Benjamin Netanyahu

2025-03-18

(وكالات) عقد رئيس الوزراء الإسرائيلي بنيامين نتنياهو، اليوم الثلاثاء، اجتماعًا أمنيًا في مقر وزارة الدفاع "الكرياه" بحضور وزير الدفاع إسرائيل كاتس وكبار قادة الأجهزة الأمنية. وأصدر نتنياهو وكاتس توجيهات لجيش الاحتلال الإسرائيلي بتصعيد العمليات العسكرية في قطاع غزة، واتخاذ إجراءات حاسمة للحد من قدرات حركة حماس بحسب بيان مجلس الوزراء الإسرائيلي. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a security assessment today, at the Kirya, with Defense Minister Israel Katz and the heads of the security establishment. يأتي هذا بعد أن أعلنت وزارة الصحة الفلسطينية في قطاع غزة استشهاد 404 فلسطينيين وإصابة أكثر من 500 آخرين، جراء غارات الاحتلال الإسرائيلي التي تجددت منذ فجر اليوم الثلاثاء. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-09

In an aggressive interview with Maariv, Avigdor Lieberman, chairman of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, criticized for prioritizing a Palestinian state over Israel’s welfare. "Netanyahu doesn't care about the state, only personal survival," Lieberman claimed, asserting that the Israeli economy thrives not because of the government but despite it. "I am fully committed to advancing the elections," he added. Lieberman also recalled Netanyahu’s past demands for accountability, particularly after the Second Lebanon War. "He spoke then and said Olmert must go home. He who demands fairness should embody fairness. And now I say: 'Netanyahu, how do you not have the shame to continue as prime minister after such a catastrophe? Take responsibility and go home.'" Lieberman accuses Netanyahu of harboring a substantial but undisclosed plan that includes commitments to a Palestinian state and a nod to a Saudi nuclear initiative. "Today he speaks differently, but as Smotrich said, 'You shouldn't believe a word he says, but look only at his actions,'" Lieberman remarked. He believes that Netanyahu aims to secure an arrangement with , endorsing a Palestinian state to facilitate his electoral strategy, motivated not by peace but by Saudi interests in advancing their nuclear agenda in the US Congress. "Netanyahu will promote in return a declaration of a Palestinian state as he already did in the Bar-Ilan speech. The most severe is his endorsement of the Saudi nuclear program, which, in my view, is a disaster that will throw the entire Middle East into a frantic nuclear arms race," Lieberman warned. Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend the special plenary session opening the winter session of the Knesset, on October 23, 2017. (credit: HADAS PARUSH/FLASH90) Lieberman pointed out that the economy's success is due to the strength of the private market, not government policy, which he views as detrimental. "The government is sabotaging efforts: allocating five billion shekels for Avi Maoz's unit to strengthen Jewish consciousness and billions to the . They’re increasing the deficit without making crucial economic decisions. An important measure, like bringing in hundreds of thousands of foreign workers, isn’t happening because the government fails to decide. The government is functioning bizarrely." Lieberman also highlighted the challenges facing Israel’s tech sector. "Right now, they're killing high-tech, which is Israel's most important growth engine. Start-up companies, particularly young entrepreneurs leaving Israel with their laptops, suffer the most. We're set to lose valuable brains and knowledge in the coming years. A normal government would formulate an emergency plan and secure alternatives for foreign investments that do not reach Israel. Start-up companies need support through institutional bodies." Lieberman emphasized the critical role of American support in the relationship with the US. "We live by American generosity. If the US had not used its veto right in the Security Council, the world would have ended relations with us long ago. The relationship’s deterioration and collapse are solely because Netanyahu wants to survive at any cost. He lacks care for the state, driven only by political survival." Lieberman concluded, stressing the urgency of early elections. "I am doing everything to ensure the elections occur as soon as possible. Every day counts. I am in talks with members of Knesset from Likud and the coalition, striving to bring the elections forward with all my might. Politicians must realize this isn't a child’s play. Everyone must transcend personal considerations and prioritize the elections." The full interview is set to be published on Friday in Maariv. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-09

, for the first time, said he'd halt US weapons shipments to Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a major operation in Rafah, according to an exclusive interview CNN conducted with the president, which will air later Wednesday night.  Earlier Wednesday, told the Senate Appropriations Committee the US to Israel of payload munitions due to concerns over Rafah.  Biden told CNN that civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of US bombs and other ways Israel goes after population centers.  For months, officials across Biden's administration at the State Department and Pentagon have held meetings and phone calls pleading with their Israeli counterparts to take a more targeted approach to eliminating Hamas' remaining battalions in Rafah.  US President Joe Biden (left) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) (credit: FLASH90) Biden's officials have maintained they oppose Netanyahu's current battle plans in Rafah as more than one million Gazans have sought refuge in the southern Gaza city.  “We've also been very clear about the steps that we want to see Israel take” to protect civilians in a major combat situation, Austin said on Wednesday. "The US doesn’t want such a major IDF combat operation to take place, but if it does proceed, our focus is on making sure that we protect the civilians.” For as long as Netanyahu has foreshadowed his plans to invade Rafah, the Biden administration has faced intense questioning over its response to an operation it doesn't condone.  However, Austin said the US remains committed to supporting Israel's security and right to self-defense.  “Our commitment to Israel is ironclad,” and the US has flown billions in security assistance to Israel, and “we will continue to do what is necessary to support Israel,” he said. “We are currently reviewing some near-term security assistance shipments in the context of the unfolding events in Rafah.” ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-09

