‘A Great and Effective Door of Opportunity’: Perkins Visits Israel to Meet with Key Leaders

Family Research Council President Tony Perkins touched down in Israel on Saturday, March 9 to meet with Israeli leaders and assure them of American Christians’ support. The next day, Perkins visited Re’im, the site of the October 7 attack where, as Perkins described it, “over 300 people were brutally murdered, tortured, raped, and abducted by both members of the Hamas terrorist army and civilians from Gaza who were the second wave that came in behind the fighters.” Perkins reported that Hamas’s October 7 attack “was not designed to be terrorist strikes, but an invasion and occupation of the various kibbutz that were attacked.”

While visiting Re’im, Perkins told The Washington Stand, “We prayed and repented for America’s complicit role through the funding of Hamas through the UNRWA [United Nations Relief and Works Agency] and through the billions released to Iran, which is the puppet master behind Hamas and the other rogue actors in the region.”

Perkins and his team also visited Kibbutz Be’eri, where at least 130 people were killed by Hamas insurgents on October 7. “We walked among the bullet-pocked houses where grenades were tossed into houses by terrorists and RPGs were fired at houses in an attempt to breach the reinforced walls of the safe rooms where families were hiding,” Perkins recounted. “When they could not get the families out of the safe rooms, they set the house on fire. When the smoke forced the families to open the bulletproof windows of the safe room for air, they waited outside the widows to toss in grenades.” Hamas forces also invaded the nearby city of Ofakim, which Perkins visited. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) cleared the city of Hamas soldiers on October 8.

On Monday, Perkins stopped in Samaria, along with mayor Yossi Dagan and Israeli parliamentarian Ohad Tal. Perkins explained, “Approximately 70% of what we read in the Bible took place in Samaria and Judea. This includes Bethlehem, Hebron, Shiloh, Schechem, and so many other places. It is also what is deceptively called the West Bank, as if it were not part of Israel.” He added, “We stood on the mountains of Samaria and looked down on Tel Aviv, showing how impossible it would be to defend Israel under the ‘two-state’ solution that is being promoted that would give the heart of Israel over to the Palestinians.”

“We stood on the Mount of Blessing and prayed for God’s peace and blessing upon Israel, recognizing that the blessing comes from God when we obey His word and walk in His ways,” Perkins recalled. “We also prayed for America to walk according to His word and ways.”

Perkins also met with Israel’s former ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer, who is now serving as the country’s Minister of Strategic Affairs. Perkins recounted, “In our meeting with Dermer, his opening question posed to me, but directed at the group in a lighthearted way, was, ‘You’re not going wobbly on us, are you?’ I assured him we were not going wobbly.”

Next, Perkins sat down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who “discussed the situation and made clear the resolve of Israel to protect itself and that victory must be complete, which is the elimination of Hamas.” Perkins said that Netanyahu “expressed appreciation for America’s support, past and present. Still, under the present political circumstances, which was not spoken about but understood, he asked for Christians in America to stand with Israel.” Afterwards, the FRC president prayed over the Israeli prime minister and attended a late-night worship service. As Perkins described it, “Everywhere we went, including at that worship service, people were so thankful for us coming to Israel at this time.”

After an interview with Dan Cohen of NewsMax, Perkins recalled that “a small crowd had gathered to watch, and one very elderly lady came up to me with tears in her eyes and said in broken English, ‘Thank you, thank you for coming to Israel,’ and she began weeping, ‘We need you to be with us.’” He continued, “There is clearly a sense that Israel, apart from America, is standing alone, and with President Biden’s statements, America looks wobbly. In one kibbutz, it was said by one person that many members of the community had come there to escape persecution elsewhere and that Israel had been the safe haven they had fled to — what now?”

His delegation also visited the site of the 1929 Hebron massacre, where nearly 70 Jews were killed by Palestinian Arabs before being evacuated by the British authorities. Perkins explained that the Hebron massacre, “while not in scope but in brutality, was a mirror of October 7.” He added, “Hebron, like Bethlehem, is a Palestinian area with just a small enclave of Jews living there that the media refers to as ‘settlers.’”

Perkins also met with Yossi Fuchs, Netanyahu’s chief cabinet secretary. “[A]gain,” recounted Perkins, “the focus was on Israel’s need for the church to be visible and vocal in their support of Israel because the threat is great.”

On the team’s final day in Israel, they visited with Holocaust survivors and a senior citizen choir at a Jewish Agency-sponsored retirement community. “That joy-filled event was followed by a very somber visit with families of hostages at the hostage headquarters in Tel Aviv,” Perkins recalled. “It was encouraging for both the families and for us that after hearing their ongoing grief and struggle, we prayed for them and hugged them. The impact was visible.”

Perkins concluded:

“Every generation has its test of how it will treat the Jewish people. While not all have persecuted this population, which represents less than half of a percent of the world’s population today, many remained silent. October 7 was preceded by growing antisemitism, and it has pulled back the curtain on even more, right here in America. What will our generation do? Ignore it until the horrifying evidence of the consequences of our silence can no longer be denied, or will we stand against it and heed the promise and warning of Genesis 12? There is a great and effective door of opportunity opening to the church to show love in a tangible way to the Jewish state of Israel by standing with them in their hour of need.”

AUTHOR

S.A. McCarthy

S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council.


The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter Ella Emhoff Publicly Raising Money for Group Who Was Part of Oct. 7 Atrocities and Terrorist Attack on Israel

Of all the worthy causes for which one can raise money this is what the coprophagic Ella Emhoff comes up with!

However, this should not come as a surprise since her step-mother, Kalamity Harris, was urging people to contribute to a fund for bailing out Antifa and BLM rioters in 2020.

Supporting murderous scum has become something of a family tradition.

Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter Ella Emhoff publicly raising money for relief group allegedly tied to Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel

By: Jon Levine, NY Post,  March 16, 2024

Story continues below advertisement

The stepdaughter of Vice President Kamala Harris is publicly raising cash for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency — even as the United States has cut funding to the group over its members’ alleged participation in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel.

Ella Emhoff — whose father is second gentleman Doug Emhoff — posted a link to UNRWA’s English-language fundraising page on her personal Instagram, and only removed it after a Post inquiry to the White House.

“We urge Ms. Emhoff to go on the website of UN Watch and read our reports showing how UNRWA teachers and school principals systematically promote and encourage Jihadi terrorism and the slaughter of Jews,” said Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of the nonprofit United Nations watchdog.

UNRWA, the largest employer in Gaza, has long faced international criticism for its close ties to Hamas, which has ruled the enclave since 2006.

Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter Ella Emhoff makes another bizarre NYFW appearance
UNRWA, the largest employer in Gaza, has long faced international criticism for its close ties to Hamas, which has ruled the enclave since 2006.

President Trump cut US aid to the organization in 2018 — a decision President Biden initially reversed when he took office.

Under Biden’s leadership, at least $730 million found its way to UNRWA’s coffers.

The rapprochement ended, however, in January, when Israel presented evidence that UNRWA employees had been involved in Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks that left at least 1,200 dead at a music festival near the Gaza Strip.

As many as 450 UNRWA workers are members of extremist groups in the Gaza Strip, Israel contends.

Hamas tunnels were uncovered under the agency headquarters in Gaza where they also siphoned off the building’s electricity, Israeli officials said.

One released Israeli hostage said they were held prisoner in the home of an UNRWA teacher, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Continue reading.

