LIVE DEVELOPMENTS — updated Saturday, April 27th, 2024

Columbia Student Says ‘Zionists Don’t Deserve To Live’; New Film Testifies To Hamas’s Brutal Sexual Violence

TRUSTED ANALYSIS

• Exchange Of Fire In The North: Anti-Tank Missiles Fired From Lebanon, IDF Returns Fire
• Netanyahu Addresses ‘Antisemitic Surge’ In America: ‘This Is Reminiscent Of What Happened In German Universities In The 1930s’
• Israel Fumes As UN Secretary-General Leaves Hamas Off Sexual Violence Blacklist
• ‘Completely Baseless’: IDF Refutes Hamas’ False Claim That Israel Dumped Palestinian Bodies Into Mass Graves Outside Hospitals

Day 204 — Saturday, April 27

The Columbia University student who was one of the most vocal students in the anti-Semitic protests at Columbia University in recent days has been thrown out of school after The Daily Wire unearthed video of him stating that “Zionists don’t deserve to live.”

Haaretz journalist Judy Maltz posted on X that Khymani James, the leader of the anti-Israel encampment on the school’s campus, “has been thrown out of school.” The Boston Globe also reported that James had also been banned from the school’s campus.

James claimed in a statement posted to social media on Friday that he was the victim of “far right agitators” who posted his remarks on social media, which he claimed they did “without context.”

In the stream, he made the case for Zionists to die several times and stated “Zionists don’t deserve to live.”

Meet Khymani James, a student leader of Columbia University’s anti-Israel Gaza Solidarity Encampment who openly states that “Zionists don’t deserve to live”

He made the comments during a meeting with the school that he live-streamed.

We put together the highlights: pic.twitter.com/JFlxnRkNC2

— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) April 25, 2024

James said he made the comment because he was feeling “unusually upset after an online mob targeted me because I am visibly queer and Black.”

The full meeting with Columbia University and his comments afterward on the livestream are below.

James, who goes by “he/she/they” pronouns, is the spokesperson of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) group and has been the visible face of the protests that have garnered national attention, including holding a press conference on Wednesday.

Daily Wire

Day 204 — Saturday, April 27

Following a world premiere in New York on Thursday, “Screams Before Silence,” former Meta chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg’s new documentary on the systematic sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas against Israelis on October 7, is now available for open-access online viewing.

The hour-long film, created in cooperation with Israel’s Kastina Productions, provides first-hand accounts from survivors, freed hostages, first responders, and legal, medical, and forensic experts. Sandberg is present throughout the film either interviewing individuals in a studio or accompanying them to October 7-related sites.

What emerges is not only an understanding of the mass scale and barbarism of Hamas’s sexual attacks against women but also their deliberate, pre-meditated, and systematic nature.

“When the body of the woman is violated, it symbolizes [the violation] of the body of the whole nation,” Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, former vice-president of the United Nations Commission on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, says in the documentary.

The film’s testimonies detail a horrific truth that was largely brushed aside by a report released earlier this week by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in which he declined to include Hamas among organizations suspected by the UN of committing acts of sexual violence during conflict. That report noted there is evidence that sex crimes were committed during the Palestinian terror group’s devastating October 7 attack on Israel, but did not specifically attribute responsibility to Hamas.

The film also comes at a critical moment as mass anti-Israel demonstrations overtake a growing number of American university campuses, with many participants refuting the facts of October 7. Some flat-out deny that Hamas breached the border with Gaza and ruthlessly tortured, murdered, and wounded thousands of Israelis that day.

“Screams Before Silence” is clearly aimed at American and international audiences, as nearly everything in it has already been shared or reported in one form or another in the Israeli media. In addition, most of the October 7 footage — mainly shot by Hamas terrorists’ own GoPro cameras — has already appeared on television or social media.

However, even for those who have seen the footage or heard survivor or witness testimonies, it will be hard to watch the documentary.

[Warning: The following documentary contains disturbing and graphic testimony from former hostages and survivors of the October 7 massacre]

Times Of Israel

Day 203 — Friday, April 26

In a Wednesday interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said he was visiting Columbia University “to call on the president of the university to resign.”

“This President Shafik has shown to be a very weak, inept leader,” Johnson said, regarding the ongoing anti-Zionist, pro-Hamas protests taking place on the Columbia University campus.

“They cannot even guarantee the safety of Jewish students? They’re expected to run for their lives and stay home from class? It’s maddening.”

“Every leader in this country – every political official, every citizen of good conscience – has to speak out and say that this is not who we are in America, and we got to have accountability and that’s what my colleagues and I are going to be working on.”

Johnson also said: “We need to revoke federal funding to these universities if they cannot keep control,” as well as “to revoke these student visas for these violent protestors.”

“We’re not getting strong leadership obviously from the White House,” Johnson said. “I mean the White House is caving to the antisemitic – I call it the ‘pro-Hamas’ – wing of the party now.”

In a press conference held at the university yesterday, Johnson said that “as Columbia has allowed these lawless agitators and radicals to take over, the virus of antisemitism has spread across other campuses. By some counts, as many as 200 universities have a similar form of protest right now.”

“I’m here today joining my colleagues in calling on President Shafik to resign if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos,” Johnson concluded.

While there has not been actual violence on the Columbia University campus, it has taken place on other campuses, and many protesters at Columbia have explicitly called for it.

The Jerusalem Post reported about a chant from Columbia University student protestors that explicitly supported Hamas and its violent attacks on the Israeli public.

“We say justice, you say how? Burn Tel Aviv to the ground. Go Hamas, we love you. We support your rockets, too.”

One woman who spoke at Columbia’s “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” declared the following: “Let it be known that it was the Al-Aqsa Flood that put the global intifada back on the table again. And it is the sacrificial spirit of the Palestinian freedom fighters that will guide every struggle on every corner of the earth to victory.”

She spoke of “revolution” and “rebellion,” quoted a “great black communist,” and stated that “to fight tooth and nail against our enemy by any means necessary is to fight for life itself.”

“Remember that militancy breeds resistance!” she shouted to a cheering crowd. “Thousands upon thousands of students around the world have been moved to rebel because of your militancy.”

A spokesman for Hamas praised the protests, saying, “We in the Hamas movement believe that any popular movement demanding an end to the aggression and genocide against our people are useful and supportive activities for our cause.”

The Hamas spokesman went on to say that “the importance of this increases if these activities involve young people and university students, given that this reflects the vision of future generations.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also addressed the surge of anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric spreading across American universities and college campuses.

In a video statement on Wednesday, Netanyahu condemned the rallies led by “antisemitic mobs” and urged college administrators to stop them.

ALL ISRAEL NEWS

Day 203 — Friday, April 26

Monday night in Israel, as Jewish families gathered around the Passover table for their first Seder since the tragedy of October 7, there were too many empty chairs. Some held hands, still hoping for the release of their hostage loved ones. Thousands of others tasted the meal’s bitter herbs with a fresh wave of grief for the ones who will never return. Across the country, Jews and non-Jews hold their breath, wondering what next year’s holiday will look like. More than that, wondering whether the world, a place rocked by hatred, conflict, and chaos, can survive it.

“Why is this night different?” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked poignantly as dusk fell. “On this night, 133 of our dear brothers and sisters are not around the Seder table, and they are still held hostage by Hamas in hellish conditions,” he said somberly. “… And why is this night not different?” he prompted. Because Passover, of all holidays, recognizes that the Jewish people have been oppressed and hunted throughout history. “In every generation they rise up to destroy us,” Netanyahu reminded his people, “and the Holy One, blessed be He, saves us from them. This time as well,” he insisted, “we will overcome those who seek our lives.”

But it will not be because Israel’s friends have stood strong in their defense. Here at home, the Biden administration has all but abandoned America’s strongest, most significant Middle Eastern ally. As the Jewish state stands on the brink of war with the entire Islamic world, this president and his party seem more intent on placating his radical, anti-Semitic base than supporting Israel’s right to self-defense. After Iran fired more than 300 drones and ballistic missiles at the tiny nation in an unprecedented attack, what did the president demand? Restraint — not from the ayatollah, but from the country the religious dictator sought to destroy.

Even as President Biden declared his “ironclad” support of Israel Monday, the world knows he’s simultaneously tied Netanyahu’s hands and made the Jewish state vulnerable to greater hostilities.

Day 203 — Friday, April 26

Two anti-tank missile launches were identified crossing from Lebanon into the area of Har Dov in northern Israel overnight Thursday, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.

IDF artillery and tanks struck the sources of fire. In addition, IDF soldiers identified and struck a launch post by tank fire in the area of Chebaa in southern Lebanon.

Later, IDF fighter jets struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the area of Kfarchouba in southern Lebanon, as well as Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure and military structure in the area of Markaba in southern Lebanon.

Throughout the day on Thursday, three launches were identified crossing from Lebanon into the area of Arab al-Aramshe in northern Israel. Four additional launches were identified toward the area of Har Dov. No injuries were reported.

Earlier in the day, IDF forces struck to eliminate a threat in several areas in southern Lebanon.

Arutz Sheva

Day 202 — Thursday, April 25

We all know that the one activity university students enjoy more than a raging frat party is a good old-fashioned protest. Unfortunately, what is taking place in colleges across the United States and into Europe is not your parents’ march for equal rights or an end to the Vietnam War. Today we have the element of Antifa and professional protesters, and they are incredibly skilled at ratcheting up the violent tension of these crowds of ignorant, impressionable teens and young adults.

Now we see that pressure beginning to burst. Whether it is at Columbia, Harvard, the University of Texas at Austin, USC, or any of the other universities where the mobs are taking over, the police are facing overwhelming numbers of frenzied students. Many think they are doing a good thing, but they’ve been duped by those who know better and are masters at using lies and passion to create chaos. I don’t know what this is going to look like in the days ahead, but I am very concerned. I don’t see this just breaking up, because the provocateurs know that they have strong foothold.

I also recognize that this is a spiritual battle. Satan hates what God loves. This is a direct assault by the enemy against the people that God has chosen to be His own. He is using his minions – the provocateurs – to do his bidding, whipping up vitriol against Israel. It is very important to recognize that this is bigger than just these protests. This is a well-planned effort to pass antisemitism on to the next generation. The anti-Israel rhetoric that these students have been hearing in their classrooms is being driven deep into their hearts through these protests. Sadly, for many, if not most, it will remain there for the rest of their lives.

Day 202 — Thursday, April 25

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “What’s happening in America’s college campuses is horrific. Antisemitic mobs have taken over leading universities. They call for the annihilation of Israel. They attack Jewish students. They attack Jewish faculty. This is reminiscent of what happened in German universities in the 1930s. It’s unconscionable. It has to be stopped. It has to be condemned and condemned unequivocally. But that’s not what happened. The response of several university presidents was shameful.

Now, fortunately, state, local, federal officials, many of them have responded differently but there has to be more. More has to be done. It has to be done not only because they attack Israel, that’s bad enough, not only because they want to kill Jews wherever they are, that’s bad enough, it’s also when you listen to them, it’s also because they say not only, ‘Death to Israel. Death to the Jews,’ but ‘death to America.’ And this tells us that there is an antisemitic surge here that has terrible consequences.

We see this exponential rise of antisemitism throughout America and throughout Western societies as Israel tries to defend itself against genocidal terrorists, genocidal terrorists who hide behind civilians. Yet it is Israel that is falsely accused of genocide, Israel that is falsely accused of starvation and all sundry war crimes. It’s all one big libel. But that’s not new. We’ve seen in history that antisemitic attacks were always preceded by vilification and slander, lies that were cast against the Jewish people that are unbelievable yet people believed them.

Now, what is important now is for all of us, all of us who are interested and cherish our values and our civilization, to stand up together and to say enough is enough. We have to stop antisemitism because antisemitism is the canary in the coal mine. It always precedes larger conflagrations that engulf the entire world.

So I ask all of you, Jews and non-Jews alike, who are concerned with our common future and our common values to do one thing: Stand up, speak up, be counted. Stop antisemitism now.”

Anti-Semitism on campuses in the United States is reminiscent of what happened in German universities in the 1930s.

The world cannot stand idly by. pic.twitter.com/oHlwig1vCl

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) April 24, 2024

Prime Minister’s Office

Day 202 — Thursday, April 25

This past week, The Times of Israel reported that Turkish President Recep Erdogan laid the blame squarely on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for Iran’s large-scale attack on Israel earlier this month.

“The main one responsible for the tension that gripped our hearts on the evening of April 13 is Netanyahu and his bloody administration,” Erdogan declared.

He further went on to say, “Those who have been silent for months about Israel’s aggressive attitude immediately condemned the Iranian response, but it’s Netanyahu himself who is the first who should be condemned.”

