A HISTORY OF BLOOD LIBELS

Blood libels, then and now

Medieval antisemites believed awful things about Jews and that gave them license to do awful things to Jews. The same is true today. 

 

By Chaim Steinmetz

 

JNS

Jul 2, 2024

 

 

An fresco of a blood libel painted by the monk Adam Swach (1668-1747) at the cathedral basilica in Sandomierz, Poland.

 

This past Wednesday was the 20th of Sivan, which was once a fast day that commemorated the first violent blood libel. (The Vaad Arba Aratzot later redesignated it to commemorate the Cossack massacres of 1648-1649.)

In 1144, 12-year-old William of Norwich was found murdered. In 1149, a Knight named Simon, on trial for murdering Eleazar, a wealthy Jew to whom he owed money, claimed in his defense that Eleazar and the Jewish community had murdered William as an act of ritual murder.

The defense won the case.

A local monk, Thomas of Monmouth, then published a book about the supposed “murder” of William of Norwich. He claimed that Jews engage in the ritual murder of Christian children in order to return to Israel. He wrote:

“As a proof of the truth and credibility of the matter we now adduce something which we have heard from the lips of Theobald, who was once a Jew and afterwards a monk. He verily told us that in the ancient writings of his fathers, it was written that the Jews, without the shedding of human blood, could neither obtain their freedom nor could they ever return to their fatherland. Hence it was laid down by them in ancient times that every year they must sacrifice a Christian in some part of the world to the Most High God in scorn and contempt of Christ that so they might avenge their sufferings on Him; inasmuch as it was because of Christ’s death that they had been shut out from their own country and were in exile as slaves in a foreign land.”

Thomas of Monmouth’s blood libel circulated through Europe for nearly two decades. Then, in 1171, it became deadly. In Blois, France, a Jew and a Christian brought their horses to drink from the river. The Jew dropped an untanned hide and the horse of the Christian jumped. The Christian then claimed that the Jew had dropped a murdered baby into the river.

Count Thibault, the local ruler (and brother-in-law of the French King Louis VII) claimed that the Jewish community had committed a ritual murder. The judicial proceedings, which were based on a bizarre trial by ordeal, found the Jews guilty, even without a body or an alleged victim.

And 32 Jews were burned at the stake.

Rabbeinu Yaakov Tam, the great rabbinic leader and grandson of Rashi, then declared the 20th of Sivan a fast day. (He was 71 at the time and died a few weeks later.)

Declaring a new fast for the murdered in Blois was a major statement. No fast had been declared for the First and Second Crusades, which resulted in thousands of deaths. Rabbeinu Tam himself nearly died in the Second Crusade, but he realized that what happened in Blois was even worse. He recognized that the blood libel was a lethal form of propaganda and would cause centuries of trouble. And he was right.

E.M. Rose wrote an exceptional book on this topic, The Murder of William of Norwich: The Origins of the Blood Libel in Medieval Europe. She explained that the blood libel was unique in several ways.

First, it was a theory that originated and was embraced among the educated elite, not just the unwashed masses. She wrote: “This supposed ‘irrational,’ ‘bizarre,’ ‘literary trope’ was the product of lucid, cogent arguments, thoughtfully and carefully debated in executive councils, judged in detail by sober men who were not reacting under pressure to thoughtless mob violence.”

The original blood libel started with the intelligentsia and became well-accepted.

A second element she points out is that the blood libel put every Jew on trial: “Jewish identity was on trial, rather than any single individual perpetrator.”

Every Jew was guilty until proven innocent.

The 20th of Sivan is sadly once again an important date in 2024. Once again, Israel is guilty until proven innocent. Even a hostage rescue is immediately treated as a wanton massacre of innocent civilians until Israel provides video evidence to the contrary.

The hostage rescue wass immediately treated as a wanton massacre of innocent civilians 

 

Once again, leading the charge against Israel are some well-educated people—professors and students at elite universities who, in their hatred of Israel, are eager to support a group of fanatical, depraved murderers. And like Thomas of Monmouth, the testimony of individual Jews, no matter how tainted, is taken to support horrific falsehoods.

The libel of Jewish ritual murder was accepted by some of the most educated people. And that opened the door to widespread violence.

Medieval antisemites believed awful things about Jews, and that gave them license to do awful things to Jews.

But one more point: The 20th of Sivan also marks exceptional heroism. The 32 Jews who were murdered in Blois died with their heads held high.

Ephraim of Bonn, the great medieval chronicler of antisemitic persecution, wrote, “It was also reported in that letter that as the flames mounted high, the martyrs began to sing in unison a melody that began softly but ended with a full voice. The Christian people came and asked us ‘What kind of a song is this for we have never heard such a sweet melody?’ We knew it well, for it was the song: ‘It is incumbent upon us to praise the Lord of all.’”(“Aleinu” on the High Holidays is sung with a special melody.)

These martyrs died singing “Aleinu.”

This is what defiance looks like.

We are the descendants of those Jews. And we too will hold our heads high and defy Hamas and its slandering sycophants.

 

Originally published by Jewish Journal.

CAN BIDEN BE DISCARDET LIKE HIS USED DEPENDS?

The Democratic Party Will Do Whatever Is Necessary To Win, Including Manipulations That Could Bring The Country To The Brink Of Rebellion

 

Streetwise Professor 

Jun 30, 2024

 

 

Can Joe be persuaded–or forced–to quit? Over Jill’s dead body.

 

Joe Biden’s catastrophic debate performance–if you can call it that–requires no comment from me. All I will say is that the “we’re SHOCKED!” reaction from Democrats and the media (yes, I repeat myself) is the world’s most powerful emetic. These fuckers have known this all along, but they’ve gaslit us non-stop. Well, barely breathing Joe did manage to blow out the flame, and the explosion from the resulting gas leak has been earth shaking.

Right now all of the speculation is whether, but more how, Biden can be discarded like his used Depends.

The obstacles to this are immense.

Can Joe be persuaded–or forced–to quit? Over Jill’s dead body. And do not underestimate the control a grasping, demented wife has over a severely diminished husband. Just look at how she has been front and center ever since the debate ended.

If Joe is somehow defenestrated, what about the nominating process, and the delegates committed to Biden-Harris as a result of the primaries? It is my understanding that Kamala Harris would be slotted in, and she would get the delegates–certainly no one else can. The prospect of her running against Trump is even more frightening to them than letting Joe stagger to November.