AUTHOR

RELATED ARTICLES:

UNRWA is a Terrorist Organization

UNRWA Staff Recordings Prove Hamas Treated Young Women ‘Like Animals’

Amid Evidence That UNRWA Employees Participated in Oct. 7 Jihad Massacre, UNRWA Gets Nobel Peace Prize Nomination

New Report Reveals the Extent to Which Hamas Has Infiltrated UN Agency

Biden Appointed Terror-Linked UNRWA Official to Senior Director for Intelligence on National Security Council

Wall Street Journal: At Least 1,200 UN Employees are Actual Hamas Terrorists, 12,000 UN Staff in Gaza have Links to Islamic Terrorists

UN EMPLOYEES TOOK PART IN OCTOBER 7 GENOCIDAL MASSACRE OF JEWS, ONLY 12 ARE FIRED

UN Staff Celebrating Hamas October 7th Atrocities

Report: UNRWA Teacher, Gaza Doctor Kept Israeli Child Hostages

Another UNRWA School That was Cover for a Hamas Underground Bunker

39 Republicans Sponsor Bill To Cut Off Funding of UNRWA

UNRWA inciting violence with U.S. funding , study shows

As Biden funds UNRWA, UNRWA teachers call for Jew-murder

UN bars Israel’s ambassador from displaying pro-Hitler posts by UNRWA teacher

Watchdog: Dozens of UNRWA Teachers Incite To Violence, Spread Jew-Hatred Online

UNRWA Caught Teaching Terrorism, Jew-Hatred as Biden Regime Resumes American Taxpayer Funding

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Muslims Understand Compassion Differently Than We Do

The idea that compassion is between man and man, not just God and man, barely exists.


The origins of Islam are twofold. It was a revealed religion, but grew out of pre-Islamic Arabian tribal—that is, Bedouin—culture. When Bedouin cultural values conflicted with Islam, Bedouin culture almost always won out. Over time, Islam and Bedouin culture melded into one. It is this combination that constitutes today’s Islamic culture.

The problem with Islam today is not a problem with Islam as a religion but rather Islamic culture. If Muslims choose to pray five or even 50 times a day, that is no concern of ours. But regarding Islamic culture and its view of non-Muslims, we do have a say.

Hebrew and Arabic share many common words and roots, but their meanings often diverge. For example, in both Arabic and Hebrew, the root R-Ḥ-M refers to the womb and signifies compassion. But the understanding of compassion in Judaism is very different from that of Islam.

The opening line of the Quran is: “In the name of Allah, the merciful and the compassionate.” We know what “merciful” and “compassionate” mean in English. It relates to the relationship between God and man, and between man and man.

In Islamic culture, by contrast, compassion is only between God and man. Compassion between man and man is almost absent. This does not mean that individual Muslims do not share our Western concept of compassion, but if they do, it is not derived from Islamic culture.

When a Jew asks God for compassion and forgiveness during the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, he must first approach people he has wronged and ask for forgiveness. The person asked is required to have compassion and forgive. We believe that only by showing compassion to our fellow human beings will God be compassionate and forgiving towards us on Yom Kippur. Islamic culture is quite different.

On Oct. 7, we witnessed the results of this. Among those slaughtered by Gaza Muslims on that day were Bedouin Muslims who were Israeli citizens. They were killed along with Israeli Jews. Unlike the Nazis, who tried to hide their extermination program, the Muslims who slaughtered their fellow human beings—Muslims and non-Muslims—were proud of what they did, as demonstrated by the recordings of phone calls they made to the victims’ parents and friends as the murderers were terrorizing and murdering the recipients’ loved ones.

Why did the murderers also kill other Muslims? Because Muslims care first and foremost about their family, their clan and tribal associations, in that order. This has been true throughout Islamic history. Compassion towards one’s fellow human beings often barely exists.

There are many examples of this phenomenon:

When Hamas, the Iranian regime and Hezbollah send shahids—martyrs—to kill themselves in the name of Allah, they do not choose them from their own families. If they had compassion for others, why would they send other people’s children to their deaths? As we say, put your money where your mouth is.

In Arab culture, blood feuds continue for years without forgiveness or compassion. Perceived “wrongs” must be “righted” by deadly vengeance even if the original insult or crime might have happened generations ago.

Women suspected of dishonoring their families may be killed by family members. In some cases, the woman’s “transgression” is merely talking to a man who is not from the same family. It is not uncommon for fathers and even mothers to tell one of their sons to erase the blot on the family honor by killing his sister. We know of cases in which the son protested and his father told him that if he refused to kill his sister, he would be cast out of the family—which is the only security the son has.

Co-author Harold Rhode once taught a class in the Islamic world about Islamic culture. A female Muslim student wearing a hijab told him that she had to be very careful about talking to a non-relative. At the end of the day, when classes were over, her father personally escorted her home to her village. This student understood very well that if there were any rumors about her, she could end up dead. Moreover, her sisters pleaded with her not to do anything that might dishonor their family and thereby prevent them from being able to marry.

Before the Syrian civil war began in 2011, the country’s population was as high as 22 million. Since then, millions of Syrians have been killed, expelled or displaced to other countries. We have no idea what the population of Syria is today. It could be as little as 6-10 million. We wonder how Syrian dictator Bashar Assad could do this to his “own” people. But Assad doesn’t see most of them as his “own” people. He is a member of the Alawite sect. He is not a Sunni Muslim like approximately 72% of Syria’s pre-war population. To him, these Sunnis are expendable because their existence threatens his regime. Compassion does not enter into the equation.

When Kurdish citizens of Turkey refuse to call themselves “Turks,” the Turkish government has often labeled them “terrorists” to justify imprisoning or killing them. Not for nothing do the Kurds have a proverb: “No friends but the mountains,” expressing their feelings of loneliness, betrayal and abandonment.

When Islam conquers, it conquers by the sword. That is why there is a sword on the Saudi flag. Saudi Arabia’s ruling creed is an extreme form of Sunni Islam. Its flag symbolizes this creed. Beautiful calligraphy on the flag reads: “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger.” This simple statement, called the Shahada, is the central principle of the Islamic creed. The sword symbolizes their prophet’s conquest of pagans. The message: Either convert to Islam or die.

When shahids capture enemies, they do not just kill them. They usually make them suffer. Only then does the shahid kill his victim.

In 1947-1948, when Palestinian Arabs fled then-Palestine, their fellow Arabs responded by putting them into refugee camps, where many of them and their descendants still languish. Their “fellow Arabs” never had compassion on them and assimilated them. By contrast, when Jews fled from the surrounding Arab countries, Israel welcomed them, and the fledgling state helped to establish them as full citizens.

In Persian, the closest equivalent to the English phrase “it doesn’t matter” is “it doesn’t bring shame” (eib na-dareh). This means that what you have done will not shame or humiliate you and your family. We rarely think about shame and humiliation, but Muslims almost always have them in the back of their minds. If someone does something shameful or humiliating, others have no compassion for them.

These are just a few examples of how differently we Westerners and the Muslim world understand compassion. Our concepts of compassion and mercy are very different from those of Islamic culture. This, in short, is why so much of the Muslim world is so violent not only towards others, but towards other Muslims as well.

This article originally appeared in the Jewish News Syndicate.

AUTHORS

HAROLD RHODE

Harold Rhode received in Ph.D. in Islamic history and later served as the Turkish Desk Officer at the U.S. Department of Defense. He is now a distinguished senior fellow at the Gatestone Institute.

BENNETT RUDA

Bennett Ruda is a freelance journalist for The Jewish Press and a contributor to the popular Elder of Ziyon blog.

©2024. . All rights reserved.

Let’s Focus On Islam, Again

Elections are coming up in the U.S., but an important topic is left off the table.

This topic is Islam, a dangerous religion, that contradicts everything that Christian civilization stands for.

You would think that such a grave threat as the Rise of Islam in the World would be an important talking point among presidential candidates. But they shy away from discussing it. Or, as in the case of Joe Biden, they even embrace this dangerous religion, and wrongly think of it as a religion of peace.

The reason that not one famous American politician these days dares to talk about Islam, is fear for the consequences. There is great fear that one gets death threats from Muslims, or that the media will portray one as a racist and hater, or that one becomes a target of an assassinations.

Many years ago, I had a mentor in Bloemendaal, a village to the North of the town of Harlem. The name of my mentor was Mr. Spaanderman. He was more than 70 years old and his profession was psychoanalysis and psychotherapy.

