[NYP] The vicious Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua has expanded its territory to at least 16 US states — an area that includes half of America’s population, The Post has learned.
Homeland Security officials last week were warned in an internal department intelligence memo about TdA’s growing presence across the country, most recently in Washington, DC, Virginia, Montana and Wyoming.
The gang already has footholds in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin, according to the memo and previous reporting by The Post.
Oboy! A project for the freshly rejuvenated FBI, to replace hunting down J-6ers and white Christianists.
[IsraelTimes] Britain says state-owned Iran Air and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines to face asset freeze and restrictions for supplying weapons for war against Ukraine.
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] The court extended the investigation period in the case of the terrorist attack in Crocus until February 22, and also increased the arrest period for its alleged perpetrators.
“The investigation’s motion is to be satisfied and the accused Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Murodali Rachabalizoda, Muhammadsobiru Faizov and Shamsidin Fariduni (all four are included in the list of terrorists and extremists) are to be remanded in custody for a period of three months,” the judge said.
The investigation period was extended for approximately the same period (until February 22). The hearing was held behind closed doors.
As reported by the Regnum news agency, the terrorist attack in Crocus took place on the evening of March 22. A group of terrorists burst into the concert hall filled with people, opened fire, and then started a fire. As a result of the terrorist attack, 144 people were killed and 551 were injured. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation opened several criminal cases, including under Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Terrorist attack"), under which 12 people were arrested.
On March 23, four people suspected of directly committing the attack were detained in the Bryansk region. They were driving a car towards the border with Ukraine.
In early October, it became known that four defendants in the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack case were members of the Vilayat Khorasan group (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation).
That’s ISIS in Afghanistan/the Indian subcontinent. I’ve never understood what they’re doing in Russia…
They were transferred to Moscow from Dagestan. According to investigators, these individuals were engaged in the manufacture of a homemade explosive device and weapons.
[IsraelTimes] A video of a former Israeli hostage confronting an anti-Israel activist on a panel has gone viral for the woman’s comments on coexistence and the need for activists to learn the facts on the conflict.
Moran Stella Yanai, who was held hostage for 54 days in Gaza before being freed in the November 2023 deal, recently took part in a panel on the Gaza conflict alongside Aidan Doyle, who was a leader of the anti-Israel encampment at UCLA. Mosab Hassan Yousef, the pro-Israeli disowned son of Hamas co-founder Sheikh Hassan Yousef, was also on the panel.
Noting that she had worked with Arabs and had been friends with Arabs for years, Yanai confronted Doyle on his vociferous criticism of Israel.
“Have you ever been to Israel? Have you visited Gaza before? Probably not,” she said, which Doyle, visibly uncomfortable as she spoke, did not contest. “Did you know that the vast majority of the hostages believe in coexisting?”
Yanai went on: “On October 7, and this is what [the terrorists] told me, they didn’t know about the Nova festival, they didn’t know that we have 3,000 people there. They planned, and they told me that, they planned to move on and kill as much as they could. In Beersheba, in Tel Aviv, in Haifa — they wanted to slaughter everybody.
“When I was entering Gaza and there is a video that I saw, 100% of civilians celebrating me being taken… All I saw was 100% of civilians lynching me, beating me up. I was with a broken leg. I had bruises all over my body. Do you know that I’ve never cursed them? I’ve never argued with them. And I’ve never treated them like garbage. I respected them even when they abused me, because I believe that if I want to be respected, I have to respect everybody else.
“So I’m asking you one thing and one thing only because I see you’re not comfortable. I’m asking you to check facts on both sides.”
RELEASED HOSTAGE MORAN STELLA YANAI explains in simple human terms to UCLA Encampment leader Aidan Doyle what she thinks would likely solve the Israeli Palestinian conflict. MOSAB HASSAN YOUSEF ("Son of Hamas") adds his perspective.
SEE THE FULL DEBATE (Part I and Part II) FEATURING MOSAB HASSAN YOUSEF ("Son of Hamas"), moderated by David Rouda on YouTube @Gr8.Debate
[IsraelTimes] Targets include terror group’s representatives abroad, operative who aided deadly 1997 bombing at Tel Aviv café, and financiers funneling money into Gaza, West Bank
Washington imposed sanctions on six senior Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... officials, the US Treasury Department said Tuesday, in further action against the Paleostinian terror group as Washington has sought to achieve a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... The Treasury Department said in a statement the sanctions targeted the terror group’s representatives abroad, a senior member of its military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and those involved in supporting fundraising efforts and weapons smuggling into Gaza.
"Hamas continues to rely on key officials who seemingly maintain legitimate, public-facing roles within the group, yet who facilitate their terrorist activities, represent their interests abroad, and coordinate the transfer of money and goods into Gaza," Treasury’s Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Bradley Smith, said in the statement.
"Treasury remains committed to disrupting Hamas’s efforts to secure additional revenue and holding those who facilitate the group’s terrorist activities to account."