Support for Israel has been in decline for years. The brutal Hamas massacre of October 7 initially looked like it might turn things around with a wave of sympathy for the traumatized Jewish state, but that was soon lost in clouds of smoke billowing from Israeli bombs exploding over Gaza. demonstrated his longtime affection and support for Israel by flying there 11 days later to personally embrace and assure the country of his and America’s full support – politically, diplomatically, financially, and most of all militarily. It was the first time a sitting president had gone to an ally in a time of war, and it happened as Israelis were still reeling from the shock. Biden dispatched two carrier battle groups and other military resources to protect Israel at a vulnerable time, and he addressed the American people in a 15-minute Oval Office speech expressing full American support.  Before leaving Israel, he warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “Don’t be consumed by rage,” recounting the mistakes the United States made in its “war on terror.” It wasn’t the first or the last time Netanyahu turned a deaf ear to the counsel and interests of his country’s most vital ally.  The prime minister was reportedly also getting similar advice from IDF leaders, who were recommending a limited military operation in northern Gaza instead of an all-out assault. But Netanyahu and his hard-line cabinet declared total war against Hamas. The most extreme among them have been calling the shots since taking office in December 2022, notably National Security and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.  Itamar Ben Gvir, Binyamin Netanyahu, Bezalel Smotrich (credit: ARYEH ABRAMS, YONATAN ZINDEL/FLASH 90, Yonatan Zindel/Flash90) Ben-Gvir has multiple criminal convictions, including for supporting terrorist organizations and incitement to racism. He is said to feel it is more urgent to drive the Palestinians out of the strip, reoccupy it, and start building settlements than to rescue the hostages. Netanyahu listens to him because if these religious and nationalist extremists quit the government, Netanyahu will not only lose power but possibly go to prison for bribery, fraud, and corruption. Israelis condemn calls for a Palestinian state “” as genocide, but is that any different from when Netanyahu, Ben-Gvir, and their crowd are working for a Jewish state “from the river to the sea?” The sympathy and support for Israel following October 7 looked like it could halt or even reverse the decline in Israel’s shrinking international stature but Netanyahu quickly put it back on the downhill track. The US-Israel relationship has seen many crises and seemed to recover each time. Most of those involved the administration while Congressional support remained firm and protective, but it is on Capitol Hill where the greatest weakening appears this time. This crisis is arguably more widespread than any in memory, reaching into the nation’s grassroots and the Jewish community. The level of congressional criticism and anger is alarming. Most is coming from Democrats, even though their party has been a stalwart supporter of Israel and the party of choice for most Jewish voters. Many Jewish lawmakers have joined the criticism. Unlike prior wars, saturated media coverage of the war brings home the scale of human and physical damage in Gaza. Anti-Israel demonstrations on American campuses are having a divisive and dramatic impact. One lesson of the extensive anti-Israel demonstrations during Holocaust Remembrance week is the failure to educate recent generations about the greatest human disaster in history, so they may better understand the Israeli trauma of October 7 and its largest daily death toll of Jews since the Holocaust. MEANWHILE, THE West Bank is on fire as settler violence spreads while the government seems to be doing its best to ignore or even condone it.  Once again the catalyst has been Netanyahu’s surrender to the extremists. Yossi Alpher, a former Mossad analyst, has said the prime minister appears more afraid of going to jail and losing his job than saving the lives of more soldiers and the hostages. That approach has done great damage inside Israel and among its friends worldwide. For 10 months, hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in peaceful demonstrations against the anti-democratic plan to quash Israel’s independent judiciary. Those demonstrations stopped after October 7 and more recently have been replaced by marches calling for the return of the hostages and new elections. Netanyahu faces pressure from two directions. Ben-Gvir and the hawks want a brutal military victory in Gaza and a possible reoccupation. Most Israelis, polls show, want a ceasefire and return of the hostages. So does Biden. When their private messages were ignored, the president and top officials increasingly saw the need to go public. Many felt Netanyahu was deliberately slow-walking humanitarian assistance and indifferent to international concern for the innocent civilian victims of the Israeli bombing campaign. Jewish Insider reports 86 House Democrats, including several Jewish lawmakers, have accused Israel of violating US law by the “deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid” to Gaza and are calling for an investigation. Similar charges are being brought in the Senate. Palestinian allies have filed genocide and war crimes charges against Israel at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Netanyahu has been bombing homes and buildings in Gaza and burning bridges around the world, most importantly in America. His government’s conduct of the war has been a global public relations and political disaster for Israel. Religious Zionists head MK Bezalel Smotrich is seen amongst other settler leaders praying outside of Nablus, West Bank (credit: ROI HADI) A new ABC News/IPSOS poll showed nearly four in 10 Americans say the United States is being too supportive of Israel, up from 31% in January. A third of respondents are saying the United states should be doing more to protect Palestinian civilians. A March Gallup poll found more than half of Americans disapprove of Israel’s conduct in the war.  Palestinians are benefiting from the outrage over Israel’s retaliation for October 7 and the ensuing high casualty toll among Gaza’s women and children exacerbated by the ensuing humanitarian crisis.  Biden has been pressing Netanyahu to avoid a full-scale assault on Rafah, where an estimated million Palestinians have taken refuge. But the prime minister insists no one, not even the President of the United States, can stop him. That apparently led to Biden halting the delivery of two types of precision-guided bombs and possibly other munitions, an unprecedented move in wartime. Many in Congress, including some of Israel’s best friends, have been calling for conditioning military aid, particularly halting offensive weapons deliveries.  Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Netanyahu that could negatively impact US-Israel relations – if it hasn’t already. I’VE BEEN speaking with long-time pro-Israel activists as well as foreign policy and political pros, and few see much chance of a turnaround. Here’s what I’m hearing. •Israel under Netanyahu has squandered the virtual wall-to-wall bipartisan support it enjoyed for many years on Capitol Hill.  • Stopping the downward slide must begin with new Israeli and Palestinian leadership bringing new attitudes and a genuine commitment to reconciliation. It starts at home, with both sides building pro-peace constituencies.  • Arab leaders will need to give more than lip service to the Palestinians and show they are ready to integrate Israel into the region.  • Among the palliative moves suggested are a freeze on settlement expansion, a serious crackdown on anti-Palestinian violence in the West Bank, and a dramatic Israeli peace overture to the Palestinians.  • Hamas is not just an Israeli problem. Bear in mind that Yahya Sinwar planned and ordered October 7 in large part to derail Israeli-Saudi normalization talks, which he feared would sideline the Palestinians. 
That budding alliance was also considered a security threat to Hama’s patrons in Tehran. They rightly saw an expanded Abraham Accords as not just Sunni Arabs doing business with the Zionists but forming a regional defense alliance against Iran.  Hamas is a regional problem, and it is time for Netanyahu and his government to put it in perspective and work toward a regional solution. The writer is a Washington-based journalist, consultant, lobbyist, and former American Israel Public Affairs Committee legislative director. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-08