Mr. Spaanderman taught me lessons about fear. He said that fear is a bad counselor. In fact, he entrusted me that fear is the worst counselor.

If you listen to your fears, you are in the end not superior to the animals.

I hope that the situation in America changes for the better. That means that the difficult topics are being talked about by politicians.

I personally consider Islam the gravest threat to Western civilization. And I have good reason to do so, as I have studied this religion in-depth. Let’s focus on Islam again.

©2024. Matthys van Raalten. All rights reserved.

RELATED VIDEO: Sen. Chuck “Brute” Schumer empowers HAMAS, attacks Israel, throws Bibi into a tunnel and endangers Jews in America!

Joe Biden Backs Schumer After Senator Calls For New Elections In Israel — And now the crisis begins!

According to the Associated Press:

Schumer, a Jewish Democrat from New York, sent tremors through both countries this week when he said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “lost his way” and warned that “Israel cannot survive if it becomes a pariah” as the Palestinian death toll continues to grow.

Biden is backing Schumer, signifying a new low in American-Israeli relations during this administration.

“He made a good speech,” Biden said in the Oval Office during a meeting with Ireland’s prime minister. “I think he expressed serious concerns shared not only by him but by many Americans.”

The full text of Schumer’s speech is published by the Times of Israel.

The speech and the subsequent support of it from Biden as he and Schumer hope to see the current Israeli government fall during a war for its very survival was recently reported on here. The speech and Biden’s approval represent a strategy to make Netanyahu the fall guy and install a government more to the left’s liking. As I recently wrote on Jihad Watch: Biden reportedly attempting to collapse Netanyahu government mid-war:

Here is one key reason why Biden is now reportedly attempting to force the collapse of Netanyahu’s government in the middle of a war:

Netanyahu has been a frequent obstacle to Democrats’ policies in the Middle East, starting with his opposition to President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, and continuing into his opposition to Biden’s Palestinian state ideas.

Another reason is the dilemma Biden faces in light of the upcoming elections, given his dependence on the Muslim vote and the pressure he has been receiving from Muslim communities. By shifting attention to Israel and the Netanyahu government, Biden diverts scrutiny away from himself, and creates an excuse for evading his responsibility to ally with Israel against jihad terror. He also gets to shift blame away from his administration for pouring money into the coffers of Iran. Under Obama, Iran — a main funder of Hamas — received $33.3 billion dollars in backroom deals. Under Biden, billions more have flowed into Iran.

Creating a crisis to avert attention and responsibility has become a signature ploy of Democrats.

And now the crisis begins.

AUTHOR

RELATED ARTICLES:

Biden Regime Invites Hamas-Linked CAIR to the White House, Then Lies About It

Miami imam says Muslims will seize homes and properties of Jews, prays for ‘annihilation’ of ‘enemies of Islam’

No, Queen Rania, It is Not Israel, But the Palestinians Who are the Obstacle to Peace

Iran: Senior Khamenei advisor says ‘We must increase our strategic depth’ to be able to strike US with missiles

‘One of the Greatest Historical Injustices’ Did Take Place Regarding Israel, But It’s Not What Queen Rania Thinks

Florida man says he’s with ‘Islam Nation’ after starting fire inside Miami business

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Netanyahu Defies Biden, Green Lights Offensive Into Hamas Stronghold

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave the green light on Friday for Israel to launch a ground invasion against a Hamas stronghold in south Gaza, despite the Biden administration’s warnings, according to NBC News.

Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is “preparing for the operational side and for the evacuation of the population” in Rafah, the southernmost region of Gaza bordering Egypt and a hotbed of remaining Hamas terrorists, according to NBC. President Joe Biden said last week that an Israeli operation in Rafah would be crossing a “red line.”

“Israel has no choice but to go into Rafah, where four Hamas battalions and the Gaza-Egypt tunnels that resupply Hamas with weapons are still standing,” Mark Dubowitz, CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, previously told the DCNF. “If not, Hamas will emerge victorious and Israel will be vulnerable to more Oct. 7’s as Hamas has threatened.”

Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and killed over 1,200 civilians and took hundreds of others hostage, prompting the ongoing counteroffensive by the IDF in Gaza.

Israel announced on Thursday there is a plan to move into Rafah and ensure the safety of the civilian population, according to The Washington Post. Israel plans to set up “humanitarian islands” in central Gaza, which will provide refugees with shelter, food and other goods.

Netanyahu’s office also noted in the Friday statement that ongoing negotiations for a deal to secure the hostages is difficult because Hamas is making “ludicrous” demands, according to The New York Times.

Though the exact timeline for a Rafah operation is unknown, Netanyahu hinted earlier in the week that the fighting could be wrapped within a month, according to Axel Springer, Politico’s parent company.

“We’ve destroyed three-quarters of Hamas’ fighting terrorism battalions. And we’re close to finishing the last part in warfare,” Netanyahu told Axel Springer on Monday. “[Fighting will not] take more than two months … Maybe six weeks, maybe four.”

The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

AUTHOR

JAKE SMITH

Contributor.

RELATED ARTICLES:

The Palestinian Terrorist Authority

Biden Appears To Cite Hamas’ Gaza Casualty Figures After Saying He Has ‘No Confidence’ In Them

‘That Question Was Not Answered’: MSNBC Host Presses White House Spokesman On Biden’s Israel Stance

Biden Admin Hands Out $500 Million For Oil Drilling… In The Middle East?

RELATED POSTS ON X:

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

The Truth About Saint Patrick and Saint Patrick’s Day

Britannica on Saint Patrick Day:

The feast day held on March 17th of Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland. Born in Roman Britain in the late 4th century, he was kidnapped at the age of 16 and taken to Ireland as a slave. He escaped but returned about 432 CE to convert the Irish to Christianity.

By the time of his death on March 17, 461, he had established monasterieschurches, and schools. Many legends grew up around him—for example, that he drove the snakes out of Ireland and used the shamrock to explain the Trinity.

Ireland came to celebrate his day with religious services and feasts.

It was emigrants, particularly to the United States, who transformed St. Patrick’s Day into a largely secular holiday of revelry and celebration of things Irish. Cities with large numbers of Irish immigrants, who often wielded political power, staged the most extensive celebrations, which included elaborate parades. Boston held its first St. Patrick’s Day parade in 1737, followed by New York City in 1762. Since 1962 Chicago has coloured its river green to mark the holiday.

WATCH: The Boys of Kilkenny

©2024. All rights reserved.

RELATED ARTICLE: The Real History of St. Patrick’s Day

‘If Hamas Survives … Radicalism Will Be on Steroids All over the Planet’: Senator

For a Democratic Party so consumed with the evils of insurrection, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) had no problem calling for one in Israel. In a speech that would have astounded Capitol Hill a year ago, the highest-ranking Jewish official in America demanded that Israeli voters hold an unscheduled election to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, declaring that the man hunting down the terrorists who tortured and killed 1,200 innocent people has “lost his way.”

“A new election is the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel, at a time when so many Israelis have lost their confidence in the vision and direction of their government.” How unbelievably on brand for Democrats. They’re putting the political calculations of an election year ahead of the greater good. What happened to Biden’s October promises, “We’re going to stand with you,” “We’ll walk beside you in those dark days,” and “We’ll walk beside you in the good days to come”? The second the Left’s base of Muslim sympathizers started screaming its support for Palestine, Democratic leaders dropped the Jewish state faster than you can say “two-state solution.”

Of course, the other irony here (apart from Schumer’s meddling in a foreign democracy) is that Americans are the ones living under a virtually incoherent president whose failed policies have led to the dumpster fire we’re seeing in the Middle East, China, and our southern border. It’s Biden’s country, not Netanyahu’s, that has “lost their confidence in the vision and direction of their government.” And yet the Left would have been apoplectic if a Republican stood on the Senate floor and railed about the need for a special election.