Among those targeted was Abd al-Rahman Ismail abd al-Rahman Ghanimat, a longtime member of Hamas’s military wing who is now based in The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the decaying remnant of the Ottoman Empire... , the Treasury said. It accused him of being involved in "multiple attempted and successful terrorist attacks," including the 1997 Café Apropo bombing in Tel Aviv.
Ghanimat was previously sentenced to five life sentences in prison but was one of 1,027 Paleostinian security prisoners released in 2011 in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held at the time by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Two other Hamas officials based in Turkey were also among those targeted by the sanctions, the Treasury said, charging that Musa Daud Muhammad Akari and had been involved in facilitating the transfer of funds from Turkey "into Gaza and the West Bank for Hamas."
Akari was previously convicted by Israel for taking part in the 1992 murder of Israeli police officer Nissim Toledano. He was released from prison as part of the Shalit deal in 2011.
Ankara has denied that it has become the new base of Hamas’s politburo operations although Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi... said Tuesday that the Hamas leaders involved in negotiations for a hostage release-ceasefire deal with Israel were "not in Doha" anymore.
In addition to the three Turkey-based Hamas officials, the US Treasury Department said that it was imposing sanctions on Gaza-based officials Basem Naim and Ghazi Hamad.
It charged that Naim has "participated in Hamas’s engagements with Russia and been a part of Hamas delegations to other countries," while Hamad has "served as the editor of Hamas propaganda outlets and is authorized to speak publicly on behalf of Hamas."
Hamad was also involved in the past with overseeing Gaza’s border crossings, which the Treasury said were "one of the primary ways Hamas smuggled weapons into Gaza," and were also used by the terror group to smuggle in the equipment it used to build its "extensive tunnel network they intentionally interspersed among Paleostinian civilians."
The final Hamas official included in Tuesday’s sanctions list was Mohammed Nazzal, whom the Treasury said has "provided support to the terrorist group for over 30 years. Nazzal, who has previously lived in both Jordan and Syria, is a big shot on Hamas’s Council on International Relations, the Treasury said.
The sanctions freeze any US-based assets owned or controlled by the named individuals. They also block financial transactions with those designated and prohibit the contribution of funds, goods and services to them.
Tuesday’s action marked the ninth time that the Treasury has imposed sanctions on Hamas entities and backers since the October 7, 2023 terror onslaught enacted by the group in southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were seized as hostages.
Most recently, on October 7, 2024, the Treasury imposed sanctions on a "sham charity" in Italia that it said had been fundraising for the Paleostinian terror group, and on two senior Hamas representatives in Europa ...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum... — one in Germany and the other in Austria.
President Erdogan thinks he is a big cheese, but really he’s just a little stink.
[IsraelTimes] Turkey’s decision prevented president from attending UN climate conference in Azerbaijan, as other route would have meant crossing over Syria, Iraq and Iran
Ottoman Turkish President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First ...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really more important... confirmed on Tuesday that The Sick Man of Europe Turkey ...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire... had barred President Isaac Herzog from using the country’s airspace earlier this week, forcing the Israeli leader to cancel a planned visit to the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Herzog’s office announced on Saturday that he would not be attending the high-level conference due to "security considerations."
However,
today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... according to the Ynet news site, officials in Azerbaijan took exception to the suggestion that their country was not safe for Herzog to visit, and said the real reason for the cancelation was Turkey’s refusal.
During a presser at the G20 Leaders Summit in Brazil on Tuesday, Erdogan confirmed that Herzog had indeed been prevented from flying over Turkey in the official Wing of Zion airplane, due to Turkey’s opposition to Israel’s war with Hamas ..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",... in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... "With regard to the Israeli president going to Azerbaijan for the COP summit, we did not allow him to use our airspace," Ottoman Turkish media cited Erdogan as saying in response to a question about Ottoman Turkish pressure on Israel to end the fighting.
"There are other areas, there are other opportunities, we told him to travel from there... but I do not know whether he was able to go or not," Erdogan added.
The incident marked the latest instance in which a country that has diplomatic ties with Israel blocked an Israeli leader from using its airspace for a state visit to express dissatisfaction, after Amman in 2021 refused to allow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fly over Jordan, forcing him to cancel a trip to the United Arab Emirates.
Azerbaijan, an Israeli ally, is bordered by Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... to the south, and a direct flight to Baku from Israel would have to fly over the Mediterranean Sea and through Turkey and Georgia — which Erdogan prevented — or would have to travel over Syria, Iraq and Iran, which is not possible for an Israeli aircraft.
The rest of the Israeli delegation to the UN conference, which includes three ministers and dozens of officials, are attending as planned, having arrived in Azerbaijan on November 11, reportedly via commercial flights through Georgia.
The delegation is under tight security, given Azerbaijan’s proximity to Iran.
Israel and Turkey have had an on-again-off-again relationship for years, but extensive efforts by both Erdogan and Herzog in 2022 resulted in the two countries briefly enjoying warmer ties than they had in over a decade.