And only Biden or Harris can use the massive campaign warchest that has been amassed.

So let’s say they defenestrate Kamala too. Then what? An open convention?

What a spectacle that would be. Bobcats in a bag would fight, bite, and claw less than the likes of Hillary, Newsom, Whitmer, Pritzker, Buttigieg, and whatever other left wing wingnut has presidential aspirations would brawl in the backrooms in Chicago in August.

And how is this process supposed to work? Will it be like selection of the Pope? What color smoke will they use? Who will make up the College of Cardinals?

Whoever emerges from such a process will have NO legitimacy whatsoever. Zero. Zip. Nada.

And this from the Party that constantly lectures us in the most reverent tones about “our sacred democracy” and that warns us in an alarmed voice about the mortal risks posed to it by the possibility that Trump may win a popular election.

And whoever is anointed–they will still be starting from zero money-wise because the Biden-Harris stash cannot be gifted to them.

Look. These fuckers rigged the game in 2020. They rigged the game in 2024. This is their prize. Congratulations! Sorry, no exchanges or returns. You made this tar baby–you’re stuck with it.

If the aforementioned obstacles force them to go with Biden or Harris, they will not meekly stand aside and watch their candidate go down in flames. No. They will open other fronts, no holds barred.

How?

For one–you think you’ve seen lawfare before? Just wait. Against Trump. Against the Republican Party. Against every election-related Republican public official. Against the voting rules in every state.

For another–vote fraud that would make Boss Tweed or Mayor Daley blush.

And I’m sure there are other ways that I am just not twisted enough to imagine. But they are.

The fact is, whatever path the Democrats end up taking it will involve colossal violations of the law and if they actually succeed in getting a Democrat inaugurated in January 2025 (note I said “inaugurated” not “elected”–with this lot those events do not completely overlap) said person will be completely, utterly illegitimate.

That is the real threat to our republican system of government. And that is the kind of thing that could actually spark a rebellion that descends into civil war.

I tend to shy away from apocalyptic predictions about impending civil war. But a party willing to do anything that is necessary to win (and the Democrats are) could truly cause one, especially when, as is the case now, what is necessary would involve gutting every law and norm that has kept partisan strife within reasonable, non-violent bounds for the last 160 years.

PREDICTIONS OF WHAT IS AHEAD

From a friend of mine of more than forty years....

 

By Jay Wall

Jul 1, 2024

 

The Democrats have been more resilient than cockroaches. They’ll be back soon enough

 
Last night was a set up by the Democrat leaders to publicly force “Dr Jill” to acquiesce to supporting him getting out of the race. The issue is this causes more problems as they have a Kamala problem as well as who runs?  They knew this 5 years ago

When they first set the sock puppet up. 

They shouldn’t worry though. The Party is about to “celebrate” their 200th Anniversary. They’ve been more resilient than cockroaches. They’ll be back soon enough. 

The problem for the country is our adversaries will seek to take advantage before Biden’s term is up. It’ll start soon via a number of events that will be attributed to terrorism, which will ignite internecine conflicts here at home, giving our adversaries the opportunity to take what they will relatively unopposed. 

Trump was in my neighborhood this afternoon, literally a stone’s throw from my house. About 10K in attendance. 

Look for these things:

1. Trump names Running Mate: Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia (13 Electoral Votes). 

2. Biden “retires” a la LBJ in 1968. Interesting enough, the Democrats hold their Convention in Chicago a la 1968 - another Shit Show awaits. 

3.  Democrats will put Gov Josh Shapiro (D-PA) as the nominee with the Wicked Witch of the Midwest ( Gov Gretchen Wittmer of Michigan) as the No.2. The far left loons will openly attack the Democrats for bypassing Kamala. This ticket will be designed to bring the female vote back to the Democrats. 

4. Israel will attack Hezbollah in Lebanon which will bring Iran into the conflict. Both Russia and China will support and warn Biden not to engage, which he won’t. 

5. The North Koreans will help Russia dispense with Ukraine. Trump stated today that Ukraine conflict will be ended between Election Day and Inauguration Day, that’s because it will be decided on the battlefield before then in Russia’s favor. 

6.  China will actively blockade Taiwan as a pre-cursor to an invasion. I’ve gamed this scenario at the Naval War College. We don’t have the resources to prevent this nor will Biden want to engage. 

7.  Anarchy will start to emerge in the major left-wing cities (yours being one, sorry) and that will grow and expand. 

In sum, while last night was conceived as another political game, it served as the catalyst for sadly, what is to come. That’s why I loathe political parties - their myopic views and actions have profound costs. I’m with Mr. Madison and what he wrote in Federalist No.10. Too bad the Democrats killed his remedy 100 years ago with the passage of the 17th Amendment. 

Stay Safe, my friend.

THE IKE DIKE SHOULD HAVE BEEN APPROVED WHEN IT WAS FIRST PROPOSED IN 2009 AT AN ESTIMATED COST OF $2-$4 BILLION

Smithsonian magazine takes in-depth look at in-progress Ike Dike in Texas

$57 billion project would require civil and political engineering to pull off

 

By Chris Gray

 

Houston Chronicle

Jul 1, 2024

 

 

 

 

William Merrell, at Texas A&M, developed a proposal known as the Ike Dike in 2009 at an estimated cost of $2-$4 billion

 

Every new storm that begins brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Beryl for example, plants that little seed all over again: Is this the one? The category 4 or 5 hurricane that sails into Galveston Bay and wipes out the Houston Ship Channel, which each year contributes nearly $1 trillion to the nation’s economy?

The one that the so-called “Ike Dike,” still at least 20 years away, is designed to stop?

Now that the first round of federal funding for the inflation-adjusted $57 billion project -- originally projected to cost $34 billion -- has finally begun to flow, Smithsonian magazine has published an in-depth article on the Ike Dike, better known in governmental circles as the Coastal Texas Project. Texas-based writer Xander Peters provides a detailed account of how the project left the drawing board and the many interlocking components of the plan.

Highlights include 25 miles of additional dunes along Bolivar Peninsula’s beaches and 18 more on western Galveston Island; narrow channels between the dunes that would aid flood runoff and shelter wildlife; 36 sea-blocking gates between the island and peninsula, including two at the mouth of the Houston Ship Channel that would be 650 feet wide and 82 feet tall; and 14-foot reinforced concrete flood walls around Galveston’s central business district, able to withstand all but the deadliest storm surge.