Netanyahu, it may surprise Schumer to know, actually has more domestic support than his longtime rival Benny Gantz (47-37%). Unlike the prime minister’s fickle friends in the U.S., the Israeli people understand the need to eliminate the monsters who raped, incinerated, and kidnapped their loved ones. “This is World War II for Israel,” Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) insisted on “Washington Watch” Wednesday. “This is Pearl Harbor and 9/11 rolled into one. Did anybody suggest to our country after Pearl Harbor, ‘Be careful how many Germans or Japanese you kill’”? he wanted to know. And yet, that’s exactly how Democrats are admonishing Israel in Gaza.

“I don’t want innocent people to die,” Graham admitted to Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, “but Israel has to destroy Hamas. Hamas is using the Palestinian people as shields. And I’m going to give Israel the time and the space it needs to destroy Hamas militarily. No more October 7th. This is the largest loss of life of the Jewish people since the Holocaust. … Israel is the good guy. Hamas is the bad guy. And Iran is the Great Satan. Without Iran, there would be no attack.”

Another thing Democrats tend to forget, Graham said, is that 33 Americans were killed in this attack. “And if Hamas could, they would add a lot of zeros to that 33. The radical Islamists, they want to kill the state of Israel. They want to the world to bow down to Islam under their terms. They would come after us if they could.”

So when Biden says that an Israeli invasion of Rafah is a “red line,” he’s ignoring the fact that there are six brigades of Hamas fighters still left — four of them in Rafah, Graham explained. “We have to let Israel destroy Hamas militarily. It would be like putting 80% of a fire out. You’ve got to put all the fire out. So I am challenging the Biden administration to say that if the hostages are released, the war is not over. The war is over when Israel destroys Hamas militarily, when they can have the peace of mind never to have another October 7th. It is not over until that day comes to my friends in Israel.”

And if the international community wants to criticize someone, criticize Hamas for using the million people in that area as human shields. But they won’t, Graham shook his head, “because anti-Semitism is alive and well.” He pointed to the dangers that Jewish people are facing all over the world. Even in Nashville, the senator said, Jewish schools are turning into armed camps because of the threats.

“… If you just watch the news, [you’d think] Israel was the bad guy,” Graham pointed out. But “here’s what I would say to the international community: ‘If Hamas survives, they’re coming after you.’ … If they’re still standing when this is over, radicalism will be on steroids all over the planet. ISIS is coming back in Afghanistan. … We’re in a religious war, my friend. Radical Islam wants to bend everybody to their will, and they will kill in the name of God. And that’s what I want you to understand. Dying is first prize for these nut jobs.”

The game-changer Perkins and Graham agreed would be for Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalize relations. “If you could have Saudi Arabia recognize the Jewish State for what it is — a Jewish state, the keeper of the mosque in Mecca and Medina, the center of the faith, it would end the Arab-Israeli conflict.” Think about why this attack happened, he pressed. “On October the 7th, the Iranians live[d] in fear of the Arabs and the Israelis making peace. It would isolate the ayatollah even more. This attack was generated by support from Iran. [And] Iran’s nightmare is for the Arabs — Saudi Arabia and Israel — to make peace and live together and build on the Abraham Accords. They did this to stop reconciliation.”

So frankly, Graham insisted, “the red line should be against the Iranian ayatollah — not against Bibi [Netanyahu]. Bibi is not the problem. The root of all evil is the religious Nazi running Iran: the ayatollah.”

With sobering clarity, the South Carolina senator’s tone changed. “We live in the most troubled times I can remember since I have been in politics. The world is on fire. Russia has invaded Ukraine. China is up to no good all over the planet, and our Jewish brothers and sisters are trying to be annihilated. It is now time to stand strong and without apology for our friends in Israel.”

AUTHOR

Suzanne Bowdey

Suzanne Bowdey serves as editorial director and senior writer at The Washington Stand.

RELATED ARTICLES:

Sen. Schumer Picks Hamas and Biden Over Israel

Michigan: Islamic scholar says ‘there can never be a permanent treaty with infidels because it cancels out jihad’

UNC-Chapel Hill: Professors Hail Hamas’ Oct. 7 ‘Resistance’

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2024 Family Research Council.


The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Israel’s Ramadan Dilemmas

Hamas would like to see Israeli forces storming into the Al-Aqsa mosque, hoping it would lead to a regional conflagration. 

The month of Ramadan is always a sensitive period for security officials. This year it has to be handled with even more care because Israel has to contend with four arenas bubbling up with pressure all at once—the war against Hamas in Gaza; the heightened tension in Judea and Samaria; the attempts to inflame Israeli Arabs; and the ongoing clash with the Biden administration.

The decision not to prevent Arabs who are Israeli citizens and Arab residents of Jerusalem from joining the Temple Mount prayers in a sweeping manner has major importance.

In recent years, riots have typically erupted during Ramadan, especially in the second half of the month, led by Hamas-affiliated radical youth from eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods, as well as “lone-wolf” terrorists mostly coming into the Old City, young people who smuggle fireworks, Molotov cocktails and even pipes filled with explosive powder resembling bombs onto the Temple Mount before Ramadan, sleep in the mosque and barricade themselves inside. This quickly descends into a confrontation with the police.

The main mission of the Israel Police on the Temple Mount is to prevent rioters from throwing stones or other dangerous objects towards the Western Wall, which could lead to the evacuation of Jewish worshippers from the compound. Extreme Islamic elements, certainly Hamas, would love to see this happen, as this could be cast as a “victory image.”

The Israeli Police has extensive experience dealing with events of this type. It is clear to anyone engaged in this task that images and videos of police officers stepping on prayer rugs and confronting those inside Al-Aqsa mosque, broadcast live to the Arab world, would increase tensions and provoke much condemnation.

Hamas would like to see Israeli forces storming into the mosque, hoping this would lead to a regional conflagration; thus, such a move must be an absolute last resort.

Storming the mosque would not be a tactical event; it would have broad strategic political and security implications. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear that such a move would have to be first cleared by him, underscoring the gravity of the matter.

In the current situation, there is no other choice. Events on the Temple Mount have a direct bearing on what happens in the Gaza Strip, with the discourse on a possible IDF operation in Rafah in the background.

Maintaining pressure on Hamas, by destroying both its military and civilian dispositions, while eliminating its political, religious and civilian leadership, requires the IDF to take aggressive action in Rafah. It must conquer and mop up the area, and target hundreds or even thousands of terrorists hiding in buildings, mosques and educational and medical facilities, and deal with the most difficult component—the underground tunnel system.

The main working assumption is that Hamas operatives in Rafah have already shed their identifying marks and are hiding among a supportive population, armed and not hesitating to use civilians as human shields.

IDF soldiers must not be put in harm’s way unnecessarily. Likewise, to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians as much as possible, it is crucial that they be allowed out of combat zones. But it is also worth remembering that with the terrorists being embedded within the population, the inability to definitively distinguish between noncombatants and terrorists adds to the complexity.

Another issue is the pier that the U.S. is establishing on the Gaza coast and the question of who will receive the humanitarian relief that is intended for the civilian population.

The most complex and dangerous way forward would be to allow clans or large families to manage the distribution of food. On the other hand, officials in the Palestinian Authority will also not be able to do so at this stage. Hamas is deeply embedded in the area, and it will threaten and even harm any entity that operates in its place.

Therefore, a combination of forces from Arab countries and Gazan civilians, as well as Israeli military intervention, will be required. This constellation, of course, is not a solution for the “day after” the war, which is the most critical aspect as Israel seeks a stable civilian governing authority to replace Hamas.

Read full article.

Originally published by Israel Hayom.

AUTHOR

Arik Barbing

Arik Barbing, former head of the Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria sector in the Shin Bet.

POSTS ON X:

EDITORS NOTE: This Israel Hayom column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

BBYO Survey Reports that 71% of Jewish Teens Have Experienced Anti-Semitism

Research shows high-schoolers encounter hate both in person and online. 

