Day 406 — Friday, November 15

Russia and Iran have reportedly linked their respective bank card systems in a joint effort to bypass international sanctions, the Islamic Republic television channel IRINN announced on Monday.

The bilateral cooperation between the Iranian network, Shetab, and its Russian counterpart, Mir, will allow Iranian bank credit cards to be used in Russia. In addition, Russian nationals will reportedly be able to use their Russian bank cards in Iran.

It is currently unclear when this bilateral initiative will be fully implemented.

In 2018, during then-U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, banks in Iran were excluded from the international financial messaging service SWIFT. This move severely undermined the Iranian banking system, as most international transactions are conducted through the SWIFT platform.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, international sanctions have also been imposed on Moscow. Over the past two years, Russia and Iran have consequently concluded that closer ties are mutually beneficial. Moscow has been calling for the establishment of a new international payment system that would serve as an alternative to SWIFT.

IRINN emphasized that the financial integration between Iran and Russia marks only the first step in Tehran’s efforts to expand its international diplomatic and financial ties.

“The plan is also going to be implemented in other countries that have a wide range of financial and social interactions with Iran, for example, Iraq, Afghanistan and Turkey,” the Iranian state news agency stated.

Iran and Russia have also forged closer military ties amid continued wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. While Russia is formally considered a military superpower, it reportedly lags behind Western nations in some key technologies, including drones. Moscow has, therefore, been acquiring Iranian-produced drones that have been used in the ongoing war against Ukraine.

In December 2022, the United States raised concerns about the “unprecedented Russian-Iranian military partnership.” While Iran’s drone support for Russia is well known in the West, U.S. National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby also warned of “an unprecedented level of military and technical support” from Russia to the Iranian regime, which threatens the Middle East’s regional security.

“Russia is seeking to collaborate with Iran on areas like weapons development and training,” Kirby warned. “We are concerned that Russia intends to provide Iran with advanced military components,” which “could include air defense.” 

In early 2023, Russia and Iran agreed to build a drone factory in Russia to boost Moscow’s drone capabilities.

In September 2024, the Biden administration raised concerns that Iran intended to deliver ballistic missiles to Russia.

“We have been warning of the deepening security partnership between Russia and Iran since the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and are alarmed by these reports,” stated U.S. National Security Council Spokesman Sean Savett.

“Any transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would represent a dramatic escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” Savett continued.

“This partnership threatens European security and illustrates how Iran’s destabilizing influence reaches beyond the Middle East and around the world.”

All Israel News

Day 406 — Friday, November 15

President-elect Donald Trump promised Thursday to end all restrictions and delays on arms deliveries to Israel on his first day in office, according to Amit Segal, a reporter for Israel’s Channel 12 News and Yedioth Ahronot newspaper.

The Biden-Harris administration withheld precision bombs from Israel in May in response to Israel’s decision to enter Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza, against the White House’s explicit demands. Israel ultimately secured Gaza’s border with Egypt and killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who had been attempting to escape through Rafah.

Though the administration later released those weapons, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) alleged that the administration was delaying the delivery of weapons that had already been approved by Congress by failing to submit the proper notifications. Breitbart News had reported already in March that Israeli military officers believed that the U.S. was quietly withholding weapons to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take a softer approach to defeating Hamas.

Without precision bombs, Israel was required to send soldiers into buildings in Gaza where Palestinian terrorists were believed to be hiding, risking the lives of those soldiers through battles or booby traps.

Precision and bunker-busting bombs have also been crucial in the fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon, whose leaders had built their headquarters and other facilities underground — not just near the border, but in the capital city of Beirut as well. Israel used such bunker-busting bombs to kill Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in September.

Breitbart

Day 406 — Friday, November 15

“There’s going to be an anti-Israel protest downtown,” my friend said. “I think we need to do something.”

The next day, we met in front of the courthouse in Las Vegas. Sure enough, there was a group of protesters calling for an end to Israel’s “occupation of Palestine.”

After watching the protest for a few minutes, we walked to our cars. One protester recognized my friend, an Ethiopian Israeli, and confronted us. He followed us for several city blocks, hurling vile slurs at us, accusing us of supporting racism and genocide.

That day I experienced what many of my Jewish friends have: the never-ending scourge of antisemitism.

From spray-painted swastikas on Jewish frat houses to toppled tombstones in Jewish cemeteries, traditional antisemitism is easy to identify. More difficult to pin down is the modern, politically motivated version my friend and I experienced.

As Natan Sharansky, a victim of Soviet-era antisemitism, writes,

Whereas classical anti-Semitism is aimed at the Jewish people or the Jewish religion, “new anti-Semitism” is aimed at the Jewish state. . . . This hatred is advanced in the name of values most of us would consider unimpeachable, such as human rights.¹

This modern, slickly rebranded incarnation is called anti-Zionism. Zionism is the liberation movement of the Jewish people, which originally called for a return to their homeland after centuries of global dispersion and persecution. Its goal realized in the 1948 establishment of the Jewish state, Zionism continues today, calling for the Jewish people’s continued right to live in their land sovereignly and securely.

But anti-Zionists believe Zionism is a form of Western colonization that dispossessed the Arabs living in the region (identified as Palestinians after the Six-Day War) and robbed them of their land. In their view, since the Nakba—the term they use to describe Israel’s rebirth, meaning “disaster”—the Jewish state has engaged in the brutal oppression and systematic disenfranchisement of these “Palestinian refugees.” Not only, they claim, is Israel an illegitimate nation, but it participates in apartheid, à la pre-1994 South Africa. This twisted interpretation of events motivates anti-Zionism’s calls for the destruction of Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian state in its place.

It might seem that anti-Zionism is merely impassioned criticism of a nation that happens to be Jewish, not an antisemitic credo. In theory, this dichotomy works. One can criticize Israeli policy without hating Jewish people. Just ask Israelis, who are known for being their own biggest critics. But there is a vast disparity between anti-Zionism in theory and practice.

Day 406 — Friday, November 15

At various points in the last couple decades, leaders from European nations began to change their ideas on immigration. Instead of blocking the mass of migrants pouring into their countries, they decided the more civilized way of treating them would be to do so with open arms. After all, what could possibly go wrong? So the Muslim immigrants came, and they came, and they came. Now these same countries are looking at their skyrocketing crime rates and the fear many of their citizens have of simply walking the streets and they say, “Oh, maybe that’s what could go wrong.” But it’s too late now. Instead of an overt invasion like the Umayyads carried out in Spain centuries ago, this was a soft invasion. The results, however, are the same. Europe has been Islamicized.

Does that matter? Maybe we should ask the Jews who were in Amsterdam Friday night. Following a football game, fans of the Israeli team, Maccabi Tel Aviv, made their way back to their hotels. But a mass of Muslims were waiting for them. When the Israelis exited their public transportation, they were attacked. Many were beaten, some were stabbed. It was horrific, lasting about five hours. The Dutch police were nearby, but they didn’t help. Many shopkeepers closed their doors to the fleeing Jews. Thankfully, there were some who opened their doors, hiding the Jews in their homes in a scene reminiscent of World War II.

As the weekend progressed, the violence spread as Jews were hunted down also in Sweden and Belgium. Ironically, November is Islamaphobia month. It seems, though, that we need to ask whether they should fear us or we should fear them. And, yes, I certainly recognize that it is not all Muslims who act this way. But there are enough to make me renew my call to Jews everywhere that it is time to come home. Europe is not safe anymore. America is not safe. Asia is not safe. It is time to make aliyah and come home to the land given to you by your Creator.

Day 405 — Thursday, November 14

Wednesday evening, the IDF Spokesman’s office announced the names of six soldiers from the Golani Brigade who were killed during combat in southern Lebanon earlier that day.

The names of the fallen soldiers were:

– Captain Itay Marcovich, aged 22, from Kokhav Ya’ir, a Platoon Commander.
– Staff Sergeant Sraya Elbom, aged 21, from Mehola, Squad Commander.
– Staff Sergeant Dror Hen, aged 20, from Gan Haim, Squad Sergeant.
– Staff Sergeant Nir Gofer, aged 20, from Dimona, soldier.
– Sergeant Shalev Itzhak Sagron, aged 21, from Sderot, soldier.