 

 

The Ike Dike's floodgates at the mouth of the Houston Ship Channel would be 82 feet high and 650 feet wide.

Several vertical lift gates would help guard against catastrophic storm surges.

 

In describing the project, Peters introduces readers to a motley cast of characters including Kelly Burks-Copes, project director for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; William Merrell, the Texas A&M-Galveston professor and historical novelist who dreamed up the centerpiece of the plan, a “coastal spine” based around a 1950s flood-control project he saw in the Netherlands; and Jim Blackburn, the former Rice University professor and dissenting environmentalist whose concerns about the project’s impact on the coastal wetlands get full consideration.

“If the plan succeeds,” Peters writes, “it could forever change the way Americans mitigate storm damage.”

Even Burks-Copes, who is postponing her retirement to get the Ike Dike off the ground, tells Peters she initially “had difficulty grasping the scope and ambition of the Texas project.” Its success could be the public-works deal of the century, considering the ballooning damage estimates for Gulf hurricanes since 2000—$30 billion for Ike, $125 billion for Harvey and Katrina, $112.9 for Ian in 2022. And, as any meteorologist will tell you, the frequency of big storms is only growing.

“If you get [the dike] in place,” Burks-Copes says. “It’s paid for in one storm.”

 

The plan also calls for 25 miles of additional dunes on Bolivar Peninsula and 18 more on western Galveston Island

 

Above everything else, Peters does an excellent job of laying out the consequences of not building the project: “When it comes to the Texas coast, a massive storm would affect every single state in the country,” he writes. “Oil and gas prices would soar. And even a temporary closure of the Port of Houston would send shock waves through not only the domestic but also the global economy.”

So if the Ike Dike comes to fruition, it would be an unalloyed triumph of both civil and political engineering. Burks-Copes and the corps estimate it will be another seven years for the final designs to be ready, and then 12 more for the actual construction. At least.

If that sounds far-fetched, it’s actually not; timetables for similar projects in Europe range between 30 and 50 years, Peters notes. But the federal government and State of Texas, which are slated to split the project’s cost 65-35, are going to have to cooperate long enough, and well enough, for it to get built. That’s not exactly something we can take for granted these days at all.

SCOTUS LARGELY BACKS TRUMP ON IMMUNITY

By Bob Walsh

 

 

 

By a vote of 6-3 SCOTUS ruled that the president enjoys significant immunity from prosecution for his official acts, as opposed to his non-official, personal acts.  It is pretty much everything Trump wanted and could reasonably expect to get.

The court of course was fuzzy about what was an official act and what was a private act.  They sent the matter back to the lower court.

This will mean that the Smith prosecution of Trump is in severe doubt.  Smith and the court will have to get together to decide which specific acts Donald Trump is accused of committing are private acts and which are public acts.  In the meantime there is the real possibility that the courts will decide that Smith's appointment is in and of itself unconstitutional.  If that happens the prosecution (persecution?) of Trump will be delayed for a long bloody time and may very possibly be shot down completely. 

As one might expect the sob sisters on SCOTUS are wringing their hands over the thought that Trump is going to become an all-powerful dictator.  It's not true, but sob sisters don't need anything resembling truth.

Personally I am happy with this.  It will be difficult to get reasonable people to want to be president if they look forward to the prospect of being sued and prosecuted for years after they leave office by every prosecutor who doesn't like them.  Ideally we will get people elected who behave reasonably, honorably and honestly.  Ideally.  

THE HAMAS COLLABORATOR SHOULD HAVE BEEN KEPT IN PRISON

Ministers trade blame with Shin Bet after Shifa Hospital director is released to Gaza

Abu Salmiya, said to have let Hamas abuse Gaza City hospital, freed due to lack of prison space; father of hostage slain there laments further ‘abandonment’; PM blames High Court

 

By Emanuel Fabian and Sam Sokol

 

The Times of Israel

Jul 1, 2024

 

 

 

Director of Shifa Hospital, Mohammad Abu Salmiya, speaks after his release by Israel, July 1, 2024

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Monday demanded the ousting of Shin Bet director Ronen Bar, after Israel released the director of Shifa Hospital from jail, reportedly along with some 55 other Palestinian detainees, and sent him back to the Gaza Strip.

Shifa director Mohammad Abu Salmiya was arrested by IDF troops in November on suspicion of having allowed Hamas to use the Gaza City hospital as a center of operations. He was detained and taken for questioning by the Shin Bet as he was attempting to evacuate to the south of the Strip via an IDF-operated humanitarian corridor.

Amid political furor over Abu Salmiya’s release, ministers and senior security officials traded blame and sought to avoid responsibility. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the High Court was at least partially responsible, opposition leaders said the government had failed and should go home, and the Shin Bet said it has been warning for a year that there were not enough cells to hold suspects, and that Ben Gvir and others in government had ignored its concerns.

After videos of Abu Salmiya being greeted upon his return to Gaza were posted on social media, Ben Gvir took to X, claiming that the decision to free the hospital director “along with dozens of terrorists” was an act of “security recklessness.”

“It’s time the prime minister stops [Defense Minister Yoav] Gallant and the Shin Bet chief from carrying out independent policies contradicting the positions of the cabinet,” Ben Gvir stormed.

In leaked screenshots that the Kan public broadcaster said were taken from a ministerial instant messaging group, Ben Gvir appeared to further tear into Bar, proclaiming that it was “time to send the Shin Bet head packing.”

“He does whatever he wants, and Gallant is fully behind him. They don’t give a damn about the cabinet and the government,” Ben Gvir continued. “He conducts independent policy, does what he wants, and in meetings, he becomes a welfare officer for terrorists.”

Israel regularly returns Gazan detainees to the Strip after determining that they are not suspected of terror activity.

Far-right Settlements Minister Orit Strock chimed in amid Ben Gvir’s tirade, asking repeatedly what authority Bar had to make such a decision.

Both Gallant and Netanyahu were quick to distance themselves from the release of the Palestinian detainees.

“The authority for incarcerating security prisoners and their release is under the Shin Bet and the Israel Prison Service, and is not subject to the approval of the defense minister,” Gallant’s office said.

The Shin Bet is under the jurisdiction of the Prime Minister’s Office, while the IPS is under Ben Gvir’s National Security Ministry.

