Day 413 — Friday, November 22

US President-elect Donald Trump announced Pam Bondi, former Florida Attorney-General and longtime Trump supporter as his updated choice for US Attorney-General on Thursday night.

In an interview this year with news host Chris Salcedo, Bondi addressed the pro-Palestinian protests on US college campuses, saying, “The students who protest against our Jewish friends and support Hamas – they should be deported from our country, they are ignorant children.”

This isn’t the first time Bondi has so vocally supported Israel. In 2018, while serving as Florida’s Attorney-General, she was interviewed by Fox News, where she was asked about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and expressed clear pro-Israel views.

“Israel is one of our greatest allies in the world, if not the greatest,” Bondi said as part of an interview about concerns of escalation in the Middle East. “I visited Israel twice as Attorney-General, and Jerusalem is Israel’s capital.”

“President Trump has always said Jerusalem is the capital. And now it’s officially the capital. And we didn’t wait years. We didn’t spend a billion dollars to do it. The President said it would happen, and it happened. So he’s not giving up on other things. We’re saying it will be negotiated. Nothing else has been finalized regarding borders or other issues. But this is a very important step for the Israeli people,” Bondi declared.

When asked about canceling the nuclear deal with Iran, she answered, “We’re alone, but we’re brave. And this shows strength. And leaving the nuclear deal was probably one of the smartest things we could do. Iran lied to us for years about their nuclear weapons. There were no inspections. And this must stop. And the United States, President Trump knows how to hit them. We saw it with China. He knows what to do, how to hit them in trade, in the financial market, in the economy, everything he can do to influence them to stop producing these nuclear weapons and providing tools to Hamas and Hezbollah.”

Bondi joins a line of pro-Israel appointments by President Trump, including his nominee for CIA Director, John Ratcliffe; his pick for National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz; and Elise Stefanik, who is expected to serve as US Ambassador to the UN.

Jerusalem Post

Day 413 — Friday, November 22

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday, following a months-long campaign by the ICC Chief Prosecutor against the Israeli leaders.

The warrants were issued on the basis of accusations that Israel has committed “crimes against humanity and war crimes” during the battle with Hamas terrorists in Gaza. This claim is contradicted by numerous reports, expert military analysis, and investigations of the IDF’s actions, which found that the Jewish State does more to protect civilian lives than any other military in world history.

One of the allegations mentioned surrounded “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare.” This charge blames Israel for humanitarian aid failing to reach civilians in Gaza despite the large-scale theft by Hamas terrorists, who steal the aid and sell it back to civilians at exorbitant prices. Israel has reportedly sent 700,000 tons of food into the strip. Officials from the UN admitted only a few days ago that its own aid trucks have been looted by Hamas on an enormous scale.

The move by the ICC to issue the arrest warrants was met with outrage from Israeli officials, Republicans in the United States, and Christian leaders who called the action “the pinnacle of diplomatic terrorism.”

Franklin Graham, President of BGEA and Samaritan’s Purse, responded on FaceBook, writing, “The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of genocide for defending his people and his country. More than 1,200 of Israel’s residents were brutally murdered and 251 people were taken hostage and they’re accusing Prime Minister Netanyahu of war crimes?? It seems their hypocrisy knows no bounds.”

Graham further noted his agreement with a quote from the Jerusalem Post, which read: “The International Criminal Court in The Hague, instead of standing as a bastion of justice, has devolved into a stage for hypocrisy and cowardice.”

Rep. Chris Smith, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the co-chair of the Israeli Allies Caucus, in an interview with Tony Perkins, expressed his outrage at the decision, urging the US congress to repudiate the indictments.

“Netanyahu is a tremendous head of state,” he told Perkins. “As Prime Minister of Israel, he is defending his people against an existential threat posed by Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah, and others who are committed to the complete elimination of Israel and the killing of Jews.”

The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, applauded the ICC ruling and stated that members of the EU are bound to implement the warrants. Smith, in response, highlighted Borrell’s stance as another historic failure of Europe to protect Jews.

“European Union has been notorious for its siding with the PLO, then the PLA, and now Hamas,” Smith described. “They’ve always had their finger on the scale against Israel, and of course, much of that goes back to the very problems of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. You would have thought that they would have learned by now that the killing of Jews, the extermination, the genocide of Jews, will never again happen—and Netanyahu has said it will never happen, especially on his watch. The European Union has failed again, and I find that outrageous.”

The ICC ruling is blatantly anti-semitic, Smith asserted, adding that “it is one of the worst marks on them imaginable to indict a sitting prime minister who is defending his country against aggression.”

“It’s demonic, and we need to call it out,” he concluded.

Day 413 — Friday, November 22

The antisemitic decision of the international court in The Hague is a modern Dreyfus trial, and it will end the same way.

One hundred thirty years ago, the French-Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus was falsely accused of treason by a biased French court. In response to these false accusations, the great French writer Émile Zola wrote his monumental essay “J’accuse.” He accused the French court of antisemitic lies against an innocent officer, who his letter exonerated of all guilt.

Now, an international court in the Hague, also headed by a French judge, is repeating this outrageous offense.

It is falsely accusing me, the democratically elected Prime Minister of the State of Israel, and Israel’s former Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, of deliberately targeting civilians. This when we do everything in our power to avoid civilian casualties. We issue millions of text messages, phone calls, and leaflets to the civilians of Gaza to get them out of harm’s way. While Hamas does everything in their power to keep them in harm’s way—including shooting them [and] using them as human shields.

The court in the Hague accuses us of a deliberate policy of starvation, this when we have supplied Gaza with 700,000 tons of food to feed the people of Gaza. That’s 3,200 calories for every man, woman, and child in Gaza. And these supplies are routinely looted by Hamas terrorists, who deprive their people of much-needed food. Just in the last few weeks, Israel facilitates the vaccination of 97% of the people of Gaza against Polio. Yet, this doesn’t prevent the court from accusing us of genocide.

What in God’s name are they talking about in the Hague?

The truth is simple. No war is more just than the war that Israel has been waging in Gaza after Hamas attacked us—unprovoked—launching the worst massacre against the Jewish People since the holocaust.

The decision to issue an arrest warrant against me, the democratically elected Prime Minister of the State of Israel, and our former Defense Minister was made by a rogue prosecutor, who is trying to extradite himself from sexual harassment charges, and by biased judges, who are motivated by anti-semitic sentiments against the one and only Jewish State.

Day 413 — Friday, November 22

In the early 2000’s, Australian politicians proved that they were still under the illusion that handing out peace prizes would actually bring about peace in the Middle East.  On 6 November 2003, then Premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr, handed the Sydney Peace Prize to Palestinian activist, Hanan Ashrawi.  The act was met with fierce opposition from the Jewish community.  The citation was supposedly because of Ashrawi’s “commitment to human rights, to the peace process in the Middle East and for her courage in speaking against oppression, against corruption and for justice.”  In response, the President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said, “Every decent person, including Palestinians, wants a peaceful and just resolution and there are people we look to for change and reconciliation. Hanan Ashrawi is nowhere on that list. She is an old-style propagandist.”

The evidence of Ashrawi’s unsuitability for the peace prize was conveniently overlooked.  As far back as 1993, she was a known supporter of Hamas and held the view that the only way to solve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis was to absorb Israel into a Palestinian state.  No surprise then that after October 7, Ashrawi went to work defending the indefensible – painting Hamas as the victim and accusing Israel of lying by attempting to discredit claims civilians were massacred en masse by Hamas.  Ashrawi further claimed that the savage rapes of Israeli women and the decapitation of Israeli babies didn’t occur.  For over twenty years, she has been absurdly portrayed as some sort of peace activist when, in reality, she is a terror apologist.

Speaking of terror supporters, the Iranian Ambassador to Australia, Ahmad Sadeghi, said earlier in the year that he looks forward to the “heavenly and divine promise” made by Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yasin that would lead to “wiping out the Zionist plague” by “no later than 2027”.  After such abhorrent comments, you would expect the Australian Government to have expelled the Ambassador.  Instead, along with most other countries, Australia recently recognised “permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.  It is the first time an Australian government has voted in favour of the “permanent sovereignty” resolution since it was introduced in some form two decades prior.  Thankfully the pro-Israel stance of the incoming US administration will be able to mitigate some of the damage done by Australia at the UN.  However, this latest act affirms that our Australian government is spiritually blind and ignorant to the dangers of its position under God’s clear declaration in Genesis 12:3.

There have been times in Australia’s history where we have clearly supported Israel and the Jewish people.  However, we also have much to be sorry for, as this article reveals.  Also part of the problem is that replacement theology is taught by many Australian churches.  If we, as a nation, are to have any chance of getting right with God, we must uphold His truth concerning Israel.  I thank God for Australian pastors and Christians who do teach the truth regarding the past, present and future of Israel.  But, like the Jewish people in Australia, they are very much in the minority and often held in contempt.

Day 412 — Thursday, November 21

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant “for crimes against humanity and war crimes” allegedly committed during the Gaza War.

In addition, a warrant was issued for Hamas military leader Mohammad Deif, who was killed by the IDF months ago. ICC chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, had requested the warrants in May.