All six IDF fighters were from the 51st Battalion of the Golani Brigade and were killed Wednesday morning in an encounter with Hezbollah terrorists in a village in southern Lebanon. Another soldier was moderately wounded in the same battle.

President Isaac Herzog eulogized the fighters in a post on X, saying, “Together with the entire people of Israel, I received with deep pain and sorrow the news of the fall of six Golani fighters, heroes of Israel, who fell defending the homeland in the battle against Hezbollah.”

“They fought for us with bravery, courage and dedication and for the defense of the people and the country,” Herzog continued, saying he is praying for “the speedy recovery of all the wounded in the war in body and soul.”

Golani Brigade and Brigade 188, fighting under Division 36, have been operating in recent days on the outskirts of the second line of villages in the western sector of southern Lebanon. The IDF has identified villages where Hezbollah had a known presence before the start of the ground campaign, either conducting launches or storing weapons and ammunition in those locations.

So far, the IDF has cleared most of the first line of those village across the border region. As part of an offensive on new areas where the IDF has not previously conducted ground maneuvers, the Golani Brigade was clearing buildings in a limited maneuver, aimed at capturing strategic areas and locating weapons and launchers. The IDF has detected rocket fire on northern communities in recent weeks coming from some of these villages.

As Battalion 51 launched an assault on several targets, entering and raiding several buildings, the force encountered at least four terrorists at close range, in a building believed to have been unoccupied, and a prolonged battle ensued with the terrorists.

According to a report in Ynet, the IDF is investigating the possibility that the terrorists emerged from an underground combat shaft and, therefore, were not injured in the preparatory strikes that preceded the entry of the infantry fighters.

At the same time, an additional group of Hezbollah terrorists launched an attack on the IDF troops from nearby buildings. Thus, the soldiers came under fire from multiple directions.

The battle lasted around three hours until the IDF gained control of the area. A seventh soldier was moderately wounded in the same battle.

The battle occurred after several brigades operating in southern Lebanon were rotated out for a break, and defense officials had even spoken of releasing reserve forces.

However, with little evidence of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, the IDF is now expected to keep some of the reserve units in Lebanon to continue applying military pressure on the terror organization.

All Israel News

Day 405 — Thursday, November 14

Authorities have arrested and charged a man suspected of leaking classified documents that described Israel’s preparations for a possible attack against Iran, according to a New York Times report.

The Times report names U.S. government employee Asif William Rahman as the suspect. Fox News has learned that Rahman worked for the CIA.

A court filing states that Rahman was indicted last week in federal court in Virginia with two counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information. FBI agents arrested Rahman on Tuesday in Cambodia and brought him to federal court in Guam to face charges.

The classified documents, attributed to the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, note that Israel was still moving military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran’s blistering ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1. They were shareable within the “Five Eyes,” which are the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

The documents, marked top secret, were posted to the Telegram messaging app in October. The original poster claimed they had been leaked by someone in the U.S. intelligence community, then later the U.S. Defense Department. The information appeared entirely gathered through the use of satellite image analysis.

Fox News

Day 405 — Thursday, November 14

I’m sure that many of you have heard of the horrifying attacks on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam last Thursday. An antisemitism watch group has found that the attacks on Israeli Jews in the Netherlands were “orchestrated online using social media platforms including Instagram and telegram,” World Israel News (WIN) reported.

“Dozens of people were injured Thursday night when a mob of mostly Muslims attacked Israeli soccer fans outside of the Johan Cruyff Arena, the home stadium of the AFC Ajax soccer club, in Amsterdam following a match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv,” WIN detailed. “Members of the anti-Israel mob assaulted dozens of Israeli soccer fans, who had flown to Amsterdam for the match, with reports of Israelis being bludgeoned, attempted stabbings and kidnappings, attempts to run down Israelis with cars, and several instances of people being thrown into a river.”

They further went on to report that “Cyberwell, a nonprofit organization monitoring antisemitism and Holocaust denial online, said that the attacks appear to have been orchestrated and coordinated ahead of time via social media.”

CyberWell Founder and Executive Director Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor, in a statement on Friday, highlighted that “this series of coordinated attacks is the rawest example of the slogan ‘Globalization of the Intifada,’ which was amplified in the Instagram stories of some of the organizing accounts.”

“While initial evidence and reports suggest that a combination of chat platforms like Telegram, Instagram, and other social media accounts were used to target central areas of foot traffic and hotels that would be frequented by Israelis after the game, several groups, including one linked to Hamas, freely organized protests against the presence of Israeli soccer fans on Instagram and used incendiary Hamas propaganda symbols to escalate tensions, call for violence and even celebrate the targeted attacks,” CyberWell further revealed.

As noted by WIN, “[the] symbol of an inverted red triangle, used since October 7th, 2023 by supporters of the Hamas terror organization, was posted over 1,000 on social media in conjunction with the word ‘Amsterdam’ during a 24-hour period, reaching over 8,000,000 users.”

As a result, ten Israelis were hospitalized, and hundreds more were huddled in hotel rooms for hours in an effort to protect themselves from the mob.

All of this came on the eve of Kristallnacht, a Nazi pogram against the Jewish people which took place in 1938. While we are thankful the Israeli soccer fans returned home safely, it is very disturbing, to say the least, that Jewish people have once again become the targets of irrational mass hatred.

The truth is that our leaders need to put an end to all the Palestinian rallies that demonize Israel. These rallies give the fuel to what we just saw in Amsterdam.

Day 404 — Wednesday, November 13

President-elect Donald Trump has announced the nomination of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee as the United States’ next Ambassador to Israel. 

“Mike has been a great public servant, Governor and Leader in Faith for many years. He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East!” Trump said in a statement released by the Trump-Vance transition on Tuesday.

Huckabee is a staunch supporter of Israel in the Evangelical community.

Following the outbreak of the war with Hamas on October 7, he led a Christian solidarity delegation to Israel along with ALL ISRAEL NEWS Editor-in-Chief Joel Rosenberg. The two of them have also met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in December. 

Huckabee hosts a weekly program on TBN and often appears as a contributor on Fox News. He ran as a candidate for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2008 and 2016 against Trump. His daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, served in Trump’s first administration as White House press secretary and is currently the governor of Arkansans.  

Former Trump administration Ambassador to Israel David Friedman hailed the choice, writing on X: “It speaks volumes to the importance and priority that President Trump places on the US – Israel relationship that he selected his Ambassador to Israel within one week of his election. And the selection itself — Mike Huckabee is one of Israel’s greatest friends — tells us that the days of public daylight between the US and Israel are about to end!”

Huckabee’s pick is the latest in a series of appointments made by President-elect Donald Trump that are viewed as pro-Israel. The selection of Sen. Marco Rubio as secretary of state, Rep. Michael Waltz as national security advisor, and NY Rep. Elise Stefanik as UN ambassador demonstrates what many Israeli analysts see as the incoming administration potentially even more supportive of Israeli interests than Trump’s first term.

Following Trump’s announcement, prominent Israeli accounts on X have welcomed Huckabee’s nomination by posting highlights of some of his past remarks on Israel. 

“There are certain words I refuse to use. There is no such thing as the West Bank – it’s Judea and Samaria. There is no such thing as settlements – they’re communities, they’re neighborhoods, they’re cities. There is no such thing as an occupation.” 

In sharp contrast to the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden, Huckabee believes that a ‘Two State Solution’ to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is mainly a “diplomatic fantasy.” 

Addressing the likelihood of a ceasefire in the war in Gaza, Huckabee told News Nation in August: “There’s no valid reason to have a cease-fire with Hamas. They’re not capable of having an honorable negotiation.”

“This is like trying to negotiate with the Nazis in World War II. You just don’t,” he said. “You beat them. You defeat them. You eradicate them.”