It is pretty sad that Erdogan won’t admit that Iran is the leading state sponsor of terror in the Middle East, and because of their hatred for Israel, they are hellbent on destroying the Jewish State

The truth is that the Iranian regime, which some call “the head of the octopus,” has their tentacles all around Israel. Iran funds and props up its terrorist proxies, with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon possessing over 150,000 rockets, all pointed toward Israel. Iran also has proxies in Iraq, Syria, Gaza with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and in Yemen with the Houthis, all with one goal: eliminating the Jewish State.

President Erdogan, an Islamist, has chosen to support Hamas’ demonic massacre on October 7 and Iran’s attack on the Jewish state with over 300 drones, cruise, and ballistic missiles. He has no problem with these horrible events, but he does have a problem with Israel, especially when they defend themselves.

This shouldn’t surprise students of God’s Word.

Day 201 — Wednesday, April 24

Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of standing “shoulder to shoulder with the rapists and murderers of Hamas” for declining to include the terror group in a report published Tuesday on organizations suspected by the UN of committing acts of sexual violence during conflict.

The document, titled “Conflict-related sexual violence,” and published as a “Report of the Secretary-General,” noted there is evidence that sex crimes were committed during the Palestinian terror group Hamas’s devastating October 7 attack on Israel, but did not specifically attribute responsibility to Hamas.

The ministry elaborated in the statement that Guterres ignored “the plethora of testimony and evidence that was collected and then included in the report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten.”

Patten’s report after her visit to Israel found that rape likely occurred during the Hamas attacks, and said there was convincing evidence hostages were facing sexual abuse in Gaza.

In his report, Guterres referenced Patten’s assessment, but noted that it, “not being investigative in nature and given its limited duration, did not draw conclusions on attribution to specific armed groups or determine prevalence of incidents of conflict-related sexual violence during and after the attacks of 7 October. Such a determination would require a fully-fledged investigation.”

Some 3,000 attackers burst through the boundary with the Gaza Strip to rampage murderously through southern Israel amid widespread gang rape, torture and mutilation of victims, according to numerous witnesses and robust evidence. Terrorists also abducted 253 people of all ages who were taken as hostages in Gaza.

Times Of Israel

Day 200 — Tuesday, April 23

Officials from the terrorist organization Hamas are leveling new accusations against the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), claiming that the Israeli troops were executing Palestinians, humiliating their corpses, and dumping over 200 into “mass graves” outside Nasser and Al Shifa hospitals.

The IDF denied the “completely baseless” claim and highlighted that the Palestinians had dug and buried individuals in the mass graves prior to and during the IDF’s operation in the region.

Hamas terrorists were using the hospitals as their place of operations, with the IDF arresting hundreds of its operatives at the locations.

The IDF further noted that based on intelligence, they had searched the mass graves in a “targeted” and “respectful” manner in an effort to locate Israeli hostages who may have been buried there

“The examinations were carried out in an orderly manner while maintaining the dignity of the deceased and in a respectful manner,” the IDF said, further explaining that bodies were then “returned to their place in an orderly and proper manner.”

No hostages were located during their search.

Despite the absurdity of the accusation and evidence contradicting the claim, on Tuesday, the United Nations rights chief Volker Turk stated that he was “horrified” by the reports of “mass graves” and ill-treatment of the dead, which he insisted “indicates serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.”

This is far from the first instance of Hamas terrorists disseminating propaganda in an effort to sway public opinion against Israel. Recently, Hamas and Al-Jazeera heavily publicized the claim that the IDF was raping Palestinian women during their operation in Shifa Hospital. The source of this information was a Palestinian woman who later admitted that her story was false and intended to “arouse the nation’s fervor and brotherhood.”

Videos, images, and other pieces of evidence showed Hamas terrorists, during their massacre on October 7th, raped, tortured, mutilated, and paraded through the streets of Gaza the bodies of Israelis. 1,200 Israelis were killed during the bloody rampage and over 250 taken hostage, the majority of which were civilians.

Harbinger’s STAFF

Day 200 — Tuesday, April 23

Israel Air Force fighter jets destroyed ready-to-launch Hamas rocket launchers in the southern Gaza Strip, while soldiers from the Nahal Brigade killed multiple terrorists in the central part of the strip over the last day, the IDF announced on Tuesday.

Fighter jets completed several airstrikes overnight on Hamas launch posts located in southern Gaza based on IDF intelligence and operational identifications . ‏The launch posts were loaded, but were struck before any launches were carried out toward Israeli territory.

Meanwhile, soldiers from the Nahal Brigade continued their counterterrorism activity in the central Gaza Strip’s corridor. During one of the activities, the troops killed a number of Hamas terrorists using sniper fire. Additionally, an IAF aircraft struck several terrorists who hid adjacent to a civilian shelter in the area of Bureij. The strike was carried out in a targeted and precise manner.

Over the past day, fighter jets and additional aircraft struck approximately 25 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip, including military infrastructure, observation posts, and launch posts.

Shortly before this announcement was released, sirens sounded in Sderot, with Israeli media reporting that four rockets were intercepted and no injuries or damages were sustained.

Jerusalem Post

Day 200 — Tuesday, April 23

During the season of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover, I am always reminded of the accusation that Jews, over the millennia, have used the blood of Christian children to make the matzah (unleavened bread) for Passover. This accusation is known as the “Blood Accusation” or “Blood Libel.” It is, of course, a false allegation, but this hasn’t stopped people from accusing Jews through the ages, and it has led to thousands of deaths.

The idea is that Jewish people murder young Christian children during the time of Passover, drain them of their blood, and use it to make unleavened bread. Passover often takes place around the time of Resurrection Sunday (Easter) and the Blood Libel can also be reinforced with the other lie about the Jewish people, the accusation of killing Christ or deicide (the killing of God.)

Biblically speaking, the Jewish people were to refrain from consuming blood, so much so that God made it very clear to them on several occasions (Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 7:26, 17:14; Deuteronomy 12:6, 15:23; Acts 15:20, 28-29.) It was a grave sin to consume blood. The children of Israel had a firm order from God, punishable by death, as in Leviticus 17:14, “For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.” The practice has continued through the ages, and one of the basic principles of kosher meat in contemporary Judaism is to drain the meat of all its blood before consumption.

So, when did it start in Jewish history? Like many of the false accusations, it started during the Middle Ages in Europe and has grown ever since. The first case on record was in 1144 in Norwich, England. When I say the case, I need to clarify that this is the first time that an accusation was made about the Jewish community, although there was absolutely no proof to make such an accusation.

Day 199 — Monday, April 22

Riot police arrested dozens of people during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Yale University, hours after Columbia University’s president issued a last-minute announcement that classes on Monday would be held virtually in an effort to “deescalate the rancor” on campus, one of several rocked by anti-Israel protests.

Demonstrators on Monday blocked traffic around Yale’s campus in New Haven, Connecticut, demanding the school divest from military weapons manufacturers, prompting police to make arrests, video footage aired on social media showed.

More than 40 people were apprehended by police, according to the Yale Daily News, a student-run news site. Yale University officials could not be reached for comment.

Protesters could reportedly be heard chanting “YPD (Yale Police Department) or KKK, IDF they’re all the same” and chanting, “Arab blood is not cheap, for the martyrs we will speak.”

Posts on social media say the pro-Palestinian protesters have moved to a different location on campus, despite the arrests and the police presence.

The arrests follow several violent episodes during the days-long protest, with a Jewish student journalist who was reporting on the anti-Israel protest at Yale saying she was stabbed in the eye with a Palestinian flag.

According to The New York Post, the student, Yale Free Press editor-in-chief Sahar Tartak, was surrounded by taunting protesters after she was “singled out for wearing Hasidic Jewish attire.”

“There’s hundreds of people taunting me and waving the middle finger at me, and then this person waves a Palestinian flag in my face and jabs it in my eye,” Tartak was quoted as saying.

The unrest on Yale comes after antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents sparked a rabbi linked to the Columbia to urge Jewish students on Sunday to remain at home and US President Joe Biden had blasted the “blatant antisemitism” during the protests on campus.

In a statement issued at 1:14 a.m. local time on Monday, Columbia President Nemat Minouche Shafik said the university was canceling in-person classes while denouncing antisemitic language and intimidating and harassing behavior that she said had occurred on campus recently.

“Over the past days, there have been too many examples of intimidating and harassing behavior on our campus. Antisemitic language, like any other language that is used to hurt and frighten people, is unacceptable and appropriate action will be taken,” she said.

Shafik added that “tensions have been exploited and amplified by individuals who are not affiliated with Columbia who have come to campus to pursue their own agendas…We need a reset.”

Also Monday, an Israeli assistant professor at Columbia University’s business school said he was denied entry to the main campus.

In a post on X, formerly, Twitter, Shai Davidai said the reason he was refused entry to campus was because the university “cannot protect my safety as a Jewish professor.”

“This is 1938,” he added, referring to the dismissal of Jewish staff from universities in Nazi Germany in the years leading up to the Holocaust.

In video footage of a confrontation between Davidai and Columbia University COO Cas Holloway, the assistant professor claimed he is being denied entry because of his Jewish identity.

“I have not just a civil right as a Jewish person to be on campus, I have a right as a professor employed by the university to be on campus,” he said.

“You cannot let people that support Hamas on campus and me, a professor, not go on campus,” he can be heard saying in the video.

Since October 7, Davidai has emerged as a leading voice criticizing universities for permitting anti-Israel sentiment to flourish and bleed into antisemitism.

More than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested on Thursday on the campus after Shafik authorized New York police to clear an encampment set up by students demonstrating against Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Anti-Israel sentiment, sometimes veering into downright antisemitism, has flared up on college campuses across the US throughout the war in Gaza that began on October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and take over 250 hostages.

Times Of Israel

Day 199 — Monday, April 22

An independent UN review of UNRWA, the UN’s agency for “Palestinian refugees“, released its report on Monday.

The panel, headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, found “neutrality-related issues” in UNRWA but also claimed that Israel had yet to provide evidence for allegations that a significant number of its staff were members of terrorist organizations.

UNRWA remains “irreplaceable and indispensable to Palestinians’ human and economic development,” added the report, as quoted by the AFP news agency.

The review group was created after Israel said in January that 12 UNRWA staff participated in the October 7 Hamas attacks. In the weeks that followed, numerous donor states suspended or paused some $450 million in funding to UNRWA, though some of those countries have since resumed the funding.

Israel said that the UNRWA workers who participated in the Hamas massacre kidnapped a woman, handed out ammunition and actively taking part in the massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri, where 97 people were murdered.

Colonna’s team was tasked with assessing whether UNRWA was “doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality,” while UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres activated a second investigation to probe Israel’s allegations.

The review noted that “neutrality-related issues persist,” including instances of staff sharing biased political posts on social media and the use of [what they call] a small number of textbooks with “problematic content” in some UNRWA schools.

These included “the use of historical maps in a non-historical context, e.g. without labeling Israel” referring to Israel as the “Zionist occupation” and “naming Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry reacted with fury to the panel’s report.

“Hamas has infiltrated UNRWA so deeply that it is no longer possible to determine where UNRWA ends and where Hamas begins. More than 2,135 UNRWA workers are members of either Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), while one-fifth of UNRWA school administrators are Hamas members,” said Affairs Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein.

“The problem with UNRWA-Gaza isn’t that of a few bad apples; it is a rotten and poisonous tree whose roots are Hamas,” he added.

“The Colonna report ignores the severity of the problem, and offers cosmetic solutions that do not deal with the enormous scope of Hamas’ infiltration of UNRWA. This is not what a genuine and thorough review looks like. This is what an effort to avoid the problem and not address it head on looks like,” Marmorstein continued.

“Israel calls on the donor countries to refrain from transferring their taxpayers’ money to UNRWA-Gaza, as these funds will go to the Hamas terrorist organization, and that violates legislation in the donor countries themselves. Israel calls on the donor countries to transfer their funds to other humanitarian organizations in Gaza.”

“UNRWA-Gaza is part of the problem and not part of the solution. There are other solutions. UNRWA cannot be part of the solution in Gaza not now, and not in the future,” concluded Marmorstein.

Arutz Sheva

Day 199 — Monday, April 22

Rabbi Elie Buechler, who co-directs the Orthodox Union’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC) for Columbia University and Barnard College, told Jewish students on Sunday to stay home until the campus environment improves.

“What we are witnessing in and around campus is tragic. The events of the last few days, especially last night, have made it clear that Columbia University’s Public Safety and the NYPD [New York City Police Department] cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy,” the rabbi wrote to a group of 290-plus students on the WhatsApp messaging app.

“It deeply pains me to say that I strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved,” he wrote.

