As the Israeli Day of Independence closed last week, a horrific attack took place in Elad, Israel. An ultra-Orthodox Jew gave a ride to two Palestinian men, one 19 and one 20. At the conclusion of the trip, one of the young men pulled out an ax and brutally killed the driver. The two men exited the car and began to attack with the ax and a knife those nearby, killing two more men and wounding others. They then fled, leading to a manhunt that lasted several days and employed up to 800 IDF soldiers. Eventually, the men were captured and arrested. This is so tragic. The slaughter of those three men has left 16 children without fathers. For more of my thoughts about this and an in-depth analysis of why these attacks have been taking place, please watch my Breaking News from last week.
On Sunday, two more terror attacks were thwarted by Israeli security forces. One was at the Damascus gate in Jerusalem, where a Palestinian armed with a knife was attempting to stab Jewish people. During the struggle to disarm him, a policeman was wounded, and the perpetrator was immediately shot and killed. Then, Palestinian terrorists with guns tried to break into the Jewish settlement of Tekoa. A security guard shot one and the rest ran away. Yesterday, there was yet another attack near the Temple Mount when a Palestinian terrorist armed with a knife attempted to stab a police officer and was neutralized.
In a sad story that is sure to garner much international attention, Palestinian-American journalist for Al Jazeera Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed while covering fighting in Jenin in the West Bank. The news agency and the Palestinians quickly pointed fingers at Israel. However, evidence proves to the contrary. Video that you’ll find on my Telegram channel clearly shows a Palestinian terrorist firing indiscriminately in the direction of Abu Akleh, then claiming he had hit a soldier. However, no IDF soldiers were struck. Only Abu Akleh and her producer were hit, who were both wearing helmets and protective vests so they could easily have been mistaken for troops. She died after being shot in the head, but the producer survived. Israel quickly offered to participate in a joint investigation, but the Palestinians refused. In fact, in an autopsy, the bullet was recovered. But the Palestinians are not letting the Israeli authorities examine it saying that they “cannot let the criminal investigate the crime.”
The hypocrisy of much of the world is on full display when it comes to the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh. It is a tragedy, and I will not diminish that. However, I find it interesting that those who are so quick to fly into an outrage over this incident say absolutely nothing about three Jewish men being butchered with an ax and a knife just days earlier. Also, over 360 journalists have died in war zones in recent years, yet none of them has caused the world to demand an investigation the way this sad death has. It truly shows the power of the Palestinian propaganda machine and the willing complicity of the media.
US President Joe Biden is contemplating a visit to East Jerusalem. While there, he would visit Makassed Hospital, yet he would do so without any official Israeli accompaniment. This would de facto acknowledge a divided Jerusalem and communicate that East Jerusalem is not under Israel’s sovereignty. Even former presidents Obama and Clinton didn’t go this far.
The beginning of this week saw the launch of the largest military exercise in the country’s history. Dubbed “Chariots of Fire,” it will last four weeks, simulating a “month of war,” and will include all regular and reserve IDF forces from all commands.
Israel launched four missiles destroying Iranian assets on the ground near the town of Hadar in northern Quneitra Governorate. The route on which the attack took place is well known for smuggling weapons, including UAV parts which are the weapons of the future. Later, a second strike took place, this time with tank fire.
The US Congress is backing away from a weak Iran nuclear deal. A measure demanding that any new Iran deal also address Iran’s support for terrorism and requiring that the US not lift sanctions on the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps passed the senate with all Republican votes and 16 Democrats. The Europeans, too, are having difficulty gathering a coalition to create a new nuclear deal with Iran. The Iranians, however, are not that sad, because the longer it takes to reach a deal, the closer they are to having enough high-grade uranium for bomb-making.
Russia has gone all in on phase two of their operation – to take control of all Donbas and of the entire Ukrainian coastline. As sad as it is to say, they are succeeding in most of their plans. This doesn’t just go for their military. The Russian ruble is back to the pre-war level, and Europe is still buying gas from the country. Confidence appears to be high in the Kremlin. Despite new evidence that the Russian bombing of a theater in Mariupol killed more than 600 people – including many civilians – Putin still had the audacity to parade his nuclear missiles through Red Square in Moscow. For constantly updated information about the Russia/Ukraine conflict, please subscribe to my Telegram channel.
North Korea launched a submarine-based inter-continental ballistic missile on Saturday, leading the US to call for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. This was the 15th missile test by North Korea this year.
Meanwhile, Pakistan last month tested its medium-range ballistic missile, Shaheen-III, which can travel up to 2,750 kilometers. And the US successfully tested its DARPA Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC) which can travel at 5x the speed of sound.
Taiwan’s air force scrambled to warn away 18 Chinese aircraft that entered its airspace. Including amongst the Chinese planes were a dozen fighters and two bombers. These violations of airspace have become commonplace over the last two years.