All Israel News

Day 404 — Wednesday, November 13

Google’s worldwide employee base, including its Israeli contingent, received a $400 charitable giving allocation on Monday, with the option to direct these funds to organizations from a company-approved list. The inclusion of UNRWA – the UN agency whose operations in Israel were recently suspended following evidence of its personnel’s participation in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks – has sparked considerable discussion within the company.

The charitable initiative allows employees to designate their $400 donation to any organization from an extensive list of over 1000 verified charities working across various sectors. The presence of UNRWA and its affiliated organizations on this list was quickly flagged by Israeli employees and pro-Israel staff members in an internal chat channel.

The scale of Google’s charitable initiative is substantial, with allocations made to approximately 180,000 employees, representing a potential charitable impact of $72 million.

The controversy emerges against the backdrop of unprecedented legislative action in the Knesset, which last month passed two significant laws restricting UNRWA’s operations. The first legislation bars the agency from operating in Jerusalem’s Shuafat refugee camp and terminates all its activities in east Jerusalem. The second law establishes a firewall between Israeli government officials and UNRWA personnel, effectively preventing the agency’s staff from working in or accessing Gaza.

The legislative framework explicitly prohibits UNRWA from maintaining any presence, providing services, or conducting activities, whether directly or indirectly, within Israel’s sovereign territory.

Israel Hayom

Day 403 — Tuesday, November 12

Violence erupted on the streets of Amsterdam on Monday night in the second wave of antisemitic attacks to hit the Dutch capital over the last week, according to local media reports. 

One of the city’s famous trams was set alight by rioters dressed in black and armed with fireworks, according to De Telegraaf. The rioters threw debris and shouted “Kanker Joden” (cancer Jews), but it is used to mean “f*** the Jews.” 

Rioters reportedly burned a tram in the city’s western suburbs and clashed with police earlier in the day.

A police spokesman said a tram at the ‘40-’45 Square in the west part of Amsterdam had caught fire, likely caused by fireworks thrown at it. The windows of the tram were shattered.

No one was injured in the incident, as the tram had been empty, the spokesman said. 

Masked men reportedly roamed the streets yelling “Free Palestine.” De Telegraaf reported that journalists witnessed a bystander being ripped from his bike and beaten by the rioters.

It was later reported that private vehicles and bikes were destroyed.

The young rioters reportedly actively sought to confront officers.

Geert Wilders, leader of the PVV, responded to the events by saying, “After the Jew-hunt, the Intifada.”

Wilders has been a strong defender of Israel and the Netherlands’s Jewish population while being deeply critical of Dutch immigration and integration policy.

Amsterdam was rocked by a pogrom that targeted Jews and Israelis in the city immediately after the soccer match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Dutch team Ajax.

Following the attack, the city announced a three-day ban on all demonstrations to maintain public order. Furthermore, the government had announced it would hold stricter border control until December 9.

Hundreds of people defied the ban, which had been upheld by a local court earlier in the day. 

Jerusalem Post

Day 403 — Tuesday, November 12

A loud explosion sounded Tuesday morning in the city of Nesher, near Haifa in northern Israel, about half an hour after sirens sounded warning of a hostile aircraft infiltrating from Lebanon.

According to police, the UAV fell near a preschool. No one was injured, but the preschool building suffered light damage.

The children who attended the preschool were inside the building at the time of the strike, and the UAV hit a tree. The preschool’s windows shattered, but did not cause injuries.

Shortly after the sirens sounded, the IDF confirmed: “A short while ago, sirens were sounded in the Western Galilee and Upper Galilee areas, following the identification of several suspicious aerial targets that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory.”

“The targets are monitored by the IAF and the incident is still ongoing. The public is asked to continue to follow the defensive guidelines of the Home Front Command.”

Following the explosion, the IDF said: “A short while ago, one UAV that crossed from Lebanon was identified as falling in the area of Nesher. The incident has concluded. As of now, no reports of injuries have been received.”

“Sirens were not sounded in the area of Nesher. The incident is under review.”

Arutz Sheva

Day 403 — Tuesday, November 12

The New York Times is under fire after the paper seemingly downplayed the attack on Jews in Amsterdam Thursday night, calling it “soccer violence.”

Organized gangs reportedly assaulted Jews leaving a soccer game where Maccabi Tel Aviv played. Videos posted to social media show assailants hunting, beating, and injuring Israelis while shouting “Free Palestine” and curses in Arabic.

The Times dismissed the attack — which Israeli officials are calling a pogrom — as “violence tied to a soccer game.”

David Saranga, an Israeli diplomat, led the charge against the paper, stating that their headline should change from “Violence Tied to Soccer Game Prompts Dozens of Arrests in Amsterdam” to “Violent Antisemitic Pogrom Prompts Israeli Rescue Mission To Amsterdam.”

The Times later changed its headline to “Israeli soccer fans injured in Amsterdam Attacks That Authorities Call Antisemitic.”

Saranga also suggested the subhead read, “The police said 57 people were arrested after terrorists lynch Jews who were in Amsterdam to watch Israeli Team. The Attacks were driven by antisemitism.”

The Times later changed their subhead to “Dutch officials said that people had attacked Israeli fans as tensions flared around a soccer match.”

On X, several users attacked the Times for the headline, accusing the outlet of lying.

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands condemned the attack on Friday, telling Israeli President Isaac Herzog, “We failed the Jewish community of the Netherlands during World War II, and last night we failed again.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated the “harsh pictures of the assault on our citizens in Amsterdam will not be overlooked.”

Daily Wire

Day 403 — Tuesday, November 12

Four soldiers were killed during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Tuesday, bringing the total toll from the previous day to five.

The slain troops were named as:

• Staff Sgt. Orr Katz, 20, from Ma’ale Adumim.
• Staff Sgt. Nave Yair Asulin, 21, from Carmit.
• Staff Sgt. Gary Lalhruaikima Zolat, 21, from Afula.
• Staff Sgt. Ofir Eliyahu, 20, from Holon.

The soldiers all served with the Kfir Brigade’s Shimshon Battalion. According to an initial IDF probe, the soldiers were hit by an anti-tank missile fired into a building they were in, in the far north of the Strip.

On Monday, another soldier was killed in a separate incident of anti-tank fire in Jabalia. He was named as Maj. (res.) Itamar Levin Fridman, 34.

Times Of Israel

Day 403 — Tuesday, November 12

A senior Palestinian Authority official claimed on Sunday that last week’s antisemitic assaults targeting Israelis in Amsterdam prove that “the world is sick of the Jews,” the Palestinian Media Watch NGO reported Monday.

“What happened in the Netherlands two or three days ago is the best proof that the world is sick of the Jews,” Tayseer Nasrallah, a leading member of the Revolutionary Council of Fatah, the faction that controls the P.A., told Ramallah’s official Palestine TV channel in an interview.

The top Fatah official also claimed that the pogrom revealed that people are “sick of the Israeli arrogance and cannot stand this huge amount of hatred towards people,” per PMW’s translation.

Witnesses described about 100 young men, whom they described as being of Arab descent, assaulting Israelis in a coordinated manner on early Friday morning. The European country’s largest-scale antisemitic incident in decades has shocked many Dutch Jews and Holocaust survivors, who said that it is a reminder of what led up to the Shoah.

JNS

Day 402 — Monday, November 11

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump see “eye-to-eye” on several important issues after the leaders spoke to one another three times by phone in recent days.

Netanyahu’s comments came as part of a statement released on the anniversary of Kristallnacht and the recent anti-Israeli pogrom in Amsterdam.

“In any event, we will do what is necessary to defend ourselves and our citizens. We will never allow the atrocities of history to recur. We will never capitulate to antisemitism or terrorism. We will continue to defend our state and our citizens in every arena, against any threat, especially the Iranian threat,” the prime minister said.

“In recent days, I have spoken three times with US President-elect Donald Trump,” Netanyahu said.

The prime minister emphasized that he was among the first world leaders to congratulate Trump on his re-election last week.

“These were very good and important talks designed to further enhance the steadfast bond between Israel and the US,” Netanyahu continued.

