He needs to be defeated and flushed down the toilet . If not, then America will take his rightful place.
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A Voice Of Anguish Amidst Biden’s SOTU Chaos
Joe Biden’s State of the Union (SOTU) speech last week was a bizarre tirade marked by stretches of manic speed reading. Biden stood at the storied podium and squinted with coal black eyes over the gathered political class, including Democrat women festooned in white, like a cadre of sanitarium staff awaiting the next Biden cerebral infarction.
On cue, Kamala Harris stood, cow eyed, and clapped like a seal expecting an oily mackerel. Biden was amped up. Though, I suspect, it was more an effect of narcotics than an affectation of vigor. Biden’s dark eyes being indicative of dilated pupils — induced by a medically prescribed cocktail of stimulants.
The SOTU was simply a campaign event — botched — much like his perfunctory appearance at the dignified transfer of thirteen service men and women, who’d fallen victim to Biden’s colossal ineptitude. Later, their remains were subjected to his shocking callousness. Famously, he made a mockery out of the dignity of that moment by repeatedly checking his watch. Similarly, Biden made a mockery out of the SOTU by lashing out at Republicans and the Supreme Court. He took the opportunity to stump for infanticide, a moral crime for which he’ll give account before the Judgement Seat — which, given his age and infirmity, will likely be in his near future.
It’s not surprising, then, during the tweeker-in-chief’s address to a gobsmacked nation, that a gold star father should stand outraged and protest his son’s senseless death at the hands of an obvious imbecile.
Mr. Steve Nikoui did a tremendous service for his nation, during Biden’s political screed, by reminding us of the terrible price paid, not just by his son, but by twelve other service members as a result of Biden’s complete bungling of the Afghanistan withdrawal. In politics, a year is practically a lifetime, and the criminal mishandling and initiation of a pandemonium retreat in Kabul, which occurred in 2021, is practically ancient history.
The public has been barraged by an endless series of Biden administration outrages, so it’s easy to forget the opening salvos of his lethal ineptitudes. The nation has been witness to an invasion of millions of illegal aliens, the deadly consequences of which were highlighted by Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) before and during the SOTU. Biden’s subsequent gaffe has reverberated through the body politic — befuddled, he called the murder victim Laken Riley, “Lincoln Riley” despite her name being printed in bold text across the button held in his cadaverous hand.
And, Biden has presided over a full blown war in Europe, the Ukrainian people suffering brutalities at the hands of Russia’s Putin. Followed by the eruption of violence in the Middle East, an attack of such scale and barbarity on jews not seen since the Holocaust. All Biden seems capable of is weakly bleating for a ceasefire in exchange for the release of hostages held by the primitive, Mohammedan Hamas.
So, Mr. Nikoui’s outburst during Biden’s SOTU brings to the fore an essential piece of history. The value in this is inestimable. To draw from a Biblical example, the children of Israel were prone to forgetting their miraculous history. So, they were reminded of those events frequently. As a people, we’re no different from the ancient Israelites and just as inclined to forget the past, even if only removed by a few years.
Mr. Nikoui stood during Biden’s SOTU and shouted, “Do you remember Abbey Gate?” We all know the answer to that question. Without onboarding heavy pharmacological support, Biden staggers through his days and fails to remember which side of the stage to exit. Remembering an event, which was clearly of no consequence to him at the time, is clearly beyond his capability. Of course, Mr. Nikoui’s question wasn’t meant for Biden, but for us, and the gathered members of congress who may possess a shred of patriotism and conscience.
The Spectator published a thorough interview with Mr. Nikoui and he related how he felt during Biden’s speech. “None of them [politicians] would exist without men and women like my kid.” A sentiment easily shared by countless American families who’ve suffered similar loss. “They’re able to play their games because of kids like ours, and that kind of infuriated me…I felt like I was in the Coliseum. We’re all in the upper tier. And here are the players down there.”
Mr. Nikoui detailed what he perceived to be a double standard during the proceedings, “As I’m watching him talk and lie, and they’re cheering for him…I didn’t think you’d be arrested for saying something, I didn’t have any idea of that. I probably would not have done it. And who knows? Maybe if I wasn’t as loud, maybe I wouldn’t have gotten arrested. I don’t know.” Nikoui was arrested, but was complimentary of his treatment by Capitol Hill Police (CHP), saying the officers were “very courteous.”