BBYO has released the results of a new survey of 1,989 Jewish students conducted from Jan. 23 to Feb. 5.

The researchers found that 71% had experienced antisemitic hate or discrimination. Those who have faced it in person numbered 61% while 46% saw it online, and 36% had experienced both forms. Of those who had experienced in-person hate, 46% said it occurred at school and 45% chose not to report the incident.

For the teens who encountered online anti-Jewish hate, they reported that the most common platforms were Instagram (33%), TikTok (23%) and Snapchat (17%).

Matt Grossman, CEO of BBYO, called the survey “a critical wake-up call, revealing the stark reality that Jewish teens are enduring.”

The Jewish youth organization said in a statement that “the data indicates that the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas and the subsequent spread of misinformation and antisemitic rhetoric and violence have had a traumatic impact on Jewish high school students’ safety, well-being, and mental health.”

According to the report, 74% of BBYO members have seen more discrimination since Oct. 7.

Grossman emphasized that “every Jewish teen deserves to feel safe and supported, and it is incumbent upon us to ensure they have those safe spaces, as well as the tools and assistance they need, to navigate these turbulent times with strength and pride. We are so proud and grateful that involvement with BBYO has played such a significant role in helping teens cope with elevated levels of stress and anxiety.”

The uptick in antisemitic incidents and even hate crimes on college campuses has also come to play an important role this year for 64% of respondents in deciding which school to attend.

ABOUT BBYO

BBYO is the leading pluralistic teen movement aspiring to involve more Jewish teens in more meaningful Jewish experiences. For over 95 years, BBYO has provided exceptional identity enrichment and leadership development experiences for hundreds of thousands of Jewish teens.

For nearly a century, BBYO‘s leadership programs, the Aleph Zadik Aleph (AZA, high school fraternity) and the B’nai B’rith Girls (BBG, high school sorority) have been providing exceptional leadership programs and identity enrichment experiences, shaping the confidence and character of more than 350,000 alumni who are among the most prominent figures in business, politics, academia, the arts, and Jewish communal life. Now, BBYO’s network of teens, alumni, parents, volunteers, and philanthropists serves as the Jewish community’s most valuable platform for delivering to the post Bar/Bat Mitzvah audience fun, meaningful, and affordable experiences that inspire a lasting connection to the Jewish people.

EDITORS NOTE: This JNS – Jewish News Syndicate column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Self-Hating Jew Chuck Schumer Blames Netanyahu, Turns Gun on the Jewish People

“Israelis are notoriously outspoken and have a vibrant democracy. In the middle of a war the very last thing they need is for a Democratic Party politician to elevate his own party’s electoral needs over Israeli national security and over Israeli democracy. This speech, coming after the Vice President’s, appears to signal a continuing campaign against Netanyahu. It’s a shameful and unprecedented way to treat an ally, and an unconscionable interference in the internal politics of another democracy.” — Elliot Abrams on Chuck Schumer speech.


Another self-loathing Jews stabbing our people in the back.

Early in his political career, Schumer pretended to be religious in order to get elected. He’s the lowest of the low.

Just to be clear: the Jewish people support Netanyahu so Schumer is attacking the Jewish people.

Self-hating Jews have long been a pox on the Jewish people.

Senate Majority Leader gives major address from the Senate floor on ‘a pathway to peace and achieving a two-state solution,’ attacks Israeli government and calls for new elections.

By: Israel National News, Mar 14, 2024:

US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer gave a speech on “a pathway to peace and achieving a two-state solution” today (Thursday).

In his remarks, Schumer called for the holding of new elections in Israel, saying that “Netanyahu has lost his way.” He further called the Israeli Prime Minister an “obstacle to peace.”

According to Schumer, Netanyahu is one of four obstacles to peace, the others being Hamas, “radical Israelis,” and Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Schumer’s criticism of Netanyahu centered on the prime minister’s “outright” rejection of the idea of the creation of a Palestinian state in the aftermath of October 7.

“The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel,” he said. “The Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.”

“This is a grave mistake for Israel, for Palestinians, for the region, and for the world,” he claimed. “The only real and sustainable solution to this decades-old conflict is a negotiated two-state solution.”

According to Schumer, Netanyahu has “dangerous and inflammatory policies that test existing U.S. standards for assistance.”

“If Prime Minister Netanyahu’s current coalition remains in power after the war begins to wind down, and continues to pursue dangerous and inflammatory policies that test existing US standards for assistance, then the United States will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage to change the present course,” he said.

Continue reading.

Jews like Schumer, traitors, have plagued my people since time immemorial.. The same traitors who built and worshiped a golden calf when Moses went up the mountain to receive the tablets (Jewish law), the same Jews (of the ‘Twelve Spies) who were dispatched by Moses to scout out the Land of Canaan (Israel) for 40 days as a future home for the Jewish people, during the time when the Israelites were in the wilderness following their Exodus from Ancient Egypt. .Ten of the twelve spies (the same ratio of Democrat Jew to Republican Jew) they slandered the land of milk and honey.  As a result, the entire nation was made to wander in the desert for 40 years.

Too many Jews have stood by and said nothing.

AUTHOR

RELATED ARTICLES:

Post 10/7 Looks a Lot Like Post 9/11, Only Worse

Biden Regime Actively Seeking to Overthrow Israeli Government to Save Hamas

After Iran Killed 3 U.S. Soldiers, Biden Regime Gives It $10,000,000,000 Sanctions Waiver

Rep. Adam Schiff Co-Sponsors Resolution Accusing Israel of Sexually Harassing Muslim Women

Biden’s Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics

Biden Regime to Boycott, Sanction Entire Jewish Villages

Pro-Terror Jew-Haters Block Terminal at San Francisco Airport

NY: Muslims Take Over Times Square to Pray In the Street

Biden Regime Poised To Give Iran 10 Billion

RELATED VIDEO:  Why the ‘Two-State Solution’ Will Solve Nothing

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, ‘Al Qaeda and ISIS, inspired by Hamas,’ demand Muslims ‘attack Israeli and U.S. interests’

The Islamic State and al-Qaeda have been calling upon Muslims to attack Israeli and U.S. interests for years, but Avril Haines was likely too consumed with hunting for “insurrectionists” to notice.

ISIS, Al Qaeda ‘Inspired by Hamas’ to Attack Americans and Israelis, US Intel Chief Says

Algemeiner, March 11, 2024:

US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines said on Monday that the Islamist terrorist groups al Qaeda and Islamic State (ISIS) have been inspired by Hamas to attack Americans and Israelis.

“While it is too early to tell, both al Qaeda and ISIS, inspired by Hamas, have directed supporters to conduct attacks against Israeli and US interests,” Haines testified to the US Senate Intelligence Committee. “And we have seen how it is inspiring individuals to conduct acts of antisemitism and Islamophobic terror worldwide.”

Antisemitism has skyrocketed since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel launched the current war in Gaza, which is ruled by the Palestinian terrorist group. Antisemitic incidents have reached record levels in the US and several European countries following the Hamas atrocities, which resulted in the largest mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust by the Nazis during World War II.

“It is likely that the Gaza conflict will have a generational impact on terrorism,” Haines told US lawmakers. “The crisis in Gaza is a stark example of how regional developments have the potential of broader and even global implications.”

Haines also noted concerns that the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza could spread global insecurity: “The crisis in Gaza is a stark example of how regional developments have the potential of broader and even global implications.”…

Continue reading.

No kidding, really? This kind of incisive analysis is why Haines makes the big bucks.