 

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (left) demanded the ousting of Shin Bet director Ronen Bar (right) over the release of Shifa director Mohammad Abu Salmiya

 

Netanyahu’s office said that “the decision to release the prisoners followed discussions at the High Court on a petition against the detention of prisoners at the Sde Teiman detention facility.” (Abu Salmiya was not being held at Sde Teiman, but at Nafha Prison, according to the Israel Prison’s Service.)

“The identity of the released prisoners is determined independently by security officials based on their professional opinions,” the statement continued, adding that Netanyahu had ordered an immediate investigation into the matter.

Responding to the uproar, the Shin Bet said that it had been forced to send prisoners back to the Gaza Strip due to a lack of space in Israeli jails and that it planned to phase out the use of the Sde Teiman detention facility.

The agency said that a decision had been made recently to only hold Palestinian detainees at Sde Teiman for short periods, and as such, it and the IDF were required to release dozens of detainees from prisons to make room for more significant terror suspects.

“For about a year now, the Shin Bet has been warning in every possible forum… about the incarceration crisis and the obligation to increase the number of [cells], in light of the need to arrest terrorists in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip,” the agency said in a statement

“The incarceration crisis leads to daily cancellation of arrests of suspects involved in terror activities, and to direct harm to the security of the country,” the Shin Bet continued, claiming that overnight, several planned arrests of wanted Palestinians, including some who were planning terror attacks, had been canceled.

“Unfortunately, these requests… which were forwarded to all the relevant parties, chief among them the national security minister, which is responsible for this, were of no use, and in practice, the number of [cells] did not increase as needed,” it said, referring to Ben Gvir.

The Shin Bet added that it was against releasing West Bank Palestinian detainees, due to “immediate” fears they would return to carrying out attacks, as well as members of Hamas’s elite Nukhba force and other Gazan terrorists involved in the fighting and attacking civilians.

As such, and in accordance with “the state’s need as determined by the National Security Council,” it was decided to release several detainees who did not pose a significant threat, the agency said, adding that the release was carried out after “examining the perceived danger of all the detainees.”

Still, the Shin Bet said that while Shifa director Abu Salmiya “meets all the requirements regarding the level of danger he poses,” it would investigate his release.

 

 

Hamas terror suspects, caught during Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and during the ongoing IDF operations in Gaza, seen at a courtyard in a prison in southern Israel, February 14, 2024.

 

“For lack of any other option, without an immediate solution to the prison space crisis, arrests will continue to be canceled and detainees will continue to be released,” the agency added.

The Israel Prison Service hit back at the claims shortly after, saying that “due to false publications, we are forced to reveal the release order of the director of Shifa Hospital,” and publishing an image of the document signed by an IDF brigadier general in reserves.

“Contrary to the false claims that have been published in recent hours, those who made the decision to release the director of Shifa Hospital were the IDF and Shin Bet — not the IPS,” the service said.

“IPS does not make decisions on its own to release prisoners of any kind, and is only entrusted with incarceration of prisoners,” it said.

 

Hamas terrorists who were caught during the October 7 massacre and during the IDF operation in the Gaza Strip, seen at a courtyard in a prison in southern Israel, February 14, 2024.

 

“The director of the hospital was not released due to the incarceration crisis,” the IPS claimed, adding that he was released from Nafha Prison.

The government has repeatedly allocated funds in an attempt to add additional space for prisoners, most recently in April when a NIS 225 million ($60 million) budget cut intended to pay for expanding the prison system’s capacity went into effect across the government at Ben Gvir’s insistence.

In the leaked WhatsApp messages, Interior Minister Moshe Arbel challenged Ben Gvir, asking, “Where is your responsibility in this matter?” to which Ben Gvir retorted that the Israel Prison Service had “immediately added 500 spots” and is continuing to increase capacity.

Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi then interjected that “releasing terrorists due to ‘lack of space’ is nothing more than a lame excuse.”

The IDF has previously released video footage of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives detailing how they used Shifa Hospital as a base for terror operations, offering a glimpse into just how embedded the terror groups were in the medical facility.

One Hamas operative told interrogators at the time that he had been living in the hospital for months, and that the operatives don nurses’ uniforms in order to move around freely. A second said that the terror group used the medical residency department to store weapons, while the Islamic Jihad operatives preferred to store theirs in the maternity ward.

 

 

Israeli soldiers outside the Shifa hospital, March 23, 2024.

 

The director of Shifa “is not a doctor, he is Doctor Mengele,” hawkish opposition lawmaker Avigdor Liberman charged, likening Abu Salmiya to the Nazi physician notorious for the twisted medical experiments he carried out on Auschwitz prisoners.

Gantz, Lapid and Sa’ar castigate the government

Avi Marciano, whose daughter Cpl. Noa Marciano was taken hostage from the Nahal Oz military base on October 7 and later murdered inside Shifa Hospital, slammed the government for what he said was yet another instance of neglect.

“Noa was abandoned before October 7 when they didn’t listen to her. She was abandoned on October 7 when they didn’t come to save her. She was abandoned after that when they didn’t do enough to return her home alive,” he wrote on Facebook. “And now, seven months after we buried her, the State of Israel decides to release those who are directly or indirectly responsible for her murder. I’m sorry, my girl, that you continue to be neglected.”

Also placing the blame for the hospital director’s release on the government rather than on the intelligence and security bodies, National Unity leader Benny Gantz and New Hope chair Gideon Sa’ar roundly criticized their former coalition mates.

Israel “cannot continue waging war” in such a manner, Gantz charged. “A government that frees those who sheltered the murderers of October 7 and helped to hide our hostages made a moral and ethical operational error and thus is not fit to lead our existential war and needs to go home.”

Sa’ar declared that Israel was being run by a “failed government with two left hands,” and highlighted the seeming contradiction between Abu Salmiya’s release and the government’s stated goal of destroying Hamas’s governing and military capabilities.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid also joined the chorus of voices criticizing the government, claiming that the news of the hospital director’s release was “a direct continuation of the recklessness and dysfunction of the Israeli government, which is causing damage to the security of Israel’s citizens.

“The defense minister did not know, the public security minister was not involved,” he said, referring to Ben Gvir by the ministry’s previous title, which the ultranationalist politician demanded be altered at the start of his tenure.

There is “an exchange of accusations. Everything is leaked. This is what moral and functional disintegration looks like,” Lapid added.

Abu Salmiya, meanwhile, told reporters in Gaza that he was “surprised” that members of the Israeli government didn’t know he had left prison.

