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ISRAEL

Hear O Israel––How Do I Hate Thee? Joan Swirsky

https://www.thepostemail.com/2022/06/10/hear-o-israel-how-do-i-hate-thee/

King Solomon said, “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9).

The sun rises, and the sun goes down…all streams run to the sea… what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.

In his prescience, King Solomon no doubt knew that one of the things that would remain the same was the obdurate persistence––over thousands of years––of maniacal Jew hatred and a fanatical loathing of Israel.

If it weren’t so serious, and deadly, it would be almost comical, considering that the massive, heavily armed, immensely populated, and hugely influential empires that tried to annihilate the Jews—the Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Assyrians, et al––have been extinct for centuries, while the teeny tiny world of Judaism flourishes to this day.

And that is not to omit the Crusades and Inquisition and forced conversions and the 20th century Holocaust in which Hitler’s “willing executioners” ––all over Europe––succeeded in mass-murdering a full half of the world’s Jewry. Here is a partial picture of Jewish history and persecution that makes the vibrancy of modern Jewish life even more amazing!

But not so amazing that today, in the putatively evolved 21st century, the historical scourge of viciously rampant Jew hatred not only gallops across the globe but also in hundreds if not thousands of colleges and universities in our own country!

Iran at top of agenda during Bennett’s surprise trip to UAE, say observers Yoel Guzansky, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, told JNS: “This is dramatic. And I guess this is the background of the visit: Iran, Iran, Iran. by David Isaac

https://www.jns.org/iran-at-top-of-agenda-during-bennetts-surprise-trip-to-uae-say-observers/?utm_source=

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made a surprise visit to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday morning at the invitation of its president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. While the trip caught some observers off-guard, others said recent developments concerning Iran were clearly the impetus.

“The immediate trigger is the decision made by the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] condemning Iran for not cooperating with the agency on a number of matters,” Eytan Gilboa, professor of political science and a senior fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS), told JNS.

“The No. 1 item on the agenda will be how to perhaps exploit that decision for mutual benefit,” said Gilboa. “The urgent matter is what to do with the United States and the West.”

The 35-member board of the IAEA voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to criticize Iran for “insufficient” cooperation regarding uranium traces found at three undeclared locations. Thirty countries voted for the resolution. Russia and China opposed while India, Libya and Pakistan abstained. Iran condemned the resolution on Thursday as “political and unconstructive.”

Palestinians, Yet Again, Attack Jewish Pilgrims On Temple Mount Only a week after Jerusalem Day. It’s relentless. Hugh Fitzgerald

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2022/06/palestinians-yet-again-attack-jewish-pilgrims-hugh-fitzgerald/

Another Jewish holiday, another Arab attack on Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount. This time, it was the religious holiday of Shavuot, on June 5, exactly a week after Jerusalem Day, May 29, when Arabs last threw rocks and Molotov cocktails from inside Al-Aqsa at Jewish pilgrims. A report on the latest outbreak of Arab violence on Temple Mount is here: “Police clash with Palestinians on Temple Mount as Jews visit during Shavuot holiday,” Times of Israel, June 5, 2022

Police scuffled with Palestinians on Jerusalem’s flashpoint Temple Mount holy site on Sunday morning as Jews toured the compound during the Shavuot holiday.

Palestinians barricaded themselves inside the compound’s Al-Aqsa Mosque and threw stones at police in response to the visits. There were no reports of injuries or arrests in the incident.

The Palestinians constantly allege that Israeli Jews are “desecrating” the Al-Aqsa Mosque. But it is the Palestinians themselves who desecrate the mosque, by using it both as a place to store weapons – rocks, and bottles ready to be quickly transformed into Molotov cocktails – and as a military encampment from which they hurl those weapons at Jewish visitors and Israeli police.

Footage from the scene showed officers outside the mosque doors, while Palestinians barricaded inside threw stones out of windows and chanted “Allahu akbar,” or “God is great.”

Israel Never Targets Journalists Palestinians refused a joint investigation into the death of Shireen Abu Akleh. By Yair Lapid

https://www.wsj.com/articles/israel-never-targets-journalists-shireen-abu-akleh-al-jazeera-reporter-killed-palestine-11654800434?mod=opinion_lead_pos10

Less than two hours after the death on May 11 of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, I contacted Hussein al-Sheikh, the Palestinian minister responsible for cooperation with Israel. We all agree that something awful happened, I told him. I proposed that we hold a joint investigation into her death.

The Palestinians refused. We may never know exactly what caused her death, but the important thing is that, like 511 other journalists who were killed in recent years around the world, she died while carrying out her duties. Being a journalist in wartime is a dangerous business. I know—I was a journalist for 31 years and covered the First Lebanon War.

What happened next can’t be excused by the fog of war. Palestinian propaganda used Abu Akleh, accusing Israel of deliberately targeting her. She would surely have known better.

If the outrageous claim that Israel targets journalists were true, why would she have worked in the region for more than 20 years? How can it be explained that still today hundreds of foreign journalists work in the same place? Al Jazeera, a network run by an Islamist state that is openly hostile to Israel, has permanent staff in Israel who are protected by the state the network slanders on a regular basis?