Arrests of this sort are made on a fairly routine basis. CHP provided a statement to The New York Times stating, “This is a routine charge on Capitol Hill. People…typically are released after they pay a $50 fine, so the misdemeanor charge is resolved without going to court.” The American people will be waiting to see if Nikoui gets the usual treatment. Though recent government acts of politicization don’t give the public much confidence.
Nikoui’s case isn’t unique. During former President Donald Trump’s SOTU in 2020, the father of a victim of the Parkland shooting, Fred Guttenberg, admitted to The Washington Post that he’d been arrested for his outburst. But, this isn’t 2020 and instead of a president committed to civil liberties and making America great again, we’re saddled with a Demi-potentate busy implementing tyranny through an obsequious Department of Justice. We owe more than just lip service to Nikolai’s bravery. We owe it to him to watchdog any pending legal action and leap to his aid should he require it. “I’ve watched three State of the Unions, and I’ve never heard them honor our kids.”
And:
I will make this comment.
Biden has been outstanding in supporting and arming Israel initially in it's war with Hamas. Now he has reverted to the cynical, petty, amoral politician he always has been. Here is the ammunition and when the vote tide turned he resorted to don't shoot even if it means more October 7's. I will do everything I can to help Hamas and I expect Israel and Bibi to do the same. I will drop food even if the pallets kill those in need of the food, I will build a port and I will demand Israel cease before winning the war.
Biden's instinct always lead him in the wrong direction and causes him to make the worst decisions.
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And:
Biden’s Zionism
“It should be alarming to American Jews that Biden’s recent turn against Israel is motivated, many say, by a desire not to lose the “Arab vote” in the fall election. Apparently, he does not fear losing the Jewish vote! Will American Jews see the writing on the wall? It is there, in neon lights”
And:
Bibi's comments.
Netanyahu: 'We can't leave a quarter of the Hamas terror army in place'
PM Netanyahu says 'victory is at hand,' adds that without Rafah operation, 'Hamas will reconstitute itself with these four battalions, reconquer Gaza.'9vg
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to US President Joe Biden's statements that a military operation in Rafah is a "red line."
"The President and I have agreed that we have to destroy Hamas," Netanyahu told Fox News. "We can't leave a quarter of the Hamas terror army in place. They're there, in Rafah. This would be equivalent to saying that after the Allies fought back, gone through Normandy, went through Germany and you'd say, 'Well we'll leave a quarter of the Nazi army in place and we won't go into Berlin, the last stronghold.'"
He added that if Biden means to say that Israel should enable the safe departure of the civilian population from Rafah before going in, then, "We agree with that, we don't need any prompting."
Biden also "says that he agrees that we have to destroy Hamas as a fighting organization, that's what we intend to do," Netanyahu explained. "It's either Israel or Hamas. There's no middle way. We have to have that victory. We can't have three-quarters of a victory, we can't have two-thirds of a victory, because Hamas will reconstitute itself with these four battalions in Rafah, reconquer the Gaza Strip, and do the October 7 massacre over and over again."
Netanyahu also stressed that his position is not personal, but supported by the vast majority of Israeli citizens. "They're really united, like never before," he noted.
"We have our agreements on the basic goals but we also have disagreements on how to achieve them," he noted. "Ultimately, it's Israel that has to decide. Our neck is on the line. Our people were murdered. Our women were raped and beheaded."
"I'm telling you that we're not getting off the gas. I'm telling you that we have to take care of Israel's security and our future. And that requires eliminating the terrorist army. That's a prerequisite for victory. That victory is important not only for us, it's important for the civilized world as we're fighting these barbarians.
"To the extent that the world thinks that American and Israel are united, that helps the war effort and it helps our effort to achieve victory and obviously the release of the hostages. To the extent that Hamas believes there's daylight between us, that doesn't help. I appreciate the support that President Biden and the administration have given us since the beginning of the war and I can only hope that it will continue to victory. Because victory is at hand, victory is close.
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And:
ZOA’s Mort Klein: Biden’s Policy is to “Intentionally” Harm/Endanger Jewish State - Clearly Influenced by Obama’s Israel-Hatred
By Joshua Klein
(March 11, 2024) President Joe Biden has been “clearly influenced” by ex-President Barack Obama’s “hatred of Israel,” according to Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) head Morton Klein, who accused the Democrat president of “intentionally” seeking to “harm the Jewish State,” while highlighting how he has boosted Iran since taking office, and has “never criticized the Israel-haters in Congress.”