In March 2022, Herzog spent a whirlwind 24 hours in Ankara, in what was the highest-level visit by an Israeli official since former prime minister Ehud Olmert made the trip in 2008.
The success of the visit was made apparent in May of that same year, when Erdogan wrote to Herzog on the occasion of Israeli Independence Day, in which he wished for “The well-being and prosperity of the people of Israel.”
A year later, in May 2023, both Herzog and Netanyahu called Erdogan to congratulate him on his victory in elections considered free but unfair by international observers.
Ties soured and quickly deteriorated in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks orchestrated by Hamas, which maintains a strong presence in Turkey.
One hopes the next time President Erdogan says he wants to make up, neither President Herzog nor any other Israeli will bother to believe him.
An attempted suicide bombing attack in Tel Aviv in August was said by the Shin Bet and Israel Police to have been planned and carried out under the supervision of Hamas’s headquarters in Turkey.
The latest show of support for Hamas from Ankara came on Sunday when it was reported that the terror group’s senior leadership had departed Qatar for Turkey. Both Turkey and Hamas dismissed the reports as “rumors,” although the US said it would make it clear to Turkey’s governments that American allies cannot conduct business as usual with the Palestinian terror group.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
11/20/2024 2024-11-20 00:49 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11137 views]
Top|| File under: Sublime Porte
#1
I am officially changing Yip-yip's cognomen to
Yap-Yap.
#2
How delightfully childish! Is it just me or has international diplomacy turned into a giant game of Mean Girls? We don't like you so we're not going to play with you. And we're going to tell all the other kids not to play with you either. So there!
[Rudaw] Iraq’s influential Shiite holy manMoqtada Tateral-Sadr ...hereditary Iraqi holy man and leader of a political movement in Iraq. He had his hereditary rival al-Khoei assassinated shortly after the holy rival's appearance out of exile in 2003. Formerly an Iranian catspaw, lately he gagged over some of their more outlandish antics, then went back to catspawry when the check cleared... on Tuesday called on the government and parliament to ban imports from pro-Israel states in a way that it does not damage the country’s economy.
"The Iraqi government and parliament must work to enact a law that prohibits imports from some countries that support the Zionist entity, especially those that support it with arms, on the condition of not damaging the Iraqi economy," Sadr said in a statement on X.
"That is the least the relevant Iraqi authorities can do, out of loyalty to the Paleostinian and Lebanese people," he added.
Iraq is a staunch supporter of Paleostine, condemning the lack of global support for the Paleostinian people on multiple occasions.
The current Shiite-led cabinet has also sided with Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... in the fight with Israel. It has so far only provided humanitarian aid, but Iraq’s pro-Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... militia groups have carried out dozens of drone and rocket attacks on Israel since Hamas ..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,... ’ unprecedented attack on Israel a year ago triggered the escalation in the decades-old Israel-Paleostine conflict.
Since the start of the conflict in Lebanon, Iraq has opened doors to thousands of Lebanese refugees fleeing the war, calling them "guests" in the country.
In late July, Sadr called on his followers to boycott all products of businesses that support the United States and Israel’s war on the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... Strip, stressing that the boycotts should be peaceful.
There have been a number of calls in the Arab world to boycott Western brands and companies over their alleged links to Israel, slashing the earnings of many popular chains including McDonald’s and Starbuck
[Rudaw] Iraq on Tuesday reacted to an Israeli letter to the UN Security Council holding Iraq responsible for the activities of pro-Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... groups in the Middle East. Baghdad deemed this a "pretext to justify aggression" and said it seeks peace in the region.
In a letter to the Security Council on Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar urged "immediate action" against "attacks on Israel conducted by the Iranian-backed militias in Iraq" and ensure that Iraq "fulfills its obligations" to "prevent the use of its territory as a base for attacks against other nations."
Some Iraqi militia groups backed by Iran have launched rocket and dronezaps against US military installations in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for Washington’s support for Israel in its war against Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... . They have also targeted Israel with drones and missiles.
Iraq’s government on Tuesday responded to Israel’s letter in a statement from Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... i’s office following a council of ministers meeting, describing it as "a pretext to justify aggression against Iraq and an attempt to expand the ongoing war in the region."
"The Prime Minister reaffirmed Iraq’s rejection of such threats, emphasizing that decisions of war and peace rest solely with the Iraqi state," the statement read, adding that "Iraq refuses to be drawn into war while maintaining its principled stance of ending the conflict and providing humanitarian aid to the Paleostinian and Lebanese peoples."
The US also commented on the matter.
"Iraq should do everything within its power to stop terrorist attacks, both within its borders and against targets outside its borders," State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told Rudaw’s Diyar Kurda during a press briefing on Tuesday.
On October 7 of last year, Paleostinian Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, which retaliated by invading Gaza with the conflict now having spread to Leb ...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers... In October, the Israeli army announced that two of its soldiers were killed and 24 others were maimed, when a suicide drone launched from Iraq hit a military base in the Golan Heights.
