(Galilee, Israel) — Tonight will begin the fifth day of Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. It is a very special time that celebrates God’s provision for His people during the time of the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the second century B.C. For those of you whose Hanukkah knowledge might be limited to what you learned years ago in an Adam Sandler song, I’d encourage you to watch “The True Meaning of Hanukkah,” an eight-minute video in which I give the history of the celebration and its importance to my people.
On Sunday, celebrators of Hanukkah gathered on Sydney’s beautiful Bondi Beach. Suddenly, gunfire broke out and people began dying. Those who could, scrambled to flee the area in a scene reminiscent of the October 7, 2023, massacre by Hamas at the Nova Music Festival in Israel. Others just dropped to the ground praying that they wouldn’t be the next to get hit. Fifteen victims lost their lives at the beach, and another 39 were wounded. The oldest victim was an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor. Ten-year-old Matilda was the youngest to be slaughtered.
The two animals behind the scopes of the hunting rifles were father and son. They were experienced; they were trained. Each victim, even little Matilda, could be clearly seen through the high-powered optics on their long rifles before they pulled the trigger. Because of the seemingly lackadaisical, or possibly cowardly, response of some of the police, the two hunters had free reign over their prey for an insanely long time. Their only interruptions came from brave bystanders who attempted to stop them, at least two of whom lost their own lives in the process. When the police finally did step in, the Pakistani-born father was killed, and his son was wounded. Now, the son faces 59 counts, including murder and terrorism.
Sadly, this is the consequence of a government and a culture that has let antisemitism run amok. Violent anti-Jewish protests are not rare in Australia, and law enforcement does little to stop it. Jew-haters are emboldened to strike out, even to the point of protesting at a memorial for the victims of the Bondi Beach attack. Antisemitism has been normalized in Australia, and I don’t believe the government has the will or the backbone to counter it. That is why I am calling on all Jews who live in Australia to come to your ancestral home in Israel. You will be welcomed with open arms, and you will finally feel safe once again.
Global Antisemitism Skyrocketing
Attacks on Jews are not limited to Australia. In fact, in the past decade, acts of antisemitism have increased by 893%. Just this past year, there were 9500 documented incidents. In the United States on Saturday, a mass shooting took place in a Brown University class being taught by Rachel Friedberg, a Jewish professor who leads the school’s Judaic Studies program. Two people were killed and nine others wounded. Two days later, Professor Nuno Loureiro, a Jewish nuclear scientist from MIT who had a sign supporting Israel in his window, was gunned down in his home in Brookline, Massachusetts. One day later in New York City’s Crown Heights neighborhood, a man began yelling antisemitic slurs at a person before stabbing him and running away. On the West Coast of the United States, a house with Hanukkah decorations received 20 gunshots while the shooters yelled “Free Palestine”.
As I talked about last week, Europe is also facing a slew of antisemitic and anti-Christian threats and attacks. Violent Palestinian protesters disrupted a peaceful Hanukkah celebration in Amsterdam. Islamic terrorist plots on Christmas markets were foiled in Poland and Germany. Paris has canceled its New Year’s Eve celebrations because of the terrorist threat level, while Canada has announced to its people that an attack in their country is a realistic possibility. Back in California, the FBI in Los Angeles said that they thwarted a New Year’s Eve attack by pro-Palestinians who planned on planting five bombs around the city.
What is the common denominator in every one of these incidents and at Bondi Beach? It is the anti-God hatred of Jews and, more recently, of Christians. As I have often said, once they deal with the Saturday people, they’ll move on to the Sunday ones. While many are leftist idealogues, the vast majority belong to Islam, the “religion of peace.” Governments worldwide bought into the pacifistic lie and threw open their doors to Muslim immigration, allowing into their countries a patient army willing to bide their time before they struck. What we are seeing now is that the time has become ripe for the silent soldiers to find their voice and their weapons. Unfortunately, this is going to get far worse in Europe and America before there is any hope of it getting better.
Storm Byron
It has been a very wet week thanks to a visit from our dear friend, Storm Byron. Areas around the country were flooded as the land struggled to absorb the water. Once Byron left us, even more wet weather followed hitting the Negev, our southern regions, particularly hard.
The Negev is the area where one would find Gaza, and if you were to read the many stories from the Qatari-run “Al Jazeera” news service, you’d think that Israel was purposely making it rain harder on the Palestinians in the refugee areas. Considering my nation’s incredible technological advances, I understand their jumping to that conclusion. But, no, neither Prime Minister Netanyahu nor the IDF are responsible for the flooding in Gaza. Maybe the Palestinians should direct their ire at Hamas whose wanton bloodshed and violence put the people in the position in which they now find themselves.
International Arms Deals with Israel
While governments around the world love to condemn Israel, many still find themselves knocking on the doors of our defense providers. Germany has just expanded by $3.1 billion its existing deal for the Arrow 3 missile interceptors, bringing the total order to more than $6.7 billion. In a Gulf region secret deal, the United Arab Emirates has signed a $2.3 billion strategic defense agreement with Elbit Systems, an Israeli defense company. The deal with the UAE will focus on joint development of an advanced electronic defense system designed to protect both civilian and military aircraft.
When Former Enemies Become Somewhat Less Enemy-ish
Israel and Egypt have many years of animosity between them. I know; I lost an uncle aboard the INS Eilat 58 years ago during the War of Attrition between the two countries. This is why it is so remarkable that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just announced the largest gas deal in Israel’s history, and that this historical deal is with none other than Egypt. Worth $35 billion over the next 15 years, this agreement will have Israel exporting gas from the Leviathan fields and will help foster a warmer relationship between the two nations through the years ahead.
A Bad Day for Hamas
On Saturday, the IDF scored a major victory when it eliminated the number two man in Hamas. Ra’ad Sa’ad was the head of Weapons Production Headquarters in Hamas’s military wing and one of the architects of the October 7 attack. He met his end in Gaza City.
US Soldiers Killed in Syria
Saturday was a tragic day for the US military. A lone ISIS gunman fired on the entrance to a military post in Palmyra, Syria. Iowa National Guard soldiers Sgt. William Howard, 29, and Sgt. Edgar Torres, 25, were killed, and three more soldiers were wounded, along with an American interpreter. The gunman was killed. These brave men are the first to have been lost in combat in President Trump’s second term.
Trump Blockades Venezuelan Oil
The flames between US President Trump and Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro cranked up to high this week when the former announced a blockade on the latter’s oil exports. “Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. The “stolen” property refers to fields and equipment seized by former President Hugo Chávez more than a decade ago. Already the US military is being employed to destroy vessels used for running drug shipments from Venezuela to America.