Herzi Halevi is one of the most disappointing chiefs of staff since the establishment of the State of Israel. His failure is evident in the military's preparatio for war, in the conduct of the war, and in the fatal damage to the values and morals and the ethical code of the army on which generations of fighters were raised. Halevi's method of choosing the next generation of commanders to follow him is neither moral nor ethical. It also causes irreparable damage to the IDF and the country as a whole by the public losing confidence in IDF commanders and the entire army. Halevi was appointed chief of staff by his close associate Benny Gantz and brought upon Israel a terrible disgrace and disaster, the likes of which had not been seen since the establishment of the state. Thousands were murdered, thousands of wounded are trying to recover, hundreds were kidnapped by Hamas into tunnels, and more than a hundred thousand were displaced from their homes. These facts cannot be debated, and yet Halevi continues to hold his title, thanks to his accomplices, PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. This group could bring us total destruction. It is simply unimaginable how this group that should have stood trial continues to manage the country and the war for us. These three and all their followers should resign from their jobs, sit in their homes until the end of their days, and atone for their sins. Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi (credit: IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT) When Halevi was the head of the military intelligence, at the beginning of March 2017, he estimated that Hamas or Hezbollah were not interested in a military conflict 'in the near term'. He argued that Israeli deterrence reduces the likelihood of an initiated war. When Halevi was the commander of the Southern Command, an internal IDF document was published in August 2021. The document describes the defense system and reveals the depth of the failure and the destructive concept that dominated military thinking in recent years. In the three years from 2018 to 2021, Herzi Halevi served as commander of the Southern Command. During this time, the defense plans against Hamas deteriorated without measures to deal with the hundreds of kilometers of Hamas tunnels. The operational discipline on the border with the Gaza Strip also deteriorated. Halevi advocated that Hamas was deterred and, therefore, did not come across as a threat to Israel. Aviv Kochavi and Hatzi Halevi at the exchange of chiefs of staff ceremony in January 2023 (credit: TOMER NEUBERG/FLASH90) One of the reasons that the IDF did not enter Rafah at the same time as Gaza City at the beginning of the war when the world was still with us and the attack was still possible was that there were no concrete attack plans. These plans require years of preparation, training the forces, studying the area in detail, and allocating forces to tasks within the cities and villages in Gaza. The study of land-air-sea combined with combat was not done at all. This is the reason the IDF planned its entry in an attack on Gaza City only while moving at the same time to mobilize the forces. Halevi must take direct responsibility for the lack of war plans neither in defense nor in attack. In February 2020, during Halevi's tenure as commander of the Southern Command, he joined the former director of the Mossad, Yossi Cohen, on a secret trip to Doha, the capital of Qatar. There, the two met with Mohammad bin Ahmad Al-Musnad, the national security adviser of the Emirate of Qatar, and with Mohammad al-Emadi, Qatari businessman. In response to this meeting, MK Avigdor Liberman stated on Channel 12, "The head of the Mossad together with the commander of the Southern Command on Netanyahu's behalf, begged the Qataris to continue pouring money into Hamas after March 30." During the days of Halevi as commander of the Southern Command, the process of tightening the instructions to open fire on the border of the Gaza Strip that began in early 2018 continued. The depth of the perimeter near the border where Gazans are not allowed to enter was reduced from 300 meters to 100 meters, and severe restrictions were imposed on shooting at unarmed Gazans. The IDF refrained from shooting Gazans who crossed the fence and those throwing Molotov cocktails. In mid-2019, restrictions were even imposed on shooting at armed men approaching the fence for fear of harming Hamas fighters who are controlling the riots, according to the understanding of Halevi. Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi at the Northern Command (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT) During the years of Halevi's tenure as chief of staff, the IDF's broken organizational aspects deepened: lack of discipline, failure to verify orders, failure to control and follow up on decisions made, failure to learn lessons, and unreliable investigations. The culture of lying rose to monstrous proportions, and the standards of performance fell below all criticism. In most army units, routine practices and orders were not followed. One of the many examples is the failure of the units in operational employment on the border lines to be on alert at dawn. Anyone who did not carry out this order in the past was dismissed, and it was in our hands on the morning of the Hamas attack on the settlements surrounding Gaza on October 7, 2023.  The conduct of Halevi, at three o'clock in the morning and the decisions he made were disastrous for the people of Israel. He remained complacent despite all the warnings that were before his eyes. This was not an error in judgment, but a concept deeply embedded in his personality. This is how he conducted himself as commander of the Southern Command, and this is how he acted as chief of staff and instilled in his subordinates this severe pattern of action. The failed management of the war by Halevi is a huge failure that Israel has not experienced since the establishment of the state. Instead of starting the war on the Gaza Strip with full force in both Gaza City and Rafah, Halevi acted only in a column in the Gaza Strip. The war has been going on for a very long time to such an extent that forces have lost their strength both in terms of resources and in terms of mental strength. After half a year of war with hundreds of dead and thousands of wounded, many seriously, the IDF captured 80% of the Gaza Strip. Within a short time, Hamas returned through the tunnels and retook control of all the territories abandoned by the IDF. In other words, we lost the war. The IDF's raids will not lead to a victory over Hamas but to a war of attrition that could last for years. The fighting forces will wear out because they have no replacements due to the cutting of six divisions in the last twenty years by the chiefs of staff who decided that the big wars have all passed, and it is possible to be satisfied with a small, technological, and smart army. The situation has reached such a point that our forces cannot eradicate Hamas and not even stop its re-establishment. The same is true for Hezbollah. As long as we fight a war with Hamas that no longer has a purpose, Hezbollah will continue to exhaust us in the North. This fighting will bring Israel to the collapse of the army, the economy, international relations, and society. The slogans of Bibi, Gallant, and Halevi that the IDF will not stop fighting until it achieves all the war's goals are empty slogans and massive deception to the public. Their only goal is to continue the fighting at any cost. Again, this is a war in which we have already been defeated.  Halevi's attack on the "spirit of the IDF" and the values of the IDF and the norms upon which generations of fighters were raised. Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Golani commanders in the north (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT) Considering these grave failures, why doesn't Halevi resign now and appoint a replacement? Halevi will go down in history for his failure to prepare the army for war and the terrible failure on October 7. Additionally, he will be remembered worldwide for his failure to conduct the war without achieving its goals, in which he, Bibi, and Gallant are responsible This chief of staff has failed at immoral and unethical levels that we have not known before. I am receiving very difficult testimonies from senior officers in the army who have lost complete trust in their commander, the Halevi, who does not set a personal or ethical example. Herzi Halevi receives backing for his nefarious actions from his fellow retired generals who were an integral part of the reasons for the disintegration of the army and the failure that occurred. One of the retired generals who had a significant part in wearing down the army has become one of the spokesmen for the army. They should be in prison for criminal negligence. In conclusion, has only one way to stop itself on the slippery slope toward the abyss, and that is to end the war, take a time-out, and release the hostages. We must restore the army, the economy, international relations, and society. The officials responsible for the terrible disaster we experienced must be fired.  ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-08

After an initial deadline slated for Wednesday, the State Department said there's just a "brief delay" in publishing its report which assesses Israel's assurances that its use of US weapons in its war against Hamas or international law.  State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller wouldn't specify when exactly the report will be released, saying it will be up "in the coming days." Miller denied allegations that the delay in producing the report indicates is not taking Israel's assurances seriously.  "We have taken this incredibly seriously...but it is also important that we get this right, that we do a thorough job. This is the first time the department has conducted such an exercise," Miller said. "So we are taking all deliberate care to make sure that we get everything in it absolutely correct. It will be just a brief delay." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits IDF soldiers in northern Gaza, December 25, 2023 (credit: GPO/AVI OHAYON) Reuters reported last month that some senior US officials do not find Israel's assurances credible. The Reuters report, along with investigations by outside organizations like Amnesty International, has prompted some lawmakers to call on the Biden administration not to tilt the report toward Israel. The memorandum bars any recipient of from restricting the delivery of humanitarian aid.The report deadline comes amid concern about famine in Gaza and calls from the United States, other governments and international bodies for Israel to refrain from launching a big offensive against Rafah, a city that Israel calls Hamas fighters' last stronghold but is also the refuge of more than 1 million displaced Palestinian civilians. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-08

 Israel pledged to keep up its as its negotiators joined hostage talks in Cairo and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with CIA Director William Burns on Wednesday. “We will continue to keep up the military pressure on Hamas,” Israel government spokesperson Avi Hyman told reporters in Jerusalem. “We know from the last that we needed both the military pressure and the diplomatic channel” to successfully reach a deal, he said, referring to the November agreement that saw the release of 105 hostages. “Ultimately, Hamas was brought down to their knees begging… for a bit of respite, for a break in the fighting” and agreed to release captives, Hyman said. “We are continuing on our as part of the war aims because the last four battalions of Hamas are there. We will destroy them.Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip May 7, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled) “But certainly, that pressure is up on Hamas. We can see that they feel it,” he said. Hyman spoke one day after Israel seized the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing into Egypt, and as the IDF bombed Hamas targets in eastern Rafah. Israel has hoped that the Rafah operation would press Hamas to show flexibility in talks, where it has insisted on trading a hostage deal for a permanent ceasefire. Netanyahu has insisted that the IDF must be allowed to finish its military operation to oust Hamas from Gaza. Israel had put forward a three-phased proposal that would pause the war for some 120 days, and allow for all the remaining 132 captives to be freed, starting with 33 hostages in the first 40 days. Hamas put forward a counter-proposal, one that – significantly – did not promise to deliver 33 live hostages in the first phase, explaining that they could be dead or alive. Their proposal also delays the release of the captives and the pace of their release. Burns met with Netanyahu in Israel on Wednesday, in an attempt to narrow the gaps. He also spoke with Mossad Chief David Barnea. Separately, an Israeli team participated in indirect talks in Cairo, talks that also included a Hamas delegation and officials from the mediating countries Egypt and Qatar. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-08