“We see eye-to-eye on the Iranian threat in all its aspects, and on the dangers they reflect. We also see the great opportunities facing Israel, in the area of peace and its expansion, and in other areas.”

All Israel News

Day 402 — Monday, November 11

A ballistic missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi militia triggered sirens in the Judean Foothills and the Lachish region on Monday morning, including in Beit Shemesh, Adora, Tzora, Beit Guvrin, Sarigim, Karmei Tzur, Kfar Etzion and Kiryat Arba.

The missile was intercepted before entering Israeli airspace, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

A fire in Beit Shemesh initially reported to have been caused by interception fragments was later said to be a case of arson.

The Houthi attacks comes after U.S. airstrikes targeted Houthi facilities in Yemen on Saturday night.

U.S. Central Command forces “conducted multiple airstrikes on numerous Iran-backed Houthi weapons storage facilities within Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen,” a U.S. defense official told ABC News.

Overnight Sunday, four drones approaching Israel from the east were shot down by the Israeli Air Force. Two were intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory.

According to protocol, sirens sounded during the incident, including in the Dead Sea and Galilee areas. Jerusalem residents reported hearing fighter jets overhead during the interceptions.

The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella organization composed of several Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias under the command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,  has been launching daily drone attacks at Israel since the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Sirens also sounded in the Upper Galilee on Sunday night as the IAF intercepted a UAV that crossed from Lebanon.

JNS

Day 401 — Sunday, November 10

Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom, stated on Saturday night that, contrary to the claims of the Dutch authorities, no arrests had been made of people who took part in the pogrom against Israelis in Amsterdam on Thursday night.

“I am speechless. Amsterdam Police just confirmed that NO ONE has been arrested during the Islamic Jewhunt in Amsterdam Thursday night. All arrests have been made before and during the soccer match and NOT during the pogrom,” Wilders wrote in a post on X.

The official police statement claimed that dozens of people were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attacks, of which only four remained in custody as of Saturday night.

In addition, the Dutch police issued a call to those who were attacked or came across Thursday night’s footage to assist them in the investigation.

Earlier, the National Security Council said that security bodies estimate that the wave of violence that began after the Maccabi Tel Aviv game in Amsterdam this past Thursday has ended.

“There is no restriction for Israelis to move around the city,” the National Security Council said, though it stressed that a Level 2 travel warning applies to the Netherlands, and therefore “it is recommended to take increased precautionary measures while staying in the country, with emphasis on concealing Israeli symbols, and maintaining alertness to unusual events in light of the sensitivity present in Amsterdam following the incidents.”

The update also said, “In any unusual event, one should turn to local security authorities for initial response. It is recommended to simultaneously update the Travel Warnings Hotline at the National Security Council (02-6667444).”

Wilders, a staunch supporter of Israel, posted twice to X on Friday condemning the violence in Amsterdam.

“Looks like a Jew hunt in the streets of Amsterdam. Arrest and deport the multicultural scum that attacked Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters in our streets. Ashamed that this can happen in The Netherlands. Totally unacceptable,” he wrote in the first post.

He later posted again about the incident and wrote, “A pogrom in the streets of Amsterdam. We have become the Gaza of Europe. Muslims with Palestinian flags hunting down Jews. I will NOT accept that. NEVER.”

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof on Friday condemned the violence against Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam a night earlier as a “terrible antisemitic attack”.

“It’s a terrible antisemitic attack. We will not tolerate (it). We will prosecute the perpetrators. And I’m deeply ashamed that this could happen in the Netherlands in 2024,” Schoof told reporters on the sidelines of an EU leaders’ meeting in Budapest.

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema also condemned the attack and described the violence as “an eruption of antisemitism that we had hoped never again to see in Amsterdam.”

Arutz Sheva

Day 400 — Saturday, November 9

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht was “marked on the streets of Amsterdam” a day earlier when hundreds of Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans were attacked by anti-Israel mobs.

“Tomorrow, 86 years ago, was Kristallnacht, when Jews on European soil were attacked for being Jews. This has now recurred,” Netanyahu said referring to the events of November 9, 1938, a Nazi pogrom that marked a turning point in the escalating persecution of Jews that eventually led to the murder of 6 million European Jews by the Nazis and their supporters during the Holocaust.

“There is one difference now, though, the Jewish people now have a state of their own,” Netanyahu said in a statement during his visit to the Foreign Ministry’s situation room where he was briefed on Israel’s response to the widespread attacks in the Dutch capital, adding that those behind the attacks don’t just pose a risk to Jews but the entire free world.

The premier’s comments came as the first flight carrying Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans evacuated from Amsterdam after widespread violent attacks by mobs of anti-Israel rioters landed at Ben Gurion Airport on Friday afternoon, as the Foreign Ministry said that all Israelis in the Dutch capital had been accounted for.

A number of the fans said they had been attacked or made to feel unwelcome long before the widespread and apparently organized attack in Amsterdam on Thursday night following a game against Ajax.

Israeli officials said 10 citizens were injured in the overnight violence, apparently perpetrated largely by local Muslims and Arabs. According to reports, all Israelis injured in the attacks have been released from hospital in Amsterdam.

Hundreds more Israelis huddled in their hotels for hours, fearing they could be attacked.

On Friday, members of the local Jewish and Israeli communities scrambled carpools to escort the fans to the airport amid concerns they could be assaulted while en route to evacuation flights.

El Al said that three planes would bring Israelis home and will land in Israel between Friday evening and early Saturday, with paramedics and other medical personnel on board to treat those who needed it.

The airline does not usually operate on Saturdays, in line with traditional Jewish religious law, but eventually received permission to do so from Israel’s newly appointed chief rabbis, Rabbi David Yosef and Rabbi Kalman Bar.

The flights will be free of charge for all passengers who had booked a return ticket from Amsterdam to Israel with El Al and all other airlines, the flag carrier said.

Times Of Israel

Day 400 — Saturday, November 9

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed on Friday a thwarted Iranian plot to assassinate president-elect Donald Trump in the weeks leading up to the elections.

The DOJ announced it has brought charges against three people allegedly involved in the conspiracy that was ordered by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) , as revenge for the killing of IRGC General Qassem Soleimani in January 2020. 

DOJ prosecutors said an Afghan national named Farhad Shakeri (51) was tasked with the mission of providing a plan to kill Trump within seven days. Described in the indictment as an “IRGC asset residing in Tehran,” Shakeri held voluntary phone conversations with U.S. las enforcement.

According to the Washington Post, he told an FBI agent that he could not put together such an assassination plan that meets the Iranian government’s timeframe and therefore IRGC officials decided to pause it. 

In addition, Shakeri told investigators that he was also tasked with surveilling two Jewish American citizens residing in New York City. He was offered $500,000 by an Iranian official for the murder of either victim. Another mission he received was to target Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka. 

The DOJ said Shakeri immigrated to the U.S. as a child and was deported around 2008 after being imprisoned on robbery charges. While he served time in prison, he met the two other people allegedly involved in the plot, Carlisle Rivera (49) and Jonathon Loadholt (36). Both are American citizens and residents of New York who were also named in the indictment. 

They were accused of helping the Iranian government surveil a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin. Prosecutors did not name that person but provided a description of an outspoken critic of the Tehran regime, who had previously been targeted for murder. 

Later in the day, Iranian-American journalist and human rights activist Masih Alinejad wrote on X: “I am shocked. I just learned from the @FBI that two men were arrested yesterday in a new plot to kill me at Fairfield University, where I was scheduled to give a talk.”

“I also learned that the person assigned to assassinate @realDonaldTrump was also assigned to kill me on U.S. soil. The alleged killers also went in front of my house in Brooklyn,” she added. “I call on the U.S. government and the future President of the United States to be tough on terror. The Islamic Republic understands only one language: the language of pressure.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement, “the charges announced today expose Iran’s continued brazen attempts to target U.S. citizens.”  He added, “This includes President-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders, and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran.”

All Israel News

Day 406 — Friday, November 15

Russia and Iran have reportedly linked their respective bank card systems in a joint effort to bypass international sanctions, the Islamic Republic television channel IRINN announced on Monday.