These attacks by the militia groups have raised concerns that Iraq could be dragged into the war - something Iraqi officials have said they want to avoid.
In early November, the Iraqi government denied similar reports of its lands being used as a launchpad to attack Israel, stating that the reports are being used as an excuse to drag Iraq into war.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani dismisses an Israeli complaint to the UN Security Council about strikes by Iraq’s Iran-backed Shiite militias on Israel as a “pretext and argument to attack Iraq” and to “expand the war in the region.”
“Please don’t hurt us!”
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar had earlier posted on X a letter to the Security Council saying that “Israel has the inherent right to self-defense… and to take all necessary measures to protect itself and its citizens against the ongoing acts of hostilities by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq.”
The Iran-backed Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed to have launched dozens of drones at Israel since war broke out last year with the Hamas terror group’s October 7, 2023, attack.
Most of the group’s attacks have failed to cross Israel’s border or were downed by air defenses, according to the IDF. Last month, two soldiers were killed by a drone launched by the group at an army base in the Golan Heights, and in September, one struck the Eilat port, causing damage and lightly wounding two people.
Sa’ar said some of the militias are part of the Popular Mobilization Forces — a coalition of mostly Shiite armed groups that’s technically part of the Iraqi army although it operates in practice largely outside state control
…and in practice its members draw a second salary from Iran’s IRGC, which is also where they get their orders…
— and urged the Iraqi government to “take immediate action to halt and prevent these attacks.”
Al-Sudani’s office says in a statement that Iraq has refused to enter into the regional conflict while “seeking to provide relief to the Palestinian and Lebanese people.”
[Jpost] The unit will be drafted next Tuesday in the Combat Intelligence Corps, and soldiers will have spiritual and halachic guidance throughout their service.
The first cohort of women will enlist in the IDF's religious women-only combat unit within the Combat Intelligence Corps, the organization Ohr Torah Stone announced on Tuesday.
According to the organization, the unit enables soldiers to observe and uphold their faith while serving in combat roles in the IDF. Ohr Torah Stone, which is leading the initiative, is doing so in response to the surge of 3,500 religious women drafted to the IDF in 2024, including 350 who drafted to combat roles following October 7.
The unit will be drafted on November 26 in the Combat Intelligence Corps (Isuf Kravi).
The unit will include a female halachic and spiritual advisor, Rabbanit Hila Naor, who directs Ohr Torah Stone's "Maaminot BeMadim" institute and will hold this role for the first time in the IDF's history.
"This initiative by the IDF responds to the strong and growing demand from religious women eager to serve in combat roles in the IDF," Naor said.
"They are stepping up in numbers we haven't seen before, showing remarkable dedication and resolve in the face of the current situation. However, combat duty is difficult both physically and mentally, and the challenges posed to religious soldiers - particularly religious women soldiers - are many. We want to provide them with every support possible to make their service successful and meaningful."
[IsraelTimes] Despite PMO classified documents scandal, legislation establishes a ‘devil’s advocate’ unit, reporting directly to Netanyahu, that would challenge other intel bodies’ findings.
Despite an ongoing investigation into the alleged “systematic” theft of classified intelligence documents from Israel Defense Forces databases and the transfer of those files to people in the Prime Minister’s Office, the government on Sunday gave its backing to a bill establishing a new intelligence oversight body directly under the authority of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The bill seeks to create a so-called Ipcha Mistabra (devil’s advocate) unit — challenging the conclusions of other intelligence bodies — reporting directly to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that will be given the authority to demand intelligence information from “any intelligence body… or any other state institution” in Israel. This would include military intelligence, the Shin Bet, the Mossad. and the National Security Council.
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation’s approval means that the government will lend its support to the bill as it goes to the Knesset, where it must pass three readings to become law.
According to the legislation, the proposed unit would be tasked with synthesizing and analyzing this information and providing the prime minister, defense minister, and intelligence agencies with alternate takes on security challenges. It would also be required to report regularly to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
According to the bill’s explanatory notes, it would act as an oversight mechanism “examining in an in-depth and unbiased manner the perceptions prevalent in the intelligence and security” establishment, presumably as a lesson from the profound failure of the intelligence establishment to predict Hamas’s mass invasion and onslaught of October 7, 2023.
Its head of the unit — which would largely operate independently and would be prohibited from employing anybody who has served in an intelligence agency within the prior two years — would be legally required to weigh in on any issue brought before the security cabinet for a decision.
In addition, they would also be required to submit such analyses to the heads of any relevant security bodies “regarding any plan or military operation” needing the security cabinet’s approval. Neither the security cabinet nor the leaders of security agencies would be allowed to make a decision without such input.
While such a devil’s advocate unit currently exists within the IDF itself, its influence is minimal and it has failed to challenge existing modes of thought within the IDF, claims Likud MK Amit Halevi, the bill’s primary sponsor.