The administration of President Joe Biden is pressuring Israel and the mediators, , to agree on a ceasefire in Gaza because it sees it as a strategic key to achieving the immediate and long-term goals of the United States. The Biden administration believes that a ceasefire will allow the release of the most vulnerable hostages, promote the formation of a governing alternative to Hamas that will distance it from Gaza, end the conflict on the border with Lebanon, allow the American mediator, Amos Hochstein, to renew his efforts to achieve a solution that will keep Hezbollah away from Israel's border, and will promote normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which will complete a powerful military and political axis against Iran and its affiliates. In addition, a ceasefire may reduce the severe riots on American college campuses, which are hurting Biden's election campaign. Recently, Biden has taken several contradictory moves and eliminated almost all pressure levers on Yahya Sinwar. is the cause of the delay in Rafah, threatened to limit the supply of weapons to Israel, considered whether to impose sanctions on an IDF unit, damaged the international legitimacy of the war on Hamas, and frequently expressed unwarranted criticism that Israel does not transfer enough humanitarian aid to Gaza. In addition, the administration did not do enough to condemn and act firmly against the anti-Semitic riots by Hamas and Palestinians supporters on American campuses and did not sufficiently warn the International Criminal Court in The Hague against issuing arrest warrants against Israeli officials. These moves encouraged Sinwar to believe that time was working in his favor and allowed him to make fun of the United States and the mediating countries. Benjamin Netanyahu talks with Joe Biden (credit: PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE) The United States, together with Israel, Egypt, and Qatar, formulated an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of the hostages. Israel accepted the deal. Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken even defined it as "very generous" on the part of Israel and put all the responsibility for its implementation on Hamas. Blinken said that if Hamas cares about the residents of Gaza, it should accept the agreement. This is a puzzling argument because it has been evident that Sinwar and Hamas do not care at all about the residents of Gaza. Paradoxically, it was precisely the renewed Israeli threat to operate militarily in Rafah that created leverage for Sinwar. The Biden administration told Sinwar that if he rejected the agreement, Biden would not stop Israeli military action in Rafah. It was also announced that in the event of a rejection, Qatar would consider expelling Hamas's political leadership from its territory. Sinwar knows how to maneuver well in these situations. Biden and Israel have created the impression that this is a "take it or leave it" agreement and not as a basis for negotiations. The protesters and are young, Muslim, and "progressive". They are Democrats and threaten Biden that if he does not stop supporting Israel, they will not vote for him in the November 2024 presidential elections. This is why, until a few days ago, Biden refrained from condemning these students and taking action against them. He did this only last week in the face of their violent campus takeover and out of the fear that it would strengthen Trump, who accuses him of being responsible for chaos on campuses and surrendering to the radical left. Biden is trying to balance the American attitude towards Israel and the conditions of the upcoming elections. He estimates that a ceasefire, release of hostages, and normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia will help him in the election process. Biden must see through these events before the elections reach the last round. It is not certain whether this challenging balance interests Sinwar or Netanyahu, but perhaps Biden alone. Prof. Gilboa is an expert on the United States at Bar-Ilan University and a senior researcher at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-08

In a high-level meeting on Wednesday during his visit to Israel, CIA Chief William Burns conveyed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials that he still perceives a potential for a diplomatic breakthrough with Hamas, according to report by Channel 12. According to the television network, Burns emphasized to his Israeli counterparts that a potential end to the war in Gaza should not mark the end of diplomatic efforts but rather a transition point toward potential normalization, even suggesting the prospect of improved relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. However, Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, Defense Minister Gallant, Mossad chief David Barnea, and Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, pushed back against Burns's assessment.  They expressed staunch opposition to Hamas's latest proposal, received on Monday night, asserting that it "crosses all red lines" and is categorically unacceptable. Moreover, Israeli officials conveyed their concerns to Burns regarding the impact of the United States' from Israel.  They highlighted that Hamas's Gaza chief, Yahya Sinwar, perceives this move as advantageous to Hamas and detrimental to Israel's position, further complicating the prospects for reaching a deal. The Israeli leadership underscored the significant gaps between their position and Hamas's demands regarding a potential hostage exchange, indicating that these differences are substantial and challenging to bridge.  Consequently, they emphasized the necessity of maintaining focus on the ongoing IDF operation in Rafah. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-08

It’s a tale of two Joe Bidens that has some Jews and Israel supporters scratching their heads, marveling at apparent inconsistencies. There is the tale of Biden marking on Tuesday in the White House, exuding empathy toward Jews and Israel in a speech decrying swirling antisemitism on campuses and elsewhere. “No one should have to hide or be brave just to be themselves,” he said in one poignant sentence, after earlier in the speech referencing Jews forced to “hide their kippahs under baseball hats, tuck their Jewish stars into their shirts.” The president’s empathy was not reserved only for the Jews but also for the Jewish state, which he said saw the “ancient hatred of Jews” reenacted with horrific savagery on October 7. “Now, here we are, not 75 years later [after the Holocaust] but just seven and a half months later [after October 7], and people are already forgetting. They’re already forgetting that Hamas unleashed this terror, that it was Hamas that brutalized Israelis, that it was Hamas who took and continues to hold hostages. I have not forgotten, nor have you, and we will not forget.” US president Joe Biden released four-year-old hostage Abigail Idan. April 25, 2024. (credit: Screenshot/Instagram via potus) That is one tale of Biden, the tale of a US president with a deep sympathy for the State of Israel born of what he heard of the Holocaust around his father’s table in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and strong friendships with Jews he established over the years such as late congressman Tom Lantos, a Holocaust survivor. Yet on the same day that Biden delivered this heartfelt speech, The Wall Street Journal reported that for the first time since the Gaza war began, the US is delaying sending precision weapons to Israel. The Washington Post quoted a US official saying this should be seen as a shot across Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bow to underscore the seriousness of US concerns about a Rafah invasion. That, too, is a tale of Biden. How to reconcile the two? The first Biden, strongly supportive of Israel and fully aware that for the current war, with the second Biden, the one delaying weapons to Israel, a move that – if extended – could curtail efforts to defeat Hamas and harm Israel if a wider war erupts in Lebanon. Biden said that he had not forgotten Hamas’s atrocities. But that is not the only thing he has not forgotten. He has also not forgotten, in his telling and the telling of his spokespersons, the civilian fatality rate in this war. And he has also not forgotten that his administration is coming under intense pressure from protestors on college campuses and the progressive wing of his party to pressure Israel to stop the war and to distance itself from the Jewish State. In short, Biden is walking a tightrope, balancing his instinctive support for Israel and the Jews with genuine concerns about civilian casualties and the fear of how those casualties will impact his reelection chances, which right now can be categorized as “iffy.” A MURAL in Tel Aviv depicts US President Joe Biden as a superhero defending Israel against the Iranian attack. On the strategic level, Israel suffered a whopping loss as Iran pierced American and Israeli deterrence frameworks with apparent impunity, the writer maintains. (credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90) One of the basic political assumptions in the US in recent months – an assumption that has gained ground during the highly publicized anti-Israel protests on dozens of campuses around the country – is that Biden’s policies on Israel will alienate Arab voters and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez-style progressives, a demographic he will need to win in crucial swing states like Michigan. But there is a flip side to that coin. If Biden is not seen as supportive enough of Israel, or if moderate Democrats get spooked by the protests, sometimes violent, filling their television screens night after night, that could push them out of the Democratic camp in November. It’s not as if Biden only wins votes by turning on Israel, and everything else stays static. Being seen as too tough on Israel could cost him dearly among Jewish and pro-Israel supporters in a close election, and there are states out there beyond Michigan, with its large bloc of Arab voters, that he needs to win – swing states – in which the shift of a few percentages among Jewish or pro-Israel Democrats could make a huge difference. For instance, polls show that Biden is significantly behind Trump in the battleground states of Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, which all have substantial Jewish populations. But there is more to the story than that. While the media’s focus on the Gaza war makes it seem as though this is the main issue driving the conversation in the US and will be the central issue of importance for American voters in November, that is far from the truth. In American elections, foreign policy issues are traditionally way down the list of the problems that the electorate prioritizes, with the top issues generally being issues such as the economy, abortion, immigration, and gun control. Even among the country’s youth, the “conflict in the Middle East” is a low-priority issue, something that runs counter to the impression one might walk away with having watched campuses all over the country explode over the issue. Axios reported this week on a Generation Lab poll of 1,250 US college students that found that only 13% of them ranked the Middle East as their most important issue, ninth on a list of nine that was topped by healthcare reform, educational funding and access, and economic fairness and opportunity. Even among the country’s youth, the “conflict in the Middle East” is a low-priority issue, something that runs counter to the impression one might walk away with having watched campuses all over the country explode over the issue. Axios reported this week on a Generation Lab poll of 1,250 US college students that found that only 13% of them ranked the Middle East as their most important issue, ninth on a list of nine that was topped by healthcare reform, educational funding, and access, and economic fairness and opportunity. Speaking of the college protests, it is worth noting that the last time the campuses were in such an upheaval was some 56 years ago when students protested, marched, and conducted sit-ins against the Vietnam War in colleges across the country. Like 2024, 1968 was an election year. In that election, Richard Nixon, running on a law and order ticket that resonated loudly for many reasons – including because of the anti-war protests – defeated the Democratic candidate Hubert Humphrey. Four years later, Nixon defeated another Democratic candidate, George McGovern. One lesson from that period was that the “silent majority” – middle America – was turned off and frightened by the rebelliousness and lawlessness that they saw in the campus protests and in race riots that plagued that era. Will history repeat itself, and Biden get hurt in the upcoming election because of scenes of chaos and lawlessness on some campuses? Jonathan Chait wrote an article this week in New York Magazine headlined “Biden is Losing the Election in the Center, Not the Left.” According to Chait’s argument, the more significant threat to the president's reelection chances is moderate voters defecting from Biden rather than Arab American or youthful progressives. The protests on campus, he argued, are “contributing to the sense of chaos and failure that is harming Biden and helping Trump.” The reason the is close, and Biden is trailing in the polls, is not because he is hemorrhaging far-left voters, but rather moderate ones who, among other problems, they have with Biden’s domestic agenda, are frightened by the chaos and anarchy the protests represent. “The people he needs to win back are not occupying college campuses,” Chait wrote. This helps to explain the tale of two Bidens: a president who has to appeal to all sides. He needs to retain Jewish and pro-Israel voters, as well as Arab voters and anti-Israeli progressives. He also has to ensure that the Democratic middle holds. In the process, he often sends mixed signals and contradictory messages: threatening to reassess policy toward Gaza if Israel does not alter its course in the war on the one hand, helping Israel shoot down hundreds of Iranian missiles and drones on the other; holding up arms sales to Israel on one day and passionately expressing support for Israel and Jews the next. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-08

