97th Day. Michigan Biden's Must Win. Protesters Paid. Pitiful Judge. CNN Bias. Iran Shoots Bird Captures Tanker.

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Israel’s 97th Day of War

By Sherwin Pomerantz

On the 97th day of war in Israel, the IDF says that we are virtually in control of Gaza with battles still raging in the Khan Yunis area in an effort to “smoke out” the Hamas leadership, which we believe is hiding in tunnels there.   On the northern border with Lebanon, we continue to see skirmishes with warning sirens heard in the north of Israel last night and again this afternoon.

Sunday will mark 100 days of the present conflict.  Large demonstrations are planned throughout the country to show solidarity with the hostage families and to press the government to move faster on resolving the hostage crisis.

A new Qatari proposal for a ceasefire would see the leaders of Hamas all be deported and all of the hostages captured by the terrorist group released in exchange for the withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza, according to news revealed by Channel 13 citing sources close to officials in Doha, Qatar.

If such a proposal were implemented, hostages would be released in stages.

The Hostage and Missing Families' Forum, in response, demanded that the Israeli war cabinet approve any deal that would lead to the release of the hostages. "The reports about a new deal that will be presented to the cabinet tonight (Wednesday) give some hope to the families who are anxious about the fate of their loved ones - who have been suffering in the Hamas tunnels for almost 100 days and nights without food, water, and life-saving medical treatment. Every day that passes, the condition of the hostages is getting worse.” 

At the Hague in the Netherlands this morning, over 1,000 people marched outside the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in support of Israel, as the hearings opened today on the case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

At the opening of the hearings, South Africa said Israel is subjecting the Palestinian people to apartheid and genocidal acts, in a case it brought against Israel's military campaign in Gaza.  "South Africa contends that Israel has transgressed Article Two of the (Genocide) convention, committing acts that fall within the definition of genocide. The actions show a systematic pattern of conduct from which genocide can be inferred," Adila Hassim, advocate of the high court of South Africa, said.

It is a galling twist of history that we, who were the targets of the genocide of Nazi Germany against the Jewish people just over 80 years ago, should now be accused of a similar crime as a result of actions in a war that was thrust upon us by the barbaric assault on our country and our people on October 7th where 1,200 people were murdered and over 250 people were taken hostage

In my continuing search to identify people in Israel who might be amenable to participate in a new cadre of post-war leadership, it would be wise to consider Dr. Eran Harary, whose capabilities would well address some of the pressing needs we will have here once the war ends and we begin to reconstruct our society.

Eran Harary, MD, is Senior Vice President and Global Head of the Specialty R&D organization at Teva Pharmaceuticals.  A medical doctor, board certified in psychiatry, Eran has more than 17 years’ experience in senior global managerial and leadership roles at large international pharmaceutical companies as well as smaller biotech companies, both in Israel and the US.  His last position there was Senior Director of Neuroscience Development at Pfizer’s Global Headquarters in New York.

Experienced in the world-wide lifecycle management of pharmaceuticals from concept through all development stages to post approval, Eran also has experience in building R&D capabilities in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Big Data to introduce broader use of digital technologies to help drive efficiencies and improved outcomes in pharmaceutical R&D.  Eran earned his MD degree from the Sackler School of Medicine at Tel Aviv University, and later trained and practiced as a psychiatrist at the Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer Hospital.

These are the kinds of professionals who, if they were willing to serve could be instrumental in building back both our technical edge and economic strength.

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Biden's goal is to win re-election, pacify radicals in his party, waffle on his pledge to Israel and continue his  Palestinian pitch about a two state solution. 

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Biden’s Middle East diplomacy is about Michigan

Secretary of State Blinken’s push to revive Israel-Saudi normalization by promoting a Palestinian state that will never happen is motivated by election- year politics.

By JONATHAN S. TOBIN/ JNS

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is back in the Middle East for yet another round of meetings. The point of it is, as with his previous trips since Hamas launched a war against Israel on Oct. 7, is to work for a “diplomatic solution” to the region’s problems. To that end, he is promoting a plan that would theoretically have something for everybody.