In a statement to local reporters, he said he had been released unconditionally without charges. He claimed that he was barred from meeting lawyers during his detention at the Sde Teiman facility in Israel, and that no international organization visited him or any of the other prisoners in jail.

Abu Salmiya further claimed that he had been subjected to torture and food deprivation and that prisoners did not receive medication. The Israel Prison Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CYBER WARFARE

'A massive cyberattack can disrupt an entire country' – Israel's Iranian-Russian growing threat

In an exclusive interview with Israel Hayom, cybersecurity expert Refael Franco warns of potential infrastructure cyber attacks as economic impact reaches billions.

 

By Daniela Ginzburg 

 

Israel Hayom

Jul 1, 2024

 

 

 

 

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hosts Russian President Vladimir Putin in Tehran, July 19, 2022

In an exclusive interview with Israel Hayom, cybersecurity expert Refael Franco reveals the escalating cyber threats facing Israel. With daily attacks causing billions in economic damage, Franco warns of a potential catastrophic strike on critical infrastructure, highlighting the dangerous collaboration between Iranian and Russian cyber capabilities.

Since the beginning of the Iron Swords war, Israel has been grappling with a daily wave of thousands of cyber attacks, primarily from pro-Palestinian and Iranian sources. A report published about a month ago by Israel's National Cyber Directorate estimates the economic damage from these attacks at no less than 12 billion shekels per year.

To understand the scale and significance of the cyber front Israel is facing, one need only look at the attacks carried out in recent weeks. About two weeks ago, the pharmaceutical company Rekah was forced to shut down its distribution system due to security breach concerns. Prior to that, a real estate website was disabled following a similar attack, and in an equally serious incident that occurred about a month ago, hackers breached the databases of the leading law firm Goldfarb Seligman.

In a conversation with Israel Hayom, Refael Franco, founder and CEO of the cyber crisis management company Code Blue and former Deputy Head of the National Cyber Directorate, assesses that "despite the damage they caused, these attacks have actually made the Israeli economy's recovery capacity much more efficient. We see businesses that were attacked managing to return to routine relatively quickly, which is very important."

Franco states, "Despite this improved recovery capability, Israel still faces a critical strategic vulnerability: the centralized management of our national infrastructure. How many 'Israel Electric Corporation' are there? How many 'Mekorot' [Israel's water company] companies are there? The country consists of a few companies that are the exclusive providers of strategic infrastructures."

"A massive cyberattack, one that disrupts the supply of electricity or water flow in Israel, is an event that can disrupt an entire country. If in the past Iranian efforts focused mainly on small and medium Israeli organizations with low levels of defense and awareness, in recent years Iran has been making enormous efforts to carry out a critical infrastructure attack against national companies," he claims.

"An event of this magnitude, if successful, could lead to a real disaster. Additionally, the Iranians understand very well how much of a moral blow this would be, causing enormous damage to the State of Israel and its citizens," Franco explains.

 

  

Refael Franco

 

How close are the Iranians to carrying out such an attack?

"In recent months, starting from October, we have indeed witnessed a dramatic increase in attack attempts against various entities in the country, some more successful than others. So far, attempts to damage infrastructure have not really succeeded, and the main impact has been on medium-sized organizations and below.

"Although there has not yet been physical damage, the Iranians have managed to break into the systems of organizations of great importance, including medical institutions and academic institutions. They have managed to get their hands on a lot of information, which, although not strategic, is enough to cause economic damage to the economy.

"Let's be clear: while these recent attacks may appear to be of Palestinian origin, they're actually being executed by Iranian operatives with Russian strategic guidance."

How has Russian support strengthened the Iranian cyber array?

"Let's start with the fact that even before Tehran strengthened its strategic connection with Moscow, Iranian technology and research capabilities were considered relatively high, with the University of Tehran ranked among the top 500 universities in the world according to the Shanghai Index. Alongside these capabilities, the development in cyber in the last two years is a direct result of the strategic connection with Russia.

"In exchange for Tehran's unprecedented export of drones and weapons to Moscow, the Russians are enhancing and supporting Iranian cyber capabilities. This connection has developed the Iranian cyber array and led to its construction as an important and central factor in the campaign against Israel.

"The Russians, for their part, have long understood how critical psychological warfare and extensive use of fake news is in undermining enemy resilience, and the Iranians have adopted these tactics. Quite a few attacks make use of fake news and attempts to polarize Israeli public discourse."

How prepared are we for the next attack?

"The war has led the Israeli cyber industry to a boom it hasn't experienced for a long time, due to constant friction with attackers and the incorporation of Israeli creativity. The proof of this is the almost bi-weekly number of exits of Israeli cyber companies.

"However, the rapid advancement of Iranian cyber capabilities necessitates a shift in how we approach cybersecurity across our entire economy. A structured strategy, and consistent and clear guidelines through all bodies and factors in the Israeli economy, are critical to the continuous functioning of the State of Israel. Awareness of the threat, along with proper emergency preparedness that will allow rapid recovery from cyber attacks, is what will make the chances of Iranians significantly harming Israeli society lower."

HOW MUCH LONGER CAN ISRAEL PUT UP WTH THE DAILY HEZBOLLAH ATTACKS?

Hezbollah drone attack wounds 18 IDF soldiers, one seriously

Gaza terrorists fire 20 rockets into southern Israel, causing no damage or injuries according to the IDF.

 

Israel Today

Jul 1, 2024 

 

Israel's air-defense systems fire interception missiles at Hezbollah rockets from Lebanon near the northern city of Safed, June 27, 2024.

 

Eighteen Israel Defense Forces soldiers were wounded, one seriously, by a Hezbollah suicide drone attack near a kibbutz in the northern Golan Heights on Sunday afternoon, the army confirmed.

According to the IDF Home Front Command, several suspicious “aerial targets” infiltrated from Lebanon around 4 p.m. on Sunday, setting off air raid sirens in the Galilee panhandle and northern Golan Heights.

According to local media reports, one of the UAVs impacted in the area of Kibbutz Merom Golan, wounding troops stationed there.

Haifa’s Rambam Hospital confirmed on Sunday night that three wounded soldiers were brought to its emergency room by helicopter. One was listed as being in serious condition and required surgery.

“Two victims arrived in mild to moderate condition; they are conscious and suffering from shrapnel injuries,” said a spokesperson for the hospital, adding that, “in the evening, another casualty was brought in; he is also conscious and will remain under observation.”