AUTHOR

RELATED ARTICLES:

ISIS threat at border demonstrates the dangers of open-door immigration policies

Delivering Aid to Gaza Prolongs Hamas’ Hold, and Hostages’ Despair

Pakistan: Student gets death sentence for ‘derogatory words’ about Muhammad and his wives on WhatsApp

Remember That Islamophobic Hate Crime In Burlington, Vermont? It Wasn’t

UK: City of Peterborough to spend $1,282,000 on measures to prevent jihad terror attack in city center

Feminist group says Afghanistan under Taliban control is ‘most dangerous place in the world for Afghan girls and women’

Kamala’s Gaza Coup

France: Muslim couple found to have explosives and a book of jihad propaganda

EDITORS NOTE: This Jihad Watch column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Palestine As A Weapon … Inside Lebanon

LebanonPalestinians | MEMRI Daily Brief No. 580


The Gaza war between Hamas and Israel has had an effect on public opinion worldwide. But the effect has not been the same in all countries. In Spain and Latin America, for example, full-throated advocacy for Palestinian causes is most marked among the political left; the farther left the party, the more extreme the advocacy. In the Middle East, the war has exacerbated existing friction between regimes, such as between Morocco and Algeria. In some places the war has fed into internal conflict, being used as a weapon or club in domestic political situations. In Jordan, the war is heightening friction between the country’s Palestinian majority and its minority “East Bank” Jordanian elite. Internal tensions also spiked in Lebanon, a country where the cause of Palestine has been used at least three times in the past 50 years – by the PLO, by Syria and by Iran – as an excuse for foreign interference and oppression.

Public opinion in Lebanon is not uniform according to sect. There are “pro-Resistance” Christians, some of them vociferously so, and there are non-Christians – Shi’a and Sunni and Druze – who are against Lebanon being part of a wider war and opposed to being dragged by Hizbullah into another conflict. Those types of individuals often have to keep a lower profile given the threat of assassination, as befell Hizbullah critic Lokman Slim in 2021.[1] But if one was to generalize, opposition to war is much more likely – certain more open – among the country’s Christian population, which is much more likely to embrace the concept that the war in Gaza has nothing to do with Lebanon and that Lebanon should concern itself with its own business and be neutral in all regional conflicts, including wars with Israel. To want to be neutral and at peace in Lebanon, to put the country’s interests first over some foreign conflict, is interpreted by the so-called “Axis of Resistance” as being pro-Israel even if one never mentions that state.

Since the war began on October 7, 2023, the Resistance Axis – Hizbullah and its puppets – have concentrated much of their ire, their propaganda networks, and street action against the country’s Christians, particularly against the Maronites, their leaders, and their symbols. In this way, an external conflict has been transformed into a tool of coercion and intimidation in an already existing internal struggle for power, pitting the country’s Shi’a duopoly (Hizbullah + Amal) against anyone else, but especially against that part of the Maronite leadership most opposed to Hizbullah hegemony.

This could be seen from the beginning of the war in October. A reporter for Lebanon’s MTV channel was interfered with by a pro-Hizbullah minder in South Lebanon because he claimed that the channel “supported the Zionist enemy.” At the same time, noisy crowds carrying Palestinian and Hizbullah flags invaded Christian urban areas – Awkar, where the U.S. Embassy is located, and Achrafieh/Gemmayze. These outsiders’ chants included “Shi’a, Shi’a, Shi’a,” “At Your Service, Oh Nasrallah,” and “Let’s Go, Sayyed, for the Sake of Allah.” Strangely enough, such provocative acts were deemed to be not sectarian – but Christians advocating for a federal Lebanon are often derided as irredeemably sectarian.

While images of Hamas spokesman Abu Obeidah – as “the spokesman of the nation” – marked Beirut’s airport road, Hizbullah’s extensive electronic media proxy army (which also includes leftist and pan-Arab nationalist allies) kept up a steady diet of anti-Maronite content, from political and religious mockery to crude, often obscene images against prominent figures – Kataeb Party parliamentarians Nadim and Samy Gemayel (portrayed as babies or women), Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea (pictured as Judas), and even the late Bashir Gemayel.

Other images at Christmastide showed Jesus Christ as crucified for Palestine or as a Palestinian militant, “the first Palestinian revolutionary.” The Maronite Patriarchate, which has called for neutrality, was another focus of criticism. The mostly Christian proponents of neutrality were now dubbed by the critics as “isolationists.” While much of this ferment over the past months was war-related, some was not, and focused rather on Maronites as Maronites, a type of eternal “Maroniphobia,” inspired by social resentment or envy as much as by political disagreement or religious hatred. That the Christian population of Lebanon was declining and that Christians were emigrating was a topic of particular glee.

The Axis of Resistance also benefited from the presence of domesticated Court Christians – mocked by critics as dhimmis or as “Nasara Al-Manar” (Christians of the Hizbullah television channel Al-Manar) – who would amplify the Iranian-sponsored Resistance’s talking points. This phrase is a likely response to the “Shi’a Al-Safara” term developed by Hizbullah online trolls and aimed against members of that community opposed to the terrorist group.

Some prominent Christians, of course, are immune to Resistance trolling. Suleiman Frangieh (grandson of President Suleiman Frangieh, 1970-1976) and Gibran Bassil, son-in-law of former President Michel Aoun, are Hizbullah allies who still aspire to become the next Lebanese president with the support of Nasrallah and Amal’s Nabih Berri.

The latest point of internal friction in this mostly online campaign was generated by, of all things, a Catholic nun when video surfaced in early March 2024 of Sister May Ziadeh praising “the Resistance” while speaking at the Ghabala parochial school in the mostly Maronite Christian region of Keserwan. Ziadeh said:

“In the south there are students of your age who say they have no dreams other than liberating their land. Today we pray for the south, for the children of the south, for the people of the south, for the mothers of the south, and for the men of the resistance, because they are men from Lebanon and they are working hard to protect this homeland. If we don’t reach out to them, and we don’t love them no matter what we think, then we will be traitors to our land, our homeland and every book we read.”[2]

The resulting media firestorm was predictable, even though positions were scrambled. The politicians and trolls of the Resistance (Hizbullah and friends) who had mocked and threatened priests and bishops, now found a nun they could embrace and cheer. The same online voices who only recently dripped venom against the Maronite Patriarch now launched a hashtag – “Solidarity with Sister Maya.” Defenders of the Church were placed on the defensive but contrasted this nun who defended the persecutors of Christians with nuns and others who defended their own community.

The Federal Lebanon website responded noting that “the problem is not praying for the south. The problem is asking to pray for the men of the resistance. We don’t send young children to schools to receive ideological indoctrination, The Hitler Youth has no place in our schools.”[3] Not surprisingly, Hizbullah’s Maronite allies like Bassil, and so-called “patriotic Christian” supporters of Hizbullah and Palestinian terrorists, used the nun incident to score political points.[4] The Hizbullah mouthpiece Al-Akhbar sarcastically declared that Geagea’s Lebanese Forces, the largest Christian opposition party, had declared takfir on the nun.[5]

It is worth adding that Sister Maya was not only asking for prayers for the Resistance, but also implied that not supporting Hizbullah is treason, which is very much in sync with the Resistance narrative in Lebanon. Those who want neutrality, who are in favor of peace, and who are “isolationists” or federalists are to be considered as “traitors.” That is why Lebanese journalists and others seen as having had any sort of contact with Israelis risked being brought before a military court.[6]

The deterioration in communal relations inside Lebanon, driven especially by Hizbullah and by the decline in both Christian and Sunni Muslim political power, predates the current Gaza war, but the conflict is deepening these tensions. Hizbullah knows that many and probably most Lebanese may have no love for Israel but are against another war in general, as the country is already enduring an unprecedented economic crisis.

But with about 300 Hizbullah fighters already killed since the conflict began, and Israeli airstrikes slowly creeping deeper north the longer the war continues, the terrorist group may be trapped in an iron cage of its own making. A wider war in Lebanon may become inevitable, despite the efforts of the Biden administration to prevent this.[7] If a longer, more intense war does come, the current campaign of intimidation and coercion launched against the Christian “isolationists” in Lebanon may get much worse very soon.