“It is not our job as Jews to ensure our own safety on campus. No one should have to endure this level of hatred, let alone at school,” Buechler said.

In a letter to the university’s president dated April 19, a Columbia Jewish alumni group warned, “At present, new, unauthorized protests are disrupting classes and creating an irrefutably unsafe environment for Jewish students.

“It is clear to us that Columbia is now under mob rule—a mob, by the way, that is only interested in attention and chaos, rather than thoughtful dialogue or reasoned debate,” they wrote.

The alumni referred to a petition by Jewish students asking to take their remaining spring semester courses online out of fear of classroom violence.

On Friday night, protesters were filmed screaming at two Jewish students, “The 7th of October is going to be every day for you.”

JNS

Day 199 — Monday, April 22

This week, Time magazine published an article titled “A Million Dollar Middle East Peace Plan,” which I encourage you to read. It lays out a scenario for peace between Israel and its Middle East enemies that is chillingly similar to what the Bible predicts.

The author, Kai Bird, says, “This conflict is so dangerous that the time has come for the international community to impose a solution.” A compelled solution to the nations? That is precisely what Daniel 9:27 says, “He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’”

Some take the idea of “confirming” to mean that he will simply strengthen an already existing covenant. But that idea of “confirming,” literally in Hebrew, means to “make strong.” He is going to make strong a covenant—or even “compel” a covenant.

The Time Magazine article insists that “the international community” needs to “impose a solution.” According to the author, they must “convene a Geneva peace conference” where all the essential parties will be forced to participate and “face financial and legal sanctions if they fail to show up.”

“A conversation will take place in which all parties are heard,” the author described. “But the American, European, and other international diplomats invited to Geneva will be responsible for the actual drafting of a peace treaty.”

So, nations other than Israel and their enemies will develop this peace treaty draft. It will be brokered by outside forces, which is exactly what Daniel 9:27 predicts.

The author concludes, “This will be an imposed peace because the global stakes are too high.”

The plan is to “impose peace” upon these nations. That’s what the Bible predicts. It will be an imposed, compelled, or “take it or leave it” covenant that will be negotiated and brokered by the Antichrist, who will rise from Europe and a revived/reunited Roman Empire.

Day 199 — Monday, April 22

The majority of Israelis support the Damascus strike, which Israel has not claimed responsibility for, according to a new survey by The Israel Democracy’s Institute’s Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Police Research published on Sunday.

A total of 514 respondents were interviewed via an internet panel and by telephone in Hebrew and 98 in Arabic. The maximum sampling error was ±4.04% at a confidence level of 95%.

Mohammed Reza Zahedi, the top commander in the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) for Lebanon and Syria was assassinated in an airstrike, The Jerusalem Post reported. He was killed alongside a lieutenant and about five other officers, according to the IRGC. Bloomberg reported that an entire IRGC command wing was killed. 

A total of 80% of Jewish Israelis surveyed reported supporting the strike as “the right thing to do.” However, the majority of Arab-Israelis (67%) felt it was “the wrong course of action.”

Asked whether Israel should agree to the establishment of a future Palestinian state in exchange for a regional defense agreement, only 26% of Jewish Israelis said they supported the idea. The exchange was far more popular amongst Arab Israelis, 74% backing this trade. 

Jerusalem Post

Day 199 — Monday, April 22

On a spectacularly beautiful September morning in 2001, hijacked planes struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. The bloodlust of radical Islam needlessly took the lives of thousands. And, briefly, America woke up.

That short-lived awakening was purchased at a terrible cost. But while it lasted, it was amazing. People from sea to shining sea realized again what it meant to be Americans. They didn’t suddenly become blind to the nation’s shortcomings, but they also saw what was rare and precious in the American spirit. Then the nation drifted back into slumber.

While the people slept, an ancient evil rose among them. At the beginning of this millennium, most people, including Jewish Americans, thought antisemitism had mostly been banished from the land. But after 9/11, against all reason, it started growing again. Today it manifests itself everywhere. Young people speak antisemitic slogans as a bizarre form of virtue signaling.

We can see it in the signs and hear it in the chants on campuses and in the streets. Young people, most born after 9/11/2001, today sing out the ideologies of our 2001 enemy — “Death to America!” … “There is only one Solution, Intifada. Revolution!” … “Long live Hamas!” … “Death to Jews!” They compare those who disagree with them to the Ku Klux Klan. But who would agree more with the chant, “Death to Jews!” than the KKK? These pitiful children have become the thing they decry.

They warn us of their intent, saying, “The 7th of October is going to be every day for you!” They often cry out, “We are Hamas!” If they are Hamas, it means they want to kill Jews and Christians. Their hate has nothing to do with so-called colonization. It is all about hatred for “people of the book” because they are Jews and Christians. By claiming to be Hamas, campus radicals are actually saying they want to murder your babies and burn your homes. They want to behead and mutilate. They want to rape, take hostages, and then keep on raping. That’s what October 7th was about and what they praise.

Day 198 — Sunday, April 21

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to announce sanctions against the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion in the next few days, according to three American sources. 

The sanctions are a result of [supposed] human rights violations against Palestinians in the West Bank. 

This will be the first time that the United States government has imposed sanctions on an Israeli military unit.

The sources stated that the American sanctions will prohibit the transfer of US military aid to the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, will prevent its soldiers and officers from taking part in training with the United States military, and will prevent the soldiers from this unit from participating in activities that receive American funding.

One of the sources stated that Blinken decided not to impose sanctions on several additional units in the IDF and the Israel Police that were also under investigation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the United States for its plans to sanction the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion.

“At a time when our soldiers are fighting terrorist monsters, the intention to sanction a unit in the IDF is the height of absurdity and a moral low,” Netanyahu wrote in a post on X late Saturday night.

“In recent weeks, I have been working against the leveling of sanctions on Israeli citizens, including in my conversations with senior American government officials,” he stated.

“The government I head will act by all means against these moves,” he added.

“Sanctions must not be imposed on the Israel Defense Forces!” Netanyahu wrote in a post on X.

Netanyahu spoke out against such a move, first reported by the Walla news site, just one hour after he wrote a message on X, thanking the House of Representatives for passing a $23.2 billion military aid bill for Israel, which now moves to the Senate.

Jerusalem Post

Day 198 — Sunday, April 21

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday urged Palestinian Arabs to unite against Israel following a meeting with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul, AFP reported.

Erdogan said Palestinian Arab unity was “vital” following the talks at the Dolmabahçe palace, which Turkish media reports said lasted more than two and a half hours.

“The strongest response to Israel and the path to victory lie in unity and integrity,” Erdogan said, according to a Turkish presidency statement.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz condemned the meeting between Erdogan and Haniyeh, writing on social media, “Muslim Brotherhood alliance: rape, murder, desecration of corpses and the burning of babies. Erdogan, shame on you!”

While Israel and Turkey formally announced in August of 2022 that they would normalize relations by returning the ambassadors and consuls, after years of tensions, Erdogan has resumed his frequent verbal attacks on Israel since the start of the war in Gaza.

In one speech, the Turkish President said that Netanyahu “committed one of the greatest atrocities of this century in Gaza and has already put his name down in history as the butcher of Gaza.”

Last month, Erdogan again lashed out at Israel and at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying they are “like today’s Nazis.”

On Tuesday, Erdogan said that Netanyahu was the main one to blame for Iran’s first direct attack on Israel.

“The main one responsible for the tension that gripped our hearts on the evening of April 13 is Netanyahu and his bloody administration,” Erdogan was quoted as having said in televised remarks.

“Those who have been silent for months about Israel’s aggressive attitude immediately condemned the Iranian response,” he added. “But it’s Netanyahu himself who is the first who should be condemned.”

Foreign Minister Israel Katz summoned the Turkish deputy ambassador for a reprimand in the wake of Erdogan’s attacks on Netanyahu.

Arutz Sheva

Day 197 — Saturday, April 20

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said Thursday on Newsmax TV’s “The Record” that his bill for foreign aid was necessary because there is a “Biblical admonition to stand with Israel.”

Host Greta Van Susteren asked, “Can you guarantee the American people that money that goes to Gaza will actually go to humanitarian aid? Who is monitoring it?”

Johnson said, “Yes well, we are and our agencies and the Congress itself. We have oversight responsibility over that. We’ve required in the House’s version of this strict accountability that the White House has to give reports of the funding.”

He continued, “These are really, really important things. This is the precious treasure of the American people. Israel is a critical ally of ours and I think most people understand the necessity of this funding. They’re fighting for their very existence. They are the only stable democracy in the Middle East. I mean, of course, there’s for those of us who are believers, it’s a Biblical admonition to stand with Israel. We will, and they will prevail.”

Johnson added, “This is an important, very important symbolic  gesture and a very important replenishment of their stockpiles, for example of the Iron Dome. The reason they shot down all those drones and missiles in the last attack by Iran is because we assisted with that. I think the American people understand the importance of that but to your point we have to have accountability over it.”

Breitbart

Day 197 — Saturday, April 20

The United States on Thursday moved to block a Security Council resolution that sought to recommend the recognition of “Palestine” as a full UN member state.

The resolution, which asserted that “Palestine fulfills membership criteria” and needed nine favorable votes and no vetos to succeed, garnered alarming support with 12 approvals from Russia, China, France, Japan, South Korea, and Algeria—the nation that proposed the resolution.

Israeli envoy Gilad Erdan thanked the United States for “thwarting the unilateral move to impose a Palestinian terrorist state,” which he underscored was a stand for “truth and morality in the face of hypocrisy and politics.”

Erdan further highlighted the absurdity of calling Palestinians and the PA “peace-loving” while they provide payments to terrorists for the slaughter of Israelis.

“Most of you decided to reward Palestinian terror with [a] Palestinian State,” he stressed. “I pray that the day will come when you understand the magnitude of the mistake you are making here. I pray that you will understand before it is too late.”

A recent poll conducted in March by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) also contradicted the claim of “peace-loving” Palestinians, with 71% in Gaza and the West Bank approving of Hamas’ massacre of over 1,200 Israelis on October 7th, and nearly 60% disapproving of peace negotiations with Israel.

Day 197 — Saturday, April 20

I’m sure you’re all well aware that this past weekend, Iran launched hundreds of drones, cruise, and ballistic missiles toward Israel from Iran. In a joint effort, the Israeli Air Force and its allies, including the US, the UK, France, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, downed the majority of the drones and cruise missiles outside of Israel. At the same time, Israel shot down the majority of the ballistic missiles with their Arrow Two and Three systems.

As Amir Tsarfati pointed out on his telegram Channel, “No country [has] ever intercepted over 100 ballistic missiles in space within one hour.”

Ultimately, we know that God protected Israel and His chosen people from the colossal damage that could have happened. In Psalm 121:4, God says, “Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”

Tsarfati further said that “prayer was the most successful air defense system.” I agree. We know that when God’s people pray, and especially when they have been and still are interceding for Israel and the Jewish people, God hears their prayers.

Yet, I wonder: how many churches were praying for Israel? Did pastors give an update from their pulpits this past Sunday to their congregation, informing them of the situation and then interceding and praying for Israel? How many have been doing that since October 7th?

Israel is in some very troubling times, and they need our love and support, and as Christians, we should be giving them that. Perhaps if your church is silent on the matter, you need to find out what your church’s biblical position is on Israel. It may not be what you think.

If Christians aren’t standing with, praying for, loving, and supporting the Jewish people… who is?

Day 196 — Friday, April 19

Israel targeted the defense system of the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran during its strikes Friday morning, ABC quoted a senior American official as saying.

“The Israelis were targeting an air defense radar site near Isfahan that’s part of the protection of the Natanz nuclear facility,” ABC said, in the name of the official. “The first assessment is that the strike took out the site, but assessment hasn’t been completed, the official said.”

The official noted, however, that the strike was meant to send a signal to Iran about Israeli capabilities, but not to escalate the situation.

The attack, which Israel has not claimed credit for, was launched in response to the aerial barrage of ballistic missiles and attack drones that Iran sent to Israel last Saturday night following an airstrike in Damascus, widely attributed to Israel, that killed a senior officer in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

The officer was connected to Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy that has been attacking Israel almost daily since Hamas’s attack on October 7.

In the hours since the strikes in Iran Friday morning, Iran has downplayed their effect and significance, declining to directly point the finger at Israel and announcing that no damage was done to any nuclear sites. The International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) also reported that no damage was done to nuclear sites, and there were no reported casualties.

Jerusalem Post

Day 196 — Friday, April 19

Israel has conducted strikes in Iran in retaliation for Tehran’s unprecedented drone-and-missile assault earlier this week, defying US President Joe Biden’s warning that more attacks could plunge the Middle East further into conflict. 