Hezbollah has attacked Israel’s north nearly every day since joining the war in support of Hamas on Oct. 8, firing thousands of suicide drones, rockets and anti-tank missiles at Israeli border towns, killing more than 20 people and causing widespread damage. Tens of thousands of Israeli civilians remain internally displaced due to the ongoing violence.

The Iran-backed terror group took responsibility for Sunday’s attack, claiming it sent a “swarm of drones” towards an Israeli military site in response to Israeli Air Force strikes against targets in Southern Lebanon.

Israel’s Ynet news outlet reported that Hezbollah claimed at least nine attacks on the Jewish state on Sunday, including the launch of a volley of heavy Falaq rockets towards Moshav Beit Hillel in the Eastern Galilee.

In another incident, three anti-tank missiles were fired at the city of Metula. One of the missiles hit a residential building, one fell in a nearby orchard and the third exploded in Lebanese territory, Ynet reported. No injuries were reported in the northern city, which is largely evacuated.

In response, IAF jets struck a series of Hezbollah positions in Southern Lebanon overnight, the IDF announced on Sunday morning. The targets included buildings used by the terror group and other infrastructure in Kafr Kila, Houla, El Biyada and Rab El Thalathine, according to the IDF.

Last month, the IDF formally “authorized and validated” operational plans for a campaign aimed at pushing Hezbollah north of the Litani River, which was also the stated goal of 2006’s UNSC Resolution 1701.

On Saturday, Iran threatened that an Israeli military operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon could lead to an “obliterating war” with all of Tehran’s terror proxies, adding that “all options are on the table.”

The threat, posted to the account of Iran’s mission to the United Nations, added that the regime regards the IDF’s declaration that it has approved the military operation in Lebanon as “psychological warfare.”

During meetings in Washington last week, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stressed that while Jerusalem prefers a diplomatic solution, it will take whatever action is required to restore security to the north.

“We do not want war, but we are preparing for every scenario,” Gallant stated following the meetings. Jerusalem has emphasized that any deal “will not be an agreement on paper” but must include “the physical removal of Hezbollah from the border, and we will have to enforce it.”

In a video statement published last week, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah vowed to fight the Jewish state “without restraints, without rules, without limits” should war be “imposed” on Lebanon. He has also threatened that an “invasion of the Galilee remains on the table.”

Ynet reported on Sunday that the Islamic Republic has been accelerating weapons shipments to Hezbollah in recent weeks. The smuggled arms include air defense systems to fend off IAF strikes, as well as Almas (“Diamond”) advanced anti-tank-guided missile systems.

 

Israeli soldiers at the site of a major fire caused by rockets from Lebanon on June 14, 2024 near Kibbutz Kfar Szold in northern Israel.

 

Gaza rocket attacks continue

Terrorists in Gaza’s Khan Younis area on Monday morning launched a volley of some 20 rockets towards Israeli border towns, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

A number of rockets impacted in open areas inside Israeli territory, while air-defense systems intercepted several others, the IDF stated, adding that no damage or casualties were reported.

“IDF forces are now attacking the sources of the fire with artillery,” said the army.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the attack, claiming to have targeted Kibbutz Kissufim, Ein Hashlosha, Nirim, Sufa and Holit “with concentrated rocket barrages in response to the crimes of the Zionist enemy against our Palestinian people.”

One week ago, Islamic Jihad launched two rockets toward the southern coastal city of Ashkelon and the border town of Kibbutz Mefalsim. Both were intercepted.

Early last month, the IDF revealed that since the start of the war, more than 19,000 rockets have been launched into Israel, mainly from Gaza.

The tally does not include rockets that fall short of Israeli territory. Nor does it include Hezbollah anti-tank missiles.

On June 23, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that with the fighting in Gaza winding down, the IDF will deploy more troops to the northern border.

“The intense phase of the fighting against Hamas is about to end,” the premier told Israel’s Channel 14, adding: “It doesn’t mean that the war is about to end, but the war in its intense phase is about to end in Rafah.”

He added that the Israeli military would continue to “mow the grass” in Gaza constantly to prevent the enclave from becoming a threat again.

THE PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY IS TURNING THE WEST BANK INTO ANOTHER GAZA STRIP

Yesha Council head warns of PA plan to ‘dissect’ Judea and Samaria

Palestinian Authority construction projects are being designed to take the high ground overlooking critical transportation arteries, according to Israel Gantz. 

 

JNS

Jul 1, 2024

 

Israel Gantz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council and Yesha Council, shows a map to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (r). 

 

A settlement leader warned the Israeli government last week that it must stop a Palestinian Authority plan to isolate Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

In a June 25 letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and other Cabinet members, Israel Gantz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council and chairman of the Yesha Council, warned that ongoing P.A. construction projects in the region are designed to take the high ground overlooking critical transportation arteries.

“Large residential and infrastructure construction projects are being built on the ridges that dominate the connections between Highway 60 and Highway 465,” the letter states. Highway 60 runs north-south; Highway 465 east-west.

“They [the P.A.] act in a strategic and calculated manner to isolate the settlements into enclaves, control the highways and central roads and create a significant Arab continuum,” the letter continues.

“Once this partition plan is completed, the Arabs will have territorial continuity from Jerusalem to the Ariel region. This is a dangerous continuum that the State of Israel cannot allow,” it states.

The P.A. plan is already in its advanced stages, Gantz warned.

He specifically pointed to massive P.A. construction near the British Police Junction on Highway 60 (named after a British police station established during the Mandate period). Much of the area in question is in Area B, designated by the Oslo Accords as under both P.A. and Israeli administrative control. Area B makes up about 22% of Judea and Samaria.

Gantz called on the government to prevent the P.A. from gaining control of the heights as Judea and Samaria are key to Israel’s national security. “After Oct. 7, there is no need to exaggerate the significance of such construction plans,” he said.

Urging that all means be taken to halt the rampant Arab construction, he said a message must be sent that Israel won’t permit “the strangulation and loss of territory.”

OBAMA IS THE PUPPET MASTER AND BIDEN IS MERELY A STAND-IN FOR HIM

What’s worse: A diminished president or failed policies?

The presidential debate raised questions about Joe Biden’s competence. Still, the perception of America’s weakness is about more than cognitive decline. 

