All future Palestinian rallies will be videotaped for @ICEgov
— Betar US (@Betar_USA) January 31, 2025
Nationwide. We’ve had enough. https://t.co/0EwhSI7JlL
“I don’t speak because I have the power to speak; I speak because I don’t have the power to remain silent.” Rav Kook z"l
All future Palestinian rallies will be videotaped for @ICEgov
— Betar US (@Betar_USA) January 31, 2025
Nationwide. We’ve had enough. https://t.co/0EwhSI7JlL
NEW: The Red Cross reprimanded Israel for taking photos of the release of Hamas prisoners from Israeli prisons.
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) February 1, 2025
Meanwhile in Gaza… they have yet to condemn Hamas’s spectacle and actively participated in a staged hostage release photoshoot.
The hypocrisy is obscene. pic.twitter.com/IWyNxFUtfb
On Saturday, a confrontation erupted between the Israel Prison Service (IPS) and the Red Cross during the release of terrorist prisoners as part of the hostage deal. According to Kan 11, the Red Cross attempted to prevent the IPS from photographing the prisoners as they exited the service’s vehicles and approached the organization’s buses, which were set to transport them to Khan Younes.
The IPS told the Red Cross this was an operational photo shoot aimed at preventing claims from the released security prisoners or from other parties regarding their condition or the manner of their release. Despite this, the Red Cross continued to insist on its position banning the shots.
The IPS criticized the Red Cross, stating: “In Gaza, you go on stage and take pictures, and here you prohibit photography.” Ultimately, the IPS was allowed to take photos.
The Red Cross responded: “We do not address the claims of anonymous parties or the dialogue we are having with the authorities.”
According to the PA Prisoners’ Office, security prisoners were released from Israeli prisons on Saturday as part of the fourth phase of the deal. Among them, 14 were serving life sentences, with seven being deported to the Gaza Strip and the rest to Judea and Samaria. Additionally, 111 residents of Gaza who were arrested after October 7 but deemed uninvolved in the fighting were also released.
PA reports indicate that Yarden Bibas was classified as a humanitarian case, with Gazan detainees released in exchange for him along with 12 security prisoners, while another 60 security prisoners were freed in exchange for Keith Siegel and Ofer Calderon.
A security source said that the Red Cross expressed resentment over the way the Prison Service led the prisoners from Ktziot prison – handcuffed, hands above their heads, with a bracelet on it that read “The people of eternity do not forget.”
Prison Service spokesman Zivan Freidin responded by saying that “the prisoners are dealing with the worst of Israel’s enemies, and until the last moment on Israeli soil they will be treated under prison rules. We will not compromise on the security of our people.”
Of course, the bracelets were placed on the prisoners’ wrists in response to the Hamas paraphernalia that has been routinely tagged on the released Israeli hostages.
Never forget what Adam Schiff did to this country with his lies about Russian collusion. The damage he caused is immeasurable.
— MAZE (@mazemoore) January 31, 2025
It's to America's great shame that he is still in office. pic.twitter.com/MiSfzjdwkk
I endorse this post mortem analysis and encourage my democratic friends to double or even triple down. https://t.co/mPZ0veVuyZ
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) January 31, 2025
Hamas monsters sought to express the overarching goal of Hamas ideology – to wipe off the face of the earth the State of Israel, the product of Zionism, and to turn all of its territory into the State of Palestine (HILAT). There is no higher goal in Hamas' eyes than this.
And shockingly, this exact slogan, but with precise precision, .......stands – "lehavdil" between our own enemies and our stray brothers, between the impure and the pure – in its essence – of the ultra-Orthodox evasion.
"Zionism will not win" is the engine that drives the ultra-Orthodox opposition to a series of disgusting behaviors:
The lack of recognition of the miracle of miracles (which some compare to the miracle of the exodus from Egypt!) of the very establishment of the state, and the despicable refusal to take part in the festival:
No praise and thanksgiving on the day of its founding; not standing still on Memorial Day (with the imaginary false claim that it is a non-Jewish custom – and it is not!); not to fly its flag
And there are even the "stringent" who scornfully trample on the flag and set it on fire, in order to express their disgust with the Zionist idea.
Many still make sure to recite the Tachanun prayer on the day of the festival (and the zealots even fast when Independence Day falls on the days of the second day after Pesach). No recognition. Not even symbolic. Not even gratitude.
Far-left, pro-Hamas Councilmember Shahana Hanif is suddenly bending over backwards to show support for the Chosen People — now that she’s in a tight challenge against a Jewish primary opponent.
Until just four months ago, Hanif, 33, who reps the 39th district — which includes parts of Brownstone Brooklyn, including liberal bastion Park Slope, but also heavily Orthodox Jewish Borough Park — has almost never bashed Hamas or spoken up for Israel.
But when the Israeli restaurant Miriam was vandalized last week in Park Slope, the councilwoman fired off a statement to condemn the vandalism
“This hateful act threatens the safety of our community,” she wrote on X.
On the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre, Hanif released a statement of support calling out the terrorist bloodbath — something she rarely does.
Hanif was singing a far different tune before a primary threat emerged in August from Maya Kornberg, a Jewish Democrat who works at NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice.