The city of Isfahan in central Iran was struck at 5 am local time, with Israeli projectiles reported to have targeted an Air Force base near Isfahan, which long has been home to Iran’s fleet of American-made F-14 Tomcats – purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

A base near the city hosts one of Iran’s nuclear facilities, although US military sources reportedly said the target was not believed to be nuclear.

Iran sought to downplay any significant damage to its military facilities and outright denied any nuclear plants were destroyed, claiming that ‘so far, no large-scale strikes or explosions by any air threat have been reported.’ 

Iranian state TV this morning released footage of an undisturbed Isfahan city scape to cast doubt on reports the city had been hit.

Today’s early morning strike comes after Iran launched a barrage of hundreds of drones and rockets at Israel on Saturday, which was largely thwarted by Israel and its international allies. Isfahan was one of several launch sites used in the attack. 

Earlier this week, Biden warned Israel not to retaliate to Saturday’s foiled strikes and urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ‘take the win‘.

Iranian officials meanwhile told Reuters that Tehran has no plan for immediate retaliation against Israel, contradicting statements made by several senior politicians earlier this week. 

No official comment has been released by Israel or the US, but the explosions in Iran will heighten fears of a stronger tit-for-tat retaliation.

Iranian National Security Committee official Abolfazl Amoue declared earlier this week that Tehran is ‘prepared to use a weapon that we have never used’ if Israel responds further. 

And Iran’s foreign minister told CNN yesterday that Tehran’s response to an Israeli strike would be immediate. 

‘If the Israeli regime commits the great error once again our response will be decisive, definitive and regretful for them,’ Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said. 

Footage circulating social media appears to show explosions overhead in Iran, though MailOnline has not been able to confirm the footage. 

Israeli officials warned the Biden administration of its intent to strike before launching in previous days, but an official told CNN that the US did not ‘green light’ any Israeli response. 

Hours before, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on Thursday afternoon, but a senior source declined to confirm to the New York Times whether Gallant warned about the strikes following the meeting.  

Around four hours after reports of strikes, Iran lifted flight suspensions and opened its airports, with runways in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz closed amid the Israeli attack. 

Further explosions reportedly hit military targets in Iraq and Syria around the same time. Syria’s state-run SANA news agency quoted a military statement as saying Israel carried out a missile strike targeting an air defence unit in its south, causing material damage.  

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the strike hit a military radar for government forces. It was not clear if there were casualties, the Observatory said.

The Observatory’s chief Rami Abdurrahman said six Israeli fighter jets entered Syria’s airspace and were flying east when they were spotted by the radar.

Although the US military played a central role in halting Iran’s strikes on Saturday, President Biden said he made it ‘very clear’ to Netanyahu that he had to act ‘carefully and strategically.’

Biden urged Netanyahu to ‘take the win’ of the derailed attack, and cautioned that the US would not participate in any Israeli counter-offensive. 

The Israeli leader brushed off Biden’s warnings, insisting Israel would ‘make its own decisions’ in how to react to Iran’s attack. 

Meanwhile, the United States embassy in Israel told its employees and their families to restrict their movements this morning.

‘Out of an abundance of caution following reports that Israel conducted a retaliatory strike inside Iran, US government employees and their family members are restricted from personal travel outside the greater Tel Aviv’ area as well as the Jerusalem and Beersheva areas ‘until further notice,’ a security advisory issued by the mission on its website said.

Due to a ‘complex’ security environment that ‘can change quickly,’ the embassy ‘may further restrict or prohibit’ the concerned people from travelling to parts of Israel, Jerusalem’s Old City, and the occupied West Bank, the advisory read.

US officials said there was an expectation that if Israel defied warnings, they would not target nuclear or civilian sites. 

In the UK, a Cabinet minister declined to say whether the UK would support Israel’s reported action in Iran.

Daily Mail

Day 195 — Thursday, April 18

Israel’s UN envoy Gilad Erdan slams the fact that the United Nations Security Council is even considering granting full membership to the Palestinian Authority as “immoral.”

“Membership in the United Nations is open to all peace-loving states. Peace-loving — what a joke,” Erdan says ahead of the vote set to take place at 5:00 p.m. (2100 GMT), according to Malta, which holds the council’s rotating presidency.

Erdan charges that granting full member status to the PA would “reward the supporters and perpetrators” of Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

“The child murderers and rapists of Hamas,” he says, “are watching this meeting and they are smiling.”

“How many times has this council met to discuss ways to advance the release of our hostages held in Gaza? How many times? Not even once,” Erdan asks during the Security Council session.

“How many condemnations has this council issued against Hamas for their heinous October 7 massacre? Zero.”

“How detached from reality can this council be to dedicate its time and resources to support a resolution so disconnected to the reality on the ground. To a resolution that will have zero positive impact for any party. That will cause only destruction for years to come and harm any chance for future dialogue,” he says.

US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel confirms that Washington will veto the UN Security Council resolution being brought to a vote later today.

Patel says during a press briefing that there wasn’t unanimity among committee members as to whether the Palestinians had met the criteria necessary to be defined as a state.

Moreover, the State Department spokesperson says the Palestinian Authority needs to undergo significant reforms before it can assume statehood responsibilities.

Times Of Israel

Day 195 — Thursday, April 18

History was made in the early morning hours of April 14. But more significantly, God clearly showed Himself.

It was historic in that Iran had never attacked Israel before from its own borders. As I mentioned earlier, they always had their proxies do their dirty work. This was the first time in the nearly 76 years of Israel’s existence and the decades of the Islamist regime in Iran that the ayatollahs put their own fingers on the trigger and pulled.

It was historic in that never before had an aerial attack of this type and this size been carried out. Again, there were 185 drones, 36 cruise missiles, and 110 ballistic missiles launched in a coordinated assault with the intention to cause major damage and loss of life. Some may balk, saying, “Yeah, but only one child got hurt. Israel really needs to temper its response.” Let me ask you this – picture a mass shooter loading himself up with multiple guns and 200 rounds of ammunition. He then goes to a crowded event and opens fire. Several people are struck and wounded, before he is tackled by bystanders and subdued. Do we say, “Relax, it’s not a big deal. It’s not like he actually killed anyone.” Or, do we say, “Thank the Lord that this man’s plan to massacre all those people was thwarted. Let’s put him away so that he can never do it again.” Iran’s intention was to kill many Israelis, and it is by that intention that they should be judged and punished.

It was historic in that not only did Israel receive help from the US, the UK, and France, but Saudi Arabia and Jordan also participated in shooting down anything that entered their airspace. Help, though, from our Sunni friends had begun prior to that night. The Wall Street Journal reported that Saudi Arabia and the UAE funneled classified intelligence through the US to Israel that helped spoil Iran’s plan. It’s truly remarkable to see the ever-growing effects of the Abraham Accords, mediated by the previous US administration.

It was miraculous in that this level of success never should have happened. Mordecai Avitbul, a Doctor of Physics who works for Israeli security, said, “When I look at what happened on Saturday night on a scientific level, it simply cannot happen.” He explained that to have such a high percentage of weapons destroyed would take every element of the process – human, electronic, mechanical – working just perfectly. He went on to say, “The likelihood that everything works out just as it should does not exist in complex systems like the defense systems that were operating…. Even if we got 90% protection, it would be a miracle…. If this is not an act of God, then I no longer know what a miracle is.” If you feel he may be a biased observer, let me assure you that he is not the only one who sees the miraculous in this event. A close friend of mine in the US who is involved in military security related to missiles and weapons of that sort has assured me that it is impossible to logically look at what took place that night and not see the hand of God. It just doesn’t happen.

If it seems like I am taking a victory lap, let me assure you that I am not. Intercepting hundreds of warheads and stopping a disastrous attack isn’t a victory. It’s just success. Victory is never achieved by defensive actions. The enemy will just fall back, regroup, find ways to improve, and try again. Attacking and defeating the enemy is the only path to true victory. That is why Israel must now go on the offensive.

Day 195 — Thursday, April 18

Soon after the failed drone and missile assault by Iran against Israel early on Sunday morning, images of the blackened remains of intercepted rockets scattered across Israel began circulating on social media.

An especially poignant image showed the hull of an enormous rocket floating on the salty waters of Israel’s Dead Sea. The area immediately to the west of the sea, around the towns of Arad and Dimona, was one of the attack’s main targets.

“When I first saw images on Sunday circulating on social media I thought they were fake. There is nothing fake about this, or the threat it posed,” IDF Lt.-Col. Peter Lerner, who serves as an IDF spokesman in the reserves, wrote on 𝕏.

This is 70% of one of the 120 !!! ballistic missiles #Iran launched at #Israel on Saturday. It was intercepted and this part fell near the Dead Sea. When I first saw images on Sunday circulating on social media I thought they were fake. There is nothing fake about this, or the… pic.twitter.com/BlbI1GOrP4

— Lt. Col. (R) Peter Lerner (@LTCPeterLerner) April 16, 2024

The IDF presented some remains discovered in Israel of the roughly 120 ballistic missiles fired by Iran, most of which were intercepted by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) in cooperation with several allied nations.

IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Daniel Hagari visited the Joulis military base, near the town of Kiryat Malachi, where the missile remains were presented.

“We cannot stand still from this kind of aggression,” Hagari told reporters. “Iran will not get [off] scot-free with this aggression.”

Lerner filmed himself next to one of the rockets and wrote on 𝕏: “This is 70% of one of the 120 ballistic missiles Iran launched at Israel on Saturday. It was intercepted and this part fell near the Dead Sea.”

More than 110 ballistic missiles were launched toward Israel over the weekend. pic.twitter.com/qSWrBg73qR

— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) April 16, 2024

According to the IDF, the Iranian Emad missile originally had a warhead of around 450 kg (nearly 900 pounds). The remains – roughly 11 meters (36 ft) in length – were only portions of the fuel tank.

“Over 880 pounds of explosives in just 1 ballistic missile. Around 120 were fired by Iran at Israel. The world must recognize Iran’s attack could’ve ended very differently. It’s thanks to our advanced aerial defense systems and the help of our international partners that the attack was successfully thwarted,” the IDF wrote on its official 𝕏 account.

The Israeli military said it would study the remains to deepen its understanding of Iranian weapons systems.

“Standing next to it, suddenly the claims that Iran’s attack was in any way a token effort or symbolic seem absurd,” noted Dominic Waghorn, a journalist at Sky News who attended the presentation.

“If any one of those ballistic missiles had reached an Israeli population center it would have been devastating.”

All Israel News

Day 195 — Thursday, April 18

Lebanon’s Hezbollah said it launched missiles and drones on an Israeli military facility in Arab al-Aramshe on Wednesday, in response to the Israeli killing of Hezbollah members and commanders in Lebanon. This escalation comes as tensions between Israel and Iran are reaching new heights after a series of strikes and counterstrikes.

Hezbollah says it targeted a military facility in the border town of Arab al-Aramshe on Wednesday to avenge the killing of a number of its fighters, including a commander, in Israeli strikes the day before. Israeli media said the rockets struck a community center.

The Israeli rescue service Magen David Adom said 18 people were wounded, four of them seriously. It didn’t identify them or say whether they were soldiers or civilians. The Israeli military said it identified a number of launches in the area and struck the sources of the rocket fire. It said it also targeted a compound in southern Lebanon.

Israel and Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and allied with the Palestinian Hamas terrorist group, have traded fire on a near-daily basis since the start of the war in Gaza.

Hezbollah had said earlier Wednesday that it fired guided missiles at an air traffic base in northern Israel, striking and damaging equipment.

Israeli Hayom

Day 194 — Wednesday, April 17

As the nations of the world actively seek to temper Israel’s response to Sunday’s large-scale drone and missile attack by Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made clear that the Jewish State will make their “own decisions” in defense of their country.

Shortly following meetings with British and German Foreign Ministers, the Israeli leader on Wednesday stressed that foreign powers would not make the decision surrounding Israel’s next steps in dealing with the Iranian regime.

“I thank our friends for their support in defending Israel, and I say support in words and deeds,” Netanyahu stated. “They [world leaders] have also all types of suggestions and advice. I appreciate it, but I want to make clear that we will make our own decisions, and the State of Israel will do all that is needed to defend itself.”

Early Sunday morning Israel-time, the Iranian regime commenced an attack on Israel, which included over three hundred suicide drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles fired from Iran soil. 99% of the airborne projectiles were intercepted prior to reaching the Jewish State, with the US, UK, France, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia also taking part in shooting down the weapons.

At an annual army parade speech on Wednesday, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi warned that the “slightest action” by Israel in retaliation will be “met with a severe, extensive and painful response.”

