Monday, March 10, 2025
Meet Adam Boehler, Trump’s dangerously naive hostage envoy
Meet Adam Boehler, US President Donald Trump’s envoy for hostages.
Hamas already has, in one or more recent negotiating sessions (Boehler won’t say how many).
And on Sunday, Israelis got to see him at length too, in a veritable flood of television interviews — at least two to American networks, and at least four to Israeli outlets.
There may have been more. It got hard to keep up. It was harder still to make sense of what he was saying.
1. He calls Palestinian security prisoners “hostages”
Boehler, who also worked for Trump in the first administration, sometimes appears to refer to Palestinian security prisoners, who include mass-murdering terrorists, as hostages. “They are exchanging massive amounts of hostages for one person,” he said, for example, in one of his Israeli interviews, with Channel 13.
Trump must reverse Biden’s Iran appeasement and make the mullahs ‘broke again’
“Making Iran Broke Again” has a nice ring to it.
After four years of shady appeasement by the Biden administration, Iran’s bloodthirsty regime is under pressure again — and just in the nick of time, before it finesses its nuclear weapons capability.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hammered Iran in his speech to the Economic Club of New York last week, foreshadowing harsh new sanctions and a long-overdue crackdown on the Islamist regime’s black-market oil economy.
Iran’s sanctions fraud was a dirty little not-so-secret of the Biden administration, known to intelligence agencies and hedge fund traders alike.
“Iran has developed a complex shadow network of financial facilitators and black-market oil shippers via a ghost fleet to sell oil, petrochemical and other commodities to finance its exports and generate hard currency,” said Bessent.
When Donald Trump left office in 2021, Iran was on its knees.
Savage sanctions aimed at strangling Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and funding of terrorists had reduced Iran’s oil exports to a trickle. Trump had also torn up the diabolical Iran nuclear deal, the Obama administration’s so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Weak on mullahs
NYC Comptroller the Self-Hating Jew Brad Lander ‘divesting’ pension funds from Israel ..
It’s a tale of two investment strategies.
New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander is being accused of “divesting” city pension funds from government bonds of the State of Israel — allegedly breaking from his predecessors and state counterpart in a politically charged move.
New York City first invested $30 million in State of Israel Bonds in 1974 under former city Comptroller Harrison Goldin, via the pension funds for educators, the Teachers Retirement pension system.
Over the years, successive city Comptrollers Bill Thompson, John Liu and Scott Stringer have reinvested in State of Israel bonds when bonds matured.
The New York State pension system, run by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, also has $363.9 million invested in the Jewish State.
Israel bonds are considered a solid investment, accumulating about 5% returns on average per year, records show.
But Lander’s office said that the pension funds of government employees of New York City — the municipality with the largest Jewish population outside of Israel — is now only $1.17 million.
Only the Police Pension Fund owns a small position of $1.17 million in Israeli Yankee bonds.
Lander’s office claimed that the New York City pension funds do not invest directly in foreign sovereign debt — the bonds of other countries.
But investors in Israeli bonds said Lander is full of it — because prior comptrollers have.
Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, a former CUNY trustee and Israel bond investor, accused Lander of engaging in “passive divestment” by not reinvesting in Israel bonds when ones held expire.
“Lander is divesting from Israel for political reasons. He wants to be allied with his pro-Jihadi, anti-Israel contingent,” Wiesenfeld said.
He also claimed Lander is violating his fiduciary duties because Israel bonds post positive returns for investors.
By comparison, Weisenfeld called DiNapoli a “special mensch” for standing up for Israel amid the war with Hamas in Gaza.
“I and many Republicans admire Tom DiNapoli for his personal fairness and decency, attributes that make him unique in New York politics. He’s a special mensch,” Wiesenfeld said of the Democrat.
DiNapoli, the sole trustee of the state’s pension fund, has invested $363.9 million in State of Israel bonds. This includes $327.1 million of Development Corp. for Israel bonds and $36.8 million of Public State of Israel debt.
Before Lander became comptroller, the city pension funds were invested in Israeli bonds as part of the office’s global fixed portfolio during his predecessor Stringer’s eight years in office from 2014 to 2021, according to a spokesperson for the latter.
Stringer is running against Lander in the Democratic primary for mayor. He declined to comment on the Israel portfolio plummeting under Lander.
The votes of pro-Israel Jewish voters as well as critics of the Jewish state could determine who wins the Democratic primary for mayor.