Advertisement
Speaking with The Times of Israel earlier this month, Halevi argued that the “fundamental” intelligence failure of October 7 came about because the IDF and other security agencies “are not used to challenging themselves with a different view.”
“I mean, the intelligence forces have a few conceptions, a few assumptions, and nobody actually challenges them,” he said. “This team was not independent, so it couldn’t actually criticize its own commanders.”
FLAG BANS
Separately, the ministerial committee also approved a bill prohibiting the waving of the flags of enemy nations, including the Palestinian flag, on the premises of any institution funded or supported by the state.
According to the bill, an amendment to the penal code sponsored by Deputy Knesset Speaker Nissim Vaturi (Likud), a gathering of two or more people at which such flags are waved would be considered an unlawful assembly, with participants facing a year in prison and a minimum NIS 10,000 ($2,700) fine.
The law would apply to institutions such as universities, where protesters have at times waved Palestinian flags at demonstrations.
Vaturi has been critical of anti-government demonstrations in the past, claiming this summer that protesters demanding early elections and the release of hostages held in Gaza are a “branch” of the Hamas terror group.
Vaturi later backtracked, in light of widespread criticism, claiming in a tweet that his comments were “taken out of context.” The protests “harm our national resilience,” but “the horrible actions of the Hamas Nazis are not fit to be compared to any protest or political act,” he wrote.
Similar bills, promoted by members of the far-right Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit parties, were advanced in the Knesset last year despite fierce opposition from university presidents, but were not voted into law.
The bill’s approval comes a week after the committee gave its backing to legislation requiring the government to adopt a national security strategy, extending emergency regulations allowing for the censorship of foreign media, and allowing the police to secretly spy on suspects’ computers using secret warrants.
Oh, those tricksy, tricksy juices. You know what happens when Jewish blood invades a formerly good and pious jihadi? The very thought is horrifying.
[IsraelTimes] The Israeli military has facilitated the delivery of blood units to a hospital in isolated northern Gaza.
Israel has imposed a tight siege on the northernmost part of the territory since launching an offensive there in early October. Aid groups say very little humanitarian assistance has been allowed in and have warned of famine.
The Israeli military agency in charge of transferring aid to Gaza, COGAT, says it sent 1,000 units of blood through a northern crossing yesterday. The UN’s health cluster says the blood shipment was delivered to Kamal Adwan hospitalin Beit Lahiya.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled the northernmost reaches of the Strip since the offensive began, and hospitals there have struggled to function.
[IsraelTimes] The United Nations chief denounces the “systematic” looting of humanitarian aid in Gaza, a day after Hamas authorities claimed that 20 people were killed in a security operation targeting such groups.
“Armed looting has become systematic and must end immediately. It is hindering life-saving aid operations and further endangering the lives of our staff,” says Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. “However, the use of law enforcement operations must be lawful, necessary and proportionate.”
[IsraelTimes] The Knesset gives final approval to two bills cutting national insurance benefits for terror convicts.
The first law, sponsored by Likud MK Ariel Kallner, is approved 29-8 in its third and final reading in the Knesset and revises the National Insurance Law to cut child allowances paid to parents of minors imprisoned for security or stone-throwing offenses.
The second, sponsored by Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky, passes 34-2 and revokes National Insurance Institute benefits paid to anyone living abroad who “has been convicted of an offense pronounced by the court to be an act of terrorism.”
The new law mandates the cessation of payments under the National Insurance Law, such as work injury allowances to eligible non-residents of Israel who fall under its purview.
According to the explanatory notes for the bill, which passed its first reading 23-7 in July: “In the course of the Swords of Iron war [in Gaza], it became apparent that there are also benefits paid to residents of the Gaza Strip who were involved in terrorist activity.”
Addressing the Knesset Labor and Welfare Committee earlier this month, Malinovsky stated that there are currently more than 30 people detained in Israel who meet this definition.
“The circus is over, the benefits for terrorists are being stopped,” she said at the time. “Thanks to the law, we will put an end to the absurd situation in which state benefits [paid for] from Israeli taxpayer money go to terrorists who have blood on their hands and have harmed innocent citizens.”
[IsraelTimes] The Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court clears for publication the name of three of the suspects arrested for firing flares at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private home in Caesarea on Saturday night.
One of them is Rear Adm. (res.) Ofer Doron,
…an ADMIRAL?!? Truly appalling…
a former senior Navy officer who announced last year that he would no longer show up for volunteer reservist duty in protest of the government’s controversial judicial overhaul plan, and was suspended from the reserves in response.
The other two suspects are named as Amir Sadeh and Itai Yafeh, both longtime anti-government protesters.
Professional cadres? Do their souls belong to the Biden/Obama State Department, international Progressive billionaires, or China? All three are paying the protest movement…
According to Channel 12 news, the three suspects told police that they did not intend to fire toward Netanyahu’s home, and that they even fired a test to make sure it would not head in that direction but that the wind forced it off course.