According to the latest story based on Biden administration spin planted in The New York Times, if Israel will only listen to its advice and warnings, the war will soon end, progress towards peace with the Palestinians will be made and Saudi Arabia—the missing crown jewel of the next stage of the Abraham Accords—will finally normalize relations with the Jewish state, thus achieving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief foreign-policy goal.

The first thing to understand about the American proposals is that they are a combination of short-term ideas that would materially harm Israel’s security with long-term ideas that are pure science fiction.

Even more important than that, they are primarily about President Joe Biden’s hopes for re-election, not peace in the Middle East.

Calling Blinken’s ideas a “plan” is probably giving them more credit than they deserve. But for the sake of argument, let’s consider them as a whole as if they were a coherent strategy rather than a loose collection of disjointed talking points.

Blinken’s fantasy proposals

They involve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the return of Palestinians to the northern part of the coastal enclave and ensuring that almost none are to be resettled elsewhere. This would allow the Palestinian Authority to take some responsibility for the governance of Gaza and the restarting of long-moribund negotiations that would create a sovereign independent Palestinian state there, as well as in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem. And then at the end of the rainbow, Israel would be rewarded with full normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia.

The only problem is that while a ceasefire is a realistic prospect—provided Israel can be compelled to agree to it—the rest of it is pure fantasy.

It’s theoretically possible that some sort of deal could be crafted between Israel, Hamas and the P.A. with the help of the Americans and Qatar. Such an agreement would likely call for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages and possibly include some symbolic gesture—like the exile of Hamas’s remaining top leaders in Gaza—to make it appear as if Israel is getting something out of all the blood and treasure it expended after the atrocities of Oct. 7 to ensure that it could never happen again. The Islamist terrorists would almost certainly return to the parts of Gaza from which Israel has already evicted them. Thus, it would amount to a rough restoration of the pre-Oct. 7 status quo in which a battered but operational Hamas still controlled Gaza. That would be true even if it also involved some window dressing that would allow members of P.A. chief Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah Party to return to Gaza and to claim to have some role there.

At that point, diplomacy, whose goal would be to create a formal Palestinian state and the putative end of the century-long conflict, could resume. And once those talks succeed—though every previous attempt has failed—the Saudis would exchange ambassadors with Israel, and all would be well.

Provided that Netanyahu’s unity government is weak and foolish enough to be persuaded to end the war before Hamas is completely defeated, as well as desperate to end the pressure to ransom the hostages, those aspects of the scheme could be achieved.

Gaza would revert to full Palestinian control. Despite the heavy losses incurred by Hamas during the fighting and regardless of whether such a postwar deal would be treated as if Abbas had extended his rule to Gaza, this would strengthen the Islamist group immeasurably. Rather than ending the threat from Hamas, Fatah’s grip on any of the territories would be weakened. Palestinians were ready to say that the Oct. 7 pogroms were a great idea, even when they involved suffering for the people of Gaza. But if the war ends without Hamas being completely eliminated and with substantial numbers of terrorists released in exchange for the hostages, it would not unreasonably be represented as a victory for those who committed the largest mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.

But no one should be under any illusion that talks aimed at creating a Palestinian state would succeed, even though that, too, would be a reward to Hamas and its supporters for committing murder, rape, torture and kidnapping on Oct. 7. The Palestinians have demonstrated time and again over the last 30 years since the Oslo Accords that they have no interest in any solution to the conflict that involves their recognition of the legitimacy and permanence of a Jewish state, no matter where its borders are drawn, even if it means they get an independent state.

That doesn’t even take into consideration that regardless of their opinions about Netanyahu, support among Israelis for a Palestinian state that would make more Oct. 7 horrors possible, if not likely, doesn’t exist anymore.

Biden’s protestations to the contrary, Palestinian cheers for the crimes of Oct. 7 demonstrated that Hamas’s stated goals of destroying Israel and genocide of the Jews remain popular among Palestinian Arabs. The chances that they will be more amenable to a two-state solution in the future will be even smaller if they manage, with the help of the Biden administration and the international community, to prevent Israel from destroying Hamas.