The bilateral cooperation between the Iranian network, Shetab, and its Russian counterpart, Mir, will allow Iranian bank credit cards to be used in Russia. In addition, Russian nationals will reportedly be able to use their Russian bank cards in Iran.

It is currently unclear when this bilateral initiative will be fully implemented.

In 2018, during then-U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, banks in Iran were excluded from the international financial messaging service SWIFT. This move severely undermined the Iranian banking system, as most international transactions are conducted through the SWIFT platform.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, international sanctions have also been imposed on Moscow. Over the past two years, Russia and Iran have consequently concluded that closer ties are mutually beneficial. Moscow has been calling for the establishment of a new international payment system that would serve as an alternative to SWIFT.

IRINN emphasized that the financial integration between Iran and Russia marks only the first step in Tehran’s efforts to expand its international diplomatic and financial ties.

“The plan is also going to be implemented in other countries that have a wide range of financial and social interactions with Iran, for example, Iraq, Afghanistan and Turkey,” the Iranian state news agency stated.

Iran and Russia have also forged closer military ties amid continued wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. While Russia is formally considered a military superpower, it reportedly lags behind Western nations in some key technologies, including drones. Moscow has, therefore, been acquiring Iranian-produced drones that have been used in the ongoing war against Ukraine.

In December 2022, the United States raised concerns about the “unprecedented Russian-Iranian military partnership.” While Iran’s drone support for Russia is well known in the West, U.S. National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby also warned of “an unprecedented level of military and technical support” from Russia to the Iranian regime, which threatens the Middle East’s regional security.

“Russia is seeking to collaborate with Iran on areas like weapons development and training,” Kirby warned. “We are concerned that Russia intends to provide Iran with advanced military components,” which “could include air defense.” 

In early 2023, Russia and Iran agreed to build a drone factory in Russia to boost Moscow’s drone capabilities.

In September 2024, the Biden administration raised concerns that Iran intended to deliver ballistic missiles to Russia.

“We have been warning of the deepening security partnership between Russia and Iran since the outset of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and are alarmed by these reports,” stated U.S. National Security Council Spokesman Sean Savett.

“Any transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would represent a dramatic escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” Savett continued.

“This partnership threatens European security and illustrates how Iran’s destabilizing influence reaches beyond the Middle East and around the world.”

All Israel News

Day 406 — Friday, November 15

President-elect Donald Trump promised Thursday to end all restrictions and delays on arms deliveries to Israel on his first day in office, according to Amit Segal, a reporter for Israel’s Channel 12 News and Yedioth Ahronot newspaper.

The Biden-Harris administration withheld precision bombs from Israel in May in response to Israel’s decision to enter Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza, against the White House’s explicit demands. Israel ultimately secured Gaza’s border with Egypt and killed Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who had been attempting to escape through Rafah.

Though the administration later released those weapons, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) alleged that the administration was delaying the delivery of weapons that had already been approved by Congress by failing to submit the proper notifications. Breitbart News had reported already in March that Israeli military officers believed that the U.S. was quietly withholding weapons to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take a softer approach to defeating Hamas.

Without precision bombs, Israel was required to send soldiers into buildings in Gaza where Palestinian terrorists were believed to be hiding, risking the lives of those soldiers through battles or booby traps.

Precision and bunker-busting bombs have also been crucial in the fight against Hezbollah in Lebanon, whose leaders had built their headquarters and other facilities underground — not just near the border, but in the capital city of Beirut as well. Israel used such bunker-busting bombs to kill Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in September.

Breitbart

Day 406 — Friday, November 15

“There’s going to be an anti-Israel protest downtown,” my friend said. “I think we need to do something.”

The next day, we met in front of the courthouse in Las Vegas. Sure enough, there was a group of protesters calling for an end to Israel’s “occupation of Palestine.”

After watching the protest for a few minutes, we walked to our cars. One protester recognized my friend, an Ethiopian Israeli, and confronted us. He followed us for several city blocks, hurling vile slurs at us, accusing us of supporting racism and genocide.

That day I experienced what many of my Jewish friends have: the never-ending scourge of antisemitism.

From spray-painted swastikas on Jewish frat houses to toppled tombstones in Jewish cemeteries, traditional antisemitism is easy to identify. More difficult to pin down is the modern, politically motivated version my friend and I experienced.

As Natan Sharansky, a victim of Soviet-era antisemitism, writes,

Whereas classical anti-Semitism is aimed at the Jewish people or the Jewish religion, “new anti-Semitism” is aimed at the Jewish state. . . . This hatred is advanced in the name of values most of us would consider unimpeachable, such as human rights.¹

This modern, slickly rebranded incarnation is called anti-Zionism. Zionism is the liberation movement of the Jewish people, which originally called for a return to their homeland after centuries of global dispersion and persecution. Its goal realized in the 1948 establishment of the Jewish state, Zionism continues today, calling for the Jewish people’s continued right to live in their land sovereignly and securely.

But anti-Zionists believe Zionism is a form of Western colonization that dispossessed the Arabs living in the region (identified as Palestinians after the Six-Day War) and robbed them of their land. In their view, since the Nakba—the term they use to describe Israel’s rebirth, meaning “disaster”—the Jewish state has engaged in the brutal oppression and systematic disenfranchisement of these “Palestinian refugees.” Not only, they claim, is Israel an illegitimate nation, but it participates in apartheid, à la pre-1994 South Africa. This twisted interpretation of events motivates anti-Zionism’s calls for the destruction of Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian state in its place.

It might seem that anti-Zionism is merely impassioned criticism of a nation that happens to be Jewish, not an antisemitic credo. In theory, this dichotomy works. One can criticize Israeli policy without hating Jewish people. Just ask Israelis, who are known for being their own biggest critics. But there is a vast disparity between anti-Zionism in theory and practice.

Day 406 — Friday, November 15

At various points in the last couple decades, leaders from European nations began to change their ideas on immigration. Instead of blocking the mass of migrants pouring into their countries, they decided the more civilized way of treating them would be to do so with open arms. After all, what could possibly go wrong? So the Muslim immigrants came, and they came, and they came. Now these same countries are looking at their skyrocketing crime rates and the fear many of their citizens have of simply walking the streets and they say, “Oh, maybe that’s what could go wrong.” But it’s too late now. Instead of an overt invasion like the Umayyads carried out in Spain centuries ago, this was a soft invasion. The results, however, are the same. Europe has been Islamicized.

Does that matter? Maybe we should ask the Jews who were in Amsterdam Friday night. Following a football game, fans of the Israeli team, Maccabi Tel Aviv, made their way back to their hotels. But a mass of Muslims were waiting for them. When the Israelis exited their public transportation, they were attacked. Many were beaten, some were stabbed. It was horrific, lasting about five hours. The Dutch police were nearby, but they didn’t help. Many shopkeepers closed their doors to the fleeing Jews. Thankfully, there were some who opened their doors, hiding the Jews in their homes in a scene reminiscent of World War II.

As the weekend progressed, the violence spread as Jews were hunted down also in Sweden and Belgium. Ironically, November is Islamaphobia month. It seems, though, that we need to ask whether they should fear us or we should fear them. And, yes, I certainly recognize that it is not all Muslims who act this way. But there are enough to make me renew my call to Jews everywhere that it is time to come home. Europe is not safe anymore. America is not safe. Asia is not safe. It is time to make aliyah and come home to the land given to you by your Creator.

Day 405 — Thursday, November 14

Wednesday evening, the IDF Spokesman’s office announced the names of six soldiers from the Golani Brigade who were killed during combat in southern Lebanon earlier that day.

The names of the fallen soldiers were:

– Captain Itay Marcovich, aged 22, from Kokhav Ya’ir, a Platoon Commander.
– Staff Sergeant Sraya Elbom, aged 21, from Mehola, Squad Commander.
– Staff Sergeant Dror Hen, aged 20, from Gan Haim, Squad Sergeant.
– Staff Sergeant Nir Gofer, aged 20, from Dimona, soldier.
– Sergeant Shalev Itzhak Sagron, aged 21, from Sderot, soldier.