AUTHOR

Amb. Alberto M. Fernandez

Ambassador Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice President of MEMRI.

SOURCES

[1] Washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/middle-east-matters-episode-one-murder-lokman-slim-justice-delayed-lebanon, March 14, 2023.

[2] Almodon.com, March 11, 2024.

[3] Twitter.com/FederalLebanon_/status/1767205135048978728, March, 11, 2024.

[4] Tayyar.org/News/Lebanon, March 11, 2024.

[5] Al-akhbar.com/Politics/378547, March 12, 2024.

[6] MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 11187, UAE-Based Lebanese Journalist Layal Alekhtiar, Wanted By Lebanese Military Court For Interviewing Israeli Military Official: The ‘Culture Of Death’ Has Destroyed Half Of Lebanon And Other Arab Countries – I Have Chosen The ‘Culture Of Life’, March 8, 2024.

[7] Aaawsat.com, March 12, 2024.

EDITORS NOTE: This MEMRI column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Plunge Faster Into The Abyss

As Israel approaches its sixth month at war with Hamas in Gaza, and likely nears another war on its northern border with Hezballah, the Biden administration continues to pursue a radically transformative regional agenda to seek rapprochement and strategic condominium with Iran and establish a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.  The main obstacle to this agenda, according to administration strategists, is not its dissonance with reality, but the irresponsibility and intransigence of Israel’s government.  To overcome this obstacle, thus, the administration has resumed interfering in domestic Israeli politics and intensified its efforts to destabilize an Israeli government it believes most threatens its ideological quest regionally.

The administration seeks this ambitious agenda despite the attacks of October 7, which did little to dissuade it from its faith in the two anchoring objectives. It does so because the events reinforced its view of the importance of its informing paradigm — a truly post-colonial agenda animated by a progressive narrative (contrition over both the “interference” in Iranian affairs throughout the last century and over the dispossession of the Palestinian people as part of a larger global European oppression). Applying that self-excoriating paradigm, the administration’s cognoscente believe, will finally address the underlying grievances driving regional rage and resentment, and thus replace them with a condition of mutual strategic deference and respect between Washington and Tehran, both of whom tightly control their proxies.

The Gaza war did nothing to dilute the administration’s obsession with this vision. Indeed, if anything, it reinforced the imperative, feasibility and urgency of advancing its two key mechanisms of its realization – establishing a Palestinian state and rapprochement with Iran’s Islamic regime.

Added to this urgency is that progressives have influenced and radicalized not only the administration’s policy, but also its domestic political understanding, strategy and operations. Progressives have intentionally peddled a climate of political despair for the entire Democratic party – without any real evidence — that is miraculously resolvable only by pandering to the most radical pro-Palestinian elements in Michigan in the run-up to the 2024 elections.

The main obstacle they see to surmounting this electoral despair and attaining the messianic vision whose implementation would reunite the party with its progressive base, in their view, is the current obstinacy of the Israeli government.  And as a result of this conceptual box within which the administration has locked itself, the already-prioritized objective of ousting the Likud government in Israel has now intensified and risen to a perfect storm injected with steroids.

The problem is, the further this administration’s effort deepens, the more detrimental the immediate application of its ideological mission is to ousting the current government and then swaying Israeli politics in the longer term after the war.

The greatest influence which the United States exercises over Israel is the political woes of the left side of Israel’s spectrum. Ever since the election of Menachem Begin and his Likud party in 1977 — resulting from a tectonic realignment of Israeli politics crystallizing all the “outsiders” against the ossifying elite that had dominated the state since its founding – Israel’s left-leaning, Ashkenazi (European) -hyper-secular elites and the parties through which they exercise political power have faced declining prospects for electoral victories. In the last two decades, the only ability of the left to gain power was to align behind right-wing parties that bolted from personal loyalty to the current leader of the Likud, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israeli structures in all sectors thus became increasingly distorted. Specifically, the more left-leaning elites have tried to reinforce their control over non-elected structures governing the state and society (military, judicial, financial, high-tech, societal, academic, press), as well as sought to expand the power of these structures over every aspect of life in order to maintain their control and “ownership” of Zionism.  The judicial reform upheaval that tore Israel to shreds in the year before the Gaza war erupted was a battle between the proponents of that long-term effort and the resulting backlash that had developed. And the post-war debate over the responsibility for the catastrophic failure of the war’s surprise, especially delineating who is to blame between the political (which was a right-leaning coalition) and military leadership and security elites (retired “LeSheavarim” or “formers” and current), almost immediately started fracturing along the same schism. The intensity of these debates marked just how far the right would go to finally challenge those structures and how far the left would go, even to the mat, to protect those institutions and its grip over them.

Enter the American angle. Institutions, no matter how elite and entrenched, ultimately begin to yield to the pressure of aligning with the society from which they derive their power.  Left isolated, thus, the distortion of Israeli institutions would eventually align with the society in which it operates.  But the left in Israel is deeply invested in another layer of resilience.  It has successfully leveraged Israel’s international allies, and in particular the American relationship, to domestically overpower their more street-popular opposition.

The Israeli left has been able to do this largely because in as much as the international community had intervened in Israel traditionally, it was to advance a more left-leaning agenda. In the marketplace of politics in Israel, the world had the left’s back.

But this whole structure is anchored ultimately to U.S. influence and dominance on both practical and intellectual levels. And it is also anchored to an international community – especially an American foreign policy establishment – that is largely homogenous in its outlook in viewing Israel’s left as more amenable to the pursuit of its agenda.  As such, Israel’s left became not only increasingly reliant on American support but also increasingly subordinate to American demands.  When administrations defined the U.S. national interest in ways roughly aligned with the interests as conceived by Israel’s left – even if it bent Israel to be dangerously dependent and more flexible than wise in things it normally would rather not be — that remained a powerful and even insurmountable alliance.  But if Washington departed from the interests of Israel’s left – especially under administrations that leaned more right – that investment drifted from essential to either useless or even detrimental.

Back to the present.  Over time, the memory seared into the Israeli psyche on October 7 will melt into resumption of “normal” politics in Israel, and when that happens, some of the fissures in Israeli politics which raged before the war will return.  But the administration fails to grasp that moment is not yet here; the war in Gaza has not yet ended and the war in the north has not begun or even begun to be resolved.  And in this, the administration is essentially trying to prod Israel back to its pre-October 7 political atmosphere, crack the unity government and leverage the power of Israeli institutions to shift the political direction of Israeli society.

Moreover, even when the guns fall silent, there is no going back to October 6.  Israeli society has changed, and while polls suggest it holds the right-leaning government that was in power on October 7 responsible along with the military leadership, policy issues polls also suggest that the population has shifted sharply rightward. And the Israeli center-left – which had been aligned with Washington’s preferences for the last 30 years – has also shifted rightward as a result of the war at the same time this administration – under the sway of a radicalizing progressive agenda – has drifted leftward and is sharply abandoning its more liberal pro-Israeli agenda.  The gap then between Israel’s center-left and the Biden administration – which the latter fails to observe — is vast and growing.

This leads us to the current moment. For over a week, the Biden administration has encouraged the idea in Western press that this is “Netanyahu’s” war, that Israel cannot be allowed to enter the final towns and areas in Gaza still under Hamas control (Rafiah and the Philadelphia corridor), that a ceasefire and Palestinian statehood are both unattainable as long as the Likud prime minister remains in office and that absent a ceasefire the danger of escalation with Iran grows and the aspiration for regional stability through a rapprochement and strategic condominium with Tehran recedes.  So Netanyahu must go – and the chattering class of Washington has responded to echo that sentiment quickly.