The court issued the warrants after ruling that it has jurisdiction in the case, contrary to Israel’s stated position, which doesn’t recognize the court’s authority.

In a detailed explanation of its decision, the court wrote that it found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu and Gallant “each bear criminal responsibility for the following crimes as co-perpetrators for committing the acts jointly with others: the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”

The court accused them of “intentionally and knowingly” depriving civilians in Gaza “of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog declared a “black day” for justice and humanity.

“The absurd decision of the International Criminal Court, made in bad faith, turned universal justice into a universal joke. It ridiculed the sacrifice of all those who fought for justice – from the Allied victory over the Nazis until today,” Herzog stated.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar dubbed the decision “a moral deficiency that turns good into bad and serves evil,” adding it was “a reward and encouragement for the axis of evil.”

National Unity leader Benny Gantz said the court’s “decision is moral blindness and a historical disgrace that will never be forgotten.”

The authority of the ICC rests on the Rome Statutes, which were ratified by European Union states and many other nations – but not by the U.S., Russia, China, India and Israel.

The ICC admitted the “State of Palestine” as a member in a controversial move, in effect granting itself the authority to investigate alleged crimes in the areas of Judea and Samaria, as well as the Gaza Strip.

In principle, the Rome Statute only grants the ICC the authority to prosecute individuals from states that are unable or unwilling to prosecute the alleged crimes themselves.

All Israel News

Day 412 — Thursday, November 21

A disturbing new report from StopAntisemitism reveals an unprecedented surge in antisemitic incidents on US college campuses in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, with Jewish students facing increasing harassment, exclusion, and safety concerns.

The organization’s 2024 College Report, which evaluated 25 higher education institutions across the nation, documented a staggering 3,000% increase in antisemitic incident reports compared to the previous year, forcing the watchdog group to triple its staff size to handle the flood of submissions.

The report paints a troubling picture of campus life for Jewish students, with more than half reporting direct experiences of antisemitism at their schools. According to the survey, 55% of Jewish students have been victims of antisemitism, while 43% feel compelled to hide their Jewish identity from classmates out of fear. Perhaps most concerning, 72% of students reported feeling unwelcome in certain campus spaces simply for being Jewish.

The institutional response to these challenges has been notably inadequate, with only two out of 25 surveyed schools responding to requests for information about their handling of antisemitism – a sharp decline from seven respondents the previous year. The report also found that 67% of Jewish students say they are completely excluded from their school’s “DEI initiatives,” while 69% report being blamed for Israel’s actions.

Several prestigious universities received failing marks in the report’s grading system. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) saw its grade drop from a C to an F following multiple incidents, including a three-week pro-Palestinian encampment where participants called for violence against Jewish students. The evaluation considered multiple criteria: protection measures, allyship initiatives, identity support, and policy implementation.

“These higher education institutions have utterly failed to protect its Jewish students, allowing harassment, exclusion, and violent antisemitism to thrive unchecked,” organization Founder and Executive Director Liora Rez said.

“Despite reports of discrimination, death threats, and open hostility, the administration has taken little to no meaningful action, abandoning Jewish students in their time of need. This negligence not only endangers Jewish students but also sets a dangerous precedent for intolerance on campus,” she added. “Parents, do not fund this complicity with your tuition dollars. Choose institutions that prioritize the safety and inclusion of all students – Jewish students deserve better.”

Some institutions have demonstrated more effective responses to these challenges. Baylor University and Clemson University received higher grades for their stronger support systems and more proactive responses to antisemitic incidents. However, the overall findings suggest a systemic failure in protecting Jewish students across American higher education.

“Jewish students should not have to consider their own safety when choosing which school to follow,” the report concluded, emphasizing the urgent need for institutional change. The study found that 43% of current Jewish students would not recommend their school to fellow Jewish students, highlighting the depth of the current crisis.

Israel Hayom

Day 412 — Thursday, November 21

The United States vetoed a U.N. Nations Security Council resolution calling for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire on Wednesday morning, citing its failure to condition a halt in hostilities directly to the release of the hostages, whom Hamas continues to hold in the Gaza Strip.

“We could not support an unconditional ceasefire that failed to release the hostages,” Robert Wood, deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the council.

Wood accused Hamas—and not Israel—of blocking a negotiated ceasefire and cited Israel’s reference for a temporary ceasefire and a phased release of hostages.

Washington cast the lone vote against the measure among the 15-member body. It is one of five permanent members of the council that has veto power.

The E10, a group of the council’s 10 elected members, put the resolution forward at Algeria’s urging. The North African country is the Security Council’s de facto representative for the Palestinians and the Arab and Muslim world.

Amar Bendjama, Algeria’s envoy to the global body, called it a “sad day” for the council and claimed that the Jewish state has “impunity in this chamber.”

The vetoed resolution demanded an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire, as well as the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages who remain in Gaza.

It rejected “any effort to starve Palestinians” and demanded immediate access to basic services and humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza. It also called for aid to enter the Strip at scale and be delivered, including to “civilians in besieged north Gaza.”

Wednesday marked the 12th time that the Security Council has voted on a resolution about the Israel-Hamas war. Only four have been adopted. None of the prior 11 appears to have had a substantive effect on halting hostilities or securing the release of hostages or delivery of aid.

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters ahead of Wednesday’s vote that the resolution “is nothing short of a betrayal.”

“It betrays the 101 innocent hostages still held by Hamas, their grieving families and the very principles the United Nations claims to defend,” he told journalists.

It is “not a resolution for peace. It is a resolution for appeasement” that abandons the hostages and validates and rewards terrorism, he added.

JNS 

Day 411 — Wednesday, November 20

Italy’s defense ministry admits Hezbollah staged an attack on itself when a UN Interim Force in Lebanon base was hit by rocket fire that it initially blamed on Israel, Barron’s reported on Tuesday. 

Last week, Italy said an unexploded artillery shell hit the base of UNIFIL base, putting the blame on the IDF.

According to Barron’s, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto had initially said in Brussels that the IDF had staged the attack on the UN base in Lebanon.

Israel’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar had promised Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani an ‘immediate investigation‘ into the shell incident.

However, an IDF review determined that Hezbollah was responsible for firing the rocket hit the UNIFIL post, the military said.

According to UNFIL, the strikes hit areas where no peacekeepers were present, and no serious injuries were reported.

On Tuesday morning, multiple UN Interim Force in Lebanon bases were hit by rocket fire and then again in the afternoon, one in the region of Ramyeh, another near Chamaa, and additional locations were hit later, UNIFIL said.

According to the IDF assessment, the rocket was fired from the area of Deir Aames, one of many fired by Hezbollah in a barrage launched at Israel at 9:50 a.m.

UNIFIL agreed with the IDF report that these strikes were from Hezbollah, saying the rocket was “fired most likely by non-state actors within Lebanon.”

Breitbart

Day 411 — Wednesday, November 20

The lame-duck Biden-Harris administration is slapping new sanctions on

Israelis, while sending nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in additional funding to the Palestinians, adding insult to injury in the closing weeks of its failed policy.

The Washington Free Beacon noted Monday:

The Biden-Harris administration on Monday unveiled sweeping new sanctions on Israeli Jews, just days after it awarded another $230 million in taxpayer funds to the Palestinians. The back-to-back announcements signal that diplomatic relations between Israel and the outgoing White House will continue to sour until President-elect Donald Trump retakes office next year.

The new sanctions are the broadest to date, imposing unprecedented punitive measures on three Israeli organizations the administration accuses of fomenting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. They were leveled just days after a coalition of nearly 90 congressional Democrats petitioned the Biden administration to ramp up sanctions on Israel before leaving the White House.

The sanctions were announced just three days after the Biden-Harris administration awarded another $230 million in funding for humanitarian projects in the West Bank and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The American government has now sent more than $2 billion in taxpayer funds to the Palestinians since Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror spree on Israel—even as critics warn this cash is keeping Hamas on life support.

The State Department website describes the sanctions on Israelis as targeting “violent Israeli individuals and entities,” though the “violence” that two of the targets are accused of committing amounts to nothing more than providing construction vehicles to settlements that the State Department says are illegal.

The Biden-Harris administration has sanctioned a broad array of Israeli individuals and institutions, largely at the instigation of anti-Israel groups and Democrats in Congress. Many of the sanctions target people who have not broken laws; a legal challenge against the sanctions notes that some target what would be constitutionally protected protest in the U.S.

Israeli legal scholar Eugene Kontorovich added in the New York Post:

Usually, sanctions target those responsible for severe wrongdoing, such as terrorist financing, nuclear proliferation and large-scale human rights abuses.

The new sanctions break this mold by targeting Israeli Jews in the West Bank accused of property crimes and vandalism, or of simply associating with the wrong people.

Despite an ongoing campaign of terror by Palestinians in the West Bank, Biden has used his order to target Jews almost exclusively.

Kontorovich adds that the Biden-Harris administration has also made exceptions for Palestinian organizations that normally would fall afoul of existing anti-terror sanctions.

The Biden-Harris administration restored funding for Palestinian organizations, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which caters to Palestinians, as soon as it took office, brushing aside concerns about terror. The administration also eased sanctions enforcement against Iran, which funds Palestinian terrorists.