Wishful thinking about the Saudis

That brings us to the Saudi part of the puzzle.

The Saudis’ strong under-the-table ties they’ve maintained with Israel, coupled with their acquiescence to the decision of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain to normalize relations with Israel under former President Donald Trump’s Abraham Accords, has led many friends of Israel to believe that it was only a matter of time before they, too, concluded a formal peace with the Jewish state. That has also been one of Netanyahu’s chief objectives.

Many observers have assumed that one of the chief reasons for Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks was to derail an imminent Israel-Saudi peace. The same people seem to think that once the war is over, it again becomes a possibility. The Saudis themselves have encouraged that belief with public statements declaring their willingness to consider such a move, provided that it comes after the Israelis have made gestures towards or already created a Palestinian state.

While this belief fits in with preconceptions about the Arab world’s acceptance of Israel in the aftermath of the Abraham Accords, it’s time to consider whether this is wishful thinking.

The Saudis could have normalized relations with Israel at any time in the last three years but chose not to do so. The obvious reason was that they remain perfectly satisfied with their current relationship with Jerusalem. The status quo provides them with a tacit military ally without incurring any of the political costs that would involve the regime—whose legitimacy rests on it being the guardian of the Islamic holy places in Mecca and Medina—formally recognizing Jewish sovereignty in a part of the world that Muslims regard as their sole preserve. 

Since former President Barack Obama’s 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the Saudis have needed Israel to be their ally against their foes in Tehran. That remains the case. But their hold on power also rests on not risking it by being depicted as an ally of the Jews.

The Saudis’ lack of seriousness about normalization was made obvious when they responded to the Biden administration’s belated effort to expand the Abraham Accords last year with an unrealistic list of demands to Washington. They knew that neither Biden nor Trump nor any conceivable American president would agree to help them acquire nuclear capability. And a formal U.S.-Saudi security alliance was never in the cards either, especially not as long as the Democratic Party, which is deeply hostile to the Saudis, was in power.

Nor do the Saudis mean what they say about wanting a Palestinian state. They make such statements so as to stay in sync with public opinion in the Arab world and thereby avoid giving ammunition to those who would like to see the Saudi royal family deposed. In private, they have no desire to help create what would be, at best, another weak, unstable Arab state vulnerable to being taken over by Islamist forces hostile to the Saudi government. Their support for the Abraham Accords showed that they didn’t wish to be held hostage to Palestinian intransigence. But it doesn’t necessarily follow that they have a compelling desire to join themselves.

Biden’s political problems

Looked at soberly, Blinken’s talking points about Palestinian statehood and Saudi normalization are not serious proposals. But they do serve a very serious purpose for the Biden administration: helping the president get re-elected.

The war on Hamas has been a major political problem for Biden. He has correctly expressed support for Israel’s right to defend itself and for the goal of eliminating Hamas. But with the base of his party under the sway of woke intersectional lies about Israel being a “white” oppressor of people of color, his campaign is reeling from dissent within the ranks of Democratic staffers and the party’s left-wing activist base. This created civil war within the party with letters demanding that he abandon Israel and impose a ceasefire that would allow Hamas to survive coming from lower-level appointees throughout the government, in addition to Democratic congressional staffers. The latest broadside came from within his own re-election campaign staff, which not only repeated Hamas propaganda but accused him of complicity in alleged Israeli atrocities. It also stated plainly that it was support for Israel that was costing him the support of young voters.

Polls have shown that young Democratic voters, who like the mobs of students on college campuses chanting for Israel’s destruction and Jewish genocide have likely been indoctrinated in critical race theory and diversity, equity and inclusion catechism, oppose Biden because of his refusal to abandon Israel. That’s in spite of the fact that the administration has been second-guessing and undermining Israel throughout the war. As Blinken made clear again this week, Washington wants a war against Hamas in which no Palestinian civilian human shields are hurt—a goal that is even more of a fantasy as the scenarios about Palestinian statehood and formal Israeli-Saudi peace. But that hasn’t satisfied the administration’s noisy left-wing critics.