All six IDF fighters were from the 51st Battalion of the Golani Brigade and were killed Wednesday morning in an encounter with Hezbollah terrorists in a village in southern Lebanon. Another soldier was moderately wounded in the same battle.

President Isaac Herzog eulogized the fighters in a post on X, saying, “Together with the entire people of Israel, I received with deep pain and sorrow the news of the fall of six Golani fighters, heroes of Israel, who fell defending the homeland in the battle against Hezbollah.”

“They fought for us with bravery, courage and dedication and for the defense of the people and the country,” Herzog continued, saying he is praying for “the speedy recovery of all the wounded in the war in body and soul.”

Golani Brigade and Brigade 188, fighting under Division 36, have been operating in recent days on the outskirts of the second line of villages in the western sector of southern Lebanon. The IDF has identified villages where Hezbollah had a known presence before the start of the ground campaign, either conducting launches or storing weapons and ammunition in those locations.

So far, the IDF has cleared most of the first line of those village across the border region. As part of an offensive on new areas where the IDF has not previously conducted ground maneuvers, the Golani Brigade was clearing buildings in a limited maneuver, aimed at capturing strategic areas and locating weapons and launchers. The IDF has detected rocket fire on northern communities in recent weeks coming from some of these villages.

As Battalion 51 launched an assault on several targets, entering and raiding several buildings, the force encountered at least four terrorists at close range, in a building believed to have been unoccupied, and a prolonged battle ensued with the terrorists.

According to a report in Ynet, the IDF is investigating the possibility that the terrorists emerged from an underground combat shaft and, therefore, were not injured in the preparatory strikes that preceded the entry of the infantry fighters.

At the same time, an additional group of Hezbollah terrorists launched an attack on the IDF troops from nearby buildings. Thus, the soldiers came under fire from multiple directions.

The battle lasted around three hours until the IDF gained control of the area. A seventh soldier was moderately wounded in the same battle.

The battle occurred after several brigades operating in southern Lebanon were rotated out for a break, and defense officials had even spoken of releasing reserve forces.

However, with little evidence of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah, the IDF is now expected to keep some of the reserve units in Lebanon to continue applying military pressure on the terror organization.

All Israel News

Day 405 — Thursday, November 14

Authorities have arrested and charged a man suspected of leaking classified documents that described Israel’s preparations for a possible attack against Iran, according to a New York Times report.

The Times report names U.S. government employee Asif William Rahman as the suspect. Fox News has learned that Rahman worked for the CIA.

A court filing states that Rahman was indicted last week in federal court in Virginia with two counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information. FBI agents arrested Rahman on Tuesday in Cambodia and brought him to federal court in Guam to face charges.

The classified documents, attributed to the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, note that Israel was still moving military assets in place to conduct a military strike in response to Iran’s blistering ballistic missile attack on Oct. 1. They were shareable within the “Five Eyes,” which are the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

The documents, marked top secret, were posted to the Telegram messaging app in October. The original poster claimed they had been leaked by someone in the U.S. intelligence community, then later the U.S. Defense Department. The information appeared entirely gathered through the use of satellite image analysis.

Fox News

Day 405 — Thursday, November 14

I’m sure that many of you have heard of the horrifying attacks on Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam last Thursday. An antisemitism watch group has found that the attacks on Israeli Jews in the Netherlands were “orchestrated online using social media platforms including Instagram and telegram,” World Israel News (WIN) reported.

“Dozens of people were injured Thursday night when a mob of mostly Muslims attacked Israeli soccer fans outside of the Johan Cruyff Arena, the home stadium of the AFC Ajax soccer club, in Amsterdam following a match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv,” WIN detailed. “Members of the anti-Israel mob assaulted dozens of Israeli soccer fans, who had flown to Amsterdam for the match, with reports of Israelis being bludgeoned, attempted stabbings and kidnappings, attempts to run down Israelis with cars, and several instances of people being thrown into a river.”

They further went on to report that “Cyberwell, a nonprofit organization monitoring antisemitism and Holocaust denial online, said that the attacks appear to have been orchestrated and coordinated ahead of time via social media.”

CyberWell Founder and Executive Director Tal-Or Cohen Montemayor, in a statement on Friday, highlighted that “this series of coordinated attacks is the rawest example of the slogan ‘Globalization of the Intifada,’ which was amplified in the Instagram stories of some of the organizing accounts.”

“While initial evidence and reports suggest that a combination of chat platforms like Telegram, Instagram, and other social media accounts were used to target central areas of foot traffic and hotels that would be frequented by Israelis after the game, several groups, including one linked to Hamas, freely organized protests against the presence of Israeli soccer fans on Instagram and used incendiary Hamas propaganda symbols to escalate tensions, call for violence and even celebrate the targeted attacks,” CyberWell further revealed.

As noted by WIN, “[the] symbol of an inverted red triangle, used since October 7th, 2023 by supporters of the Hamas terror organization, was posted over 1,000 on social media in conjunction with the word ‘Amsterdam’ during a 24-hour period, reaching over 8,000,000 users.”

As a result, ten Israelis were hospitalized, and hundreds more were huddled in hotel rooms for hours in an effort to protect themselves from the mob.

All of this came on the eve of Kristallnacht, a Nazi pogram against the Jewish people which took place in 1938. While we are thankful the Israeli soccer fans returned home safely, it is very disturbing, to say the least, that Jewish people have once again become the targets of irrational mass hatred.

The truth is that our leaders need to put an end to all the Palestinian rallies that demonize Israel. These rallies give the fuel to what we just saw in Amsterdam.

Day 404 — Wednesday, November 13

President-elect Donald Trump has announced the nomination of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee as the United States’ next Ambassador to Israel. 

“Mike has been a great public servant, Governor and Leader in Faith for many years. He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East!” Trump said in a statement released by the Trump-Vance transition on Tuesday.

Huckabee is a staunch supporter of Israel in the Evangelical community.

Following the outbreak of the war with Hamas on October 7, he led a Christian solidarity delegation to Israel along with ALL ISRAEL NEWS Editor-in-Chief Joel Rosenberg. The two of them have also met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in December. 

Huckabee hosts a weekly program on TBN and often appears as a contributor on Fox News. He ran as a candidate for the Republican nomination for the presidency in 2008 and 2016 against Trump. His daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, served in Trump’s first administration as White House press secretary and is currently the governor of Arkansans.  

Former Trump administration Ambassador to Israel David Friedman hailed the choice, writing on X: “It speaks volumes to the importance and priority that President Trump places on the US – Israel relationship that he selected his Ambassador to Israel within one week of his election. And the selection itself — Mike Huckabee is one of Israel’s greatest friends — tells us that the days of public daylight between the US and Israel are about to end!”

Huckabee’s pick is the latest in a series of appointments made by President-elect Donald Trump that are viewed as pro-Israel. The selection of Sen. Marco Rubio as secretary of state, Rep. Michael Waltz as national security advisor, and NY Rep. Elise Stefanik as UN ambassador demonstrates what many Israeli analysts see as the incoming administration potentially even more supportive of Israeli interests than Trump’s first term.

Following Trump’s announcement, prominent Israeli accounts on X have welcomed Huckabee’s nomination by posting highlights of some of his past remarks on Israel. 

“There are certain words I refuse to use. There is no such thing as the West Bank – it’s Judea and Samaria. There is no such thing as settlements – they’re communities, they’re neighborhoods, they’re cities. There is no such thing as an occupation.” 

In sharp contrast to the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden, Huckabee believes that a ‘Two State Solution’ to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is mainly a “diplomatic fantasy.” 

Addressing the likelihood of a ceasefire in the war in Gaza, Huckabee told News Nation in August: “There’s no valid reason to have a cease-fire with Hamas. They’re not capable of having an honorable negotiation.”

“This is like trying to negotiate with the Nazis in World War II. You just don’t,” he said. “You beat them. You defeat them. You eradicate them.”