In an exclusive statement to Breitbart News on Monday, Klein, who has led the nation’s oldest pro-Israel group for more than thirty years, slammed the current U.S. administration’s foreign policy toward America’s strongest ally in the Middle East.
“The Biden State of the Union (SOTU) speech, clearly influenced by Obama’s hatred of Israel, now makes it crystal clear that Joe Biden is not merely critical of Israel, but intentionally wants to harm the Jewish State,” he said.
Klein argued that the president’s insistence on a Palestinian state communicates a dangerous policy, especially given that such a state would likely fall under the influence of Iran and Hamas, both of which are hostile entities towards the West, including both Israel and the U.S.
“He has strongly insisted on establishing a Palestinian Arab state which would surely be controlled by the terrorist Islamic Republic of Iran and its proxy, the radical Hamas terror group, along with [Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas,” he said.
The long-serving Abbas — who has remained PA president for nearly two decades despite a four-year term limit — leads the supposedly “moderate” Fatah Palestinian faction that endorses a perspective paralleling that of Hamas.
While his security forces have participated in scores of deadly terror attacks against Israelis, he himself has a history of conveying inciting antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric. Governments and leaders across the globe voiced outrage over “horrifying” remarks in a recent speech he delivered in which he claimed Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was not an antisemite and that the Jews of Europe during his era were not killed due to their Jewish identity, but due to their “role in society,” including “usury.”
“Abbas brags that his people participated in the Hamas October 7 slaughter and rape of Jews, pays Arabs lifetime pensions to murder Jews, names his schools and streets after Jew-killers, and promotes violence and hatred of Jews in his schools and mosques and speeches glorifying and incentivizing Jew-killing,” noted Klein.
| CONTINUE READING |
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Finally:
Biden should draw red lines for Hamas — not Israel
By Richard Goldberg
President Biden suggested he might cut off aid to Israel if it continued its planned military operation in the city of Rafah.President Biden suggested he might cut off aid to Israel if it continued its planned military operation in the city of Rafah. AP Photo/Josh Reynolds
President Biden on Saturday suggested he might cut off US military assistance to Israel if it moved forward with a military operation to dismantle Hamas’ last stronghold in the Gazan city of Rafah.
An Israeli victory over Hamas is now a red line for a president surrendering to a pro-Hamas political base.
Americans should understand the consequences of that red line: A guarantee that Oct. 7 will happen again, that hostages will never come home, that an emboldened Iran will escalate on all fronts and that Hamas-oppressed civilians will suffer indefinitely.
After dismantling Hamas’ operational control over northern and central Gaza, Israel today is fighting to destroy the group’s infrastructure in the southern city of Khan Younis.
Israel believes that Hamas’ top commanders are hiding, and holding an unknown number of hostages, in miles of underground tunnels between Khan Younis and Gaza’s southernmost city, Rafah, which sits along the Egyptian border.
Once Khan Younis falls, Rafah will be Hamas’ last stand.
Israel’s stated objectives since Oct. 7 have been clear: Remove Hamas from power in Gaza and prevent Gaza from ever again becoming a launching pad for terror attacks on Israel.
Rafah’s suspected weapons-smuggling tunnels running into the Sinai, four Hamas battalions and a likely underground fallback for the Hamas leadership, destroying Hamas there could be the deciding factor in whether Iran’s terror proxy survives the war.
The impact of this outcome on Israel’s long-term security cannot be understated.
The atrocities committed on Oct. 7 have few comparisons in modern history — the Holocaust being one.
Iran funded, equipped, trained and coordinated Hamas’ terror activities for decades — just as it continues to do for Hezbollah in Lebanon, militias in Syria and Iraq, the Houthis in Yemen and terror cells throughout the West Bank.
Hamas is one of Tehran’s appendages — and if that appendage is not completely cut off and destroyed in response to Oct. 7, that massacre is guaranteed to be an opening act for other horror shows to come.
As for the civilians of Gaza — Hamas’ shields in war and media props for disinformation — few if any will publicly break from Hamas while the group remains in power.
Smuggling from south to north Gaza is already a problem, and it will grow exponentially.
Hamas is already threatening to kill any Palestinian who “collaborates” with Israel to deliver humanitarian aid to those in need.
Indeed, the terror-sympathizers who chant “Free Palestine” and oppose Hamas’ destruction in Rafah care nothing for Gaza’s civilian population.