Breitbart

Day 410 — Tuesday, November 19

Just hours before the United Nations Security Council is slated to vote on an alleged anti-Israel resolution pushed by Algeria to impose an end on the Jewish state’s war of self-defense against Hamas, the Biden administration has gone silent about how it will vote.

The irony of the notoriously anti-Israel Algeria devising the resolution recalls the witty line of the late Israeli Ambassador to the U.N., Abba Eban, who said, “If Algeria introduced a (U.N.) resolution declaring that the earth was flat and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions.”

The proposed resolution has triggered outrage from several quarters, including a leading Republican U.S.senator.

“This resolution is just one of several assaults on Israel being planned at the United Nations, meant to preemptively and permanently undermine the incoming Trump administration and Republican Congress,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital.

“I will work with my Republican colleagues and with President Trump to take whatever steps are necessary to undo these measures, including fundamentally reevaluating our relationship with the U.N. and the Palestinians, broadly cutting aid, imposing sanctions on specific officials responsible for those measures, and countering governments and NGOs pushing or implementing them,” he said.

Fox News 

Day 410 — Tuesday, November 19

A disturbing incident of antisemitism and racism took place in an Ohio community in Columbus over the weekend.

State and community leaders are condemning the group that marched through an area called ‘Short North’ carrying flags bearing the Nazi swastika.

Witnesses say some were carrying weapons and shouting racial slurs towards people of color and Jewish people.

Police arrived at the scene and the group left the area without incident. No arrests were made.

Ohio’s Republican Governor Mike DeWine issued a statement saying:

“We will not tolerate hate in Ohio. Neo-Nazis — their faces hidden behind red masks — roamed streets in Columbus today, carrying Nazi flags and spewing vile and racist speech against people of color and Jews. There were reports that they were also espousing white power sentiments.”

“There is no place in this state for hate, bigotry, antisemitism, or violence, and we must denounce it wherever we see it.”

It’s the latest unsettling display in a wave of antisemitism that has swept the globe over the past year.

“It has felt like it’s open season on Jews, certainly since October 7th,” said Ellie Cohanim, senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum. “The massacre in Israel seems to have ignited a terrible bloodlust against Jews around the world.”

One of the most violent incidents took place earlier this month in Amsterdam when an organized Muslim mob hunted down and attacked Israeli soccer fans after a match. 

CBN News

Day 409 — Monday, November 18

Several people fired flares at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private home Sunday morning, igniting a fire next to it.

Shocking video of the incident shows the moment one of the two flares is fired at the house in Caesarea, landing in the yard and starting a fire beside a central air unit.

Three people were arrested in the incident, which occurred when the PM and his family were not at home.

It should not be “possible for the Prime Minister of Israel, who is threatened by Iran and its proxies who are trying to assassinate him, to be subject to the same threats from home,” said newly appointed Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.

New York Post

Day 409 — Monday, November 18

The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) published a report on Friday stating that South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is being funded by Iran.

The report, “South Africa, Hamas, Iran, and Qatar: The Hijacking of the ANC and the International Court of Justice,“ states that South Africa has developed strategic relationships with Iran’s terrorist proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as with leading state sponsors of terrorism in Iran and Qatar.

In January, the African National Congress (ANC) submitted a formal legal case to the ICJ in The Hague, accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. In May, South Africa claimed that Israel’s military operations sought to “destroy Palestinian life and to wipe them off the face of the earth.”

According to the ISGAP report, South Africa’s ruling ANC party brought the case against Israel to the ICJ as a diversion from its own domestic challenges. Shortly after announcing the case, the ANC faced near bankruptcy but unexpectedly secured funds after a series of meetings between ANC ministers and leaders from Iran, Qatar, and Hamas. These funds reportedly covered the party’s nearly $30 million debt.

The report also highlighted that South Africa functions as a hub for terrorist financing and fundraising, with an increasing presence of Islamic terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, who use the country for military training and media operations.

In January, The Jerusalem Post uncovered a South African network involving major banks and organizations deeply involved in funding the Hamas terrorist group. At the center of the network was the Al-Quds International Foundation, a Hamas-affiliated organization, established in 2001 in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola attended Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration in Tehran this summer, according to the ISGAP report, and was praised by acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri, “for his outstanding role as an undaunted and innovative diplomat in pursuing the case of the Zionist regime’s crimes at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the special efforts by the South African government to denounce the regime’s crimes in international legal and judicial circles.”

The ISGAP report also describes how South Africa’s efforts have been crucial in gaining Iran political legitimacy and influential economic access by facilitating its involvement in the BRICS group, an intergovernmental organization comprising nine nations: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Furthermore, Qatar has invested heavily in South African energy projects.

The report highlights that 45 of the 574 references in South Africa’s ICJ submission were sourced from anti-Israel organizations. In January, NGO Monitor, a globally recognized research institute established in 2002, demonstrated how the case relied heavily on reports from groups with known ties to terrorist organizations.

“South Africa’s submission to the court contains no fewer than 45 references to NGO publications, including several from outfits linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a terrorist organization. Staff and board members of these PFLP-linked groups were part of the South African delegation to public hearings in mid-January and helped prepare South Africa’s case,” wrote NGO Monitor Chief of Staff Naftali Balanson in The Wall Street Journal.

“Among the references in South Africa’s court petition is a report titled ‘Israel Apartheid. Tool of Zionist settler colonialism‘ from al-Haq, a Palestinian NGO that Israel designated a ‘terror organization‘ in 2021.”

He added: “According to Israel, al-Haq is part of a network that operates on behalf of the PFLP… Al-Haq director Shawan Jabarin was part of South Africa’s delegation to the ICJ… On Oct. 10, Ziad Hmaidan, head of al-Haq’s training and capacity-building unit, celebrated the Hamas attacks, writing on Facebook: ‘It is written in the Hadith: ‘You must wage jihad. The best jihad is preparing for war, and it is best to prepare for war in Ashkelon,‘ an Israeli city.”

All Israel News

Day 409 — Monday, November 18

Jewish students in Ireland are changing schools to escape harassment as a report exposes bias in school textbooks.

The findings emerge from an extensive study by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (Impact-se), an Israeli nonprofit organization, which identified problematic content in Irish educational materials, the London-based Jewish Chronicle weekly reported.

Ireland’s Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder told the Chronicle that some students now express fear about their Jewish identity. The Jewish Representative Council of Ireland (JRCI) confirmed this assessment, noting that several students have transferred schools due to hostile environments.

Maurice Cohen, JRCI chair, has repeatedly sought meetings with Minister for Education Norma Foley to discuss these concerns. The education department responded to the Chronicle, stating: “There is no evidence of antisemitism being taught in Irish schools.”

“There has been a marked increase in incidents, with deeply hurtful remarks ranging from Holocaust denial to comments about the Israeli-Gaza conflict,” Cohen told the Chronicle. He criticized the government’s response to rising antisemitism and problematic textbook content as “nothing short of scandalous and shocking.”

The 40-page Impact-se report examined numerous Irish textbooks designed for students aged 12 to 16. The Irish government dismissed the findings, telling the Chronicle, “The Department of Education is confident that Irish students are being taught in a fair and balanced way by high-quality Irish teachers in a variety of subjects, including the history of the Jewish people and Judaism.”

In “Call to Action,” a civics textbook from Gill Education, students are presented with activities focused on the Palestinian perspective. The book features Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on its cover and includes exercises asking students to consider potential futures for Palestinian children.

Another text, “Inspire—Wisdom of the World,” by Educate.ie, an Irish educational publisher, claims Jesus was born in a country called “Palestine.” The book states, “Today this area, between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea, is also known as the Holy Land.”

Impact-se noted that “Historical references to Jesus living in ‘Palestine’ without appropriate context can contribute to narratives that challenge Israel’s legitimacy and undermine the Jewish historical connection to the land.”

The same book presents religions differently, stating “Judaism believes that violence and war are sometimes necessary to promote justice,” while describing Islam as “in favor of peace and against violence,” and Christianity’s aim as “to promote a world in which peace and justice and enjoyed by everyone.”

“Grow in Love,” a 2019 edition by Veritas, Ireland’s leading religious publisher and retailer, depicted people who “do not like Jesus” wearing a tallit (Jewish prayer shawl). Following criticism, Veritas updated the textbook in 2024, removing the tallit image.

In another Veritas publication, “Faith Seeking Understanding, Christianity: Origins and Contemporary Expressions,” the New Testament parable of the Good Samaritan is illustrated with an image of a boy wearing a Palestinian scarf protesting Israel.

Wieder reported that students have told him that “they feel afraid because they are Jewish, or that they avoid talking about being Jewish in front of their non-Jewish peers.” The rabbi told the Chronicle, “The anti-Israel narrative in Ireland has become so distorted and widespread that it creates a context in which antisemitism can thrive.”

JNS

Day 408 — Sunday, November 17

The Israel Defense Forces released footage this week that was discovered inside Gaza that showed Hamas terrorists torturing Palestinian civilians.

“The same civilians that Hamas outspokenly claimed to be fighting for, are the same civilians being tortured in this video,” the IDF said in a post that contained the video.

“Hamas is not only Israel’s enemy—they’re Gaza’s enemy also,” the post added.