Even I am not that gullible.
Nobody was harmed in the incident and no damage was caused, and the Netanyahus were not home at the time.
Given that the PA is the PLO is mostly Fatah, that seems fair.
[IsraelTimes] The Jerusalem District Court ruled earlier today that the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization are required to pay tens of millions of shekels to victims of the 2001 terrorist bombing of the Sbarro pizza restaurant in central Jerusalem, Channel 12 reports.
Sixteen civilians were killed in the August 9, 2001 suicide bombing, including seven children, and 130 people were wounded, in one of the deadliest terrorist attacks of the Second Intifada.
The court made the determination on the basis of the PA’s yearslong policy of making financial payments to terrorists and the families of terrorists, the TV report says.
It says the precedent-setting court ruling potentially also opens the door for victims of the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 massacre to seek financial compensation from the PA.
The court issued its ruling in response to two suits that victims of the 2001 bombing have been pursuing for the past two decades, the report says, and relied upon a Supreme Court ruling that the Palestinian Authority can be held liable for terrorist acts, due to its policy of paying stipends to security prisoners in Israeli jails and the families of those killed during attacks on Israelis.
Justice Isaac Amit, setting out the Supreme Court ruling in April 2022, found that the decision to pay convicted Palestinian terrorists and those killed as part of the “struggle against Israel” made the PA liable for their actions. “[The PA] expresses its consent to their actions, in a manner that takes responsibility for the acts. This justifies that [the PA] will be assigned personal and direct responsibility,” Amit wrote.
Meir Schijveschuurder, a lawyer for the victims whose own parents and three brothers were among the fatalities in the bombing, hailed today’s ruling, telling Channel 12, that the court decision would help quell “rampant terrorism because the Palestinians will not be able to bear the financial consequences.” The decision, he said, “will bring relief to the families of the victims, and significantly reduce terrorism.”
The Channel 12 report indicates that the compensation ordered by the court could be paid out of funds that Israel has been withholding since 2018 from the monthly tax revenues it collects on behalf of the PA.
[IsraelTimes] US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says looting of humanitarian aid convoys in Gaza cannot be fully addressed until a new Palestinian-led governing and security force replaces Hamas in the Strip.
While the US and the international community have pushed for the Palestinian Authority to play this role, the idea has been rejected outright by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has often likened the PA to Hamas.
Netanyahu said earlier this week that he has directed the IDF to come up with new solutions to ensure the safe distribution of aid, though Israeli officials have told The Times of Israel over the past year that the security establishment also feels that the PA is the only viable alternative to continued Hamas rule in Gaza.
At a press briefing, Miller criticizes the repeated looting of aid convoys, saying those behind the actions are siphoning assistance away from civilians who desperately need it.
The US is working with Israel to try and find interim solutions to address the looting that has intensified as the IDF has gradually depleted Hamas’s military presence in Gaza, including the terror group’s ability to maintain internal security, says the State Department spokesperson.
At the request of the US, Israel opened new routes for delivering aid within Gaza aimed at avoiding roads targeted by looters. However, a subsequent case of looting reportedly ended up taking place on one of these new routes.
The US has been careful not to say that Hamas is directly behind the aid looting, while Israel has repeatedly insisted that the terror group siphons off much of the aid coming in.
“Ultimately, you are not going to finally solve this problem without an end to the war and the establishment of a new governance and security authority inside Gaza,” Miller says, adding that the US also strongly opposes having Israel become the occupying power in Gaza.
#1
The solution is simple, send the IDF solders in with the aid trucks and shoot any would be looters.That'll stop the looting and reduce the ranks of Hamas terrorists at the same time!
[IsraelTimes] Netanyahu says captives will be freed regardless, even as defense officials said to warn him that a ceasefire deal is the only way to rescue them
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Tuesday that Hamas ..a regional Iranian catspaw,... would not rule in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response... after the war, seemingly rejecting efforts to reach a ceasefire with the terror group still partially intact as he visited an Israeli military position in the enclave.
The premier also reiterated an offer to lavishly pay Gazooks who turn over Israeli hostages, upping the reward to $5 million for each captive, after previously suggesting Israel would pay "several million" for their recovery.
The visit came as Israel presses an offensive in northern Gaza to root out resurgent Hamas activity, and amid dire warnings about the condition of the Israeli hostages who remain captive some thirteen months after they were kidnapped by Hamas-led holy warriors on October 7, 2023.
In a video of the visit later published by Netanyahu’s office, the prime minister said that IDF troops in the enclave had "achieved excellent results toward our important goal — that Hamas will not rule in Gaza. We are destroying its military capabilities in a very impressive manner, and we are moving on to its ruling capabilities... Hamas will not be in Gaza."
In addition, he said, Israel is also doing everything it can "to locate our hostages, and return them. We are not letting up. We will continue to do so until we get them all — both the living and the dead."
Addressing "those who are holding our hostages," Netanyahu said, "Whoever dares to harm our hostages — he is a marked man. We will pursue you and we will get you."