In April 2023, Hanif was one of just two council members to vote against an ‘End Jew Hatred Day’ resolution — calling it a “far right” idea.
In the days after Hamas’ attack Hanif insisted in a since-deleted post on X “the root cause of this war is the illegal, immoral, and unjust occupation of the Palestinian people,” and that “no peace” should be expected.
At a “Cease Fire Now Rally for Gaza” in Bryant Park where Hanif was arrested, hundreds of protestors shouted the anti-Israel chant, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
Another since-deleted X post from Hanif demanded a “ceasefire” just five days after the slaughter in an effort to shut down any military response from Israel.
So far, Hanif, elected in 2022, has raised about $68,000 for the June 24 primary contest, while Kornberg is nipping at her heels with almost $63,000 in the bank, according to campaign finance data.
Rabbi Andy Bachman, a former senior rabbi at Congregation Beth Elohim in Brooklyn, said Hanif called him to offer support in August after a bookstore in her district canceled a talk from him because he was a “Zionist” — but described her recent outreach “too little and too late.”
“My perspective is as a lifelong proud Democrat, any politician who is unwilling to . . . condemn Hamas as a terrorist organization is simply not fit to lead,” he said.
In a statement Team Hanif said she would “always work to keep all New Yorkers safe by addressing the root causes of violence” and insisted that she had “repeatedly and categorically condemned Hamas.”
They refused to send any past example of her doing so.
*Let's not forget the perfidy of Ezra Friedlander who is a supporter of this Muslim antisemite
In May 2021 Ezra endorsed her saying:
Ezra Friedlander, a Hasidic lobbyist who lives in the district, said he is voting for Hanif because she signaled to him an understanding of the nuances of Orthodox Jewish life, which Friedlander attributed to her being raised as a religious Muslim.
“She understood the financial hardship that entails, she understands kosher food,” he said. “You’re talking about someone who doesn't need a textbook to understand the lifestyle challenges for an Orthodox Jewish family.”
The revelations come as questions plague the Pentagon over why the Army would allow its pilots to train in an area home to the most densely trafficked air path convergences in the country — and as the Federal Aviation Administration prohibited most helicopter traffic in the area as the deadly midair collision continues to be investigated.
The Black Hawk chopper was flying more than 300 feet above the Potomac River Wednesday night when it smashed into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport-bound Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kan., as the plane was landing, killing 67 people aboard both aircraft.
Aviation guidelines require helicopters on that route to stay below 200 feet.
President Trump on Friday blasted critics for casting blame on his administration’s recent firing of aviation officials since taking office, pointing out that the issue clearly rested with the Army helicopter’s fatal deviation from the required altitude.
“The Black Hawk helicopter was flying too high, by a lot. It was far above the 200-foot limit,” an exasperated Trump wrote on Truth Social. “That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???”
The collision may have been avoided if the Army had outfitted the Black Hawk with an Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast device, a relatively new technology that allows air traffic control operators to see an aircraft’s altitude, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said on Friday’s episode of his podcast, “The Verdict.”
The Department of Defense announced Friday night that it will institute a new “annual media rotation program” for its in-house press corps, effectively removing several major news outlets, including NBC News, from their Pentagon office spaces in favor of other outlets.
In addition to NBC News, The New York Times, National Public Radio and Politico must vacate their dedicated workspaces. The news organizations found out in a memo sent to the press corps without being individually notified, and an accompanying email included a message that read, in part, “no additional information will be provided at this time.”
“For over a half-century, the Pentagon Press Corps has benefited from working out of individual office spaces that provide coveted and open access to some of the Department’s top military and civilian leaders,” read the memo Pentagon spokesman John Ullyot sent to the Pentagon Press Association.
Two hours later, Keith Siegel was released from Gaza Port. He ascended a stage for a short time, wearing a hat and waving to the crowd. At the transfer point, Hamas gave him two bags. Reports said that one of them was for his wife, Avivah, who was freed in a November 2023 prisoner swap deal.
He was later transferred to the IDF and crossed into Israel, where he met his wife.
Ofer Calderon landed on a helipad at Sheba Medical Center, and when he noticed his friends, he ran to them and waved, to the sound of applause.
The Prime Minister's Office said: "The Government of Israel embraces the returnee Keith Siegel. His family has been updated by the responsible authorities that he is with our forces. The Government, together with all of the security officials, will accompany him and his family. The Government of Israel is committed to returning all of the hostages and the missing."
Coordinator for the Hostages and the Missing in the Prime Minister's Office, Brig.-Gen. (Res.) Gal Hirsch said, "Today, three of our hostages were returned to Israel: Yarden Bibas, Ofer Kalderon and Keith Siegel. We welcome them with a big embrace. We have made arrangements for receiving them and will assist in their rehabilitation after a long period of captivity."
In exchange for the three civilians, Israel will release nine terrorists with life sentences, and 81 other terrorists who are serving lengthy sentences. However, Hamas' Prisoners Office published a list of 183 names, 18 of whom are serving life sentences, 54 of whom are serving extended sentences, and 111 Gaza residents who were arrested following the October 7 massacre.