IDF troops discovered what was described as “years’ worth of CCTV footage” of Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists torturing civilians in Gaza.

Israel said that the footage was evidence of Hamas’ “brutal methods for interrogating civilians, violating human rights, and systematically oppressing residents suspected of opposing the organization’s rule.”

“The videos document Hamas activities at Outpost 17 in the Gaza Strip, where brutal interrogations of civilians suspected of opposing Hamas are conducted,” the Israeli government said.

The statement added, “These materials reveal the Hamas’s methods of governing the Gaza Strip, enforcing terror, harming Gaza’s civilians and infringing on their freedom of expression.”

A senior Israeli military official told the media that it took the IDF months to go through all of the thousands of hours of footage that was recovered.

(1/3)
During the ground activity in the Gaza Strip, our forces uncovered materials exposing Hamas’s brutal methods for interrogating civilians, violating human rights, and systematically oppressing residents suspected of opposing the organization’s rule. pic.twitter.com/5T8HMQc13c

— 4IL (@4ILorg) November 10, 2024

Daily Wire

Day 407 — Saturday, November 16

Mike Huckabee, who was appointed Ambassador to Israel by President-elect Donald Trump told Newsmax Friday Hamas must be eradicated and the hostages be released.

“We have four Americans being held hostage in Gaza — Americans. And this is outrageous that we have not put more pressure, not just on Hamas, but on Iran, who’s funded Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis,” Huckabee told “National Report.” “We need to put pressure on Qatar. They have influence over Hamas, and they need to understand that Donald Trump doesn’t play around.”

Huckabee said Hamas cannot control Gaza anymore.

“They cannot be trusted. Their hatred toward the Jewish people was evidenced on Oct. 7 and their massacre of civilians, including babies and elderly people,” he continued. “So there has to be a change of what happens there.”

Huckabee said Trump will show strength in the region, like he did during his first term, noting how weak the Biden administration was on Iran.

The Biden administration “had given Iran the go ahead to make money and that money was funneled to the very people in Hamas who did their dastardly deeds,” Huckabee said.

“So we need to be afraid. Not so much of what Israel does in Judea and Samaria. We need to be more afraid of what we allow Iran to do when they have the money to fund terrorist activities and murder civilians brutally and horrifically.”

Newsmax

Day 407 — Saturday, November 16

More than 10% of principals and senior education staff employed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip are members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to a report published on Thursday.

The study, by Israeli non-profit organization IMPACT-se, noted that many continued to draw a regular salary after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre. Its publication comes less than two weeks after Israel’s Knesset barred UNRWA from operating in Israel over its terror ties.

For the study, IMPACT-se explored educational practices in five schools whose principals are senior UNRWA education officials, and under two of which (Al-Maghazi Boys Preparatory School B and Al-Zaytun Boys Preparatory School A) Hamas tunnels were found.

IMPACT-se found that the “schools use lessons to deny Israel’s existence, promote hostility, and encourage violent narratives,” and noted that despite past warnings, “UNRWA has taken no meaningful steps to address the glorification of violence or antisemitic rhetoric in these schools.”

The report details hateful material taught in each UNRWA school, under two of which terror tunnels were discovered by Israeli forces, underscoring the profound influence wielded in Gaza by Hamas.

Fifth graders at Al-Zaytun School, for example, were taught to glorify Dalal Mughrabi, the perpetrator of the 1978 Coastal Road Massacre, killing 38 Israelis. Photos of a classroom blackboard show how she is presented as “the fighting leader” and a “hero” to be honored. Similarly, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, for whom Hamas’s “military wing” is named, is described as a “martyr” and “hero.”

At Al-Maghazi School, materials glorify violent acts, including a reference to the firebombing of an Israeli bus as a “barbecue party.” An Arabic language summary states that martyrdom and jihad are “the most important meanings of life.”

“We are deeply concerned, although unsurprised, by the ongoing revelations of terror links within UNRWA’s educational system,” said IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff.

“UNRWA has repeatedly failed to act, despite mounting evidence and repeated warnings of the deep influence of terror groups on UNRWA’s schools. This is not just about accountability, but about protecting young minds from an education that fuels hatred and extremism,” he added.

The report notes that Israeli intelligence recently exposed 12 UNRWA principals and deputy principals as active members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

An Israeli intelligence report released in January showed that at least a dozen UNRWA employees actively participated in the Hamas atrocities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and that the agency has 450 “military operatives” belonging to Hamas and other terrorist groups on its payroll.

The revelations prompted 18 countries—led by the United States and Germany, UNRWA’s biggest donors—to suspend funding. With the exception of the United States, all have since resumed or partially resumed funding.

The United States—UNRWA’s largest donor, accounting for some 30% of the agency’s budget—has frozen its donations until at least next year.

During his first term, President-elect Donald Trump cut off all U.S. aid to UNRWA, a move later reversed by the Biden administration.

According to Hillel Neuer, the director of the U.N. Watch NGO, Trump is not likely to restore funding during his second term.

“Especially with the appointment of Elise Stefanik to the United Nations, it is absolutely clear that the Trump administration will not reinstate a single penny of U.S. taxpayer funds for UNRWA,” he told JNS on Thursday. “But they should go further: The United States should work to end the agency and its pathological agenda of perpetuating Palestinians in a state of dependency and grievance, and aiming for the dismantlement of Israel.”

JNS

Day 407 — Saturday, November 16

It has been three weeks since the Israeli Air Force struck sensitive military sites in retaliation for Iran launching the largest ballistic missile barrage in military history against Israel. Now, weeks later, we are learning that this Israeli counterstrike against Iran was far more painful for the Iranian regime than we initially knew.

After the dust has settled, we are now learning that Israel apparently struck a sensitive secret Iranian nuclear weapons research facility. It’s no wonder that the Iranian regime is vowing revenge.

Iran’s nuclear sites are now on the table. They have been “fair game” since Hamas and Hezbollah were largely decimated—Hamas almost completely and Hezbollah reeling on the same path. The Iranian regime has been exposed. They were exposed even further in that strike three weeks ago, on October 26th, when their air defense systems were destroyed. Might I add that Russian-supplied s300 air defense systems made up at least part of those Iranian air defenses.

We have been saying for some time that nuclear weapon sites are on the table, and it seems Israel took that to heart. While we are not talking about Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, nuclear reactor, or uranium enrichment facility, this was indeed a secret nuclear weapons research facility in Parchin that was destroyed by the Israeli Air Force.

You can see now why Iran is weeping, gnashing its teeth, and vowing revenge—which now apparently has been delayed since Donald Trump was elected to take office in 66 days.

Let’s get into this.

As I mentioned earlier, Iran’s attack on October 1st was the largest ballistic missile attack in military history, when some 200 ballistic missiles were launched toward Israel. Thankfully, that attack was a massive failure. It also came five months after the April 13th Iranian attack involving some 300 projectiles (cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones) that were launched at Israel—an attack which also was entirely unsuccessful after 99% of those incoming projectiles were intercepted. Nonetheless, Israel cannot countenance its greatest enemy launching 500 projectiles in the span of five months. Needless to say, Israel felt compelled to respond, and understandably so.

It is for that reason we all expected a massive response. You have got to send a message. This level of attack cannot be winked at. Speculation then swirled surrounding whether Israel would target Iran’s oil infrastructure, its leadership (which went into hiding after Israel took out the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah), the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp, or its nuclear sites.

When this Israeli counterstrike against Iran happened three weeks ago, it came in three waves involving 100 IAF fighter jets—all of which were unscathed and returned to Israel safely without a scratch.

For three hours in the middle of the night, Israeli fighter jets were operating with impunity in the skies of Iran, carrying out surgical strikes on military facilities. That alone shows how substandard Iran’s air defenses truly were.

During the first wave that night, for lack of a better word, the counterstrike seemed to many to be almost underwhelming, or at least, it wasn’t what we had all been expecting. At first, people were disappointed, suggesting Israel had caved to the demands of the Biden-Harris Administration, who have been attempting to restrain Israel. Without a doubt, the Biden-Harris Administration has been endeavoring to pressure Israel at every turn, whether in Gaza, in Lebanon, or in its response to Iranian aggression and provocations. Others suggested that Israel was “playing nice,” knowing at the time that the election was only a week and a half away.

Despite what could be initially perceived about the strike, I underscored at the time the importance of letting the dust settle. Then the dust settled. We all had a night to sleep on it, and the following day revealed the magnitude of the attack. It wasn’t good for the Iranian regime. In fact, it was very, very painful.

Israel struck strategic ballistic missile and drone factories and destroyed Iran’s air defenses—that was big, and you got an inkling of that about two or three days after when Iranian officials were evaluating the damage and vowing revenge. Israel’s counterstrike was not underwhelming; it was, in a sense, overwhelming.

Here is what we now know: a secret nuclear facility apparently was struck. That alone, even if the air defenses weren’t destroyed, was worth the price of admission.

The Times of Israel reported that the Israeli strike on the sensitive Iranian nuclear facility “destroyed equipment needed for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.”

Day 413 — Friday, November 22

US President-elect Donald Trump announced Pam Bondi, former Florida Attorney-General and longtime Trump supporter as his updated choice for US Attorney-General on Thursday night.