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and traded accusations on Tuesday and Wednesday over in a large number of products including gasoline, coffee, meat, milk products, and more. Yediot Ahronot on Tuesday quoted officials from the prime minister's office, who blamed Smotrich for conditioning a meeting with Netanyahu over the price hikes on an invasion of the southern . The officials said that the prime minister requested to meet with Smotrich over the latter's "deficient" treatment of the issue, but that the finance minister delayed the meeting as an act of protest over the delay in the Rafah invasion, which Netanyahu has been promising for months. Smotrich denied the report, but it drew widespread criticism nonetheless, both from politicians from the opposition and from the coalition. Coalition member Knesset Finance Committee chairman MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism), for example, said on Tuesday that the finance ministry was "doing nothing on the topic of price hikes," and that the government "completely failed on this topic." Smotrich fired back on Wednesday. In a letter, he accused the prime minister of failing to fulfill a promise to confiscate NIS 3 billion in funding for the Palestinian Authority, which Smotrich called "terror funds," funding that could have gone towards measures to combat the price hikes.The dead are piling up - and the budgets are being cut. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich at a discussion in the Socio-Economic Cabinet (credit: Photo processing, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Finance) According to Smotrich, the government was in the midst of long-term moves to lower Israel's high cost of living, such as a bill to equate Israeli import regulations to those in Europe and thus slash unnecessary bureaucracy, which is in the midst of the legislative process. However, to combat high prices in the short term, a budgetary source was necessary. Smotrich claimed that the renewed 2024 budget, which passed into law in March, took into account a commitment by Netanyahu to pass a bill that would enable seizure of NIS 3 billion of funds earmarked for the PA, but that the prime minister was preventing this for "unknown reasons." More specifically, the NIS 3 billion was supposed to go to restoration of the Gaza border area, and this would have freed up other funds for subsidies and other moves to lower prices, Smotrich argued. "It is inconceivable that the concern for the PA and terror funds that it pays to families of terrorists will be more important than the citizens of Israel, who are suffering under the burden of the high cost of living," Smotrich wrote. The Palestinian Authority is currently suffering from an economic crisis, and faces difficulties paying salaries and is in danger of bankruptcy and collapse. Israel's security system has warned that the economic crisis in the PA may lead to a security escalation in the West Bank as well. However, Smotrich's stated policy is to cause the PA to collapse, and increasing the seizure of funds could hasten this. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-08

Amid escalating tensions and intense international pressure to de-escalate the situation in Rafah, Kerem Shalom crossing will re-open to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian aid.  This decision follows threats from the Biden Administration and the halting of arms shipments to Israel. The Kerem Shalom crossing was reopened on Wednesday morning, partly in response to a phone call between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Joe Biden. Despite ongoing mortar fire targeting the crossing, the decision was made to allow humanitarian aid to reach those in need in Gaza. The reopening of the crossing comes three days after a Hamas attack on the Rafah crossing, which The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) emphasized that all humanitarian aid undergoes thorough security inspections before being admitted. At least fourteen people were wounded following the barrage of rockets launched by Hamas terrorists targeting the Kerem Shalom area in southern Israel.  ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-08

Day 215 of Israel at war: Israeli forces have entered Rafah in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Monday. The Prime Minister and war cabinet said the move is aimed at securing the release of abducted citizens and crippling Hamas to the point it cannot retake control of Gaza.  At the same time, a working group of Israeli negotiators was dispatched to Cairo, with the White House confirming that all of the parties had agreed to continue on the mediation track to try to reach a ceasefire deal, despite the limited operation in Rafah. Hamas had responded on Monday with a counterproposal, with the White House saying that it differed greatly from the original offer. To catch up on the full events from Tuesday . Read more in-depth updates on the . Senior Palestinian official says the PA 'opposes all attempts to damage the sovereignty shared by the Palestinians and the Egyptians at Rafah crossing' Writing on X, the secretary of the PLO Executive Committee, Hussein al-Sheikh, was responding to reports that after the IDF withdraws from Rafah it plans to cede control over the crossing to foreign parties.  IDF says it is conducting targeted operations in eastern Rafah where it located tunnel shafts and Hamas infrastructure The IDF spokesperson added that terrorists were eliminated in several encounters throughout the past day, and Israeli fighter jets and UAVs have struck over 100 terror targets throughout Gaza in the past day. New video helped determine murder of Lior Rudaeff on October 7, which was announced Tuesday Professor Ofer Marin, director of the Sha'are Zedek Medical Center and a member of the committee that examines the situation of abductees revealed on Wednesday how Israel was able to determine the death of Lior Rudaeff seven months after his murder. Speaking to Israeli radio, he said a new video was obtained over the weekend which helped close the case. Without specifying the source of the video, Professor Marin said Hamas had extensively documented the October 7 massacre on GoPro cameras, and there are security cameras inside Gaza. As the IDF operations have progressed across Gaza, the army has been able to retrieve new documentation that the committee has reviewed. Rocket alert sirens sound in communities on Israel-Lebanon border This post can't be displayed because social networks cookies have been deactivated. You can activate them by clicking manage preferences. Foreign Minister Katz: Recognizing a Palestinian state after October 7 means rewarding Hamas for murdering over 1,000 Israelis In a post on X, Foreign Minister Israel Katz went on to say, "It means giving a prize to the Iranian Regime. It means living with the possibility of another October 7. The only way to promote peace is through direct negotiations, within the framework of a regional normalization process.  This post can't be displayed because social networks cookies have been deactivated. You can activate them by clicking manage preferences. IDF issues order prohibiting agricultural work within 0 to 4 kilometers of the Gaza border due to heightened security situation Initial report of direct impact in Metula following rocket barrage in northern Israel Rocket alert sirens sound in the western Galilee region of northern Israel Official document released listing the 132 hostages still held by Hamas Kerem Shalom crossing on Israel-Gaza border reopens  COGAT confirmed the crossing had been reopened to allow for the passage of humanitarian aid, in line with statements from the White House made on Tuesday. The humanitarian crossing was closed on Sunday following a deadly attack launched by Hamas. Qatar condemns Israeli incursion into Rafah and calls for full protection of civilians In a statement, the Qatari Foreign Minister called for "urgent international action to prevent an invasion of Rafah, which would lead to the crime of mass destruction." Families of hostages held in Gaza hold protest in Tel Aviv The marchers descended on the Ayalon highway demanding the government reach a hostage release deal with Hamas. Traffic was blocked in the northbound lanes, and Israel Police said they would act to allow freedom of expression while preventing disorder that affects public security and wellbeing. CIA chief William Burns due to arrive in Israel on Wednesday to meet with officials, i24NEWS has learned IDF strikes multiple Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon Israeli Air Force fighter jets conducted airstrikes targeting Hezbollah military buildings and infrastructure in six areas of southern Lebanon overnight. Additionally, IDF forces removed a threat in other areas during the operation. Jordan's Foreign Minister held phone call with U.S. Secretary of State to discuss Israel's incursion into Rafah According to the Jordanian Foreign Ministry, Blinken condemned what was called a "violent attack" on aid trucks transiting from Jordan through Israel. U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion According to a U.S. official quoted by the Associated Press, the shipment was supposed to consist of 1,800 two-thousand-pound bombs and 1,700 five-hundred-pound bombs, signaling the administration's concern over the Rafah operation. It follows a report on Tuesday that the administration was holding up 6,500 "smart kits" that turn bombs into precision weapons. CENTCOM says Houthi terrorists launched 3 uncrewed aerial systems and anti-ship ballistic missiles over the Gulf of Aden in the past day, no injuries or damage was caused This post can't be displayed because social networks cookies have been deactivated. You can activate them by clicking manage preferences. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-07