 

By Jonathan S. Tobin

 

JNS

Jul 1, 2024 

 

Still pictures from the presidential debate

 

For some observers worried about the widespread perception of American weakness abroad, President Joe Biden’s shocking performance in last week’s debate with former President Donald Trump provided an easy explanation for the country’s problems. The disasters on his watch—from the disgraceful rout of the Afghanistan withdrawal to the war in Ukraine and the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel facilitated by American appeasement of Iran—have left American foreign policy in ruins and a world in chaos. Thus, the evidence of Biden’s diminished capacity on display during the 90-minute verbal wrangle can be seen as a reason why the nation’s enemies have been emboldened during the last three-and-a-half years.

But even if Biden is a liability, to the United States as well as the Democratic Party, the problem goes deeper than the president’s apparent decline.

No matter how sharp the current commander-in-chief may be, the crises abroad are as much a function of flawed policies that the Biden foreign-policy team has been pursuing as the president’s lack of acuity. A weak leader is a standing invitation for provocations they believe will not generate a robust response. But if the aim of American policy is diplomacy for its own sake and a desire to appease the most dangerous foes, then even a great leader might not avert disaster.

A 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. president?

As for Biden’s problems, an explanation for what might be described as the most disastrous public appearance for a president, let alone at a presidential debate, the attempts to spin the fiasco from inside the White House raised more questions than it answered.

Midway through the debate, the president’s aides let it be known that he had a cold. Yet realizing that they were dealing with a disaster, in the coming days they came up with a different explanation. According to Axios, which, along with The New York Times, is the best place to go to read administration leaks generally intended to flatter President Joe Biden, the problem was the time of day. The online publication reported that White House staffers said that there were basically two Bidens:

“From 10 am to 4 pm, Biden is dependably engaged—and many of his public events in front of cameras are held within those hours. Outside of that time range or while traveling abroad, Biden is more likely to have verbal miscues and become fatigued, aides told Axios.”

That is, one supposes, possibly closer to the truth than the spin the president’s allies were floating in public the weekend following the debate, which more or less amounted to a demand that Americans ignore what they saw and heard on Thursday night. Given the bifurcated and essentially tribal nature of U.S. politics these days, social media and online commenting showed that was good enough for many Democrats, if not too many others.

While perhaps we’d all like to work what used to be called “bankers’ hours,” that’s a problem for someone who is always accompanied by a military aide who carries the so-called “nuclear football” with the launch codes for the nation’s nuclear weapons. A president may be called upon to make decisions of national or international importance at any time of day or night, and not just because, as Ronald Reagan put it, they “live above the store.” In the 2008 Democratic primary campaign, Hillary Clinton famously ran what became known as the “3 a.m. phone call ad,” in which she touted herself as ready and able to answer the phone during a crisis that didn’t come during regular office hours.

If the best the White House can do is to say that Biden is ready to answer the call only six hours a day, that’s not terribly reassuring. As Americans sift through the implications of the post-debate spin and the fact that Biden staffers and their media echo chamber have been lying about the president’s acuity, that is not the nation’s main problem. Nor is the key question to be answered right now whether Biden can be prevailed upon to pull out of the race—a move that the Times reports that his wife Jill, son Hunter and the rest of his family adamantly oppose—to be replaced with the equally unpopular Vice President Kamala Harris or another Democrat. It’s who is in charge of the decision-making process right now, no matter what time of day one is needed, and what is it that they are trying to achieve?

Obama replay

Biden’s foreign policy has from its first day in office been essentially a replay of that pursued during the presidency of Barack Obama. With much of the same personnel in place at the National Security Council and the U.S. State Department, they were primarily focused on turning the clock back to January 2017 and rolling back everything that Trump did in his four years.

To speak of the Obama influence inevitably raises claims that the 44th president is the puppet master and Biden merely a stand-in for him. While Obama has enormous influence on the current administration, it would be misleading to say he is merely pulling the strings on a Biden marionette. While his former staffers still look up to him in a way they have never done with Biden, running a country or even its foreign policy is too complex a matter to be handled by someone who is no longer in the rooms where things happen. Not to mention the fact that Biden’s inner circle still resent Obama’s high-handed treatment of him while he was vice president, as well as the way he pushed him aside to ease the way for Clinton’s failed presidential run in 2016.

 

 

Still, it is true that Obama’s ideas and policies are more or less identical to those of the current administration. At the top of its “To Do” list was an attempt to revive Obama’s disastrous Iran nuclear deal by lifting most of the sanctions Trump imposed and unfreezing Iranian assets. But the Iranians were having none of it. Though they benefited enormously from Biden’s decisions, they refused to seriously negotiate even for a weaker nuclear pact than the one Obama trumpeted as his foreign-policy legacy in 2015. They pocketed the money that rolled into their coffers from the switch in policy and invested it in their main goals: spreading terror and getting closer to achieving their nuclear ambitions.

Even worse, the Biden team then proceeded to precipitously pull out of Afghanistan. While Trump had also planned to end the American presence in that country after nearly two decades of the war there, he had held off doing so until the Afghan government could properly prepare. Biden, however, wished to boast that there were no U.S. troops there on the 20th anniversary of the war, and acting with impatience and a lack of foresight, wound up presiding over a complete collapse of the country and an easy triumph for the Taliban. American personnel died in the chaos (giving the lie to Biden’s false debate claim that no American forces died on his watch) with others left behind, as well as billions of dollars in equipment left for the terrorists to seize.

That was the beginning of a spiral of bad foreign news for the United States. With America’s enemies convinced that Biden wasn’t to be feared and utterly feckless, it was only a matter of time before they would strike. Six months later, following a series of rather confusing Biden pronouncements on the issue, Russia invaded Ukraine. In the following two years, the United States has helped prop up the Ukrainians with an unprecedented amount of aid. With the war now stalemated, the administration is stuck with a policy supposedly dedicated to the defeat of Russia but lacks a plan that would explain how that might be achieved, no matter how many hundreds of billions are sent to Kyiv.

In the fall of 2023, the cost of Washington’s commitment to appeasing Iran led to another catastrophe. The Oct. 7 Hamas assault on Israel was facilitated by Iranian aid, as well as the justified perception that the administration was more interested in toppling the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu than in bolstering Israel’s security. Biden initially responded to the largest mass slaughter of Jews since World War II and the Holocaust with a pledge of support for Israel and the goal of eliminating Hamas.