In an interview this year with news host Chris Salcedo, Bondi addressed the pro-Palestinian protests on US college campuses, saying, “The students who protest against our Jewish friends and support Hamas – they should be deported from our country, they are ignorant children.”

This isn’t the first time Bondi has so vocally supported Israel. In 2018, while serving as Florida’s Attorney-General, she was interviewed by Fox News, where she was asked about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and expressed clear pro-Israel views.

“Israel is one of our greatest allies in the world, if not the greatest,” Bondi said as part of an interview about concerns of escalation in the Middle East. “I visited Israel twice as Attorney-General, and Jerusalem is Israel’s capital.”

“President Trump has always said Jerusalem is the capital. And now it’s officially the capital. And we didn’t wait years. We didn’t spend a billion dollars to do it. The President said it would happen, and it happened. So he’s not giving up on other things. We’re saying it will be negotiated. Nothing else has been finalized regarding borders or other issues. But this is a very important step for the Israeli people,” Bondi declared.

When asked about canceling the nuclear deal with Iran, she answered, “We’re alone, but we’re brave. And this shows strength. And leaving the nuclear deal was probably one of the smartest things we could do. Iran lied to us for years about their nuclear weapons. There were no inspections. And this must stop. And the United States, President Trump knows how to hit them. We saw it with China. He knows what to do, how to hit them in trade, in the financial market, in the economy, everything he can do to influence them to stop producing these nuclear weapons and providing tools to Hamas and Hezbollah.”

Bondi joins a line of pro-Israel appointments by President Trump, including his nominee for CIA Director, John Ratcliffe; his pick for National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz; and Elise Stefanik, who is expected to serve as US Ambassador to the UN.

Jerusalem Post

Day 413 — Friday, November 22

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday, following a months-long campaign by the ICC Chief Prosecutor against the Israeli leaders.

The warrants were issued on the basis of accusations that Israel has committed “crimes against humanity and war crimes” during the battle with Hamas terrorists in Gaza. This claim is contradicted by numerous reports, expert military analysis, and investigations of the IDF’s actions, which found that the Jewish State does more to protect civilian lives than any other military in world history.

One of the allegations mentioned surrounded “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare.” This charge blames Israel for humanitarian aid failing to reach civilians in Gaza despite the large-scale theft by Hamas terrorists, who steal the aid and sell it back to civilians at exorbitant prices. Israel has reportedly sent 700,000 tons of food into the strip. Officials from the UN admitted only a few days ago that its own aid trucks have been looted by Hamas on an enormous scale.

The move by the ICC to issue the arrest warrants was met with outrage from Israeli officials, Republicans in the United States, and Christian leaders who called the action “the pinnacle of diplomatic terrorism.”

Franklin Graham, President of BGEA and Samaritan’s Purse, responded on FaceBook, writing, “The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of genocide for defending his people and his country. More than 1,200 of Israel’s residents were brutally murdered and 251 people were taken hostage and they’re accusing Prime Minister Netanyahu of war crimes?? It seems their hypocrisy knows no bounds.”

Graham further noted his agreement with a quote from the Jerusalem Post, which read: “The International Criminal Court in The Hague, instead of standing as a bastion of justice, has devolved into a stage for hypocrisy and cowardice.”

Rep. Chris Smith, a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the co-chair of the Israeli Allies Caucus, in an interview with Tony Perkins, expressed his outrage at the decision, urging the US congress to repudiate the indictments.

“Netanyahu is a tremendous head of state,” he told Perkins. “As Prime Minister of Israel, he is defending his people against an existential threat posed by Hamas, Iran, Hezbollah, and others who are committed to the complete elimination of Israel and the killing of Jews.”

The European Union’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, applauded the ICC ruling and stated that members of the EU are bound to implement the warrants. Smith, in response, highlighted Borrell’s stance as another historic failure of Europe to protect Jews.

“European Union has been notorious for its siding with the PLO, then the PLA, and now Hamas,” Smith described. “They’ve always had their finger on the scale against Israel, and of course, much of that goes back to the very problems of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. You would have thought that they would have learned by now that the killing of Jews, the extermination, the genocide of Jews, will never again happen—and Netanyahu has said it will never happen, especially on his watch. The European Union has failed again, and I find that outrageous.”

The ICC ruling is blatantly anti-semitic, Smith asserted, adding that “it is one of the worst marks on them imaginable to indict a sitting prime minister who is defending his country against aggression.”

“It’s demonic, and we need to call it out,” he concluded.

Day 413 — Friday, November 22

The antisemitic decision of the international court in The Hague is a modern Dreyfus trial, and it will end the same way.

One hundred thirty years ago, the French-Jewish officer Alfred Dreyfus was falsely accused of treason by a biased French court. In response to these false accusations, the great French writer Émile Zola wrote his monumental essay “J’accuse.” He accused the French court of antisemitic lies against an innocent officer, who his letter exonerated of all guilt.

Now, an international court in the Hague, also headed by a French judge, is repeating this outrageous offense.

It is falsely accusing me, the democratically elected Prime Minister of the State of Israel, and Israel’s former Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, of deliberately targeting civilians. This when we do everything in our power to avoid civilian casualties. We issue millions of text messages, phone calls, and leaflets to the civilians of Gaza to get them out of harm’s way. While Hamas does everything in their power to keep them in harm’s way—including shooting them [and] using them as human shields.

The court in the Hague accuses us of a deliberate policy of starvation, this when we have supplied Gaza with 700,000 tons of food to feed the people of Gaza. That’s 3,200 calories for every man, woman, and child in Gaza. And these supplies are routinely looted by Hamas terrorists, who deprive their people of much-needed food. Just in the last few weeks, Israel facilitates the vaccination of 97% of the people of Gaza against Polio. Yet, this doesn’t prevent the court from accusing us of genocide.

What in God’s name are they talking about in the Hague?

The truth is simple. No war is more just than the war that Israel has been waging in Gaza after Hamas attacked us—unprovoked—launching the worst massacre against the Jewish People since the holocaust.

The decision to issue an arrest warrant against me, the democratically elected Prime Minister of the State of Israel, and our former Defense Minister was made by a rogue prosecutor, who is trying to extradite himself from sexual harassment charges, and by biased judges, who are motivated by anti-semitic sentiments against the one and only Jewish State.

Day 413 — Friday, November 22

In the early 2000’s, Australian politicians proved that they were still under the illusion that handing out peace prizes would actually bring about peace in the Middle East.  On 6 November 2003, then Premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr, handed the Sydney Peace Prize to Palestinian activist, Hanan Ashrawi.  The act was met with fierce opposition from the Jewish community.  The citation was supposedly because of Ashrawi’s “commitment to human rights, to the peace process in the Middle East and for her courage in speaking against oppression, against corruption and for justice.”  In response, the President of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said, “Every decent person, including Palestinians, wants a peaceful and just resolution and there are people we look to for change and reconciliation. Hanan Ashrawi is nowhere on that list. She is an old-style propagandist.”

The evidence of Ashrawi’s unsuitability for the peace prize was conveniently overlooked.  As far back as 1993, she was a known supporter of Hamas and held the view that the only way to solve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis was to absorb Israel into a Palestinian state.  No surprise then that after October 7, Ashrawi went to work defending the indefensible – painting Hamas as the victim and accusing Israel of lying by attempting to discredit claims civilians were massacred en masse by Hamas.  Ashrawi further claimed that the savage rapes of Israeli women and the decapitation of Israeli babies didn’t occur.  For over twenty years, she has been absurdly portrayed as some sort of peace activist when, in reality, she is a terror apologist.

Speaking of terror supporters, the Iranian Ambassador to Australia, Ahmad Sadeghi, said earlier in the year that he looks forward to the “heavenly and divine promise” made by Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yasin that would lead to “wiping out the Zionist plague” by “no later than 2027”.  After such abhorrent comments, you would expect the Australian Government to have expelled the Ambassador.  Instead, along with most other countries, Australia recently recognised “permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.  It is the first time an Australian government has voted in favour of the “permanent sovereignty” resolution since it was introduced in some form two decades prior.  Thankfully the pro-Israel stance of the incoming US administration will be able to mitigate some of the damage done by Australia at the UN.  However, this latest act affirms that our Australian government is spiritually blind and ignorant to the dangers of its position under God’s clear declaration in Genesis 12:3.

There have been times in Australia’s history where we have clearly supported Israel and the Jewish people.  However, we also have much to be sorry for, as this article reveals.  Also part of the problem is that replacement theology is taught by many Australian churches.  If we, as a nation, are to have any chance of getting right with God, we must uphold His truth concerning Israel.  I thank God for Australian pastors and Christians who do teach the truth regarding the past, present and future of Israel.  But, like the Jewish people in Australia, they are very much in the minority and often held in contempt.

Day 412 — Thursday, November 21

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant “for crimes against humanity and war crimes” allegedly committed during the Gaza War.

In addition, a warrant was issued for Hamas military leader Mohammad Deif, who was killed by the IDF months ago. ICC chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, had requested the warrants in May.

The court issued the warrants after ruling that it has jurisdiction in the case, contrary to Israel’s stated position, which doesn’t recognize the court’s authority.