Hamas, of course, could end the war quickly by surrendering and releasing all its remaining hostages, including six American citizens.
Moreover, if Israel located and killed Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Deif, Hamas’ top two operatives in Gaza, mass surrender could follow.
But for now, Sinwar and Deif are entrenched underground — counting on Biden to pressure Israel into a permanent ceasefire that allows them to declare victory and build back their terror infrastructure.
Biden today is wielding Hamas disinformation as a weapon in pressuring Israel not to enter Rafah.
An estimated 1 million Palestinians who fled south during the war have taken refuge there, and the White House claims it has seen no plan from Israel to safely evacuate that population before commencing major operations against Hamas.
Washington and Saudi Arabia could put pressure on Egypt to open its border and allow for temporary tent cities to be established in the Sinai.
The Saudis could finance this with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees coordinating aid.
This would be the easiest way to minimize civilian harm, yet Biden chooses to pressure Israel into a Hamas victory instead of threatening American aid to Cairo if Egypt doesn’t comply.
In the face of Egyptian intransigence, Israel is reportedly planning to establish 15 sites with medical field clinics across the southwestern part of the Gaza Strip.
It did everything possible to enable civilian evacuation in every other major city where it defeated Hamas — and it will surely do the same in Rafah.
A recent poll found 75% of Israelis from across the political spectrum support completing the takedown of Hamas in Rafah.
They know the alternative puts an egg-timer on Israel’s future.
When given the order, Israel’s military will do what it does best: destroy the enemy, minimize civilian casualties and defend the Jewish state.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he has his own red line: that Oct. 7 never happens again.
With 34 Americans dead and six held hostage, that should be America’s red line, too.
Richard Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, is a former National Security Council official and senior US Senate aide.
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Hunting Jews
Europe OKs banning the practice of Judaism
BY ELLIOTT ABRAMS
Anti-Semitism, or more bluntly hatred of Jews and Judaism, takes many forms. We saw one on Oct. 7, 2023, when hundreds of Palestinians from Gaza slaughtered well over 1,000 Israelis.
We saw another form on Feb. 13, 2024, when the so-called European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Belgium was entirely free to ban kosher slaughter.
The European Convention on Human Rights seemed like it might protect the Jews. The text of Article 9 (“Freedom of thought, conscience, and religion”) states that “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance.” And Article 14 (“Prohibition of discrimination”) states that “The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Convention shall be secured without discrimination on any ground such as sex, race, colour, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, association with a national minority, property, birth or other status.”
Clear enough? Not for the Jews. In the case called Affaire Executief van de Moslims van België et Autres c. Belgique, the court found that kosher and halal slaughter can be banned because a country or provinces in it (the ban applies to Flanders and Wallonia, but not to Brussels) had legislated rules requiring stunning the animal before slaughter. Now, it’s true that Article 9—about religious freedom—reads like it would protect shechita, or kosher slaughter, and says nothing about animals. The court acknowledged that “Article 9 of the Convention did not contain an explicit reference to the protection of animal welfare in the exhaustive list of legitimate aims that might justify an interference with the freedom to manifest one’s religion.” Quite so. In fact Article 9 states that “Freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs shall be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of public safety, for the protection of public order, health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.”
The court found that the practice of Judaism endangered ‘public morals.’ This, on the continent where the very existence of Jews was not so long ago considered a threat to public morals.
So how did the court torture that text into a meaning that did not protect the practice of Judaism? Simple—where there’s a will, there’s a way. “The Court considered that the protection of public morals, to which Article 9 of the Convention referred, could not be understood as being intended solely to protect human dignity in the sphere of inter-personal relations. The Convention was not indifferent to the living environment of individuals covered by its protection and in particular to animals, whose protection had already been considered by the Court. Accordingly, the Convention could not be interpreted as promoting the absolute upholding of the rights and freedoms it enshrined without regard to animal suffering.”
Gobbledygook eliminated, the animals trumped the Jews. And this, the court had to acknowledge, despite the fact that the provisions about freedom of religion are expansive—and do not even mention animal welfare. Let’s be clear: The court found that the practice of Judaism endangered “public morals.” This, on the continent where the very existence of Jews was not so long ago considered a threat to public morals. Nor is Belgium alone; kosher slaughter is also banned in Sweden, Iceland, Norway, and Slovenia. So far. The president of the European Jewish Congress, Ariel Muzicant, said after the February ruling that “We are already seeing attempts across Europe to follow this Belgian ban, now sadly legitimised by the ECHR.”