Lander, through a spokesperson, declined to comment when asked whether he and reps on pension boards he serves on decided not to reinvest in Israel bonds when they matured.
But he stressed that he doesn’t support the BDS movement to divest from Israel.
“Comptroller Lander does not support – and has never supported – boycott, divestment, or sanctions against Israel,” the spokesperson said.
“The New York City pension funds do not invest directly in the bonds of any foreign countries, but they do invest in debt and equity positions in many Israeli-owned companies – just as they do in companies whose owners are Americans, Canadians, Mexicans, Chinese, Saudi Arabians, and many other nationalities.”
Lander first raised eyebrows over his stand on investing in Israeli bonds when he was asked about it during a forum hosted last month by the New York Progressive Action Network.
“We don’t have any Israeli bonds because that’s just, that’s a category of investments that we don’t currently, that we don’t have,” he said at the Feb. 5 mayoral forum, first reported by The Daily News.
Israel and US agree: Talks with Hamas to be fully coordinated between the countries
Israeli officials have spoken with their counterparts in the Trump administration to clear up the issue of talks between White House Hostage Affairs Envoy Adam Boehler and the Hamas terror organization over the release of hostages from Gaza.
According to Kan Reshet Bet, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his staff told the cabinet on Sunday that the sides came to an agreement that any talks between Boehler and the terror organization would be fully coordinated with Israel.
The cabinet ministers were told that "the issue has been solved."
This follows reports that not all the talks were not coordinated with Israel. Last week Axios reported a heated conversation between Boehler and Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer about Israel’s deep concerns over secret negotiations.
Boehler discussed the contacts with Hamas and the conversation with Minister Dermer in a series of Sunday interviews with both American and Israeli news outlets.
In an interview with CNN, he said: “I spoke with Ron, and I’m sympathetic. He has someone that he doesn’t know well making direct contact with Hamas. Maybe I would see them and say, ‘Look, they don’t have horns growing out of their head. They’re actually guys like us. They’re pretty nice guys.’”
He told Kan News that "Hamas suggested that they would release all hostages, lay down their weapons, and no longer be part of the politics of Gaza and that the US and its allies would ensure there was no military infrastructure remaining in Gaza. In exchange, there would be a five to ten-year truce, and the US and other countries would help rebuild Gaza."
He later clarified the remarks he made in the CNN interview in a post on social media:
“I want to be CRYSTAL CLEAR as some have misinterpreted. Hamas is a terrorist organization that has murdered thousands of innocent people. They are BY DEFINITION BAD people. And as President Trump has said, not a single Hamas member will be safe if Hamas doesn’t RELEASE ALL HOSTAGES IMMEDIATELY."
Agam Berger: Please Keep Shabbat As A Merit For Remaining Hostages
Freed hostage Agam Berger, who became famous for her heroic efforts to keep Shabbat and Kashrut while in captivity, made a special request in honor of Shabbat Zachor, the Shabbat when we remember the wicked acts of Amalek and the obligation to eliminate the evil nation. Berger requested that people keep this Shabbat as a merit for the hostages still languishing in Gaza that they should return and as a memory for all those who lost their lives since Oct. 7th.
Berger also thanked the people of Israel for all of the prayers, mitzvot and good deeds done on her behalf while she was in Hamas captivity.
Israel Cutting off Its Electricity Supply to Gaza
Israel will stop supplying electricity to the Gaza Strip, Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen said on Sunday.
“We will employ all the tools available to us so that all the hostages will return, and we will ensure that Hamas won’t be in Gaza on the ‘day after,’” Cohen said in a video statement.
Last Sunday, the Israeli government announced the suspension of all humanitarian aid to Gaza after the Hamas terrorist organization rejected the ceasefire extension proposed by U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that no goods or supplies would enter Gaza until further notice, reaffirming that Jerusalem will not agree to a ceasefire without the release of hostages.
Since the ceasefire took effect on Jan. 19, more than 25,000 aid trucks carrying food, water and medicine have entered Gaza, alongside more than half a million tents and more than 2,000 fuel tankers. Israeli officials estimate that Hamas has stockpiled supplies sufficient for four to six months.
“There is no shortage of essential products in the Strip whatsoever,” said Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, in response to a joint statement by the foreign ministers of the E3—France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
“We express our deep concern at the Government of Israel’s announcement on 2 March to halt all entry of goods and supplies into Gaza,” the E3 said on March 5.
“We call on the Government of Israel to abide by its international obligations to ensure full, rapid, safe and unhindered provision of humanitarian assistance to the population in Gaza,” it added.