Should Biden listen to the pleas of his base and betray Israel, it would cost him the votes of centrist and independent voters who still back the Jewish state against its foes. But if he doesn’t listen to them, it will sap the Democratic base of enthusiasm and depress voter turnout—factors that would likely cost him the election. On top of that, Muslim and Arab-American voters who turned out for Biden to defeat the openly pro-Israel Trump in 2020 would also presumably stay home or vote for third-party candidates in November.

That is illustrated by the latest polls in Michigan, with its large Arab-American population, which show Trump defeating Biden decisively in that state. The margin only increases when third-party candidates are included.

So, while Blinken’s proposals are unrealistic, they make perfect sense from the point of view of Biden’s campaign. The president needs a quick end to the war and gestures that favor the Palestinians if he’s going to reassemble his 2020 coalition and win Michigan this fall. And unless the Democrats’ left-wing base is re-energized by policies that allow the president to distance himself from Israel, the same is true for the country as a whole.

Israel remains dependent on Biden’s goodwill to maintain the flow of arms that the Israel Defense Forces need to keep fighting until victory against Hamas. And Netanyahu is politically weak and also under pressure to find a way to ransom or rescue the hostages. But no one should be under any apprehension that administration policy proposals will bring peace, make Israel more secure, or help defeat Hamas and ensure that this genocidal terrorist group can’t make good on its pledge to commit more Oct. 7 slaughters in the future.

Everything Blinken is saying about the Middle East right now is really about Michigan, not peace for Israel, the Saudis or the Palestinians.

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Warren KINSELLA: Protesters paid to take part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations

They’re being paid to protest. What many have suspected has now been confirmed, writes columnist Warren Kinsella. They’re being paid to protest. What many have suspected has now been confirmed, writes columnist Warren Kinsella.

They’re being paid to protest.

What many have suspected has now been confirmed by this newspaper and a few courageous Canadians: pro-Palestine — and, increasingly, pro-Hamas — protestors are being paid to protest.  To block highways and roads.  To intimidate and threaten Jews and non-Jews.  To cause chaos.

They’re being paid.

In years past, anti-Israel protests were typically small, disorganized and ineffective.  Not many people came out.  Since Oct. 7, when 1,200 Israeli men, women, children and babies were slaughtered, and hundreds taken hostage, the protests have been dramatically different.

Hundreds, sometimes thousands, participate.  They’ve got professionally-rendered signs and banners. They’ve got transportation, and food and drink.  And they’ve got organizers who wear uniforms and control the crowds.

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And who distribute the cash.

This week, this newspaper was alerted to the fact that a Victoria, B.C., organization was distributing thousands of dollars to anti-Israel protestors.  The Plenty Collective, as it calls itself, created what it called a “Solidarity Fund” for Victoria-area “folks or groups” to pay for “costs related to supporting or organizing actions in solidarity with Palestine and Palestinian people.”

Said the Plenty Collective: “This fund is to help cover costs incurred when organizing or participating in local actions. This can include, but is not limited to, the costs of lost wages, supplies, items for fundraising, paying speakers, etc.”

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Priority was given to Palestinian, Black or Indigenous people.  And thousands have been paid out for weeks now — typically close to $20,000 every month. The Plenty Collective did not respond to multiple attempts to seek comment.

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Ian Ward, a municipal councilor for Colwood on Vancouver Island — along with local activist Charles Bodi — discovered the pay-a-protestor payment scheme.  And he’s seen the effectiveness of the paid-protests up close.  Says he: “They are highly organized.  I’ve watched them.  A van pulls up, and they’ve got flags, signs, and they’ve got organizers from the Plenty Collective wearing orange vests controlling the crowds.”

“And they have control because they are holding the cash for the protestors.”

Much of the money is being generated locally, says Ward, who was the first to break the news that Victoria City Councilor Susan Kim — along with Ontario MPP Sarah Jama — had signed on to a pro-Hamas letter that denied Israeli women and girls were sexually assaulted on Oct. 7.  But some of the money, he says, seems to be coming from elsewhere: “We don’t see them being this organized, and this well-funded, without offshore money.”