Shavuot, the Six-Day War and the sorry ‘status quo’ on the Temple Mount Ruthie Blum

https://www.jns.org/opinion/shavuot-the-six-day-war-and-the-sorry-status-quo-on-the-temple-mount/

Israeli and Diaspora Jews visiting the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Sunday to celebrate Shavuot—the holiday marking the revelation of the Torah to Moses at Mount Sinai—were greeted by angry Palestinians. The latter, mostly young men, have taken to rioting regularly on the compound where the Al-Aqsa mosque is located.

It would be easy to attribute the behavior of the Muslim troublemakers to the occasion when Jews make a festive pilgrimage to the site of the two temples. It would be equally simple to attach significance to the Gregorian date, which coincided with the 55th anniversary of the 1967 Six-Day War.

Though the two are indelibly linked, the tendency of mostly young male Palestinians to use any excuse to desecrate the site—the holiest in Judaism and third in Islam after Mecca and Medina—has become commonplace. And it’s no wonder.

Incited by the Palestinian Authority, with a little help from the king of Jordan, these guys get to cloak their violent energy in a veil of religious and political purity. The neat trick on the part of the leaders in Ramallah, Gaza and Amman to encourage terrorist activity is to perpetuate the bald-faced lie that Israel plans to storm the compound and destroy the mosque.

The mendacity doesn’t end there. The P.A. leadership also pretends that the presence of Jews in the ancient land of Israel is a myth, and that the story of the First and Second Temples is a fabrication.

In advance of Biden’s visit to Jerusalem, a warning By Barry Shaw

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/06/in_advance_of_bidens_visit_to_jerusalem_a_warning.html

Joe Biden is coming to Israel, likely in July.

Prior to this visit — to Jerusalem and other places — it is important to set the stage about what has happened in the region when fresh people, capable of thinking out of the Establishment box, came to the Middle East, turned perceived logic on its head, and made a miraculous difference by introducing the Abraham Accords, a new peace concept in the area.

Prior to that, the established notion was that peace was impossible until Israel bowed to international pressure by surrendering vital territory, legitimately theirs, to a violent Jew-hating Palestinian entity.

Thanks to people like President Trump and Jared Kushner, they were proven wrong.

Moderate Muslim countries see greater value in normalizing and extending ties with Israel. This has brought peace, progress, and greater prosperity to the participating countries.

One reason the world did not collapse with the Abraham Accords is that most Arab countries look on the Palestinians as an expensive nuisance and have stepped back from using them as a battering ram to bring down the Jewish State.

but it seems the developing peace camp in a new Middle East has not reached the ears and eyes of the Biden White House or the State Department, both of whom persist in slapping Israel with a wet rag to get us to move into granting even more concessions to a clearly avowed anti-Semitic and violent enemy that persists in an obsession of achieving a Jewless world in a Palestine that stretches from the River to the Sea, even to the extent that they want to divide Jerusalem, our sovereign capital.

GOOD NEWS FROM AMAZING ISRAEL FROM MICHAEL ORDMAN

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

Today is the anniversary of D-Day- the Normandy invasion of June 6, 1944 which was followed by several battles in Europe, but heralded the end of Germany’s Nazi regime and the genocide that claimed one third of world Jewry.  The following 77 years brought a miracle. Israel gained its sovereignty and, in those decades, became a world player in research and development of technology and innovation which heals and gives hope to billions of people throughout the world.  And in historic irony, when former German Chancellor Angela Merkel retired, her first foreign visit was to Israel where she was warmly received.    rsk

Michael Ordman’s weekly blog details Israel impressive accomplishments in every field of Human endeavor.

Israel is like a powerful magnet, attracting global demand for its innovations and assistance.  The European Union is negotiating for Israeli natural gas. Israel is partnering Greece for innovation and research. Israeli robots are caring for seniors in New York.  Israeli technology is growing crops in Africa and providing water in India. Israel’s economic ties has extended to Arab countries that don’t even have formal diplomatic relations with it. Meanwhile, arrivals at Ben Gurion Airport include young Moroccan leaders, the Governor of Arizona, OECD educators, hundreds of new Ethiopian immigrants and hundreds of thousands of tourists. Finally, yet another international embassy is to open in Jerusalem. Michael Ordman

 
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Ketamine as an antidepressant. Scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute and in Germany, have clarified the molecular cascade triggered by ketamine, that leads to its sustained antidepressant effects. They found that the gene Kcnq2 enables potassium ions to pass through the brain, maintaining the activity and stability of neurons.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-german-study-hopes-to-pave-way-for-use-of-ketamine-as-an-antidepressant/
 
Hi-tech blood cell analysis. Report and fascinating new video showing the features of the X100 Microscope and Decision Support System from Israel’s Scopio Labs (see here previously).
https://nocamels.com/2022/05/scopio-labs-cell-microscope/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT3vF1UT4HM
 