In a detailed explanation of its decision, the court wrote that it found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu and Gallant “each bear criminal responsibility for the following crimes as co-perpetrators for committing the acts jointly with others: the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”

The court accused them of “intentionally and knowingly” depriving civilians in Gaza “of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog declared a “black day” for justice and humanity.

“The absurd decision of the International Criminal Court, made in bad faith, turned universal justice into a universal joke. It ridiculed the sacrifice of all those who fought for justice – from the Allied victory over the Nazis until today,” Herzog stated.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar dubbed the decision “a moral deficiency that turns good into bad and serves evil,” adding it was “a reward and encouragement for the axis of evil.”

National Unity leader Benny Gantz said the court’s “decision is moral blindness and a historical disgrace that will never be forgotten.”

The authority of the ICC rests on the Rome Statutes, which were ratified by European Union states and many other nations – but not by the U.S., Russia, China, India and Israel.

The ICC admitted the “State of Palestine” as a member in a controversial move, in effect granting itself the authority to investigate alleged crimes in the areas of Judea and Samaria, as well as the Gaza Strip.

In principle, the Rome Statute only grants the ICC the authority to prosecute individuals from states that are unable or unwilling to prosecute the alleged crimes themselves.

All Israel News

Day 412 — Thursday, November 21

A disturbing new report from StopAntisemitism reveals an unprecedented surge in antisemitic incidents on US college campuses in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, with Jewish students facing increasing harassment, exclusion, and safety concerns.

The organization’s 2024 College Report, which evaluated 25 higher education institutions across the nation, documented a staggering 3,000% increase in antisemitic incident reports compared to the previous year, forcing the watchdog group to triple its staff size to handle the flood of submissions.

The report paints a troubling picture of campus life for Jewish students, with more than half reporting direct experiences of antisemitism at their schools. According to the survey, 55% of Jewish students have been victims of antisemitism, while 43% feel compelled to hide their Jewish identity from classmates out of fear. Perhaps most concerning, 72% of students reported feeling unwelcome in certain campus spaces simply for being Jewish.

The institutional response to these challenges has been notably inadequate, with only two out of 25 surveyed schools responding to requests for information about their handling of antisemitism – a sharp decline from seven respondents the previous year. The report also found that 67% of Jewish students say they are completely excluded from their school’s “DEI initiatives,” while 69% report being blamed for Israel’s actions.

Several prestigious universities received failing marks in the report’s grading system. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) saw its grade drop from a C to an F following multiple incidents, including a three-week pro-Palestinian encampment where participants called for violence against Jewish students. The evaluation considered multiple criteria: protection measures, allyship initiatives, identity support, and policy implementation.

“These higher education institutions have utterly failed to protect its Jewish students, allowing harassment, exclusion, and violent antisemitism to thrive unchecked,” organization Founder and Executive Director Liora Rez said.

“Despite reports of discrimination, death threats, and open hostility, the administration has taken little to no meaningful action, abandoning Jewish students in their time of need. This negligence not only endangers Jewish students but also sets a dangerous precedent for intolerance on campus,” she added. “Parents, do not fund this complicity with your tuition dollars. Choose institutions that prioritize the safety and inclusion of all students – Jewish students deserve better.”

Some institutions have demonstrated more effective responses to these challenges. Baylor University and Clemson University received higher grades for their stronger support systems and more proactive responses to antisemitic incidents. However, the overall findings suggest a systemic failure in protecting Jewish students across American higher education.

“Jewish students should not have to consider their own safety when choosing which school to follow,” the report concluded, emphasizing the urgent need for institutional change. The study found that 43% of current Jewish students would not recommend their school to fellow Jewish students, highlighting the depth of the current crisis.

Israel Hayom

Day 412 — Thursday, November 21

The United States vetoed a U.N. Nations Security Council resolution calling for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire on Wednesday morning, citing its failure to condition a halt in hostilities directly to the release of the hostages, whom Hamas continues to hold in the Gaza Strip.

“We could not support an unconditional ceasefire that failed to release the hostages,” Robert Wood, deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the council.

Wood accused Hamas—and not Israel—of blocking a negotiated ceasefire and cited Israel’s reference for a temporary ceasefire and a phased release of hostages.

Washington cast the lone vote against the measure among the 15-member body. It is one of five permanent members of the council that has veto power.

The E10, a group of the council’s 10 elected members, put the resolution forward at Algeria’s urging. The North African country is the Security Council’s de facto representative for the Palestinians and the Arab and Muslim world.

Amar Bendjama, Algeria’s envoy to the global body, called it a “sad day” for the council and claimed that the Jewish state has “impunity in this chamber.”

The vetoed resolution demanded an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire, as well as the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages who remain in Gaza.

It rejected “any effort to starve Palestinians” and demanded immediate access to basic services and humanitarian assistance for civilians in Gaza. It also called for aid to enter the Strip at scale and be delivered, including to “civilians in besieged north Gaza.”

Wednesday marked the 12th time that the Security Council has voted on a resolution about the Israel-Hamas war. Only four have been adopted. None of the prior 11 appears to have had a substantive effect on halting hostilities or securing the release of hostages or delivery of aid.

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters ahead of Wednesday’s vote that the resolution “is nothing short of a betrayal.”

“It betrays the 101 innocent hostages still held by Hamas, their grieving families and the very principles the United Nations claims to defend,” he told journalists.

It is “not a resolution for peace. It is a resolution for appeasement” that abandons the hostages and validates and rewards terrorism, he added.

JNS 

Day 411 — Wednesday, November 20

Italy’s defense ministry admits Hezbollah staged an attack on itself when a UN Interim Force in Lebanon base was hit by rocket fire that it initially blamed on Israel, Barron’s reported on Tuesday. 

Last week, Italy said an unexploded artillery shell hit the base of UNIFIL base, putting the blame on the IDF.

According to Barron’s, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto had initially said in Brussels that the IDF had staged the attack on the UN base in Lebanon.

Israel’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar had promised Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani an ‘immediate investigation‘ into the shell incident.

However, an IDF review determined that Hezbollah was responsible for firing the rocket hit the UNIFIL post, the military said.

According to UNFIL, the strikes hit areas where no peacekeepers were present, and no serious injuries were reported.

On Tuesday morning, multiple UN Interim Force in Lebanon bases were hit by rocket fire and then again in the afternoon, one in the region of Ramyeh, another near Chamaa, and additional locations were hit later, UNIFIL said.

According to the IDF assessment, the rocket was fired from the area of Deir Aames, one of many fired by Hezbollah in a barrage launched at Israel at 9:50 a.m.

UNIFIL agreed with the IDF report that these strikes were from Hezbollah, saying the rocket was “fired most likely by non-state actors within Lebanon.”

Breitbart

Day 411 — Wednesday, November 20

The lame-duck Biden-Harris administration is slapping new sanctions on

Israelis, while sending nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in additional funding to the Palestinians, adding insult to injury in the closing weeks of its failed policy.

The Washington Free Beacon noted Monday:

The Biden-Harris administration on Monday unveiled sweeping new sanctions on Israeli Jews, just days after it awarded another $230 million in taxpayer funds to the Palestinians. The back-to-back announcements signal that diplomatic relations between Israel and the outgoing White House will continue to sour until President-elect Donald Trump retakes office next year.

The new sanctions are the broadest to date, imposing unprecedented punitive measures on three Israeli organizations the administration accuses of fomenting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. They were leveled just days after a coalition of nearly 90 congressional Democrats petitioned the Biden administration to ramp up sanctions on Israel before leaving the White House.

The sanctions were announced just three days after the Biden-Harris administration awarded another $230 million in funding for humanitarian projects in the West Bank and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The American government has now sent more than $2 billion in taxpayer funds to the Palestinians since Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror spree on Israel—even as critics warn this cash is keeping Hamas on life support.

The State Department website describes the sanctions on Israelis as targeting “violent Israeli individuals and entities,” though the “violence” that two of the targets are accused of committing amounts to nothing more than providing construction vehicles to settlements that the State Department says are illegal.

The Biden-Harris administration has sanctioned a broad array of Israeli individuals and institutions, largely at the instigation of anti-Israel groups and Democrats in Congress. Many of the sanctions target people who have not broken laws; a legal challenge against the sanctions notes that some target what would be constitutionally protected protest in the U.S.

Israeli legal scholar Eugene Kontorovich added in the New York Post:

Usually, sanctions target those responsible for severe wrongdoing, such as terrorist financing, nuclear proliferation and large-scale human rights abuses.

The new sanctions break this mold by targeting Israeli Jews in the West Bank accused of property crimes and vandalism, or of simply associating with the wrong people.

Despite an ongoing campaign of terror by Palestinians in the West Bank, Biden has used his order to target Jews almost exclusively.

Kontorovich adds that the Biden-Harris administration has also made exceptions for Palestinian organizations that normally would fall afoul of existing anti-terror sanctions.

The Biden-Harris administration restored funding for Palestinian organizations, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which caters to Palestinians, as soon as it took office, brushing aside concerns about terror. The administration also eased sanctions enforcement against Iran, which funds Palestinian terrorists.