Now, this ruling would be bad enough taken on its own terms. But it cannot be. There is no country in Europe, not one, that bans hunting.
Think about that for a moment. Kosher slaughter, a critical element of Jewish observance and theoretically protected by the religious freedom clauses of the European Convention on Human Rights, cannot be tolerated. But in every single country in Europe forms of hunting are quite tolerable. Hunting—meaning, the shooting dead of animals who may die in pain and torment, is OK.
In 2021 the European Commission proposed banning hunting and fishing in “strictly protected areas” in Europe to promote biodiversity. No dice. The website of “Hunters of Europe,” in a posting titled “Move to ban hunting in 10% of the EU considered unjustified by Member States,” noted that “hunting will not interfere with the natural processes” of biodiversity loss and climate change.
Melanie Phillips wrote of a previous and similar court ruling that it sent “a devastating cultural signal. This is that the core principle of Western modernity, that minority groups can freely practice their religious precepts in a private sphere within which they pose no threat to the majority, has now been junked in Europe.”
As she noted, “The stag suffering painfully from a bullet wound, the mink dying of its injuries in a trap or the fox torn to pieces by a pack of hounds all meet a far more cruel death than does the animal slaughtered according to the rites of kashrut and halal.”
Phillips proposed a theory, that the “European strain of universalist Enlightenment thinking that forms the values of the European Union” contains a “vicious hatred of religion.” That anti-religious view had “given rise to the West’s predominant ideology of moral and cultural relativism, which has propelled the rise of paganism and the veneration of the animal and natural world at the expense of humanity. And that now has Jewish and Muslim religious practices squarely in its sights.”
I would not disagree with her view, but would add to it that accommodations meant to allow Jewish and Muslim life in Europe to flourish may be exactly what many Europeans do not want. Kowtowing to “animal rights” may reflect not only antisemitism, but as well Europe’s desire to deal with its rising Muslim population and the impact it’s having on European societies and cultures without saying so. Banning Jewish practice at the same time is a twofer: it is a way to appear more evenhanded, singling out neither Jews nor Muslims, and including Jews may be a way to avoid a Muslim backlash. For Muslims, whose population in Europe has grown so greatly in the last decades, there is little threat to survival. But for Jews in Europe, whose population has diminished so dramatically in the last 90 years, it is a far more serious blow.
As Muzicant, the president of the European Jewish Congress, put it, “Restrictions on fundamental aspects of Jewish religious freedom of expression, coupled with a background of massive increases in antisemitic attacks on Jewish communities, lead us to seriously consider whether Jews have a future in Europe.”
Rulings that elevate vague animal welfare notions over explicit protections of religious freedom, and that place the interests of animals over those of Jews under “public morals” standards, are bad enough. That this occurs in a continent where hunting remains legal everywhere really gives the game away. Not so long ago, hunting Jews was happening all over Europe. Today, hunting still seems to have greater protection than Jews do. As I noted at the start, antisemitism takes many forms.
Elliott Abrams is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and the chairman of the Vandenberg Coalition.
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Trump has been branded a criminal because by doing so two things were meant to happen:
a) It would prevent him from being able to run again
Anyone not biased knows. Pelosi contrived to create conditions that were conspiratorial.
Even Schumer voluntarily warned Trump not to challenge the various intelligence agencies.
The CIA's John Brennan, not Gen. Flynn, should be in jail.
+++
And:
b) By suing Trump for "trumped up charges" those who hate him would have reasons to do so even though, in America, it once was "you are not guilty until proven so."
We know radical Democrats will stop at nothing to have their way regardless of the law, the constitution, morality, even decency. They love walking over their victim's bones.
+++
Jason Andrew for The New York Times
Testimony Fleshes Out Account of Trump’s Demand to Go to Capitol on Jan. 6
But a newly released transcript of an interview of the Secret Service agent who drove Donald Trump’s vehicle that day disputes that he tried to grab the steering wheel or lunged at another agent.
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The 156th Day of Israel’s War Against Hamas
By Sherwin Pomerantz
While the war did not end on Friday as I predicted last week, things did happen at the end of the week to demonstrate that Washington is beginning to put the screws to Israel in a number of ways. At his State of the Union address on Thursday evening President Biden announced that the US intends to build a temporary pier in Gaza to allow the shipment of humanitarian aid to the strip without using land crossings from either Egypt or Israel. Theoretically, this was done in coordination with Israel which will provide security for its operation.