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It’s not just happening in Victoria, B.C.  In the U.S., there is now confirmation that anti-Israel — and often anti-Semitic and violent — protestors are getting paid to protest.

A multi-millionaire tech mogul, Neville Roy Singham, has — along with his wife Jodie Evans — been bankrolling pro-Palestinian protests since last year. Their “People’s Forum” has organized multiple anti-Israel protests since Oct. 7 — including a number of efforts designed to “shut down” public and private sector offices.  On Nov. 24, they posted on X:  “Are you ready to disrupt business as usual? No celebrating in peace while genocide takes place!”

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Some of the anti-Israel funding has seemingly been right out in the open.  On Craigslist, a now-deleted November ad read: “We are looking for 5-7 actors or activists to hold panels and distribute flyers in front of a venue as a peaceful, legal protest. Needed for November 24th, evening, 2-3 hours, paying $30/hour.”

Nov. 24 was the same day, of course, as the pro-Palestine “shut down” protests, where 34 were arrested trying to disrupt the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade and Black Friday sales.

“They’re paying for protestors to try and lend credibility to their movement,” says Ward.  “Oct. 7 was just stage one.  These carefully-crafted and controlled protests are a public relations campaign, and I think are the real objective.

“They are really an attack on Western democracy and Western values. Our way of life is literally being challenged here.  And we are in danger.”

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Judicial Watch - Tom Fitton

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Judicial Watch announced today it received 426 pages of records in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) that show then-Vice President Joe Biden’s use of an email alias to correspond with family members, including son Hunter and brother James; and that Joe Biden signed off on the cessation of Secret Service protection for Hunter Biden and Beau Biden’s daughter Natalie during an August 2016 trip to Kosovo.

Read More +++++++++++++++++++++ What has happened to America.  Most Americans were a pro family people and now we seem to have lost any sense of compassion and balance. This Judge's behaviour is disgusting. +++ On Wednesday, Judge Arthur Engoron decided not to grant Trump’s request to postpone the case, allowing the former president to be next to his wife’s side after losing her mother.  House and Senate Republicans slammed Engoron, calling him “soulless” and biased against Trump.  Republican Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) called the trial a “joke” that “only solidifies Judge Engoron’s political agenda.”  Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) said, “As a NY lawyer and daughter of a long-time serving NYS Supreme Court Justice, judges universally accommodate parties and/or their lawyers for unavoidable personal issues, especially the death of a family member. Judge Engoron’s contemptible decision to hold closing arguments immediately following @melaniatrump’s mother passing away is another instance of hostility and bias against President Trump.”  Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX) called it “cruel” that Engoron refused to grant Trump’s request for a short delay in the case.  “Can our ‘justice system’ stoop any lower? President Trump’s mother-in-law sadly passed away, and leftist Judge Engoron just denied Trump’s request to postpone closing arguments. May First Lady Melania’s mother rest in peace, and God help our country!!,” Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) said. +++++++++++++++++ At least two journalists working for CNN and covering the current Israel-Hamas war posted a string of disturbing anti-Semitic and anti-Israel comments on their social media accounts, HonestReporting can reveal. One British producer accused Israel of murdering Palestinians and stealing their organs while another deleted a post referring to the "Zionist entity." Read More ➝ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Iran apparently believes they can use their own forces now because Biden is perceived as such a weak president they can act without impunity. +++ IDF exposes massive tunnel in Khan Yunis where hostages were held   More than 300 tunnel shafts were located in the Hamas stronghold in southern Gaza. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ HOOVER DAILY REPORT: +++ A Conversation With Stanford University's Brilliant Michael Boskin - One Of Our Most Influential Economists Ever - About His Scary New Book On US Defense Policy interview with Michael J. Boskin via Economics Matters By Laurence Kotlikoff When it comes to discussing economics, in general, and economic policy in particular, there's no one better than my long-time, close friend, Michael Boskin. Michael is a Professor of Economics at Stanford, a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution, and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Michael is a low-key guy, but has had an absolutely huge impact on economic policy. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++