Iran asserted that their attack was conducted in retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike on their consulate in Syria in which twelve individuals were killed, including an IRGC general reportedly involved in the “planning and execution” of Hamas’ brutal massacre of Israelis on October 7th.

Day 204 — Saturday, April 27

The Columbia University student who was one of the most vocal students in the anti-Semitic protests at Columbia University in recent days has been thrown out of school after The Daily Wire unearthed video of him stating that “Zionists don’t deserve to live.”

Haaretz journalist Judy Maltz posted on X that Khymani James, the leader of the anti-Israel encampment on the school’s campus, “has been thrown out of school.” The Boston Globe also reported that James had also been banned from the school’s campus.

James claimed in a statement posted to social media on Friday that he was the victim of “far right agitators” who posted his remarks on social media, which he claimed they did “without context.”

In the stream, he made the case for Zionists to die several times and stated “Zionists don’t deserve to live.”

Meet Khymani James, a student leader of Columbia University’s anti-Israel Gaza Solidarity Encampment who openly states that “Zionists don’t deserve to live”

He made the comments during a meeting with the school that he live-streamed.

We put together the highlights: pic.twitter.com/JFlxnRkNC2

— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) April 25, 2024

James said he made the comment because he was feeling “unusually upset after an online mob targeted me because I am visibly queer and Black.”

The full meeting with Columbia University and his comments afterward on the livestream are below.

James, who goes by “he/she/they” pronouns, is the spokesperson of the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD) group and has been the visible face of the protests that have garnered national attention, including holding a press conference on Wednesday.

Daily Wire

Day 204 — Saturday, April 27

Following a world premiere in New York on Thursday, “Screams Before Silence,” former Meta chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg’s new documentary on the systematic sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas against Israelis on October 7, is now available for open-access online viewing.

The hour-long film, created in cooperation with Israel’s Kastina Productions, provides first-hand accounts from survivors, freed hostages, first responders, and legal, medical, and forensic experts. Sandberg is present throughout the film either interviewing individuals in a studio or accompanying them to October 7-related sites.

What emerges is not only an understanding of the mass scale and barbarism of Hamas’s sexual attacks against women but also their deliberate, pre-meditated, and systematic nature.

“When the body of the woman is violated, it symbolizes [the violation] of the body of the whole nation,” Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, former vice-president of the United Nations Commission on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, says in the documentary.

The film’s testimonies detail a horrific truth that was largely brushed aside by a report released earlier this week by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in which he declined to include Hamas among organizations suspected by the UN of committing acts of sexual violence during conflict. That report noted there is evidence that sex crimes were committed during the Palestinian terror group’s devastating October 7 attack on Israel, but did not specifically attribute responsibility to Hamas.

The film also comes at a critical moment as mass anti-Israel demonstrations overtake a growing number of American university campuses, with many participants refuting the facts of October 7. Some flat-out deny that Hamas breached the border with Gaza and ruthlessly tortured, murdered, and wounded thousands of Israelis that day.

“Screams Before Silence” is clearly aimed at American and international audiences, as nearly everything in it has already been shared or reported in one form or another in the Israeli media. In addition, most of the October 7 footage — mainly shot by Hamas terrorists’ own GoPro cameras — has already appeared on television or social media.

However, even for those who have seen the footage or heard survivor or witness testimonies, it will be hard to watch the documentary.

[Warning: The following documentary contains disturbing and graphic testimony from former hostages and survivors of the October 7 massacre]

Times Of Israel

Day 203 — Friday, April 26

In a Wednesday interview with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt, Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said he was visiting Columbia University “to call on the president of the university to resign.”

“This President Shafik has shown to be a very weak, inept leader,” Johnson said, regarding the ongoing anti-Zionist, pro-Hamas protests taking place on the Columbia University campus.

“They cannot even guarantee the safety of Jewish students? They’re expected to run for their lives and stay home from class? It’s maddening.”

“Every leader in this country – every political official, every citizen of good conscience – has to speak out and say that this is not who we are in America, and we got to have accountability and that’s what my colleagues and I are going to be working on.”

Johnson also said: “We need to revoke federal funding to these universities if they cannot keep control,” as well as “to revoke these student visas for these violent protestors.”

“We’re not getting strong leadership obviously from the White House,” Johnson said. “I mean the White House is caving to the antisemitic – I call it the ‘pro-Hamas’ – wing of the party now.”

In a press conference held at the university yesterday, Johnson said that “as Columbia has allowed these lawless agitators and radicals to take over, the virus of antisemitism has spread across other campuses. By some counts, as many as 200 universities have a similar form of protest right now.”

“I’m here today joining my colleagues in calling on President Shafik to resign if she cannot immediately bring order to this chaos,” Johnson concluded.

While there has not been actual violence on the Columbia University campus, it has taken place on other campuses, and many protesters at Columbia have explicitly called for it.

The Jerusalem Post reported about a chant from Columbia University student protestors that explicitly supported Hamas and its violent attacks on the Israeli public.

“We say justice, you say how? Burn Tel Aviv to the ground. Go Hamas, we love you. We support your rockets, too.”

One woman who spoke at Columbia’s “Gaza Solidarity Encampment” declared the following: “Let it be known that it was the Al-Aqsa Flood that put the global intifada back on the table again. And it is the sacrificial spirit of the Palestinian freedom fighters that will guide every struggle on every corner of the earth to victory.”

She spoke of “revolution” and “rebellion,” quoted a “great black communist,” and stated that “to fight tooth and nail against our enemy by any means necessary is to fight for life itself.”

“Remember that militancy breeds resistance!” she shouted to a cheering crowd. “Thousands upon thousands of students around the world have been moved to rebel because of your militancy.”

A spokesman for Hamas praised the protests, saying, “We in the Hamas movement believe that any popular movement demanding an end to the aggression and genocide against our people are useful and supportive activities for our cause.”

The Hamas spokesman went on to say that “the importance of this increases if these activities involve young people and university students, given that this reflects the vision of future generations.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also addressed the surge of anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric spreading across American universities and college campuses.

In a video statement on Wednesday, Netanyahu condemned the rallies led by “antisemitic mobs” and urged college administrators to stop them.

ALL ISRAEL NEWS

Day 203 — Friday, April 26

Monday night in Israel, as Jewish families gathered around the Passover table for their first Seder since the tragedy of October 7, there were too many empty chairs. Some held hands, still hoping for the release of their hostage loved ones. Thousands of others tasted the meal’s bitter herbs with a fresh wave of grief for the ones who will never return. Across the country, Jews and non-Jews hold their breath, wondering what next year’s holiday will look like. More than that, wondering whether the world, a place rocked by hatred, conflict, and chaos, can survive it.

“Why is this night different?” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked poignantly as dusk fell. “On this night, 133 of our dear brothers and sisters are not around the Seder table, and they are still held hostage by Hamas in hellish conditions,” he said somberly. “… And why is this night not different?” he prompted. Because Passover, of all holidays, recognizes that the Jewish people have been oppressed and hunted throughout history. “In every generation they rise up to destroy us,” Netanyahu reminded his people, “and the Holy One, blessed be He, saves us from them. This time as well,” he insisted, “we will overcome those who seek our lives.”

But it will not be because Israel’s friends have stood strong in their defense. Here at home, the Biden administration has all but abandoned America’s strongest, most significant Middle Eastern ally. As the Jewish state stands on the brink of war with the entire Islamic world, this president and his party seem more intent on placating his radical, anti-Semitic base than supporting Israel’s right to self-defense. After Iran fired more than 300 drones and ballistic missiles at the tiny nation in an unprecedented attack, what did the president demand? Restraint — not from the ayatollah, but from the country the religious dictator sought to destroy.

Even as President Biden declared his “ironclad” support of Israel Monday, the world knows he’s simultaneously tied Netanyahu’s hands and made the Jewish state vulnerable to greater hostilities.

Day 203 — Friday, April 26

Two anti-tank missile launches were identified crossing from Lebanon into the area of Har Dov in northern Israel overnight Thursday, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.

IDF artillery and tanks struck the sources of fire. In addition, IDF soldiers identified and struck a launch post by tank fire in the area of Chebaa in southern Lebanon.

Later, IDF fighter jets struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the area of Kfarchouba in southern Lebanon, as well as Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure and military structure in the area of Markaba in southern Lebanon.

Throughout the day on Thursday, three launches were identified crossing from Lebanon into the area of Arab al-Aramshe in northern Israel. Four additional launches were identified toward the area of Har Dov. No injuries were reported.

Earlier in the day, IDF forces struck to eliminate a threat in several areas in southern Lebanon.

Arutz Sheva

Day 202 — Thursday, April 25

We all know that the one activity university students enjoy more than a raging frat party is a good old-fashioned protest. Unfortunately, what is taking place in colleges across the United States and into Europe is not your parents’ march for equal rights or an end to the Vietnam War. Today we have the element of Antifa and professional protesters, and they are incredibly skilled at ratcheting up the violent tension of these crowds of ignorant, impressionable teens and young adults.

Now we see that pressure beginning to burst. Whether it is at Columbia, Harvard, the University of Texas at Austin, USC, or any of the other universities where the mobs are taking over, the police are facing overwhelming numbers of frenzied students. Many think they are doing a good thing, but they’ve been duped by those who know better and are masters at using lies and passion to create chaos. I don’t know what this is going to look like in the days ahead, but I am very concerned. I don’t see this just breaking up, because the provocateurs know that they have strong foothold.

I also recognize that this is a spiritual battle. Satan hates what God loves. This is a direct assault by the enemy against the people that God has chosen to be His own. He is using his minions – the provocateurs – to do his bidding, whipping up vitriol against Israel. It is very important to recognize that this is bigger than just these protests. This is a well-planned effort to pass antisemitism on to the next generation. The anti-Israel rhetoric that these students have been hearing in their classrooms is being driven deep into their hearts through these protests. Sadly, for many, if not most, it will remain there for the rest of their lives.

Day 202 — Thursday, April 25

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “What’s happening in America’s college campuses is horrific. Antisemitic mobs have taken over leading universities. They call for the annihilation of Israel. They attack Jewish students. They attack Jewish faculty. This is reminiscent of what happened in German universities in the 1930s. It’s unconscionable. It has to be stopped. It has to be condemned and condemned unequivocally. But that’s not what happened. The response of several university presidents was shameful.

Now, fortunately, state, local, federal officials, many of them have responded differently but there has to be more. More has to be done. It has to be done not only because they attack Israel, that’s bad enough, not only because they want to kill Jews wherever they are, that’s bad enough, it’s also when you listen to them, it’s also because they say not only, ‘Death to Israel. Death to the Jews,’ but ‘death to America.’ And this tells us that there is an antisemitic surge here that has terrible consequences.

We see this exponential rise of antisemitism throughout America and throughout Western societies as Israel tries to defend itself against genocidal terrorists, genocidal terrorists who hide behind civilians. Yet it is Israel that is falsely accused of genocide, Israel that is falsely accused of starvation and all sundry war crimes. It’s all one big libel. But that’s not new. We’ve seen in history that antisemitic attacks were always preceded by vilification and slander, lies that were cast against the Jewish people that are unbelievable yet people believed them.

Now, what is important now is for all of us, all of us who are interested and cherish our values and our civilization, to stand up together and to say enough is enough. We have to stop antisemitism because antisemitism is the canary in the coal mine. It always precedes larger conflagrations that engulf the entire world.

So I ask all of you, Jews and non-Jews alike, who are concerned with our common future and our common values to do one thing: Stand up, speak up, be counted. Stop antisemitism now.”

Anti-Semitism on campuses in the United States is reminiscent of what happened in German universities in the 1930s.

The world cannot stand idly by. pic.twitter.com/oHlwig1vCl

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) April 24, 2024

Prime Minister’s Office

Day 202 — Thursday, April 25

This past week, The Times of Israel reported that Turkish President Recep Erdogan laid the blame squarely on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for Iran’s large-scale attack on Israel earlier this month.

“The main one responsible for the tension that gripped our hearts on the evening of April 13 is Netanyahu and his bloody administration,” Erdogan declared.

He further went on to say, “Those who have been silent for months about Israel’s aggressive attitude immediately condemned the Iranian response, but it’s Netanyahu himself who is the first who should be condemned.”

It is pretty sad that Erdogan won’t admit that Iran is the leading state sponsor of terror in the Middle East, and because of their hatred for Israel, they are hellbent on destroying the Jewish State

The truth is that the Iranian regime, which some call “the head of the octopus,” has their tentacles all around Israel. Iran funds and props up its terrorist proxies, with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon possessing over 150,000 rockets, all pointed toward Israel. Iran also has proxies in Iraq, Syria, Gaza with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and in Yemen with the Houthis, all with one goal: eliminating the Jewish State.