Over the weekend the Biden administration warned Israel of the risks of attacking Rafah, intensifying efforts to get us to rethink the conduct of the five-month-old war. Senior US officials said they are cautioning Israel against a direct ground and air attack, doubting that Israel can develop an effective plan to move the civilian population out of harm’s way ahead of the assault, according to a report in today’s New York Times. In a sign of growing White House concern about Rafah, President Biden warned Saturday that an Israeli attack would cross a “red line” and left open the possibility that the US might withhold some types of military assistance to Israel if the operation caused extensive civilian casualties. But he added that a complete cutoff of weapons shipments wasn’t an option.
“It is a red line, but I am never going to leave Israel. The defense of Israel is still critical. So, there is no red line (where) I am going to cut off all weapons, so they don’t have the Iron Dome to protect them,” Biden told MSNBC, referring to the antimissile interceptors. “But there’s red lines that if he (i.e. Netanyahu) crosses…. You cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead.” Fueling the administration’s concern is the faltering effort to secure a six-week cease-fire before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which begins this evening, when US officials fear violence will surge in the midst of Palestinian protests.
Speaking to lawmakers in the House chamber after the speech, Biden was overheard saying on a live mic that he would have even tougher words for Netanyahu in private. “I told him, Bibi, and don’t repeat this, but you and I are going to have a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting,” Biden confided to Sen. Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat, before an aide cautioned the president that his words were being broadcast live.
Meanwhile on day 156 Israel continues its work in Gaza with the IDF finding and neutralizing additional terror cells in both Khan Yunis and Rafah. The IDF destroyed the Al Masri tower in Rafah today as Hamas was known to be using the facility to house human shields for its terror attacks on Israelis There were no reported civilian casualties.
On the northern border, Hezbollah launched 35 rockets from Lebanon at the Mount Meron area of Israel’s Upper Galilee on Sunday morning, according to the IDF. Several of the rockets were intercepted by Israel’s air defense array.
Following the barrage, there were reports from Lebanon of Israeli artillery strikes in the areas of al-Habariya and Kunin in Southern Lebanon, Overnight Saturday, Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the area of Ayta ash-Shab, an anti-tank missile launch post in the area of Maroun El-Ras and a military structure in which Hezbollah terrorists were identified in the area of Khirbet Selm, the IDF reported on Sunday morning.
In the aftermath of a military operation in Rafah, Israel assesses that the Palestinians will attempt an initiative that will try freezing or suspending Israel's participation in the United Nations General Assembly discussions, as well as its ability to vote in the debates, according to a report on Israel radio N12 made public on Saturday. For the record a suspension of membership from the General Assembly is a complicated move that requires a vote by all members of the UN Security Council, along with a two-thirds majority of the assembly. Sources at the Foreign Ministry estimate that this is the path the Palestinians will want to take, per the N12 report. The fear comes amid leaks from political officials of the Arab League, and following remarks made by Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour last week, in which he stated, "Israel cannot continue to sit among us."
The Foreign Ministry’s legal advisers are working on a move that will show this effort to be fundamentally baseless, according to N12. However, whether the move succeeds or not – this would be very damaging for Israel’s image. A similar step occurred only once since the UN was first established. In the 1970s, South Africa's participation in the General Assembly discussions was suspended because of its apartheid regime.
Future Leadership
Today I highlight another individual with potential for national leadership, Dr. Akiva Sternberg, a researcher of the history of Halacha but someone who has also served professionally in various positions of responsibility in the Israeli banking system.
Until a few years ago he was Senior Vice President and Chief Internal Auditor at Union Bank of Israel Ltd. He had served previously as Chief Risk Manager, Head of the Investment Department, Head of the Financial Management and International Banking Department as well as Deputy Head of the Foreign Business Department, Deputy Head of the Capital Market Department, Head of the Economic Planning and Analysis Department and the person in charge of the information center.
He is an expert in the development and implementation of models for assessing credit risks, liquidity, market and operational risks in the banking industry. He also developed generally accepted models for macroeconomic forecasting
As a historian he researches the history of Halacha, from the time of Rashi and the Tosfot to the modern era. His books give the reader the ability to follow the halachic negotiations, while presenting and analyzing the social impacts in their various dimensions, the mutual consequences for the public and the thinking of the rabbis on halachic rulings
A native of Boston, he has lived in Israel for the past 43 years. He holds a BA in Economics from the Johns Hopkins University, a Master’s degree in Management Sciences from Boston University/Ben Gurion University and a Ph.D. from Bar Ilan University’s School of Business Administration.