The problem is that over the last week, it is clear this is not “Netanyahu’s” war. Israeli polls for example note that 73 % of Israelis support the IDF entering Rafiah and the Philadelphia corridor in Gaza, even if it means conflict with Egypt and the U.S. administration. Similar majorities want to continue fighting and reject a ceasefire until Israel has achieved full victory and destroyed all of Hamas in Gaza and brought the area under full Israeli control for the near term. Similarly, most Israelis see little hope in avoiding escalation against Hizballah in order to prevent the communities of the north becoming the next victims of an even more deadly repetition of the October 7 attacks as afflicted Israel in the south. And there is no measurable block of Israelis that holds any hope of coming to terms in any way, even in terms of a proper deterrence relationship, with Iran.

In short, the Israeli people now see the Biden team’s self-assigned transformative regional mission to be existentially threatening and a grave danger to the very survival of the state and the safety of its citizens. Moreover, it is clear the center-left in Israel is aligned with the comparable polling blocks on these issues.  While there may be some marginal far-left parties and politicians that still cling to these views, the core of the center-left in Israel was sobered by the horrors of October 7 no less than the right of the spectrum.  As such, for example, despite the idea that PM Netanyahu is driving Israel to enter Rafiah, Benjamin Gantz, who leads the center-left party announced that there is no conceivable way in which Israel can avoid entering Rafiah and taking the rest of Gaza, nor is any currently floated form of a ceasefire agreement draft anything but a “non-starter.”

Added to this is that every public indicator also suggests that Israelis apportion the greatest blame for the national calamity which befell them on October 7 not only to specific parties or figures, but to the overall climate of fractionalization and bitterness that rendered Israeli society over the last year.  National unity at this moment is considered to be synonymous with national survival, and any actor disrupting  consensus or issue dividing the nation’s unity is rejected as a subject of address at this time. It is not an ideological view, but a practical one as well: the nation as a whole through mass mobilization of reserves is fighting, not just its regular army. To raise issues or trigger debate that can divide tank crews, elite units, combat squads and platoons, directly undermines the ability of the IDF to perform.  To break the nation’s unity and force through controversial “day after” policies and new elections now would be catastrophic in this regard.

In that context, any “day after” scenario such as Palestinian statehood, the splitting of the national unity government and the holding of elections, or even the idea of trying to leverage the desperate concern for the fate of the hostages against the imperative of absolute victory over Hamas is with disdain, disgust and determination profoundly rejected in public opinion.

The Biden administration thus is making a parade of mistakes to emphasize its messianic progressive agenda now, in believing it has any Israeli following for its agenda, and in trying to split Israeli politics and use Israel’s dependence on American aid to oust the current government and stand up a new, more pliable one.  The administration is banking on its influence to cause a rift with Israel – with every day unveiling yet another form of crisis and break with Israel — in hopes it strengthens the left, weakens the prime minister and forces a new elections and government.

Instead, with every new crisis, and with every indication that the administration does not appreciate the deep wound suffered in the Israeli psyche to its very confidence of existence resulting from October 7, the Biden administration fails further.  Indeed, it is squandering immense credit it built in Israeli society after October 7 in its quest for a ceasefire, for protecting inflated forms of Palestinian humanitarian interests, for rejecting a war plan over which there is roughly a national consensus rather than nurturing its credit over the long run to further leverage it to seek a more modest vision in the post-war atmosphere.

In the end, the very crises the administration embraces to try to weaken and oust the current government, the more the administration causes the U.S. to lose influence over Israel and erode the respect it holds within Israeli society.

In the end, the administration will defeat itself.

AUTHOR

David Wurmser

Dr. David Wurmser, is a Senior Analyst for Middle East Affairs at the Center for Security Policy, as well as a Fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy. He also is the executive and founding member of the Delphi Global Analysis Group, LLC – a firm specializing in geopolitical risk analysis and mitigation for infrastructure, high-tech, defense and financial firms from the United States, Japan and India navigating in Israel — since its founding in 2007. From December 2018 until September 2019, Dr. Wurmser also served as senior advisor to the U.S. National Security Advisor, Ambassador John Bolton.

Prior to this, Dr. Wurmser was the senior advisor from 2003-2007 to the U.S. Vice President Cheney on Middle East, proliferation and strategic affairs. Before becoming the senior advisor for the Vice President in 2003, Dr. Wurmser was the senior advisor to Under Secretary of State John Bolton at the State Department.

RELATED ARTICLE: Biden’s problem is with Democrats who hate Israel, not Netanyahu

EDITORS NOTE: This Center for Security Policy column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

BIDEN BORDER INVASION UPDATE: FBI Director Warns of ‘Very Dangerous Threats’ by Islamic State Terror Cells Coming to U.S.

This is one way for Democrats to get rid of opposition, import assassins.

If that sounds crazy, it’s nearly as crazy as allowing 10 million unvetted illegals in from the world’s most dangerous regions. And flying them (for free) anywhere they want in America (with no papers.)

FBI director warns of ‘very dangerous threats’ at border, smuggling network with ‘ISIS ties’

By Adam Shaw, Fox News, March 11, 2024:

FBI director warns of ‘wide array of threats at US border’

FBI Director Christopher Wray warned of a number of threats, including drugs and gangs coming across the US border.

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Monday warned of a “wide array” of dangerous threats coming from the U.S. border, including drug trafficking, violent gangs and smugglers with ties to ISIS.

Wray was asked by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing about the threats at the border, including the Tren de Aragua gang from Venezuela. Wray said he couldn’t speak to a specific gang, but said that there were dangerous individuals entering via the southern border.

“From an FBI perspective, we are seeing a wide array of very dangerous threats that emanate from the border. And that includes everything from drug trafficking — the FBI alone seized enough fentanyl in the last two years to kill 270 million people — that’s just on the fentanyl side,” he said.

These images from a CBP intelligence bulletin show tattoos and identifiers for Tren De Aragua.

“An awful lot of the violent crime in the United States is at the hands of gangs who are themselves involved in the distribution of that fentanyl,” he said.

Officials have warned about the presence of gangs, including Tren De Aragua. Fox News reported last week about a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) internal bulletin that told agents to be on the lookout for those coming across the border who may show signs of belonging to the bloodthirsty gang. Fox News reported last week that the brother of the suspect in the killing of Georgia student Laken Riley has ties to the gang. Both the suspect and his brother are Venezuelans who entered the U.S. illegally.

Rubio asked Wray whether smuggling networks that are moving people all over the world could also have ties to ISIS or other terrorist organizations.

“So, I want to be a little bit careful how far I can go in open session, but there is a particular network that, where some of the overseas facilitators of the smuggling network have ISIS ties that we’re very concerned about and that we’ve been spending enormous amount of effort with our partners investigating. Exactly what that network is up to is something that’s, again, the subject of our current investigation,” he said.

Rubio asked him to confirm that there is a network “we’re concerned about” that has facilitators involved with ties to ISIS.

“Correct,” Wray said.

Biden admin should be more focused on stopping border crisis than terminology: Chad Wolf Video

There were more than 2.4 million migrant encounters in FY 23, and FY 24 so far included a month with record encounters of over 300,000. The border has become a top political issue with both President Biden and former President Donald Trump visiting the border this month.

Continue reading.

AUTHOR

RELATED ARTICLES:

Pro-Islamic State (ISIS) Media Outlets Call On Muslims To Attack Jews And Christians In The West During Ramadan

Palestinian Female TV Host: “It’s Beautiful. We Give Birth To So Many Children So We Can Push Them to Death”

“Ceasefire” Pin Symbol is The Bloody Hand of a Lynched Jew Torn Limb From Limb and Cannibalized

Oscar’s Theme? Jew Hatred, Calls for Israel’s Immediate Surrender to Hamas Terror

Democrats Unanimously Vote Against Proposal to Prohibit Illegals From Voting

Biden Regime Preparing For Massive Surge of Haitian Migrants After Thousands of Inmates Escaped the Country’s Prisons

RELATED VIDEOS:

Ted Cruz warns terror threat to America is greater than any time since 9/11

DoD officials say they are “alerted” about a potential maritime “mass migration” from Haiti

POST ON X:

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.