“The world must know, and Hamas leaders must know – If by Ramadan our hostages are not home, the fighting will continue everywhere, including the Rafah area,” National Unity Party minister Benny Gantz said. Here’s the kicker: Gantz, a member of the war cabinet, spoke those words on February 18, about three weeks before the start of Ramadan. Since that time there has been non-stop speculation about when, if, and how a Rafah incursion would take place – except it never did. , exactly seven months after the war began and a day after the IDF urged residents on the eastern side of Rafah to evacuate, troops moved in and quickly took over the Rafah crossing. Gantz’s threat to go into Rafah was the first of dozens voiced by senior Israeli officials, foremost among them Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who issued menacing ultimatums over and over. The defeat of Hamas would not be complete, they said, if the IDF did not dismantle the three or four standing there, which had become Hamas’ final stronghold. Smoke rises after an Israeli strike as Israeli forces launch a ground and air operation in the eastern part of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip May 7, 2024. (credit: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled) Each threat, however, would be met by stern warnings from the international community, led by the US, against such a move, at least until a feasible way could be found to move the civilian population – estimated at some 1.5 million people, the vast majority who were evacuated there from the northern and central parts of Gaza after the war began – out of harm’s way. As time passed, it is now some 13 weeks since Gantz first issued his stern warning, Israel’s threats sounded increasingly hollow – and it is not good for the country’s deterrence posture if words are not followed up by action. When Netanyahu reiterated the threat of a Rafah incursion again last week, telling a group of families of hostages and slain soldiers that Israel will go into Rafah to eliminate Hamas and achieve “total victory,” those who rolled their eyes as if to say “here we go again” could have been forgiven for their skepticism. Yet early Tuesday morning the IDF delivered on the threats, though not in a way most expected. First, it was not a massive incursion like those seen in the early stages of the war when the IDF moved into Gaza City or Khan Yunis. Rather, this was a limited, pinpointed action – one that proceeded with no IDF casualties and, according to the IDF, some 20 Hamas terrorists killed. The limited action indicates that Netanyahu is taking US President Joe Biden’s warnings against moving on the city seriously. According to various reports, the US last week – for the first time since the war began – withheld arms deliveries to Israel. Secondly, the IDF’s warning to residents of eastern Rafah to evacuate created the impression that any IDF action would take place there. A quick action to take over the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, the sole crossing in and out of Gaza not in Israeli control, took some by surprise. The move raises two questions: why now and does it matter? g, two things prompted the move at this time. The first was Hamas’s apparent rejection over the weekend of the hostage deal that was on the table, a deal that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken only last week termed an “extraordinarily generous” offer by Israel. Hamas’s failure to grasp that deal showed that the terrorist organization felt it was in the driver’s seat, that it could dictate terms. And this was not an irrational conclusion. The IDF pressure on the organization had lessened significantly; Israel was coming under intense pressure from the international community to both not go into Rafah and to stop the war; and Netanyahu was facing noisy protests at home urging him to make a deal for the hostages at almost any price. IDF tanks enter the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing. May 7, 2024. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT) What was the rush, Hamas leaders reasonably concluded. Rather than take the deal, Hamas demonstrated an interest in dragging the negotiations out longer, likely reasoning that international and domestic pressure on Netanyahu would only increase and eventually he would fold. Hamas’s rejection of this deal – one that included terms Israel had rejected earlier – showed that Israel had lost leverage and needed to regain the upper hand and apply pressure on Hamas head Yahya Sinwar. An incursion into Rafah would, according to this reasoning, do just that. Apparently, this worked, because on Monday, just hours after the IDF instructed some 110,000 residents in eastern Rafah to evacuate the area, Hamas issued a statement saying that they accepted the deal. Forget for a moment that the deal they accepted was not the one that Israel agreed upon, but the timing of their announcement made clear that they were paying attention to what the IDF was saying – this time via the notices to evacuate. The second reason the move on Rafah began now had to do with the deadly mortar attack on Kerem Shalom that killed four soldiers and wounded 10 other Israelis on Sunday. This attack, which came from Rafah, showed that Hamas remained a deadly threat there, and that if the Hamas battalions there were not dismantled, they would continue to fire on soldiers and communities in the western Negev. If Israel wants people evacuated from those communities to move back into their homes, it cannot countenance these types of attacks. Furthermore, the nature of the attack – the number of mortars fired accurately – indicated not a spontaneous attack by isolated terrorists, but rather a coordinated attack by a unit working in an organized manner. That, too, is something that – post-October 7 – Israel can no longer tolerate. As to whether taking over the Rafah crossing and raising the Israeli flag there matters, it does. It matters because this is one of the main symbols of Hamas’s civilian control of Gaza. Up until now, Israel has concentrated on dismantling Hamas’s military capabilities, overlooking the fact that the organization still asserts civilian control over the Strip and its residents. From the Rafah crossing, Hamas was able to control what comes in and who goes out of Gaza. Anyone leaving Gaza for Egypt needs to go through the crossing, with Hamas reportedly extorting enormous sums from wealthy Gazans looking for a way out. In addition, that crossing – over the years – has been the way both weapons and dual-purpose materials have been smuggled into Gaza. While Egypt has stopped some of the subterranean smuggling, Hamas has smuggled much of the weaponry that has come into the Strip by simply bribing Egyptian officials at the crossing. The Israeli commander who yelled into his radio Tuesday morning after the IDF consolidated control over the area that “the Rafah crossing is in our hands” – echoing Motta Gur’s iconic cry after Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem during the Six Day War that “the Temple Mount is in our hands” – may have exaggerated the importance of this particular military action. Nonetheless, it is not without significance, especially as it signifies that Israel’s threat to take over Rafah is real, even if it will be done piecemeal and over an extended period of time. Hamas’s response in the coming days to the hostage deal that Israel agreed to – not the one that Hamas tried to alter – will indicate whether its leaders are paying attention. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-07

A recent survey conducted by Generation Lab, as reported by Axios, reveals that the Israel-Hamas war holds little significance for the majority of college students in the United States.  Out of nine provided issues, the Middle East conflict ranked lowest, with only 13 percent of respondents considering it a major concern. The survey, encompassing 1,250 college students, sheds light on their top priorities. Healthcare reforms topped the list at 40 percent, followed closely by educational funding and access at 38 percent.  Economic fairness and opportunity, racial justice and civil rights, climate change, and gun control and safety also ranked higher than the Israel-Hamas war. Participation in anti-Israel campus protests remains low, with only 8 percent of respondents reporting involvement in either pro- or anti-Israel demonstrations. Despite some level of support for anti-Israel encampments (45 percent), students overwhelmingly reject associated with these protests.  Ninety percent find blocking Israel supporters from campus areas unacceptable, while 81 percent believe vandalism or illegal occupation of buildings should be condemned. Regarding accountability for the situation in Gaza, 34 percent blame Hamas, while 19 percent point fingers at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  Surprisingly, 12 percent hold the Israeli people responsible, and an equal 12 percent attribute blame to US President Joe Biden. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-07

