already displaced from other parts of Gaza.

In a grim prognosis yesterday, a top Israeli official said the war was likely to last through the end of the year.

Israel's national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, told Kan public radio he was 'expecting another seven months of fighting' to destroy the military and governing capabilities of Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group.

The army has said from the start the 'war will be long,' he said. 'They have designated 2024 as a year of war.'

Hanegbi's remarks raise questions about the future of Gaza and what role Israel will play in it. 

The US has demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decide on a postwar vision for the Palestinian territory, while Netanyahu's defence minister and a top governing partner have warned he must take steps to ensure that Israel isn't bogged down in Gaza indefinitely.

The war has already devastated Gaza's urban landscape, displaced most of its population and sparked a humanitarian catastrophe and widespread hunger. 

It has opened Israel up to international legal scrutiny, with world courts faulting it over its wartime conduct, sparked disagreements with the White House, and on Tuesday prompted Ireland, Norway and Spain to formally recognise a Palestinian state.

Last week, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to halt its Rafah offensive as part of South Africa's case accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, a charge Israel denies. 

Israel meanwhile says it must dismantle Hamas' last remaining battalions in Rafah and will seek indefinite security control over the Gaza Strip, even after the war ends. 

But it has yet to achieve its main goals of rooting out Hamas and returning scores of hostages captured in Hamas' October 7 attack that triggered the war.

 

Palestinians packed up their tents and fled to safe areas with what they could take with them following the Israeli army attack on a refugee tent encampment in al-Mawasi area in Rafah, Gaza on May 28, 2024

Students in support of Palestine are setting fire to police outside the Israeli Embassy in Mexico City, Mexico, on Tuesday

Metropolitan Police (MET) officers clash with Pro-Palestinian supporters during a "Hands off Rafah, End the genocide" rally outside Downing Street, central London, on May 28, 2024

Protesters rally in central Paris on May 29, 2024, to protest an Israeli strike on a camp in Rafah for internally displaced Palestinians which killed 45 people

French riot-Police officers face protesters during a rally in central Paris on May 29, 2024

 

Elsewhere in Gaza, a floating pier built by the US to facilitate the flow of aid into the territory was damaged in bad weather - another setback to efforts to bring food to starving Palestinians with all of the land crossings into the territory now controlled by Israel. 

The US and other allies have warned against a full-fledged offensive in Rafah, with the Biden administration saying this would cross a 'red line' and refusing to provide offensive arms for such an undertaking. 

But so far, it hasn't tried to stop Israel's advances.

The war began when militants burst into southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking around 250 hostages. 

More than 100 were released during a November cease-fire in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Israel's offensive in response to the attack has killed at least 36,096 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians. 

Israel says it has killed 15,000 militants.