President Erdogan, an Islamist, has chosen to support Hamas’ demonic massacre on October 7 and Iran’s attack on the Jewish state with over 300 drones, cruise, and ballistic missiles. He has no problem with these horrible events, but he does have a problem with Israel, especially when they defend themselves.

This shouldn’t surprise students of God’s Word.

Day 201 — Wednesday, April 24

Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of standing “shoulder to shoulder with the rapists and murderers of Hamas” for declining to include the terror group in a report published Tuesday on organizations suspected by the UN of committing acts of sexual violence during conflict.

The document, titled “Conflict-related sexual violence,” and published as a “Report of the Secretary-General,” noted there is evidence that sex crimes were committed during the Palestinian terror group Hamas’s devastating October 7 attack on Israel, but did not specifically attribute responsibility to Hamas.

The ministry elaborated in the statement that Guterres ignored “the plethora of testimony and evidence that was collected and then included in the report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten.”

Patten’s report after her visit to Israel found that rape likely occurred during the Hamas attacks, and said there was convincing evidence hostages were facing sexual abuse in Gaza.

In his report, Guterres referenced Patten’s assessment, but noted that it, “not being investigative in nature and given its limited duration, did not draw conclusions on attribution to specific armed groups or determine prevalence of incidents of conflict-related sexual violence during and after the attacks of 7 October. Such a determination would require a fully-fledged investigation.”

Some 3,000 attackers burst through the boundary with the Gaza Strip to rampage murderously through southern Israel amid widespread gang rape, torture and mutilation of victims, according to numerous witnesses and robust evidence. Terrorists also abducted 253 people of all ages who were taken as hostages in Gaza.

Times Of Israel

Day 200 — Tuesday, April 23

Officials from the terrorist organization Hamas are leveling new accusations against the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), claiming that the Israeli troops were executing Palestinians, humiliating their corpses, and dumping over 200 into “mass graves” outside Nasser and Al Shifa hospitals.

The IDF denied the “completely baseless” claim and highlighted that the Palestinians had dug and buried individuals in the mass graves prior to and during the IDF’s operation in the region.

Hamas terrorists were using the hospitals as their place of operations, with the IDF arresting hundreds of its operatives at the locations.

The IDF further noted that based on intelligence, they had searched the mass graves in a “targeted” and “respectful” manner in an effort to locate Israeli hostages who may have been buried there

“The examinations were carried out in an orderly manner while maintaining the dignity of the deceased and in a respectful manner,” the IDF said, further explaining that bodies were then “returned to their place in an orderly and proper manner.”

No hostages were located during their search.

Despite the absurdity of the accusation and evidence contradicting the claim, on Tuesday, the United Nations rights chief Volker Turk stated that he was “horrified” by the reports of “mass graves” and ill-treatment of the dead, which he insisted “indicates serious violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law.”

This is far from the first instance of Hamas terrorists disseminating propaganda in an effort to sway public opinion against Israel. Recently, Hamas and Al-Jazeera heavily publicized the claim that the IDF was raping Palestinian women during their operation in Shifa Hospital. The source of this information was a Palestinian woman who later admitted that her story was false and intended to “arouse the nation’s fervor and brotherhood.”

Videos, images, and other pieces of evidence showed Hamas terrorists, during their massacre on October 7th, raped, tortured, mutilated, and paraded through the streets of Gaza the bodies of Israelis. 1,200 Israelis were killed during the bloody rampage and over 250 taken hostage, the majority of which were civilians.

Harbinger’s STAFF

Day 200 — Tuesday, April 23

Israel Air Force fighter jets destroyed ready-to-launch Hamas rocket launchers in the southern Gaza Strip, while soldiers from the Nahal Brigade killed multiple terrorists in the central part of the strip over the last day, the IDF announced on Tuesday.

Fighter jets completed several airstrikes overnight on Hamas launch posts located in southern Gaza based on IDF intelligence and operational identifications . ‏The launch posts were loaded, but were struck before any launches were carried out toward Israeli territory.

Meanwhile, soldiers from the Nahal Brigade continued their counterterrorism activity in the central Gaza Strip’s corridor. During one of the activities, the troops killed a number of Hamas terrorists using sniper fire. Additionally, an IAF aircraft struck several terrorists who hid adjacent to a civilian shelter in the area of Bureij. The strike was carried out in a targeted and precise manner.

Over the past day, fighter jets and additional aircraft struck approximately 25 terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip, including military infrastructure, observation posts, and launch posts.

Shortly before this announcement was released, sirens sounded in Sderot, with Israeli media reporting that four rockets were intercepted and no injuries or damages were sustained.

Jerusalem Post

Day 200 — Tuesday, April 23

During the season of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover, I am always reminded of the accusation that Jews, over the millennia, have used the blood of Christian children to make the matzah (unleavened bread) for Passover. This accusation is known as the “Blood Accusation” or “Blood Libel.” It is, of course, a false allegation, but this hasn’t stopped people from accusing Jews through the ages, and it has led to thousands of deaths.

The idea is that Jewish people murder young Christian children during the time of Passover, drain them of their blood, and use it to make unleavened bread. Passover often takes place around the time of Resurrection Sunday (Easter) and the Blood Libel can also be reinforced with the other lie about the Jewish people, the accusation of killing Christ or deicide (the killing of God.)

Biblically speaking, the Jewish people were to refrain from consuming blood, so much so that God made it very clear to them on several occasions (Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 7:26, 17:14; Deuteronomy 12:6, 15:23; Acts 15:20, 28-29.) It was a grave sin to consume blood. The children of Israel had a firm order from God, punishable by death, as in Leviticus 17:14, “For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life. Therefore I said to the sons of Israel, ‘You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.” The practice has continued through the ages, and one of the basic principles of kosher meat in contemporary Judaism is to drain the meat of all its blood before consumption.

So, when did it start in Jewish history? Like many of the false accusations, it started during the Middle Ages in Europe and has grown ever since. The first case on record was in 1144 in Norwich, England. When I say the case, I need to clarify that this is the first time that an accusation was made about the Jewish community, although there was absolutely no proof to make such an accusation.

Day 199 — Monday, April 22

Riot police arrested dozens of people during a pro-Palestinian demonstration at Yale University, hours after Columbia University’s president issued a last-minute announcement that classes on Monday would be held virtually in an effort to “deescalate the rancor” on campus, one of several rocked by anti-Israel protests.

Demonstrators on Monday blocked traffic around Yale’s campus in New Haven, Connecticut, demanding the school divest from military weapons manufacturers, prompting police to make arrests, video footage aired on social media showed.

More than 40 people were apprehended by police, according to the Yale Daily News, a student-run news site. Yale University officials could not be reached for comment.

Protesters could reportedly be heard chanting “YPD (Yale Police Department) or KKK, IDF they’re all the same” and chanting, “Arab blood is not cheap, for the martyrs we will speak.”

Posts on social media say the pro-Palestinian protesters have moved to a different location on campus, despite the arrests and the police presence.

The arrests follow several violent episodes during the days-long protest, with a Jewish student journalist who was reporting on the anti-Israel protest at Yale saying she was stabbed in the eye with a Palestinian flag.

According to The New York Post, the student, Yale Free Press editor-in-chief Sahar Tartak, was surrounded by taunting protesters after she was “singled out for wearing Hasidic Jewish attire.”

“There’s hundreds of people taunting me and waving the middle finger at me, and then this person waves a Palestinian flag in my face and jabs it in my eye,” Tartak was quoted as saying.

The unrest on Yale comes after antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents sparked a rabbi linked to the Columbia to urge Jewish students on Sunday to remain at home and US President Joe Biden had blasted the “blatant antisemitism” during the protests on campus.

In a statement issued at 1:14 a.m. local time on Monday, Columbia President Nemat Minouche Shafik said the university was canceling in-person classes while denouncing antisemitic language and intimidating and harassing behavior that she said had occurred on campus recently.

“Over the past days, there have been too many examples of intimidating and harassing behavior on our campus. Antisemitic language, like any other language that is used to hurt and frighten people, is unacceptable and appropriate action will be taken,” she said.

Shafik added that “tensions have been exploited and amplified by individuals who are not affiliated with Columbia who have come to campus to pursue their own agendas…We need a reset.”

Also Monday, an Israeli assistant professor at Columbia University’s business school said he was denied entry to the main campus.

In a post on X, formerly, Twitter, Shai Davidai said the reason he was refused entry to campus was because the university “cannot protect my safety as a Jewish professor.”

“This is 1938,” he added, referring to the dismissal of Jewish staff from universities in Nazi Germany in the years leading up to the Holocaust.

In video footage of a confrontation between Davidai and Columbia University COO Cas Holloway, the assistant professor claimed he is being denied entry because of his Jewish identity.

“I have not just a civil right as a Jewish person to be on campus, I have a right as a professor employed by the university to be on campus,” he said.

“You cannot let people that support Hamas on campus and me, a professor, not go on campus,” he can be heard saying in the video.

Since October 7, Davidai has emerged as a leading voice criticizing universities for permitting anti-Israel sentiment to flourish and bleed into antisemitism.

More than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested on Thursday on the campus after Shafik authorized New York police to clear an encampment set up by students demonstrating against Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Anti-Israel sentiment, sometimes veering into downright antisemitism, has flared up on college campuses across the US throughout the war in Gaza that began on October 7, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and take over 250 hostages.

Times Of Israel

Day 199 — Monday, April 22

An independent UN review of UNRWA, the UN’s agency for “Palestinian refugees“, released its report on Monday.

The panel, headed by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, found “neutrality-related issues” in UNRWA but also claimed that Israel had yet to provide evidence for allegations that a significant number of its staff were members of terrorist organizations.

UNRWA remains “irreplaceable and indispensable to Palestinians’ human and economic development,” added the report, as quoted by the AFP news agency.

The review group was created after Israel said in January that 12 UNRWA staff participated in the October 7 Hamas attacks. In the weeks that followed, numerous donor states suspended or paused some $450 million in funding to UNRWA, though some of those countries have since resumed the funding.

Israel said that the UNRWA workers who participated in the Hamas massacre kidnapped a woman, handed out ammunition and actively taking part in the massacre at Kibbutz Be’eri, where 97 people were murdered.

Colonna’s team was tasked with assessing whether UNRWA was “doing everything within its power to ensure neutrality,” while UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres activated a second investigation to probe Israel’s allegations.

The review noted that “neutrality-related issues persist,” including instances of staff sharing biased political posts on social media and the use of [what they call] a small number of textbooks with “problematic content” in some UNRWA schools.

These included “the use of historical maps in a non-historical context, e.g. without labeling Israel” referring to Israel as the “Zionist occupation” and “naming Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry reacted with fury to the panel’s report.

“Hamas has infiltrated UNRWA so deeply that it is no longer possible to determine where UNRWA ends and where Hamas begins. More than 2,135 UNRWA workers are members of either Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), while one-fifth of UNRWA school administrators are Hamas members,” said Affairs Ministry spokesperson Oren Marmorstein.

“The problem with UNRWA-Gaza isn’t that of a few bad apples; it is a rotten and poisonous tree whose roots are Hamas,” he added.

“The Colonna report ignores the severity of the problem, and offers cosmetic solutions that do not deal with the enormous scope of Hamas’ infiltration of UNRWA. This is not what a genuine and thorough review looks like. This is what an effort to avoid the problem and not address it head on looks like,” Marmorstein continued.

“Israel calls on the donor countries to refrain from transferring their taxpayers’ money to UNRWA-Gaza, as these funds will go to the Hamas terrorist organization, and that violates legislation in the donor countries themselves. Israel calls on the donor countries to transfer their funds to other humanitarian organizations in Gaza.”

“UNRWA-Gaza is part of the problem and not part of the solution. There are other solutions. UNRWA cannot be part of the solution in Gaza not now, and not in the future,” concluded Marmorstein.

Arutz Sheva

Day 199 — Monday, April 22

Rabbi Elie Buechler, who co-directs the Orthodox Union’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC) for Columbia University and Barnard College, told Jewish students on Sunday to stay home until the campus environment improves.

“What we are witnessing in and around campus is tragic. The events of the last few days, especially last night, have made it clear that Columbia University’s Public Safety and the NYPD [New York City Police Department] cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety in the face of extreme antisemitism and anarchy,” the rabbi wrote to a group of 290-plus students on the WhatsApp messaging app.

“It deeply pains me to say that I strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved,” he wrote.

“It is not our job as Jews to ensure our own safety on campus. No one should have to endure this level of hatred, let alone at school,” Buechler said.

In a letter to the university’s president dated April 19, a Columbia Jewish alumni group warned, “At present, new, unauthorized protests are disrupting classes and creating an irrefutably unsafe environment for Jewish students.