US President Joe Biden's administration has been holding up several Boeing-made arms shipments to Israel for at least two weeks, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The shipments involved Boeing-made which convert dumb bombs into precision-guided ones, as well as Small Diameter Bombs. The sources did not elaborate further. The White House and Pentagon declined comment. The news of a delayed arms shipment was first reported by Axios over the weekend and Politico first reported on the types of arms delayed and the reasoning on Tuesday. Without addressing whether there had been a , the Pentagon said on Monday that there had not been a policy decision to withhold arms from Israel, America's closest Middle East ally.  US PRESIDENT Joe Biden meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the annual opening of the UN General Assembly last September. At that point, holding such a meeting at the White House was not even in the cards, the writer notes. (credit: KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS) Washington has said however it could not support an Israeli invasion of the Gaza border city of Rafah without an appropriate and . The delayed shipments include small diameter tail kits for unguided bombs made by Boeing that are designed to make them more accurate, the source said, adding several direct commercial sales that were in process for Israel were also being held up. A pause in new sales would impede Israel's ability to restock weapons it has used. A senior Israeli official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, did not confirm any specific hold-up in arms supplies but appeared to take the reports in stride: “As the prime minister has already said, if we have to fight with our fingernails, then we’ll do what we have to do.” This is a developing story. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-07

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected for a deal — that delayed the return of the hostages and demanded an end to the war — even as he sent a team to Cairo to discuss it. “The Hamas proposal is very far from [meeting] Israel’s requirements,” he stated in he delivered on Tuesday night. “Israel cannot accept a proposal that endangers the security of our citizens and the future of our country,” Netanyahu stated. Israel’s negotiating team, he explained, was instructed “to stand firm” on principled points . The IDF has also begun its military campaign in Gaza to destroy four Hamas battalions there, seizing the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing at the Egyptian border, he said, referencing the War Cabinet’s decision on Monday night to embark on that operation. Benjamin Netanyahu speaks about hostage deal, May 7, 2024. (credit: PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE) “Within hours, our forces raised the Israeli flags at the Rafah crossing and took down the Hamas flags,” he said.  Seizure of the passageway into Egypt places all the crossings into Gaza back under Israeli control. It’s a step that both helps pressure Hamas to make a deal and advances Israel’s war aim of destroying the terror group, he stated. “We have already proven” that military pressure on Hamas is a necessary condition for the return of our hostages,” he said. Hamas’s decision to put a new proposal on the table Monday night was intended to halt the IDF’s entry into Rafah, Netanyahu said, adding that, this “did not happen.” Israel’s control of the Rafah crossing, he said, damages Hamas’s governmental capabilities and blocks their ability to travel.  Defense Minister Yoav Gallant entered the Rafah area, telling the soldiers there, “This operation will continue until we eliminate Hamas in the Rafah area and the entire Gaza strip, or until the first hostage returns." "We are willing to make compromises to bring back hostages, but if that option is removed, we will go on and ‘deepen’ the operation- this will happen all over the [Gaza] strip - in the south, in the center, and in the north.  “Hamas only responds to force, so we will intensify our actions, and the military pressure will result in us crushing the Hamas [terrorist] organization,” Gallant stated. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-07

On May 2, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi was engulfed in controversy when he appointed Brig. Gen. Shlomi Binder to replace Maj. Gen. as the next chief of military intelligence. The controversy has multiple fronts, but there is some irony to it because almost none of the issues have to do with Binder himself. Certainly until was viewed as one of the top officers in the army, even a possible future IDF chief. Many political and military officials believe that Halevi should have already resigned because the October 7 disaster took place on his watch. In fact, Halevi himself has made it clear that he Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi (credit: IDF SPOKESMAN’S UNIT) Initially, he and other defense chiefs delayed resigning because they said that prosecuting the war against Hamas without any delays for a new chief to get used to running the show was more important even than an immediate resignation. Also, he will be issuing his own report on what led to the October 7 failure likely by . If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was also going to resign, Halevi might already have resigned or might resign immediately after the June report. A significant reason for Halevi delaying his resignation, including after Haliva’s announced resignation on April 22, is a . He and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant believe that Netanyahu’s primary goal is to dump responsibility for the October 7 disaster on the IDF, while trying to avoid personal blame, so as to extend his political career. They also believe that Netanyahu will try to ensure that whoever the next IDF chief is will cooperate with this strategy to some degree or another, including with the appointments to the IDF high command. For example, the next IDF chief selected by Netanyahu could select an IDF intelligence chief who places all on Halevi and Haliva. One lead candidate if Netanyahu makes the selection would be former major general and current Defense Ministry Director-General Eyal Zamir. Netanyahu helped build Zamir into an IDF juggernaut partially due to their closeness when Zamir served as his personal military secretary. This was a reason why Netanyahu wanted Zamir, not Halevi, as IDF chief in early 2023, but Gantz was able to appoint Halevi just before Netanyahu returned to power. The current IDF chief is totally ready to take personal responsibility for portions of the October 7 failure and to put portions of the blame on Haliva. But he also deeply believes that Netanyahu shares in much of the blame, given that he was prime minister from 2009-2024, absent 18 months, but crucially including the year leading up to and including October 7. More specifically, Halevi, Gallant, and many others in the defense establishment hold Netanyahu accountable for: 1) forcing the IDF into a strategy of accepting and containing Hamas; 2) refusing requests to assassinate Gaza Chief Yahya Sinwar who masterminded October 7; 3) provoking the judicial overhaul controversy which weakened the IDF both in real terms and in Hamas and Hezbollah’s perceptions sufficiently to increase the motivation to strike.   PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi attend an event honoring outstanding soldiers at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, on Independence Day last year. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90) Halevi also knows that National Unity party leader and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz may force new elections sometime between June and the end of the year. Accordingly, he may delay his own resignation to try to give selection of his own replacement to whoever wins the potential upcoming elections. For his part, Netanyahu is trying to stave off elections, which polls say he would lose to Gantz, long enough for the political climate to change and for him to extend his career. Taking all of these considerations into account, an increasing number of members of the public and even within the apolitical IDF, think Halevi must not delay his resignation much further. They understand his concerns with Netanyahu, but believe that the IDF must move on beyond the cloud of October 7 and that this is impossible as long as he stays on. Moreover, they believe that since he is a “lame duck” of sorts and that the cloud of October 7 is hanging over him in terms of whether he can properly assess threats facing Israel, that he should not be selecting any new IDF high command posts – especially not the IDF intelligence chief. Finally, the controversy comes to Binder himself. He has a sterling record, was in the elite Sayeret Matkal special forces, and was a former commander of the Golani Brigade, often a sign for future IDF chiefs, given that it is viewed as the IDF’s most crucial large scale force. Binder also never served in top posts in IDF intelligence or in the IDF Southern Command, the two areas viewed as most blameworthy for October 7. However, as the number two officer in IDF Operations Command on October 7, some say that he must shoulder similar responsibility to some of the other related commands for the October 7 failure. For example, when he was given updates about potential dangers on the evening of October 6, he could have tried to convince Halevi to send significant reinforcements to the border. This issue is so serious that families of hostages have said they will file a petition with the High Court of Justice to block his appointment. It is unlikely that the court would intervene in the IDF Chief’s discretion on such an issue, but the fact that such a petition will likely be filed expresses the level of controversy involved. Leaks from Binder supporters have claimed that though he was given a general update about increased dangers on October 6, that he was in the dark about significant details. They say that IDF intelligence never passed on to him that they had in hand a potential Hamas plan for an invasion, which turned out to be the invasion which took place. Further, they say that the IDF Southern Command did not pass on to him all of the concerns of its lower ranked border lookouts regarding increased Hamas movements near the border. Finally, they say that he neither knew that the Shin Bet was sending a few dozen reinforcements to the border, “the Tequila Unit,” nor that the Nova Festival was taking place near the border. Putting together all of what he did not know about Hamas’s threat over the long term as well as the threats data relevant to that night, Binder could plausibly argue that he cannot be held responsible. Put simply, even if there was a basis to send major reinforcements based on knowing all of the data, there was no such basis given the limited picture he had. But isn’t the role of top officers, such as the number two in IDF Operations Command, to be proactive in making sure he gets all the crucial data he needs to keep the country safe? Can Binder really get a pass because some lower officers did not tell him what he should have been told and known? Or is his lack of getting such crucial information a sign that he lacked and lacks the proactive character which could have blocked October 7 and could block future such surprise attacks? Former Brig. Gen. and senior intelligence official, as well as current head of the Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center’s journal, Yossi Ben Ari, has written that Binder’s “advantage” of being a former Golani chief and being so grounded in operations is actually a disadvantage. Ben Ari said that the last five IDF intelligence chiefs have been cut from a similar operations cloth and that all of them lacked the humility and readiness to truly engage in playing out alternate scenarios from the most likely scenario predicted by intelligence analysts and operations officers. He has written that only former Maj. Gen. Aharon Zeevi Farkash, who was intelligence chief until 2006, was genuinely ready to take long-shot threat scenarios seriously and to invest in defending against them. Further, Ben Ari stated that after October 7, it is more crucial than ever that a different kind of officer, with greater prior experience in intelligence, and less focused on intelligence for mere tactical gains the way a career operations officer would be, should be the next military intelligence chief. Finally, Ben Ari and many others have noted that Binder is leapfrogging to the IDF intelligence chief post, given that this would be his first post at the rank of major general, having just been promoted from brigadier general. In contrast, typically the intelligence chief has already served in one or more posts as a major general before achieving what many view as the second most important post in the military, especially since the IDF intelligence chief often gives his own direct advice to the prime minister and the cabinet. While some of these issues having to do with ranks might sound esoteric to outsiders, they are real substantive issues. There are usually only 10-20 major generals in the entire army which make up the IDF high command, but even within the high command, there are posts that are clearly much more important than others. Chiefs of IDF intelligence, northern command, and southern command, for example, are much more important than chiefs of human resources, logistics, and the navy. Running those more crucial commands is generally viewed as something which should be done only by an officer who has already experienced running a whole command.   So why did Halevi pick Binder, especially given there were other qualified candidates with less controversy? Ben Ari named former major generals: Yossi Baidatz, Nitzan Allon (currently running the IDF hostage recovery efforts), Lior Carmeli, and Zohar Palti (who also served in the Mossad and the Defense Ministry.) Some say it relates to the two having served closely together in Sayeret Matkal special forces. This could be a good sign if one appreciates both of them having served in the special forces or it could be a bad sign if the focus looks like appointing a friend. Whatever the reason, it seems that Halevi did not fully anticipate the pushback he received, but he also has given no sign that he will back down. While other right-wing political officials have attacked Halevi-Binder, Netanyahu for his part has kept silent, likely because any criticism he makes of Halevi these days could lead to a counter-onslaught calling on him to resign. Whether Binder can overcome this rough start and place IDF intelligence back in the right direction to avoid future October 7-style surprises will be crucial to the countries’ future. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-07