Netanyahu spoke after visiting the Netzarim corridor, a belt running the width of the Strip where Israeli troops have dug in for several months, controlling access between the northern and southern halves of the enclaves and building out infrastructure for a semi-permanent presence, though Hamas has insisted that the IDF fully withdraw in any ceasefire and hostage release deal.
In his remarks, the premier offered $5 million and safe passage out of Gaza for anyone who turns over a hostage, seemingly upping a previous offer.
"The choice is in your hands, but the result will be the same. We will bring everyone home," he said.
It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 34 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that. Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors.
Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Netanyahu has insisted that Israel can both continue fighting and recover the rest of the captives, despite mediators insisting that the best way to get the hostages out is via a deal. Reports in recent days have suggested that senior defense officials concur, warning Netanyahu that the captives are being endangered by the ongoing war and advising him that striking a deal with the terror group is the only way to free them.
The prime minister was slated to participate in a high-level meeting Tuesday night about the condition of the hostages, where defense officials were expected to warn him again that continuing the war could harm the captives that remain alive, Channel 12 reported.
On Sunday, Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz, who accompanied him to Gaza, were each briefed separately by senior defense officials on the subject of the hostages, and were presented with a grim picture of the surviving captives’ condition, according to Channel 12.
Last week, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum health team assessed that some of the remaining hostages have lost around half of their body weight due to the lack of food in captivity, which will reduce the chances of their survival in the upcoming winter.
Negotiations to free the captive and reach a Gaza ceasefire have been at a virtual standstill for several months, with no apparent horizon for a meaningful resumption of talks.
Polling has found a large majority of Israelis support a hostage deal with Hamas that would end the war in Gaza, and critics of Netanyahu have accused the prime minister of keeping the war going to ensure the survival of his right-wing coalition — which includes far-right elements who want the fighting to continue and for settlements to be established in northern Gaza — and not due to security concerns, preventing an agreement.
Netanyahu was recorded late last month telling Likud politicians that Israel could not accept Hamas’s demand to end the war in exchange for the hostages, ostensibly over concerns that a deal would allow Hamas to remain in Gaza in some form.
On Monday, during his address to the Knesset plenum, the prime minister said, "We will bring home dozens more hostages, I hope in the near future," but it was not clear what that assessment was based on.
During his visit to Gaza, Netanyahu toured the Netzarim Corridor, alongside Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar. There, he and Katz met at an observation point with 99th Infantry Division commander Yoav Brunner and Southern Command Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, for a survey of the region.
Later, the two officials met with commanders of reserve units on the Gaza coast, who reviewed the achievements and challenges of the ongoing fighting in the strip, a statement from the Government Press Office said.
It was Katz’s first visit to the enclave since he was appointed defense minister earlier this month. Netanyahu tapped him for the role after firing Yoav Gallant, citing a lack of mutual trust.
According to Gallant, he was sacked over disagreements with Netanyahu about the need to plan for a post-Hamas government in Gaza and the trade-offs involved in a hostage deal with Hamas, among other matters.
Speaking from Gaza, Katz identified the "rescue" of the hostages as "the most important mission," adding, "everyone here sees it," while also vowing, "We need to make sure that Hamas does not rule here on ’the day after.’"
[IsraelTimes] In remarks at Oman’s National Day celebration in Washington, Muscat’s deputy ambassador to the US warns against conflating between Zionism and Judaism.
“We must also be mindful of the dangerous confusion between Judaism as a religion and Zionism as a political ideology. This confusion actually fuels antisemitism and undermines efforts for peaceful resolutions to the conflict,” says Sabra Ahmed Al-Hooti.
Successive polling shows, however, that a substantial majority of Jews view Israel as a central part of their Jewish identity.
Oman’s then-sultan hosted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2018 and Muscat has been floated as a potential candidate to join the Abraham Accords. But in 2022 its lower house of parliament voted to expand its Israel boycott law. Still, it opened its airspace to Israeli flights last year.
Since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, Muscat has joined other countries in the region in doubling down in their stance against normalizing relations with Israel before a Palestinian state is established.
The Israel-Palestinian conflict is the first issue mentioned in Al-Hooti’s brief remarks welcoming guests. She reiterates Oman’s call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for the establishment of a Palestinian state before highlighting the past year’s achievements for Muscat domestically and in its relations with the US.
#3
◄ Psalm 137 ►
JPS Tanakh 1917
1By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down, yea, we wept,
When we remembered Zion.
2Upon the willows in the midst thereof We hanged up our harps.
3For there they that led us captive asked of us words of song,
And our tormentors asked of us mirth:
‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.’
4How shall we sing the LORD’S song
In a foreign land?
5If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget her cunning.
6Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,
If I remember thee not;
If I set not Jerusalem
Above my chiefest joy.