Breitbart

Day 410 — Tuesday, November 19

Just hours before the United Nations Security Council is slated to vote on an alleged anti-Israel resolution pushed by Algeria to impose an end on the Jewish state’s war of self-defense against Hamas, the Biden administration has gone silent about how it will vote.

The irony of the notoriously anti-Israel Algeria devising the resolution recalls the witty line of the late Israeli Ambassador to the U.N., Abba Eban, who said, “If Algeria introduced a (U.N.) resolution declaring that the earth was flat and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions.”

The proposed resolution has triggered outrage from several quarters, including a leading Republican U.S.senator.

“This resolution is just one of several assaults on Israel being planned at the United Nations, meant to preemptively and permanently undermine the incoming Trump administration and Republican Congress,” Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital.

“I will work with my Republican colleagues and with President Trump to take whatever steps are necessary to undo these measures, including fundamentally reevaluating our relationship with the U.N. and the Palestinians, broadly cutting aid, imposing sanctions on specific officials responsible for those measures, and countering governments and NGOs pushing or implementing them,” he said.

Fox News 

Day 410 — Tuesday, November 19

A disturbing incident of antisemitism and racism took place in an Ohio community in Columbus over the weekend.

State and community leaders are condemning the group that marched through an area called ‘Short North’ carrying flags bearing the Nazi swastika.

Witnesses say some were carrying weapons and shouting racial slurs towards people of color and Jewish people.

Police arrived at the scene and the group left the area without incident. No arrests were made.

Ohio’s Republican Governor Mike DeWine issued a statement saying:

“We will not tolerate hate in Ohio. Neo-Nazis — their faces hidden behind red masks — roamed streets in Columbus today, carrying Nazi flags and spewing vile and racist speech against people of color and Jews. There were reports that they were also espousing white power sentiments.”

“There is no place in this state for hate, bigotry, antisemitism, or violence, and we must denounce it wherever we see it.”

It’s the latest unsettling display in a wave of antisemitism that has swept the globe over the past year.

“It has felt like it’s open season on Jews, certainly since October 7th,” said Ellie Cohanim, senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum. “The massacre in Israel seems to have ignited a terrible bloodlust against Jews around the world.”

One of the most violent incidents took place earlier this month in Amsterdam when an organized Muslim mob hunted down and attacked Israeli soccer fans after a match. 

CBN News

Day 409 — Monday, November 18

Several people fired flares at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private home Sunday morning, igniting a fire next to it.

Shocking video of the incident shows the moment one of the two flares is fired at the house in Caesarea, landing in the yard and starting a fire beside a central air unit.

Three people were arrested in the incident, which occurred when the PM and his family were not at home.

It should not be “possible for the Prime Minister of Israel, who is threatened by Iran and its proxies who are trying to assassinate him, to be subject to the same threats from home,” said newly appointed Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.

New York Post

Day 409 — Monday, November 18

The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) published a report on Friday stating that South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is being funded by Iran.

The report, “South Africa, Hamas, Iran, and Qatar: The Hijacking of the ANC and the International Court of Justice,“ states that South Africa has developed strategic relationships with Iran’s terrorist proxies, including Hamas and Hezbollah, as well as with leading state sponsors of terrorism in Iran and Qatar.

In January, the African National Congress (ANC) submitted a formal legal case to the ICJ in The Hague, accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. In May, South Africa claimed that Israel’s military operations sought to “destroy Palestinian life and to wipe them off the face of the earth.”

According to the ISGAP report, South Africa’s ruling ANC party brought the case against Israel to the ICJ as a diversion from its own domestic challenges. Shortly after announcing the case, the ANC faced near bankruptcy but unexpectedly secured funds after a series of meetings between ANC ministers and leaders from Iran, Qatar, and Hamas. These funds reportedly covered the party’s nearly $30 million debt.

The report also highlighted that South Africa functions as a hub for terrorist financing and fundraising, with an increasing presence of Islamic terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah, who use the country for military training and media operations.

In January, The Jerusalem Post uncovered a South African network involving major banks and organizations deeply involved in funding the Hamas terrorist group. At the center of the network was the Al-Quds International Foundation, a Hamas-affiliated organization, established in 2001 in the Lebanese capital of Beirut.

South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola attended Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian’s inauguration in Tehran this summer, according to the ISGAP report, and was praised by acting Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri, “for his outstanding role as an undaunted and innovative diplomat in pursuing the case of the Zionist regime’s crimes at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and the special efforts by the South African government to denounce the regime’s crimes in international legal and judicial circles.”

The ISGAP report also describes how South Africa’s efforts have been crucial in gaining Iran political legitimacy and influential economic access by facilitating its involvement in the BRICS group, an intergovernmental organization comprising nine nations: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Furthermore, Qatar has invested heavily in South African energy projects.

The report highlights that 45 of the 574 references in South Africa’s ICJ submission were sourced from anti-Israel organizations. In January, NGO Monitor, a globally recognized research institute established in 2002, demonstrated how the case relied heavily on reports from groups with known ties to terrorist organizations.

“South Africa’s submission to the court contains no fewer than 45 references to NGO publications, including several from outfits linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a terrorist organization. Staff and board members of these PFLP-linked groups were part of the South African delegation to public hearings in mid-January and helped prepare South Africa’s case,” wrote NGO Monitor Chief of Staff Naftali Balanson in The Wall Street Journal.

“Among the references in South Africa’s court petition is a report titled ‘Israel Apartheid. Tool of Zionist settler colonialism‘ from al-Haq, a Palestinian NGO that Israel designated a ‘terror organization‘ in 2021.”

He added: “According to Israel, al-Haq is part of a network that operates on behalf of the PFLP… Al-Haq director Shawan Jabarin was part of South Africa’s delegation to the ICJ… On Oct. 10, Ziad Hmaidan, head of al-Haq’s training and capacity-building unit, celebrated the Hamas attacks, writing on Facebook: ‘It is written in the Hadith: ‘You must wage jihad. The best jihad is preparing for war, and it is best to prepare for war in Ashkelon,‘ an Israeli city.”

All Israel News

Day 409 — Monday, November 18

Jewish students in Ireland are changing schools to escape harassment as a report exposes bias in school textbooks.

The findings emerge from an extensive study by the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (Impact-se), an Israeli nonprofit organization, which identified problematic content in Irish educational materials, the London-based Jewish Chronicle weekly reported.

Ireland’s Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder told the Chronicle that some students now express fear about their Jewish identity. The Jewish Representative Council of Ireland (JRCI) confirmed this assessment, noting that several students have transferred schools due to hostile environments.

Maurice Cohen, JRCI chair, has repeatedly sought meetings with Minister for Education Norma Foley to discuss these concerns. The education department responded to the Chronicle, stating: “There is no evidence of antisemitism being taught in Irish schools.”

“There has been a marked increase in incidents, with deeply hurtful remarks ranging from Holocaust denial to comments about the Israeli-Gaza conflict,” Cohen told the Chronicle. He criticized the government’s response to rising antisemitism and problematic textbook content as “nothing short of scandalous and shocking.”

The 40-page Impact-se report examined numerous Irish textbooks designed for students aged 12 to 16. The Irish government dismissed the findings, telling the Chronicle, “The Department of Education is confident that Irish students are being taught in a fair and balanced way by high-quality Irish teachers in a variety of subjects, including the history of the Jewish people and Judaism.”

In “Call to Action,” a civics textbook from Gill Education, students are presented with activities focused on the Palestinian perspective. The book features Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on its cover and includes exercises asking students to consider potential futures for Palestinian children.

Another text, “Inspire—Wisdom of the World,” by Educate.ie, an Irish educational publisher, claims Jesus was born in a country called “Palestine.” The book states, “Today this area, between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea, is also known as the Holy Land.”

Impact-se noted that “Historical references to Jesus living in ‘Palestine’ without appropriate context can contribute to narratives that challenge Israel’s legitimacy and undermine the Jewish historical connection to the land.”

The same book presents religions differently, stating “Judaism believes that violence and war are sometimes necessary to promote justice,” while describing Islam as “in favor of peace and against violence,” and Christianity’s aim as “to promote a world in which peace and justice and enjoyed by everyone.”

“Grow in Love,” a 2019 edition by Veritas, Ireland’s leading religious publisher and retailer, depicted people who “do not like Jesus” wearing a tallit (Jewish prayer shawl). Following criticism, Veritas updated the textbook in 2024, removing the tallit image.

In another Veritas publication, “Faith Seeking Understanding, Christianity: Origins and Contemporary Expressions,” the New Testament parable of the Good Samaritan is illustrated with an image of a boy wearing a Palestinian scarf protesting Israel.

Wieder reported that students have told him that “they feel afraid because they are Jewish, or that they avoid talking about being Jewish in front of their non-Jewish peers.” The rabbi told the Chronicle, “The anti-Israel narrative in Ireland has become so distorted and widespread that it creates a context in which antisemitism can thrive.”

JNS

Day 408 — Sunday, November 17

The Israel Defense Forces released footage this week that was discovered inside Gaza that showed Hamas terrorists torturing Palestinian civilians.

“The same civilians that Hamas outspokenly claimed to be fighting for, are the same civilians being tortured in this video,” the IDF said in a post that contained the video.