However, the Biden team of Obama alumni is, at its core, hostile to Netanyahu and Israeli security, and committed to the goal of Palestinian statehood with an almost religious fervor. So, it was little surprise that almost within days of Biden’s first praiseworthy statements concerning Oct. 7, that the administration began talking out of both sides of its mouth about the war. Since then, it has continued to aid Israel but has slow-walked arms deliveries, recycled Palestinian propaganda, and sought to stall and second-guess Israel’s efforts to defeat Hamas.

A fatal combination

Has a president who is, at best, a part-time leader or at worst, no longer capable of facing the enormous challenges of the presidency, played a role in exacerbating these problems? That seems obvious. As The Wall Street Journal reported, European leaders were shocked by Biden’s diminished capacity at the recent G-7 Summit. Indeed, the president skipped the part of the proceedings where the allied heads of government meet informally for candid discussions where there would be no teleprompter telling him what to say, as is reportedly the case for all Biden appearances these days, including small fundraising gatherings.

The president has seemed to lack the ability to anticipate and forestall crises by either effective policies or making foes fear the consequences of crossing the United States, as was almost certainly the case when Trump was in charge. Yet by seeking to recycle Obama’s policies towards Iran, Russia and Israel that had already been shown to have failed, Biden was on course for trouble even if he had been at his best.

The president’s visible decline is not so much a reason to replace him on the Democratic ticket as it is to question whether he ought to still be running things until January. What has unfolded on his watch has been a string of disasters that are not merely the result of his personal failings but of an administration dedicated to ideas about multilateralism, the importance of failing international organizations like the United Nations and an attempt to befriend nations that see themselves as at war with the West. Though it is apparent to all except those who are blinded by partisanship, the combination of these two factors has been a recipe for a world in crisis.

COWARDICE OF THE WEST

Hezbollah and the weakness of the West

Israel faces an existential battle and the West sleeps on. 

 

By Fiamma Nirenstein

 

JNS

Jul 1, 2024 

 

Hezbollah fighters take part in a staged military exercise in the Lebanese village of Aaramta, 12 miles north of the Israeli border  

 

The weakness of the Western world was conclusively demonstrated last week when the United States told its citizens to leave Lebanon due to the risk of war between Israel and Hezbollah. The preferred response to such a threat, the West seems to think, is to run away.

In this, the Biden administration followed in the footsteps of several other countries, including Germany, Canada and Holland. Rather than face down the bullying of a terrorist army directed by the terrorist state of Iran, the West chose to flee.

This is despite the fact that from the moment of the Oct. 7 massacre, Hezbollah has been attacking a Western ally—Israel. As a result, residents of Israel’s north have had to be evacuated. Israel’s soldiers found themselves defending their country tirelessly on two fronts.

Nor did the West appear to consider that a strong stance against Hezbollah might prevent the possible destruction of the beautiful land of Lebanon—now held hostage by the Hezbollah terrorists.

No one, in short, wanted to use the West’s still considerable power to face down pure evil. Everyone chose to cower in the face of Hezbollah’s hate and violence. They did not even dare to speak a word against the monstrous organization.

Ironically, this cowardice violates the very international law the West claims to revere. After the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, the United Nations approved Resolution 1701. It demanded that Hezbollah withdraw from the Israeli border area to the Litani River. Hezbollah’s odious presence was to be replaced by the Lebanese army and the peacekeeping force UNIFIL.

Needless to say, the cowering before the bullies began immediately. Hezbollah ignored the resolution and the world did nothing. The border continued to be the epicenter of the Hezbollah threat to Israel. Underground there are dense networks of tunnels. Missile launchers have been placed in numerous civilian areas. All in total violation of international law.

Yet the world is interested in its own laws only when they can be used to defame the Jewish state and exploited to “restrain” Israel’s military response to existential threats.

It is difficult to predict what will happen now. What is certain is that Israel cannot continue to tolerate the current situation. There are hundreds of thousands of evacuees. Cities like Kiryat Shmonah have been abandoned. Kibbutzim and numerous villages stand empty. So do houses, schools, offices, research centers and medical clinics. Local agriculture is in ruins.

Unlike Hezbollah, Israel values human life. The world does not understand that when Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says that Israel is ready for war and Lebanon will face terrible suffering if it happens, he does not do so lightly. But he also cannot do otherwise. If he does not, Israel is in existential danger from a monster far worse than Hamas.

This is the situation. Hezbollah has created it. It is a battle of life and death, us or them. Is this not enough to finally awaken a sleeping West?

NETANYAHU WAS RIGHT WHEN HE SLAMMED BIDEN FOR WITHHOLDING WEAPONS

McCaul: Biden admin ‘effectively withholding seven weapon systems’ from Israel

The House Foreign Affairs Committee chair said that he signed off on the weapons, and Congress appropriated them. 

 

JNS

Jun 30, 2024

 

 

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul

 

The Biden administration has held up transfers of seven weapon systems to the Jewish state, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Shannon Bream on the program Fox News Sunday.

“This is what is most disturbing to me—is that we’re withholding weapon systems that I have signed off on and Congress has appropriated with the intent of sending those weapons to Israel,” McCaul said. “Remember the supplemental? They were effectively withholding seven weapon systems.”

“I can’t get into the details,” the congressman said. “That is not helping Israel.”

Bream noted that Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, had said that the United States would have difficulty defending the Jewish state against a Hezbollah attack.

“I respect him, Gen. Brown. I know him, but the fact is we’re not helping them,” McCaul said of Israel.

Robert Greenway, director of the Allison Center for National Security at the Heritage Foundation, wrote that the Biden administration was holding up the seven arms shipments as Iran reportedly is sending weapons to Hezbollah.

David Milstein, a former adviser to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign, wrote that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was right to release a video stating that it was “inconceivable” that the Biden administration was withholding weapons from Israel.

“Those who criticized him were wrong,” Milstein wrote.

SOMETIMES EVEN CA DEMOCRATS GET THEIR HEADS OUT OF THEIR BUTTS

By Bob Walsh

 

 

There is a grass-roots effort under way in CA to significantly modify Proposition 47.  This ballot proposition essentially removed criminal penalties from a lot of drug crimes.  It also essentially de-criminalized a lot of property crimes.

The legislature, in an effort to head this effort off at the pass, attempted to pass some legislative actions that would accomplish SOME of what the effort to revise Prop 47 would accomplish BUT......they wanted to insert "poison pills" into those bills that would make them null and void if those pesky voters actually passed their initiative.  

It was such an in-your-face FUCK YOU to the voters that even a lot of the members of the Democrat-Socialist party thought this was as bridge too far.  All of the poison pills are now gone.