One can’t expect a Moslem to know the Jewish bible, but that psalm was written during the Babylonian Exile, after the fall of the First Temple in Jerusalem in 587 BCE, almost 1000 years before Mohammed had his revelation. Zionism was been baked into Judaism from that point, and the first return of exiled Jews to Israel occurred after Persia conquered Babylonia in 539 BCE, as recorded in the Old Testament’s Book of Ezra.
[IsraelTimes] Iran has further increased its stockpile of uranium enriched to near weapons-grade levels in defiance of international demands, according to a confidential report by the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog seen today by The Associated Press.
The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency says that as of Oct. 26, Iran has 182.3 kilograms (401.9 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60%, an increase of 17.6 kilograms (38.8 pounds) since the last report in August.
Uranium enriched at 60% purity is just a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%.
The IAEA also estimates in its quarterly report that as of Oct. 26, Iran’s overall stockpile of enriched uranium stands at 6,604.4 kilograms (14,560 pounds), which represents an increase of 852.6 kilograms (1,879.6 pounds) since the last report in August. Under the IAEA’s definition, around 42 kilograms (92.5 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60% purity is the amount at which creating one atomic weapon is theoretically possible — if the material is enriched further, to 90%.
The amount being held by Iran is more than 32 times the limit set in a 2015 accord between Iran and world powers to limit its nuclear program.
[IsraelTimes] Iran’s judiciary says it has not issued an indictment against a student who stripped down to her underwear earlier this month at a university in Tehran.
“Considering that she was sent to the hospital, and it was found that she was ill, she was handed over to her family… and no judicial case has been filed against her,” judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangir tells a news conference, without naming her.
Earlier in November, footage of a female student circulated online, showing her sitting and briefly walking at Islamic Azad University in Tehran before stripping down to her underwear. The move sparked harsh reactions from officials in Iran, where covering the neck and head and dressing modestly became mandatory for women following the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Science Minister Hossein Simaei described it as an “immoral and uncustomary” act, while adding that she had not been expelled from her university.
London-based human rights group Amnesty International said the woman was “violently arrested after she removed her clothes in protest against abusive enforcement of compulsory veiling by security officials.”
Argentina has notified @UNIFIL_ of its decision to withdraw from the UN peacekeeping mission. Over two decades, UNIFIL has failed to stop Hezbollah from reclaiming southern Lebanon and attacking Israel on a large scale. pic.twitter.com/o9D2AypSee
Argentina has informed the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) of its decision to withdraw from the force, a UNIFIL spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday, according to Reuters.
"Argentina has asked its officers to go back [to Argentina]," UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said in response to a question about a report on the matter.
Tenenti refrained from elaborating on Argentina’s reasons for the withdrawal, directing inquiries to the Argentine government.
Argentina is one of 48 countries contributing to UNIFIL, which is tasked with monitoring the border area between southern Lebanon and Israel. According to the UN website, the country currently has three personnel stationed in Lebanon.
Tenenti emphasized that there is no widespread indication of diminishing support for the mission. "The idea is to stay. So there is no discussion of withdrawing at all," he said, according to Reuters.
While Argentina has not yet responded to Tenenti’s remarks, its reported decision came after UNIFIL posts were struck twice on Tuesday by rockets fired by the Hezbollah terrorist organization.
UNIFIL has repeatedly accused Israel of deliberately targeting its peacekeepers in Lebanon when striking Hezbollah posts that have been placed near UNIFIL positions.
The IDF has stressed that it has instructed UNIFIL personnel to enter into protected spaces before the strikes and added and explained that Hezbollah deliberately operates with the intent to harm Israeli civilians from civilian areas and near UNIFIL posts.
Tenenti again made similar accusations on Tuesday, claiming, "We're still working on fixing some of the positions, but this has been definitely a very difficult moment, because we've been deliberately attacked by the IDF in recent months, and we're doing our utmost to rebuild the areas."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently responded to accusations that the IDF has targeted UNIFIL forces in southern Lebanon, calling these accusations "completely false."
"The charge that Israel deliberately attacked UNIFIL personnel is completely false," Netanyahu stated. "It's exactly the opposite. Israel repeatedly asks UNIFIL to get out of harm's way. It repeatedly asked them to temporarily leave the combat zone, which is right next to Israel's border with Lebanon."
Netanyahu also again urged UNIFIL to relocate its peacekeepers so they are away from IDF activity. However, UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix outright rejected that request.
[Jpost] Italy's defense ministry admits Hezbollah staged an attack on itself when a UN Interim Force in Lebanon base was hit by rocket fire that it initially blamed on Israel, Barron's reported on Tuesday.
Last week, Italy said an unexploded artillery shell hit the base of UNIFIL base, putting the blame on the IDF.
According to Barron's, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto had initially said in Brussels that the IDF had staged the attack on the UN base in Lebanon. "Our (proud) mission is to help Arabs kill Jews!"?
"The headquarters of the United Nations (UN) is on 17 to 18 acres (6.9 to 7.3 ha) of grounds in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan in New York City."
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