“It is clear to us that Columbia is now under mob rule—a mob, by the way, that is only interested in attention and chaos, rather than thoughtful dialogue or reasoned debate,” they wrote.

The alumni referred to a petition by Jewish students asking to take their remaining spring semester courses online out of fear of classroom violence.

On Friday night, protesters were filmed screaming at two Jewish students, “The 7th of October is going to be every day for you.”

JNS

Day 199 — Monday, April 22

This week, Time magazine published an article titled “A Million Dollar Middle East Peace Plan,” which I encourage you to read. It lays out a scenario for peace between Israel and its Middle East enemies that is chillingly similar to what the Bible predicts.

The author, Kai Bird, says, “This conflict is so dangerous that the time has come for the international community to impose a solution.” A compelled solution to the nations? That is precisely what Daniel 9:27 says, “He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’”

Some take the idea of “confirming” to mean that he will simply strengthen an already existing covenant. But that idea of “confirming,” literally in Hebrew, means to “make strong.” He is going to make strong a covenant—or even “compel” a covenant.

The Time Magazine article insists that “the international community” needs to “impose a solution.” According to the author, they must “convene a Geneva peace conference” where all the essential parties will be forced to participate and “face financial and legal sanctions if they fail to show up.”

“A conversation will take place in which all parties are heard,” the author described. “But the American, European, and other international diplomats invited to Geneva will be responsible for the actual drafting of a peace treaty.”

So, nations other than Israel and their enemies will develop this peace treaty draft. It will be brokered by outside forces, which is exactly what Daniel 9:27 predicts.

The author concludes, “This will be an imposed peace because the global stakes are too high.”

The plan is to “impose peace” upon these nations. That’s what the Bible predicts. It will be an imposed, compelled, or “take it or leave it” covenant that will be negotiated and brokered by the Antichrist, who will rise from Europe and a revived/reunited Roman Empire.

Day 199 — Monday, April 22

The majority of Israelis support the Damascus strike, which Israel has not claimed responsibility for, according to a new survey by The Israel Democracy’s Institute’s Viterbi Family Center for Public Opinion and Police Research published on Sunday.

A total of 514 respondents were interviewed via an internet panel and by telephone in Hebrew and 98 in Arabic. The maximum sampling error was ±4.04% at a confidence level of 95%.

Mohammed Reza Zahedi, the top commander in the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) for Lebanon and Syria was assassinated in an airstrike, The Jerusalem Post reported. He was killed alongside a lieutenant and about five other officers, according to the IRGC. Bloomberg reported that an entire IRGC command wing was killed. 

A total of 80% of Jewish Israelis surveyed reported supporting the strike as “the right thing to do.” However, the majority of Arab-Israelis (67%) felt it was “the wrong course of action.”

Asked whether Israel should agree to the establishment of a future Palestinian state in exchange for a regional defense agreement, only 26% of Jewish Israelis said they supported the idea. The exchange was far more popular amongst Arab Israelis, 74% backing this trade. 

Jerusalem Post

Day 199 — Monday, April 22

On a spectacularly beautiful September morning in 2001, hijacked planes struck the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington. The bloodlust of radical Islam needlessly took the lives of thousands. And, briefly, America woke up.

That short-lived awakening was purchased at a terrible cost. But while it lasted, it was amazing. People from sea to shining sea realized again what it meant to be Americans. They didn’t suddenly become blind to the nation’s shortcomings, but they also saw what was rare and precious in the American spirit. Then the nation drifted back into slumber.

While the people slept, an ancient evil rose among them. At the beginning of this millennium, most people, including Jewish Americans, thought antisemitism had mostly been banished from the land. But after 9/11, against all reason, it started growing again. Today it manifests itself everywhere. Young people speak antisemitic slogans as a bizarre form of virtue signaling.

We can see it in the signs and hear it in the chants on campuses and in the streets. Young people, most born after 9/11/2001, today sing out the ideologies of our 2001 enemy — “Death to America!” … “There is only one Solution, Intifada. Revolution!” … “Long live Hamas!” … “Death to Jews!” They compare those who disagree with them to the Ku Klux Klan. But who would agree more with the chant, “Death to Jews!” than the KKK? These pitiful children have become the thing they decry.

They warn us of their intent, saying, “The 7th of October is going to be every day for you!” They often cry out, “We are Hamas!” If they are Hamas, it means they want to kill Jews and Christians. Their hate has nothing to do with so-called colonization. It is all about hatred for “people of the book” because they are Jews and Christians. By claiming to be Hamas, campus radicals are actually saying they want to murder your babies and burn your homes. They want to behead and mutilate. They want to rape, take hostages, and then keep on raping. That’s what October 7th was about and what they praise.

Day 198 — Sunday, April 21

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to announce sanctions against the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion in the next few days, according to three American sources. 

The sanctions are a result of [supposed] human rights violations against Palestinians in the West Bank. 

This will be the first time that the United States government has imposed sanctions on an Israeli military unit.

The sources stated that the American sanctions will prohibit the transfer of US military aid to the Netzah Yehuda Battalion, will prevent its soldiers and officers from taking part in training with the United States military, and will prevent the soldiers from this unit from participating in activities that receive American funding.

One of the sources stated that Blinken decided not to impose sanctions on several additional units in the IDF and the Israel Police that were also under investigation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the United States for its plans to sanction the IDF’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion.

“At a time when our soldiers are fighting terrorist monsters, the intention to sanction a unit in the IDF is the height of absurdity and a moral low,” Netanyahu wrote in a post on X late Saturday night.

“In recent weeks, I have been working against the leveling of sanctions on Israeli citizens, including in my conversations with senior American government officials,” he stated.

“The government I head will act by all means against these moves,” he added.

“Sanctions must not be imposed on the Israel Defense Forces!” Netanyahu wrote in a post on X.

Netanyahu spoke out against such a move, first reported by the Walla news site, just one hour after he wrote a message on X, thanking the House of Representatives for passing a $23.2 billion military aid bill for Israel, which now moves to the Senate.

Jerusalem Post

Day 198 — Sunday, April 21

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday urged Palestinian Arabs to unite against Israel following a meeting with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul, AFP reported.

Erdogan said Palestinian Arab unity was “vital” following the talks at the Dolmabahçe palace, which Turkish media reports said lasted more than two and a half hours.

“The strongest response to Israel and the path to victory lie in unity and integrity,” Erdogan said, according to a Turkish presidency statement.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz condemned the meeting between Erdogan and Haniyeh, writing on social media, “Muslim Brotherhood alliance: rape, murder, desecration of corpses and the burning of babies. Erdogan, shame on you!”

While Israel and Turkey formally announced in August of 2022 that they would normalize relations by returning the ambassadors and consuls, after years of tensions, Erdogan has resumed his frequent verbal attacks on Israel since the start of the war in Gaza.

In one speech, the Turkish President said that Netanyahu “committed one of the greatest atrocities of this century in Gaza and has already put his name down in history as the butcher of Gaza.”

Last month, Erdogan again lashed out at Israel and at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying they are “like today’s Nazis.”

On Tuesday, Erdogan said that Netanyahu was the main one to blame for Iran’s first direct attack on Israel.

“The main one responsible for the tension that gripped our hearts on the evening of April 13 is Netanyahu and his bloody administration,” Erdogan was quoted as having said in televised remarks.

“Those who have been silent for months about Israel’s aggressive attitude immediately condemned the Iranian response,” he added. “But it’s Netanyahu himself who is the first who should be condemned.”

Foreign Minister Israel Katz summoned the Turkish deputy ambassador for a reprimand in the wake of Erdogan’s attacks on Netanyahu.

Arutz Sheva

Day 197 — Saturday, April 20

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said Thursday on Newsmax TV’s “The Record” that his bill for foreign aid was necessary because there is a “Biblical admonition to stand with Israel.”

Host Greta Van Susteren asked, “Can you guarantee the American people that money that goes to Gaza will actually go to humanitarian aid? Who is monitoring it?”

Johnson said, “Yes well, we are and our agencies and the Congress itself. We have oversight responsibility over that. We’ve required in the House’s version of this strict accountability that the White House has to give reports of the funding.”

He continued, “These are really, really important things. This is the precious treasure of the American people. Israel is a critical ally of ours and I think most people understand the necessity of this funding. They’re fighting for their very existence. They are the only stable democracy in the Middle East. I mean, of course, there’s for those of us who are believers, it’s a Biblical admonition to stand with Israel. We will, and they will prevail.”

Johnson added, “This is an important, very important symbolic gesture and a very important replenishment of their stockpiles, for example of the Iron Dome. The reason they shot down all those drones and missiles in the last attack by Iran is because we assisted with that. I think the American people understand the importance of that but to your point we have to have accountability over it.”

Breitbart

Day 197 — Saturday, April 20

The United States on Thursday moved to block a Security Council resolution that sought to recommend the recognition of “Palestine” as a full UN member state.

The resolution, which asserted that “Palestine fulfills membership criteria” and needed nine favorable votes and no vetos to succeed, garnered alarming support with 12 approvals from Russia, China, France, Japan, South Korea, and Algeria—the nation that proposed the resolution.

Israeli envoy Gilad Erdan thanked the United States for “thwarting the unilateral move to impose a Palestinian terrorist state,” which he underscored was a stand for “truth and morality in the face of hypocrisy and politics.”

Erdan further highlighted the absurdity of calling Palestinians and the PA “peace-loving” while they provide payments to terrorists for the slaughter of Israelis.

“Most of you decided to reward Palestinian terror with [a] Palestinian State,” he stressed. “I pray that the day will come when you understand the magnitude of the mistake you are making here. I pray that you will understand before it is too late.”

A recent poll conducted in March by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) also contradicted the claim of “peace-loving” Palestinians, with 71% in Gaza and the West Bank approving of Hamas’ massacre of over 1,200 Israelis on October 7th, and nearly 60% disapproving of peace negotiations with Israel.

Day 197 — Saturday, April 20

I’m sure you’re all well aware that this past weekend, Iran launched hundreds of drones, cruise, and ballistic missiles toward Israel from Iran. In a joint effort, the Israeli Air Force and its allies, including the US, the UK, France, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, downed the majority of the drones and cruise missiles outside of Israel. At the same time, Israel shot down the majority of the ballistic missiles with their Arrow Two and Three systems.

As Amir Tsarfati pointed out on his telegram Channel, “No country [has] ever intercepted over 100 ballistic missiles in space within one hour.”

Ultimately, we know that God protected Israel and His chosen people from the colossal damage that could have happened. In Psalm 121:4, God says, “Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”

Tsarfati further said that “prayer was the most successful air defense system.” I agree. We know that when God’s people pray, and especially when they have been and still are interceding for Israel and the Jewish people, God hears their prayers.

Yet, I wonder: how many churches were praying for Israel? Did pastors give an update from their pulpits this past Sunday to their congregation, informing them of the situation and then interceding and praying for Israel? How many have been doing that since October 7th?

Israel is in some very troubling times, and they need our love and support, and as Christians, we should be giving them that. Perhaps if your church is silent on the matter, you need to find out what your church’s biblical position is on Israel. It may not be what you think.

If Christians aren’t standing with, praying for, loving, and supporting the Jewish people… who is?

Day 196 — Friday, April 19

Israel targeted the defense system of the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran during its strikes Friday morning, ABC quoted a senior American official as saying.

“The Israelis were targeting an air defense radar site near Isfahan that’s part of the protection of the Natanz nuclear facility,” ABC said, in the name of the official. “The first assessment is that the strike took out the site, but assessment hasn’t been completed, the official said.”

The official noted, however, that the strike was meant to send a signal to Iran about Israeli capabilities, but not to escalate the situation.

The attack, which Israel has not claimed credit for, was launched in response to the aerial barrage of ballistic missiles and attack drones that Iran sent to Israel last Saturday night following an airstrike in Damascus, widely attributed to Israel, that killed a senior officer in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

The officer was connected to Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy that has been attacking Israel almost daily since Hamas’s attack on October 7.

In the hours since the strikes in Iran Friday morning, Iran has downplayed their effect and significance, declining to directly point the finger at Israel and announcing that no damage was done to any nuclear sites. The International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) also reported that no damage was done to nuclear sites, and there were no reported casualties.

Jerusalem Post

Day 196 — Friday, April 19

Israel has conducted strikes in Iran in retaliation for Tehran’s unprecedented drone-and-missile assault earlier this week, defying US President Joe Biden’s warning that more attacks could plunge the Middle East further into conflict. 