“Hamas is not only Israel’s enemy—they’re Gaza’s enemy also,” the post added.

IDF troops discovered what was described as “years’ worth of CCTV footage” of Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists torturing civilians in Gaza.

Israel said that the footage was evidence of Hamas’ “brutal methods for interrogating civilians, violating human rights, and systematically oppressing residents suspected of opposing the organization’s rule.”

“The videos document Hamas activities at Outpost 17 in the Gaza Strip, where brutal interrogations of civilians suspected of opposing Hamas are conducted,” the Israeli government said.

The statement added, “These materials reveal the Hamas’s methods of governing the Gaza Strip, enforcing terror, harming Gaza’s civilians and infringing on their freedom of expression.”

A senior Israeli military official told the media that it took the IDF months to go through all of the thousands of hours of footage that was recovered.

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During the ground activity in the Gaza Strip, our forces uncovered materials exposing Hamas’s brutal methods for interrogating civilians, violating human rights, and systematically oppressing residents suspected of opposing the organization’s rule. pic.twitter.com/5T8HMQc13c

— 4IL (@4ILorg) November 10, 2024

Daily Wire

Day 407 — Saturday, November 16

Mike Huckabee, who was appointed Ambassador to Israel by President-elect Donald Trump told Newsmax Friday Hamas must be eradicated and the hostages be released.

“We have four Americans being held hostage in Gaza — Americans. And this is outrageous that we have not put more pressure, not just on Hamas, but on Iran, who’s funded Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis,” Huckabee told “National Report.” “We need to put pressure on Qatar. They have influence over Hamas, and they need to understand that Donald Trump doesn’t play around.”

Huckabee said Hamas cannot control Gaza anymore.

“They cannot be trusted. Their hatred toward the Jewish people was evidenced on Oct. 7 and their massacre of civilians, including babies and elderly people,” he continued. “So there has to be a change of what happens there.”

Huckabee said Trump will show strength in the region, like he did during his first term, noting how weak the Biden administration was on Iran.

The Biden administration “had given Iran the go ahead to make money and that money was funneled to the very people in Hamas who did their dastardly deeds,” Huckabee said.

“So we need to be afraid. Not so much of what Israel does in Judea and Samaria. We need to be more afraid of what we allow Iran to do when they have the money to fund terrorist activities and murder civilians brutally and horrifically.”

Newsmax

Day 407 — Saturday, November 16

More than 10% of principals and senior education staff employed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the Gaza Strip are members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to a report published on Thursday.

The study, by Israeli non-profit organization IMPACT-se, noted that many continued to draw a regular salary after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre. Its publication comes less than two weeks after Israel’s Knesset barred UNRWA from operating in Israel over its terror ties.

For the study, IMPACT-se explored educational practices in five schools whose principals are senior UNRWA education officials, and under two of which (Al-Maghazi Boys Preparatory School B and Al-Zaytun Boys Preparatory School A) Hamas tunnels were found.

IMPACT-se found that the “schools use lessons to deny Israel’s existence, promote hostility, and encourage violent narratives,” and noted that despite past warnings, “UNRWA has taken no meaningful steps to address the glorification of violence or antisemitic rhetoric in these schools.”

The report details hateful material taught in each UNRWA school, under two of which terror tunnels were discovered by Israeli forces, underscoring the profound influence wielded in Gaza by Hamas.

Fifth graders at Al-Zaytun School, for example, were taught to glorify Dalal Mughrabi, the perpetrator of the 1978 Coastal Road Massacre, killing 38 Israelis. Photos of a classroom blackboard show how she is presented as “the fighting leader” and a “hero” to be honored. Similarly, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, for whom Hamas’s “military wing” is named, is described as a “martyr” and “hero.”

At Al-Maghazi School, materials glorify violent acts, including a reference to the firebombing of an Israeli bus as a “barbecue party.” An Arabic language summary states that martyrdom and jihad are “the most important meanings of life.”

“We are deeply concerned, although unsurprised, by the ongoing revelations of terror links within UNRWA’s educational system,” said IMPACT-se CEO Marcus Sheff.

“UNRWA has repeatedly failed to act, despite mounting evidence and repeated warnings of the deep influence of terror groups on UNRWA’s schools. This is not just about accountability, but about protecting young minds from an education that fuels hatred and extremism,” he added.

The report notes that Israeli intelligence recently exposed 12 UNRWA principals and deputy principals as active members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

An Israeli intelligence report released in January showed that at least a dozen UNRWA employees actively participated in the Hamas atrocities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and that the agency has 450 “military operatives” belonging to Hamas and other terrorist groups on its payroll.

The revelations prompted 18 countries—led by the United States and Germany, UNRWA’s biggest donors—to suspend funding. With the exception of the United States, all have since resumed or partially resumed funding.

The United States—UNRWA’s largest donor, accounting for some 30% of the agency’s budget—has frozen its donations until at least next year.

During his first term, President-elect Donald Trump cut off all U.S. aid to UNRWA, a move later reversed by the Biden administration.

According to Hillel Neuer, the director of the U.N. Watch NGO, Trump is not likely to restore funding during his second term.

“Especially with the appointment of Elise Stefanik to the United Nations, it is absolutely clear that the Trump administration will not reinstate a single penny of U.S. taxpayer funds for UNRWA,” he told JNS on Thursday. “But they should go further: The United States should work to end the agency and its pathological agenda of perpetuating Palestinians in a state of dependency and grievance, and aiming for the dismantlement of Israel.”

JNS

Day 407 — Saturday, November 16

It has been three weeks since the Israeli Air Force struck sensitive military sites in retaliation for Iran launching the largest ballistic missile barrage in military history against Israel. Now, weeks later, we are learning that this Israeli counterstrike against Iran was far more painful for the Iranian regime than we initially knew.

After the dust has settled, we are now learning that Israel apparently struck a sensitive secret Iranian nuclear weapons research facility. It’s no wonder that the Iranian regime is vowing revenge.

Iran’s nuclear sites are now on the table. They have been “fair game” since Hamas and Hezbollah were largely decimated—Hamas almost completely and Hezbollah reeling on the same path. The Iranian regime has been exposed. They were exposed even further in that strike three weeks ago, on October 26th, when their air defense systems were destroyed. Might I add that Russian-supplied s300 air defense systems made up at least part of those Iranian air defenses.

We have been saying for some time that nuclear weapon sites are on the table, and it seems Israel took that to heart. While we are not talking about Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, nuclear reactor, or uranium enrichment facility, this was indeed a secret nuclear weapons research facility in Parchin that was destroyed by the Israeli Air Force.

You can see now why Iran is weeping, gnashing its teeth, and vowing revenge—which now apparently has been delayed since Donald Trump was elected to take office in 66 days.

Let’s get into this.

As I mentioned earlier, Iran’s attack on October 1st was the largest ballistic missile attack in military history, when some 200 ballistic missiles were launched toward Israel. Thankfully, that attack was a massive failure. It also came five months after the April 13th Iranian attack involving some 300 projectiles (cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and drones) that were launched at Israel—an attack which also was entirely unsuccessful after 99% of those incoming projectiles were intercepted. Nonetheless, Israel cannot countenance its greatest enemy launching 500 projectiles in the span of five months. Needless to say, Israel felt compelled to respond, and understandably so.

It is for that reason we all expected a massive response. You have got to send a message. This level of attack cannot be winked at. Speculation then swirled surrounding whether Israel would target Iran’s oil infrastructure, its leadership (which went into hiding after Israel took out the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah), the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp, or its nuclear sites.

When this Israeli counterstrike against Iran happened three weeks ago, it came in three waves involving 100 IAF fighter jets—all of which were unscathed and returned to Israel safely without a scratch.

For three hours in the middle of the night, Israeli fighter jets were operating with impunity in the skies of Iran, carrying out surgical strikes on military facilities. That alone shows how substandard Iran’s air defenses truly were.

During the first wave that night, for lack of a better word, the counterstrike seemed to many to be almost underwhelming, or at least, it wasn’t what we had all been expecting. At first, people were disappointed, suggesting Israel had caved to the demands of the Biden-Harris Administration, who have been attempting to restrain Israel. Without a doubt, the Biden-Harris Administration has been endeavoring to pressure Israel at every turn, whether in Gaza, in Lebanon, or in its response to Iranian aggression and provocations. Others suggested that Israel was “playing nice,” knowing at the time that the election was only a week and a half away.

Despite what could be initially perceived about the strike, I underscored at the time the importance of letting the dust settle. Then the dust settled. We all had a night to sleep on it, and the following day revealed the magnitude of the attack. It wasn’t good for the Iranian regime. In fact, it was very, very painful.

Israel struck strategic ballistic missile and drone factories and destroyed Iran’s air defenses—that was big, and you got an inkling of that about two or three days after when Iranian officials were evaluating the damage and vowing revenge. Israel’s counterstrike was not underwhelming; it was, in a sense, overwhelming.

Here is what we now know: a secret nuclear facility apparently was struck. That alone, even if the air defenses weren’t destroyed, was worth the price of admission.

The Times of Israel reported that the Israeli strike on the sensitive Iranian nuclear facility “destroyed equipment needed for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.”