Israeli forces have entered the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Monday.  The move comes as part of Israel's ongoing military operation aimed at both securing the release of abducted citizens and crippling Hamas, the terrorist group governing Gaza. Speaking from Jerusalem, Netanyahu stated, "Last night I ordered, with the approval of the War Cabinet, to operate in Rafah. Within hours our forces raised the Israeli flags at the and took down the Hamas flags." This development follows discussions held in Cairo regarding a potential ceasefire proposal. However, Netanyahu emphasized that Israel remains steadfast in its objectives. "The entry into Rafah serves two main war goals: the return of our abductees and the elimination of Hamas," he declared. Netanyahu also addressed the recent Hamas proposal, stating, "Hamas' proposal yesterday was intended to torpedo the entry of our forces into Rafah. It did not happen."  The Prime Minister acknowledged the sacrifices made by Israeli families and praised the courage of the nation's soldiers. "I would like to send my heartfelt condolences to the families who lost their loved ones in the last few days. I salute our heroic soldiers for the perfect execution of the mission, for the fighting spirit and heroism," he said. Meanwhile, Israeli forces are engaged in intense combat in Rafah, targeting Hamas terrorists and infrastructure.  Netanyahu emphasized the strategic importance of seizing control of the city, stating, "Seizing the passage in Rafah today is a very important step; an important step on the way to destroying the remaining military capabilities of Hamas." Netanyahu concluded his remarks with a message of unity and determination. "Together we will fight, and with God's help - together we will win," he declared. ...قراءة المزيد

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2024-05-07

Macklemore, the rapper whose hit, “Thrift Shop” has almost two billion – yes, with a “b” – views on YouTube, is the latest entertainment industry figure to throw his support behind the pro-Hamas protests on American campuses. In a new song he just released on his Instagram account, “Hind’s Hall,” he celebrates the masked throngs who occupied Hamilton Hall at Columbia University in New York two weeks ago, dubbing it Hind’s Hall to honor a 6-year-old Palestinian girl, Hind Rajab, who was killed Israel’s war in Gaza, one of many civilians not allowed by Hamas to take shelter in its vast network of tunnels. “Block the barricade until Palestine is free,” he sings. As he praises the protesters, he makes sure to mention that there are Jews among them and asserts that , as well as accusing Israel of genocide, apartheid, and colonization. The song video combines footage of the demonstrations with news clips from Gaza, where students all over the US have chanted to "" and "Burn down Tel Aviv," as well as threatening that the October 7 massacre by Hamas in which 1,200 people were killed in Israel, and 250 people from all around the world and from many religions were kidnapped into Gaza, will be repeated. The video also includes images from anti-police protests in the US and he doesn’t neglect to repeat calls made a few years ago in America to “F**k the police.” Among the groups he disparages are AIPAC and CUFI (Christians United for Israel). Politicians shown as he sings lines meant to put them in a negative light include Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US Senator Mitch McConnell, and George Latimer, who is running against anti-Israel “Squad” member Rep. Jamaal Bowman. But the main agenda expressed in the song is against US President Joe Biden, about whom he sings, “The blood is on your hands, Biden, we can see it all/And f**k no, I’m not voting for you in the fall.”Macklemore dressed up as an offensive Jewish caricature in 2014. (credit: screenshot) Among those who commented positively on the song was Green Party presidential candidate , credited with stealing just enough votes from the Democrats in 2016 to ensure that Donald Trump was elected, who wrote, “This is very powerful. Thank you for creating this.” This isn’t the first time that Macklemore, a 40-year-old based in Seattle who is not Jewish, has expressed antisemitic sentiments. In 2014, he performed “Thrift Shop” in Seattle, wearing a costume that looked like a Nazi caricature of a Jew: a dark wig, long beard, and fake hooked nose. In the outcry that followed, he at first denied that anything was offensive about the getup, but then wrote, following pressure, that, “I wasn't attempting to mimic any culture, nor resemble one. A 'Jewish stereotype' never crossed my mind. Out of a negative can come a positive. Through this situation I've got hip to some incredible groups like the ADL and I encourage people to check the great work they, and others like them, do.” In the “Hind’s Hall” post, Macklemore states that profits from the song will go to UNRWA, the United Nations Relief Agency, which has faced allegations that multiple employees are Hamas members who participated in the October 7 massacre in Israel. The statement that UNRWA will receive proceeds from the song is as close as Macklemore comes to mentioning the terrorist group that is in control in Gaza and instigated the war when it attacked Israel seven months ago. ...قراءة المزيد

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