All Israel News

Day 404 — Wednesday, November 13

Google’s worldwide employee base, including its Israeli contingent, received a $400 charitable giving allocation on Monday, with the option to direct these funds to organizations from a company-approved list. The inclusion of UNRWA – the UN agency whose operations in Israel were recently suspended following evidence of its personnel’s participation in the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks – has sparked considerable discussion within the company.

The charitable initiative allows employees to designate their $400 donation to any organization from an extensive list of over 1000 verified charities working across various sectors. The presence of UNRWA and its affiliated organizations on this list was quickly flagged by Israeli employees and pro-Israel staff members in an internal chat channel.

The scale of Google’s charitable initiative is substantial, with allocations made to approximately 180,000 employees, representing a potential charitable impact of $72 million.

The controversy emerges against the backdrop of unprecedented legislative action in the Knesset, which last month passed two significant laws restricting UNRWA’s operations. The first legislation bars the agency from operating in Jerusalem’s Shuafat refugee camp and terminates all its activities in east Jerusalem. The second law establishes a firewall between Israeli government officials and UNRWA personnel, effectively preventing the agency’s staff from working in or accessing Gaza.

The legislative framework explicitly prohibits UNRWA from maintaining any presence, providing services, or conducting activities, whether directly or indirectly, within Israel’s sovereign territory.

Israel Hayom

Day 403 — Tuesday, November 12

Violence erupted on the streets of Amsterdam on Monday night in the second wave of antisemitic attacks to hit the Dutch capital over the last week, according to local media reports. 

One of the city’s famous trams was set alight by rioters dressed in black and armed with fireworks, according to De Telegraaf. The rioters threw debris and shouted “Kanker Joden” (cancer Jews), but it is used to mean “f*** the Jews.” 

Rioters reportedly burned a tram in the city’s western suburbs and clashed with police earlier in the day.

A police spokesman said a tram at the ‘40-’45 Square in the west part of Amsterdam had caught fire, likely caused by fireworks thrown at it. The windows of the tram were shattered.

No one was injured in the incident, as the tram had been empty, the spokesman said. 

Masked men reportedly roamed the streets yelling “Free Palestine.” De Telegraaf reported that journalists witnessed a bystander being ripped from his bike and beaten by the rioters.

It was later reported that private vehicles and bikes were destroyed.

The young rioters reportedly actively sought to confront officers.

Geert Wilders, leader of the PVV, responded to the events by saying, “After the Jew-hunt, the Intifada.”

Wilders has been a strong defender of Israel and the Netherlands’s Jewish population while being deeply critical of Dutch immigration and integration policy.

Amsterdam was rocked by a pogrom that targeted Jews and Israelis in the city immediately after the soccer match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Dutch team Ajax.

Following the attack, the city announced a three-day ban on all demonstrations to maintain public order. Furthermore, the government had announced it would hold stricter border control until December 9.

Hundreds of people defied the ban, which had been upheld by a local court earlier in the day. 

Jerusalem Post

Day 403 — Tuesday, November 12

A loud explosion sounded Tuesday morning in the city of Nesher, near Haifa in northern Israel, about half an hour after sirens sounded warning of a hostile aircraft infiltrating from Lebanon.

According to police, the UAV fell near a preschool. No one was injured, but the preschool building suffered light damage.

The children who attended the preschool were inside the building at the time of the strike, and the UAV hit a tree. The preschool’s windows shattered, but did not cause injuries.

Shortly after the sirens sounded, the IDF confirmed: “A short while ago, sirens were sounded in the Western Galilee and Upper Galilee areas, following the identification of several suspicious aerial targets that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory.”

“The targets are monitored by the IAF and the incident is still ongoing. The public is asked to continue to follow the defensive guidelines of the Home Front Command.”

Following the explosion, the IDF said: “A short while ago, one UAV that crossed from Lebanon was identified as falling in the area of Nesher. The incident has concluded. As of now, no reports of injuries have been received.”

“Sirens were not sounded in the area of Nesher. The incident is under review.”

Arutz Sheva

Day 403 — Tuesday, November 12

The New York Times is under fire after the paper seemingly downplayed the attack on Jews in Amsterdam Thursday night, calling it “soccer violence.”

Organized gangs reportedly assaulted Jews leaving a soccer game where Maccabi Tel Aviv played. Videos posted to social media show assailants hunting, beating, and injuring Israelis while shouting “Free Palestine” and curses in Arabic.

The Times dismissed the attack — which Israeli officials are calling a pogrom — as “violence tied to a soccer game.”

David Saranga, an Israeli diplomat, led the charge against the paper, stating that their headline should change from “Violence Tied to Soccer Game Prompts Dozens of Arrests in Amsterdam” to “Violent Antisemitic Pogrom Prompts Israeli Rescue Mission To Amsterdam.”

The Times later changed its headline to “Israeli soccer fans injured in Amsterdam Attacks That Authorities Call Antisemitic.”

Saranga also suggested the subhead read, “The police said 57 people were arrested after terrorists lynch Jews who were in Amsterdam to watch Israeli Team. The Attacks were driven by antisemitism.”

The Times later changed their subhead to “Dutch officials said that people had attacked Israeli fans as tensions flared around a soccer match.”

On X, several users attacked the Times for the headline, accusing the outlet of lying.

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands condemned the attack on Friday, telling Israeli President Isaac Herzog, “We failed the Jewish community of the Netherlands during World War II, and last night we failed again.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated the “harsh pictures of the assault on our citizens in Amsterdam will not be overlooked.”

Daily Wire

Day 403 — Tuesday, November 12

Four soldiers were killed during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Tuesday, bringing the total toll from the previous day to five.

The slain troops were named as:

• Staff Sgt. Orr Katz, 20, from Ma’ale Adumim.
• Staff Sgt. Nave Yair Asulin, 21, from Carmit.
• Staff Sgt. Gary Lalhruaikima Zolat, 21, from Afula.
• Staff Sgt. Ofir Eliyahu, 20, from Holon.

The soldiers all served with the Kfir Brigade’s Shimshon Battalion. According to an initial IDF probe, the soldiers were hit by an anti-tank missile fired into a building they were in, in the far north of the Strip.

On Monday, another soldier was killed in a separate incident of anti-tank fire in Jabalia. He was named as Maj. (res.) Itamar Levin Fridman, 34.

Times Of Israel

Day 403 — Tuesday, November 12

A senior Palestinian Authority official claimed on Sunday that last week’s antisemitic assaults targeting Israelis in Amsterdam prove that “the world is sick of the Jews,” the Palestinian Media Watch NGO reported Monday.

“What happened in the Netherlands two or three days ago is the best proof that the world is sick of the Jews,” Tayseer Nasrallah, a leading member of the Revolutionary Council of Fatah, the faction that controls the P.A., told Ramallah’s official Palestine TV channel in an interview.

The top Fatah official also claimed that the pogrom revealed that people are “sick of the Israeli arrogance and cannot stand this huge amount of hatred towards people,” per PMW’s translation.

Witnesses described about 100 young men, whom they described as being of Arab descent, assaulting Israelis in a coordinated manner on early Friday morning. The European country’s largest-scale antisemitic incident in decades has shocked many Dutch Jews and Holocaust survivors, who said that it is a reminder of what led up to the Shoah.

JNS

Day 402 — Monday, November 11

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he and U.S. President-elect Donald J. Trump see “eye-to-eye” on several important issues after the leaders spoke to one another three times by phone in recent days.

Netanyahu’s comments came as part of a statement released on the anniversary of Kristallnacht and the recent anti-Israeli pogrom in Amsterdam.

“In any event, we will do what is necessary to defend ourselves and our citizens. We will never allow the atrocities of history to recur. We will never capitulate to antisemitism or terrorism. We will continue to defend our state and our citizens in every arena, against any threat, especially the Iranian threat,” the prime minister said.

“In recent days, I have spoken three times with US President-elect Donald Trump,” Netanyahu said.

The prime minister emphasized that he was among the first world leaders to congratulate Trump on his re-election last week.

“These were very good and important talks designed to further enhance the steadfast bond between Israel and the US,” Netanyahu continued.