The city of Isfahan in central Iran was struck at 5 am local time, with Israeli projectiles reported to have targeted an Air Force base near Isfahan, which long has been home to Iran’s fleet of American-made F-14 Tomcats – purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

A base near the city hosts one of Iran’s nuclear facilities, although US military sources reportedly said the target was not believed to be nuclear.

Iran sought to downplay any significant damage to its military facilities and outright denied any nuclear plants were destroyed, claiming that ‘so far, no large-scale strikes or explosions by any air threat have been reported.’ 

Iranian state TV this morning released footage of an undisturbed Isfahan city scape to cast doubt on reports the city had been hit.

Today’s early morning strike comes after Iran launched a barrage of hundreds of drones and rockets at Israel on Saturday, which was largely thwarted by Israel and its international allies. Isfahan was one of several launch sites used in the attack. 

Earlier this week, Biden warned Israel not to retaliate to Saturday’s foiled strikes and urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ‘take the win‘.

Iranian officials meanwhile told Reuters that Tehran has no plan for immediate retaliation against Israel, contradicting statements made by several senior politicians earlier this week. 

No official comment has been released by Israel or the US, but the explosions in Iran will heighten fears of a stronger tit-for-tat retaliation.

Iranian National Security Committee official Abolfazl Amoue declared earlier this week that Tehran is ‘prepared to use a weapon that we have never used’ if Israel responds further. 

And Iran’s foreign minister told CNN yesterday that Tehran’s response to an Israeli strike would be immediate. 

‘If the Israeli regime commits the great error once again our response will be decisive, definitive and regretful for them,’ Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said. 

Footage circulating social media appears to show explosions overhead in Iran, though MailOnline has not been able to confirm the footage. 

Israeli officials warned the Biden administration of its intent to strike before launching in previous days, but an official told CNN that the US did not ‘green light’ any Israeli response. 

Hours before, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant on Thursday afternoon, but a senior source declined to confirm to the New York Times whether Gallant warned about the strikes following the meeting.  

Around four hours after reports of strikes, Iran lifted flight suspensions and opened its airports, with runways in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz closed amid the Israeli attack. 

Further explosions reportedly hit military targets in Iraq and Syria around the same time. Syria’s state-run SANA news agency quoted a military statement as saying Israel carried out a missile strike targeting an air defence unit in its south, causing material damage.  

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the strike hit a military radar for government forces. It was not clear if there were casualties, the Observatory said.

The Observatory’s chief Rami Abdurrahman said six Israeli fighter jets entered Syria’s airspace and were flying east when they were spotted by the radar.

Although the US military played a central role in halting Iran’s strikes on Saturday, President Biden said he made it ‘very clear’ to Netanyahu that he had to act ‘carefully and strategically.’

Biden urged Netanyahu to ‘take the win’ of the derailed attack, and cautioned that the US would not participate in any Israeli counter-offensive. 

The Israeli leader brushed off Biden’s warnings, insisting Israel would ‘make its own decisions’ in how to react to Iran’s attack. 

Meanwhile, the United States embassy in Israel told its employees and their families to restrict their movements this morning.

‘Out of an abundance of caution following reports that Israel conducted a retaliatory strike inside Iran, US government employees and their family members are restricted from personal travel outside the greater Tel Aviv’ area as well as the Jerusalem and Beersheva areas ‘until further notice,’ a security advisory issued by the mission on its website said.

Due to a ‘complex’ security environment that ‘can change quickly,’ the embassy ‘may further restrict or prohibit’ the concerned people from travelling to parts of Israel, Jerusalem’s Old City, and the occupied West Bank, the advisory read.

US officials said there was an expectation that if Israel defied warnings, they would not target nuclear or civilian sites. 

In the UK, a Cabinet minister declined to say whether the UK would support Israel’s reported action in Iran.

Daily Mail

Day 195 — Thursday, April 18

Israel’s UN envoy Gilad Erdan slams the fact that the United Nations Security Council is even considering granting full membership to the Palestinian Authority as “immoral.”

“Membership in the United Nations is open to all peace-loving states. Peace-loving — what a joke,” Erdan says ahead of the vote set to take place at 5:00 p.m. (2100 GMT), according to Malta, which holds the council’s rotating presidency.

Erdan charges that granting full member status to the PA would “reward the supporters and perpetrators” of Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, mostly civilians, many amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

“The child murderers and rapists of Hamas,” he says, “are watching this meeting and they are smiling.”

“How many times has this council met to discuss ways to advance the release of our hostages held in Gaza? How many times? Not even once,” Erdan asks during the Security Council session.

“How many condemnations has this council issued against Hamas for their heinous October 7 massacre? Zero.”

“How detached from reality can this council be to dedicate its time and resources to support a resolution so disconnected to the reality on the ground. To a resolution that will have zero positive impact for any party. That will cause only destruction for years to come and harm any chance for future dialogue,” he says.

US State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel confirms that Washington will veto the UN Security Council resolution being brought to a vote later today.

Patel says during a press briefing that there wasn’t unanimity among committee members as to whether the Palestinians had met the criteria necessary to be defined as a state.

Moreover, the State Department spokesperson says the Palestinian Authority needs to undergo significant reforms before it can assume statehood responsibilities.

Times Of Israel

Day 195 — Thursday, April 18

History was made in the early morning hours of April 14. But more significantly, God clearly showed Himself.

It was historic in that Iran had never attacked Israel before from its own borders. As I mentioned earlier, they always had their proxies do their dirty work. This was the first time in the nearly 76 years of Israel’s existence and the decades of the Islamist regime in Iran that the ayatollahs put their own fingers on the trigger and pulled.

It was historic in that never before had an aerial attack of this type and this size been carried out. Again, there were 185 drones, 36 cruise missiles, and 110 ballistic missiles launched in a coordinated assault with the intention to cause major damage and loss of life. Some may balk, saying, “Yeah, but only one child got hurt. Israel really needs to temper its response.” Let me ask you this – picture a mass shooter loading himself up with multiple guns and 200 rounds of ammunition. He then goes to a crowded event and opens fire. Several people are struck and wounded, before he is tackled by bystanders and subdued. Do we say, “Relax, it’s not a big deal. It’s not like he actually killed anyone.” Or, do we say, “Thank the Lord that this man’s plan to massacre all those people was thwarted. Let’s put him away so that he can never do it again.” Iran’s intention was to kill many Israelis, and it is by that intention that they should be judged and punished.

It was historic in that not only did Israel receive help from the US, the UK, and France, but Saudi Arabia and Jordan also participated in shooting down anything that entered their airspace. Help, though, from our Sunni friends had begun prior to that night. The Wall Street Journal reported that Saudi Arabia and the UAE funneled classified intelligence through the US to Israel that helped spoil Iran’s plan. It’s truly remarkable to see the ever-growing effects of the Abraham Accords, mediated by the previous US administration.

It was miraculous in that this level of success never should have happened. Mordecai Avitbul, a Doctor of Physics who works for Israeli security, said, “When I look at what happened on Saturday night on a scientific level, it simply cannot happen.” He explained that to have such a high percentage of weapons destroyed would take every element of the process – human, electronic, mechanical – working just perfectly. He went on to say, “The likelihood that everything works out just as it should does not exist in complex systems like the defense systems that were operating…. Even if we got 90% protection, it would be a miracle…. If this is not an act of God, then I no longer know what a miracle is.” If you feel he may be a biased observer, let me assure you that he is not the only one who sees the miraculous in this event. A close friend of mine in the US who is involved in military security related to missiles and weapons of that sort has assured me that it is impossible to logically look at what took place that night and not see the hand of God. It just doesn’t happen.

If it seems like I am taking a victory lap, let me assure you that I am not. Intercepting hundreds of warheads and stopping a disastrous attack isn’t a victory. It’s just success. Victory is never achieved by defensive actions. The enemy will just fall back, regroup, find ways to improve, and try again. Attacking and defeating the enemy is the only path to true victory. That is why Israel must now go on the offensive.

Day 195 — Thursday, April 18

Soon after the failed drone and missile assault by Iran against Israel early on Sunday morning, images of the blackened remains of intercepted rockets scattered across Israel began circulating on social media.

An especially poignant image showed the hull of an enormous rocket floating on the salty waters of Israel’s Dead Sea. The area immediately to the west of the sea, around the towns of Arad and Dimona, was one of the attack’s main targets.

“When I first saw images on Sunday circulating on social media I thought they were fake. There is nothing fake about this, or the threat it posed,” IDF Lt.-Col. Peter Lerner, who serves as an IDF spokesman in the reserves, wrote on 𝕏.

This is 70% of one of the 120 !!! ballistic missiles #Iran launched at #Israel on Saturday. It was intercepted and this part fell near the Dead Sea. When I first saw images on Sunday circulating on social media I thought they were fake. There is nothing fake about this, or the… pic.twitter.com/BlbI1GOrP4

— Lt. Col. (R) Peter Lerner (@LTCPeterLerner) April 16, 2024

The IDF presented some remains discovered in Israel of the roughly 120 ballistic missiles fired by Iran, most of which were intercepted by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) in cooperation with several allied nations.

IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Daniel Hagari visited the Joulis military base, near the town of Kiryat Malachi, where the missile remains were presented.

“We cannot stand still from this kind of aggression,” Hagari told reporters. “Iran will not get [off] scot-free with this aggression.”

Lerner filmed himself next to one of the rockets and wrote on 𝕏: “This is 70% of one of the 120 ballistic missiles Iran launched at Israel on Saturday. It was intercepted and this part fell near the Dead Sea.”

More than 110 ballistic missiles were launched toward Israel over the weekend. pic.twitter.com/qSWrBg73qR

— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) April 16, 2024

According to the IDF, the Iranian Emad missile originally had a warhead of around 450 kg (nearly 900 pounds). The remains – roughly 11 meters (36 ft) in length – were only portions of the fuel tank.

“Over 880 pounds of explosives in just 1 ballistic missile. Around 120 were fired by Iran at Israel. The world must recognize Iran’s attack could’ve ended very differently. It’s thanks to our advanced aerial defense systems and the help of our international partners that the attack was successfully thwarted,” the IDF wrote on its official 𝕏 account.

The Israeli military said it would study the remains to deepen its understanding of Iranian weapons systems.

“Standing next to it, suddenly the claims that Iran’s attack was in any way a token effort or symbolic seem absurd,” noted Dominic Waghorn, a journalist at Sky News who attended the presentation.

“If any one of those ballistic missiles had reached an Israeli population center it would have been devastating.”

All Israel News

Day 195 — Thursday, April 18

Lebanon’s Hezbollah said it launched missiles and drones on an Israeli military facility in Arab al-Aramshe on Wednesday, in response to the Israeli killing of Hezbollah members and commanders in Lebanon. This escalation comes as tensions between Israel and Iran are reaching new heights after a series of strikes and counterstrikes.

Hezbollah says it targeted a military facility in the border town of Arab al-Aramshe on Wednesday to avenge the killing of a number of its fighters, including a commander, in Israeli strikes the day before. Israeli media said the rockets struck a community center.

The Israeli rescue service Magen David Adom said 18 people were wounded, four of them seriously. It didn’t identify them or say whether they were soldiers or civilians. The Israeli military said it identified a number of launches in the area and struck the sources of the rocket fire. It said it also targeted a compound in southern Lebanon.

Israel and Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and allied with the Palestinian Hamas terrorist group, have traded fire on a near-daily basis since the start of the war in Gaza.

Hezbollah had said earlier Wednesday that it fired guided missiles at an air traffic base in northern Israel, striking and damaging equipment.

Israeli Hayom

Day 194 — Wednesday, April 17

As the nations of the world actively seek to temper Israel’s response to Sunday’s large-scale drone and missile attack by Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made clear that the Jewish State will make their “own decisions” in defense of their country.

Shortly following meetings with British and German Foreign Ministers, the Israeli leader on Wednesday stressed that foreign powers would not make the decision surrounding Israel’s next steps in dealing with the Iranian regime.

“I thank our friends for their support in defending Israel, and I say support in words and deeds,” Netanyahu stated. “They [world leaders] have also all types of suggestions and advice. I appreciate it, but I want to make clear that we will make our own decisions, and the State of Israel will do all that is needed to defend itself.”

Early Sunday morning Israel-time, the Iranian regime commenced an attack on Israel, which included over three hundred suicide drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles fired from Iran soil. 99% of the airborne projectiles were intercepted prior to reaching the Jewish State, with the US, UK, France, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia also taking part in shooting down the weapons.

At an annual army parade speech on Wednesday, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi warned that the “slightest action” by Israel in retaliation will be “met with a severe, extensive and painful response.”

Iran asserted that their attack was conducted in retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike on their consulate in Syria in which twelve individuals were killed, including an IRGC general reportedly involved in the “planning and execution” of Hamas’ brutal massacre of Israelis on October 7th.