Dr. Sternberg has taught at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center (now Reichman University). His courses in banking and risk management, in the local and international program, focused on the disruptive process of banking activity and the effect of Fintech on the future of banking.
No doubt a future finance minister would be very happy to have some like Akiva as part of the country’s financial management team.
And:
The 158th Day of Israel’s War Against Hamas
By Sherwin Pomerantz
On this 158th day of the war, alarms sounded in the Galilee and the Golan Heights in northern Israel as a barrage of at least 100 rockets were launched in their direction Tuesday morning, according to a report in Israeli media. Crashes were sighted in open areas in the open areas of Ein Kuniya, Snir, Sha'ar Yashuv, and Kfar Szold. Additionally, the IDF attacked launchers in Lebanon that had fired towards the north of Israel. IDF fighter jets also attacked three launchers that fired toward the Golan Heights, the IDF reported.
In Gaza the IDF claims it killed the Hamas Chief of Staff, the 3rd in command of the terrorist administration. The IDF reported further progress in the assault on the Hamas infrastructure in the Rafah and Khan Yunis areas.
In some positive news, the humanitarian aid ship that was scheduled to leave Cyprus for Gaza over the weekend has finally left port and should arrive in Gaza before the end of the week. It is just a 320km (200 mile) trip but the ship is being towed by a barge that travels at 3 miles/hour.
A new American intelligence assessment released on Monday raised doubts whether Prime Minister Netanyahu could stay in power, as the C.I.A. director said a hostage deal was the most practical way to halt, at least temporarily, the war in Gaza. The article in the New York Times made reference to the CIA’s 2024 Annual Threat Assessment which expressed concerns about Israel’s vision for the end of the war and said that Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition “may be in jeopardy.”
“Distrust of Netanyahu’s ability to rule has deepened and broadened across the public from its already high levels before the war, and we expect large protests demanding his resignation and new elections,” the report said. “A different, more moderate government is a possibility.” The report also predicted Israel would struggle to achieve its goal of “destroying Hamas.
“Israel probably will face lingering armed resistance from Hamas for years to come, and the military will struggle to neutralize Hamas’s underground infrastructure, which allows insurgents to hide, regain strength and surprise Israeli forces,” the report added.
Israeli Arab Ali Ziadna, who has family members being held hostage in Gaza, confronted Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour on Monday in New York after the UN Security Council’s debate on sexual violence committed by Hamas, and criticized him for allowing his family members and other fellow Muslims to wallow in Hamas captivity, according to a video posted on X. Ziadna was part of a delegation of family members of hostages in Gaza, that accompanied Foreign Minister Israel Katz and Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan to a UNSC debate over the recently submitted UN report on sexual violence committed by Hamas on October 7.
Future Leadership
Another new face for the post war government might be Sivan Yaari. She is an Israeli businessperson who founded Innovation: Africa and serves as its CEO. Born in Israel, raised in France and educated in the United States, she holds a bachelor's degree in finance from New York’s Pace University and a master's degree in International Energy Management and Policy from Columbia University.
Founded in 2008 Innovation: Africa is a nonprofit organization that brings innovative Israeli solar, water and agricultural technologies to rural villages throughout Africa. The organization has completed over 900 projects in remote villages, providing electricity and clean water to more than 4.2 million people across 10 African countries.
The organization maintains headquarters in both New York and Israel Since 2012, Innovation: Africa has had a special consultative status to the UN Economic and Social Council (UNESCO).] Thanks to Innovation: Africa's transparent and live monitoring of its projects, it was granted the United Nations Innovation Award as well.
Sivan;s honors include receiving the "Light of Israel Award" from Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has been recognized as one of the most "Inspiring Israelis this Decade" by Grapevine; one of the “50 Most Influential Women in Israel” by Forbes; one of the "Top 10 Most Influential Israelis in International Business, Science, and Culture” by NoCamels; and one of the “Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life” by Algemeiner Journal. She was also a torch lighter at last year’s Independence Day celebration.
The new government will need people who think outside of the box and also have the ability to bring such thoughts to fruition.
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Biden has turned America into a circus of illegal clowns. We no longer have a country. We are fast becoming a zoo of illegal specimens .
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