$30 million for digital health. Israel has selected 19 programs for a new digital health initiative. They include test sharing, endoscopy videos for R&D, and making data on mental health and midwifery more accessible. The databases used are anonymized and better access should contribute to more breakthroughs in Israeli health tech.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-approves-19-programs-for-30-million-digital-health-initiative/
 
An amazing life – Michael Sela. Professor Michael Sela, formerly the sixth president of Israel’s Weizmann Institute, has passed away at the age of 98. Prof Sela co-invented Copaxone to treat MS, Erbitux for cancer, and other treatments. He helped create the field of immunology, won numerous awards, and spoke nine languages.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/328454
 
Identical twins give birth on same day. Identical twin sisters, Yael and Avital gave birth at Shaare Zedek Medical Center to their fourth babies (both boys) on the same day. Each already had two girls and a boy. And previously, a set of twins were born at Hadassah Medical Center, at 2:22am on the 22nd of February 2022.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/328464  https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/322774
 

US needs a strategy for a realigned Middle East by Lawrence Haas

https://thehill.com/opinion/international/3510732-us-needs-a-strategy-for-a-realigned-middle-east/

As recent events make clear, the Middle East is increasingly becoming a bifurcated region, with Israel and its growing Sunni Arab allies on one side, and Iran and its state and terror-group allies on the other.

Gone are the days when the region was bifurcated in another way — between Israel and everyone else — and when the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was considered the main obstacle to wider Arab-Israeli peace.

The realigned Middle East has major implications for efforts to resurrect the 2015 global nuclear agreement with Iran, which rested on naïve U.S. hopes that it would moderate the radical regime in Tehran and nourish warmer U.S.-Iranian relations. At this point, Washington, Jerusalem, and like-minded governments should prepare for life beyond that agreement — whether it ever comes back to life or not.

Consider what we’ve seen across the region just in recent days. For starters, Israel and the United Arab Emirates have just signed the first ever comprehensive free trade agreement between the Jewish state and any Arab nation, and it’s expected to greatly expand trade between these two nations in the coming years and also encourage Israeli companies to build manufacturing sites in the UAE.

The trade deal builds on the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords of 2020, which brought formal diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco — and (preceded by Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994) increased the number of Arab states with formal ties to Israel to six.

Biden Is No Friend of Israel by Con Coughlin

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18584/biden-is-no-friend-of-israel

The real crime, one that represents a serious breach of the long-standing intelligence-sharing arrangements between the US and Israel, is that one of President Joe Biden’s senior officials has been willing to betray the trust of such a close ally.

At a time when tensions are already running high between Iran and the West over the stalled nuclear talks, there are quite justifiable concerns in Israel that the leak will prompt Iran to exact revenge by attacking Israeli targets, even if it later transpires that Israel was not responsible for the assassination.

The timing of the leak also indicates an underlying willingness on the part of the Biden administration to undermine Israel when, in public, the White House is seeking to portray itself as an ally of Israel, as indicated by its recent seeming decision not to remove the IRGC from the US list of designated terrorist organisations.

As for motivation, it is unclear if the leak was deliberate, to harm Israel, or from not fully appreciating the jeopardy it could potentially cause Israel, an act which would reflect the Biden administration’s profound lack of understanding as to what is at stake with the entire Iran issue.

Nothing better illustrates the Biden administration’s deep-seated antipathy towards the State of Israel than the leaking of highly classified material about the alleged role Israeli intelligence played in the assassination of a top-ranking Iranian terrorist.

For decades, Israel and the US have enjoyed a unique intelligence-sharing relationship whereby the two countries share the most sensitive material on their respective intelligence, security and military operations.

But the deep-seated bond of trust that forms the bedrock of this vital relationship has been seriously compromised as a result of the Biden administration’s egregious decision to leak details of Israel’s alleged involvement in the killing of Colonel Sayad Khodayee, a senior commander in the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC).

THE TREACHERY OF THE SQUAD by Paul Schnee:

‘SQUAD’ DEMOCRATS INTRODUCE RESOLUTION CALLING FOUNDING OF ISRAEL A ‘CATASTROPHE’

Some people are born to commit shameful acts.

When the resolution was introduced on May 16th. in the House of Representatives by the “SQUAD”, better known as the terrorist caucus of the Democratic Party, calling for the founding of Israel to be designated as a “catastrophe,” out popped the cloven hoof.

It is not only shameful, it is historically wrong. Israel was not “founded” in 1948; it was reconstituted in its ancient and historical homeland where Jerusalem had been its undivided capital a thousand years before Christ and sixteen hundred years before Muhammad. The SQUAD and its fellow travelers must have been very poorly educated.

The claims they submit in favor of Arab Palestinian ownership of the geographical area known as Palestine, and ruled by the Ottoman Empire for almost 400 years prior to its defeat by the allied powers in 1918, are in inverse proportion to the evidence they can provide for them. 

Furthermore, during the entire time the Ottomans controlled the region, no effort was made by Arab Palestinians until to establish their own state until about 1964, yet now they claim that they have always owned the entire region and that Jerusalem is their capital city.  They have even advanced the preposterous notion that Jesus was an Arab Palestinian.