“We see eye-to-eye on the Iranian threat in all its aspects, and on the dangers they reflect. We also see the great opportunities facing Israel, in the area of peace and its expansion, and in other areas.”

All Israel News

Day 402 — Monday, November 11

A ballistic missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi militia triggered sirens in the Judean Foothills and the Lachish region on Monday morning, including in Beit Shemesh, Adora, Tzora, Beit Guvrin, Sarigim, Karmei Tzur, Kfar Etzion and Kiryat Arba.

The missile was intercepted before entering Israeli airspace, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

A fire in Beit Shemesh initially reported to have been caused by interception fragments was later said to be a case of arson.

The Houthi attacks comes after U.S. airstrikes targeted Houthi facilities in Yemen on Saturday night.

U.S. Central Command forces “conducted multiple airstrikes on numerous Iran-backed Houthi weapons storage facilities within Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen,” a U.S. defense official told ABC News.

Overnight Sunday, four drones approaching Israel from the east were shot down by the Israeli Air Force. Two were intercepted before crossing into Israeli territory.

According to protocol, sirens sounded during the incident, including in the Dead Sea and Galilee areas. Jerusalem residents reported hearing fighter jets overhead during the interceptions.

The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella organization composed of several Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias under the command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,  has been launching daily drone attacks at Israel since the Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Sirens also sounded in the Upper Galilee on Sunday night as the IAF intercepted a UAV that crossed from Lebanon.

JNS

Day 401 — Sunday, November 10

Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom, stated on Saturday night that, contrary to the claims of the Dutch authorities, no arrests had been made of people who took part in the pogrom against Israelis in Amsterdam on Thursday night.

“I am speechless. Amsterdam Police just confirmed that NO ONE has been arrested during the Islamic Jewhunt in Amsterdam Thursday night. All arrests have been made before and during the soccer match and NOT during the pogrom,” Wilders wrote in a post on X.

The official police statement claimed that dozens of people were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the attacks, of which only four remained in custody as of Saturday night.

In addition, the Dutch police issued a call to those who were attacked or came across Thursday night’s footage to assist them in the investigation.

Earlier, the National Security Council said that security bodies estimate that the wave of violence that began after the Maccabi Tel Aviv game in Amsterdam this past Thursday has ended.

“There is no restriction for Israelis to move around the city,” the National Security Council said, though it stressed that a Level 2 travel warning applies to the Netherlands, and therefore “it is recommended to take increased precautionary measures while staying in the country, with emphasis on concealing Israeli symbols, and maintaining alertness to unusual events in light of the sensitivity present in Amsterdam following the incidents.”

The update also said, “In any unusual event, one should turn to local security authorities for initial response. It is recommended to simultaneously update the Travel Warnings Hotline at the National Security Council (02-6667444).”

Wilders, a staunch supporter of Israel, posted twice to X on Friday condemning the violence in Amsterdam.

“Looks like a Jew hunt in the streets of Amsterdam. Arrest and deport the multicultural scum that attacked Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters in our streets. Ashamed that this can happen in The Netherlands. Totally unacceptable,” he wrote in the first post.

He later posted again about the incident and wrote, “A pogrom in the streets of Amsterdam. We have become the Gaza of Europe. Muslims with Palestinian flags hunting down Jews. I will NOT accept that. NEVER.”

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof on Friday condemned the violence against Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam a night earlier as a “terrible antisemitic attack”.

“It’s a terrible antisemitic attack. We will not tolerate (it). We will prosecute the perpetrators. And I’m deeply ashamed that this could happen in the Netherlands in 2024,” Schoof told reporters on the sidelines of an EU leaders’ meeting in Budapest.

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema also condemned the attack and described the violence as “an eruption of antisemitism that we had hoped never again to see in Amsterdam.”

Arutz Sheva

Day 400 — Saturday, November 9

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that the 86th anniversary of Kristallnacht was “marked on the streets of Amsterdam” a day earlier when hundreds of Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans were attacked by anti-Israel mobs.

“Tomorrow, 86 years ago, was Kristallnacht, when Jews on European soil were attacked for being Jews. This has now recurred,” Netanyahu said referring to the events of November 9, 1938, a Nazi pogrom that marked a turning point in the escalating persecution of Jews that eventually led to the murder of 6 million European Jews by the Nazis and their supporters during the Holocaust.

“There is one difference now, though, the Jewish people now have a state of their own,” Netanyahu said in a statement during his visit to the Foreign Ministry’s situation room where he was briefed on Israel’s response to the widespread attacks in the Dutch capital, adding that those behind the attacks don’t just pose a risk to Jews but the entire free world.

The premier’s comments came as the first flight carrying Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans evacuated from Amsterdam after widespread violent attacks by mobs of anti-Israel rioters landed at Ben Gurion Airport on Friday afternoon, as the Foreign Ministry said that all Israelis in the Dutch capital had been accounted for.

A number of the fans said they had been attacked or made to feel unwelcome long before the widespread and apparently organized attack in Amsterdam on Thursday night following a game against Ajax.

Israeli officials said 10 citizens were injured in the overnight violence, apparently perpetrated largely by local Muslims and Arabs. According to reports, all Israelis injured in the attacks have been released from hospital in Amsterdam.

Hundreds more Israelis huddled in their hotels for hours, fearing they could be attacked.

On Friday, members of the local Jewish and Israeli communities scrambled carpools to escort the fans to the airport amid concerns they could be assaulted while en route to evacuation flights.

El Al said that three planes would bring Israelis home and will land in Israel between Friday evening and early Saturday, with paramedics and other medical personnel on board to treat those who needed it.

The airline does not usually operate on Saturdays, in line with traditional Jewish religious law, but eventually received permission to do so from Israel’s newly appointed chief rabbis, Rabbi David Yosef and Rabbi Kalman Bar.

The flights will be free of charge for all passengers who had booked a return ticket from Amsterdam to Israel with El Al and all other airlines, the flag carrier said.

Times Of Israel

Day 400 — Saturday, November 9

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed on Friday a thwarted Iranian plot to assassinate president-elect Donald Trump in the weeks leading up to the elections.

The DOJ announced it has brought charges against three people allegedly involved in the conspiracy that was ordered by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) , as revenge for the killing of IRGC General Qassem Soleimani in January 2020. 

DOJ prosecutors said an Afghan national named Farhad Shakeri (51) was tasked with the mission of providing a plan to kill Trump within seven days. Described in the indictment as an “IRGC asset residing in Tehran,” Shakeri held voluntary phone conversations with U.S. las enforcement.

According to the Washington Post, he told an FBI agent that he could not put together such an assassination plan that meets the Iranian government’s timeframe and therefore IRGC officials decided to pause it. 

In addition, Shakeri told investigators that he was also tasked with surveilling two Jewish American citizens residing in New York City. He was offered $500,000 by an Iranian official for the murder of either victim. Another mission he received was to target Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka. 

The DOJ said Shakeri immigrated to the U.S. as a child and was deported around 2008 after being imprisoned on robbery charges. While he served time in prison, he met the two other people allegedly involved in the plot, Carlisle Rivera (49) and Jonathon Loadholt (36). Both are American citizens and residents of New York who were also named in the indictment. 

They were accused of helping the Iranian government surveil a U.S. citizen of Iranian origin. Prosecutors did not name that person but provided a description of an outspoken critic of the Tehran regime, who had previously been targeted for murder. 

Later in the day, Iranian-American journalist and human rights activist Masih Alinejad wrote on X: “I am shocked. I just learned from the @FBI that two men were arrested yesterday in a new plot to kill me at Fairfield University, where I was scheduled to give a talk.”

“I also learned that the person assigned to assassinate @realDonaldTrump was also assigned to kill me on U.S. soil. The alleged killers also went in front of my house in Brooklyn,” she added. “I call on the U.S. government and the future President of the United States to be tough on terror. The Islamic Republic understands only one language: the language of pressure.”

FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement, “the charges announced today expose Iran’s continued brazen attempts to target U.S. citizens.”  He added, “This includes President-elect Donald Trump, other government leaders, and dissidents who criticize the regime in Tehran.”

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