Stolen humanitarian aid became the economic lifeline for Hamas during the current Gaza war, handing it profits estimated at a half-billion dollars, according to Channel 12.
Netanyahu addressed the issue of Hamas exploiting aid for its benefit at a Sept. 4 press conference in Jerusalem, promising that Israel would in time strip the terrorist group of its ability to use the stolen supplies for financial gain.
The Foreign Ministry quoted former U.S. President Joe Biden, who said on Oct. 18, 2023, that if Hamas “diverts or steals” the aid, then “it will stop the international community from being able to provide” it.
“Aid that goes to Hamas is not humanitarian. Enabling the enemy to resupply itself so it can regroup and attack you again is not humanitarian—it is suicidal and will not be allowed,” the Foreign Ministry said.
David Mencer, spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, told press on March 3: “It is Hamas who is harming the Gazan population. Hamas systematically takes the humanitarian aid and sells it to support their own terror. … Hamas could be humanitarian but they’ve in fact been barbarian.”
With Witkoff slated to travel to Doha on Tuesday to encourage negotiations between Israel and Hamas, the Jewish state confirmed that it will participate in the discussions.
“Israel has accepted the invitation of the mediators backed by the United States,” the Prime Minister’s Office stated, in a translation of the Hebrew, “and will send a delegation to Doha on Monday in an effort to advance the negotiations.”
Columbia Univer Pro-Hamas Mahmoud Khalil Arrested and being Deported
In a decisive move that marks a new chapter in President Donald Trump’s crackdown on foreign students involved in anti-Israel protests, federal immigration authorities arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent Palestinian activist, Saturday night. This arrest follows Trump’s earlier threats to deport foreign agitators and imprison those leading the charge against the U.S.’s stance on Israel.
Khalil, who played a central role in Columbia University’s student encampment protests, was apprehended in his apartment just blocks from the prestigious Manhattan campus. The immigration authorities, acting under a State Department order, revealed their intent to revoke Khalil’s green card, a dramatic escalation in the administration’s war on radical campus activism.
Khalil, who graduated in December, had been a thorn in the side of both the university and U.S. officials for his outspoken anti-Israel stance. As one of the most visible faces of the pro-Palestinian movement on campus, he had often been vocal about his belief that Columbia benefited from “Israeli apartheid” and vowed that student resistance would persist.
His arrest follows Trump’s recent actions to place additional scrutiny on Ivy League universities, particularly Columbia. On Friday, the Trump administration announced a $400 million cut in grants and contracts to the university, blaming the school for failing to contain antisemitism amid campus protests.
Trump’s firm stance against anti-Israel activists is clear. He has made no secret of his plan to target individuals who disrupt American interests under the guise of protest, and his administration is now delivering on those promises. As part of the crackdown, Khalil, who holds permanent residency, was detained despite his status as a legal resident, further intensifying the stakes for activists like him.
Khalil’s attorney, Amy Greer, expressed frustration at the lack of details surrounding the arrest. “This is a clear escalation,” she said, as she described the detainment of Khalil as an example of the administration following through on its threats. His wife, who is eight months pregnant according to the Associated Press, was left in the dark as authorities declined to explain why Khalil was being detained, a stark reminder of the Trump administration’s unwavering commitment to cracking down on anti-Israel rhetoric.
Trump’s strategy is not just about targeting individuals like Khalil but sending a clear message to both foreign students and U.S. universities. His administration is following through on its pledge to ensure that institutions that foster antisemitism and anti-American sentiment face serious consequences. By cutting funding and revoking student visas, the administration is forcing schools like Columbia to reconsider their handling of divisive activism.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Columbia University said that law enforcement must provide a warrant to enter university property, but declined to confirm whether such a warrant had been issued for Khalil’s arrest. As the situation unfolds, one thing is clear: Trump is not backing down from his promise to hold university activists accountable, no matter the consequences.
Paterson Is the Capital of Palestine in the United States of America ,,, Mayor of Paterson
Paterson, New Jersey, is undergoing a rapid transformation, with local leaders emphasizing Islamic identity and Palestinian nationalism, sparking concerns among critics about the city’s shift away from its historical roots.
The recent Hilal Lighting Ceremony, a city-endorsed event marking Ramadan, is seen as more than a religious celebration, but a political rally for Palestinian nationalism. The ceremony took place in “Little Palestine,” an area of the city now officially renamed Palestine Way in 2022.
Paterson, home to a growing Palestinian population, has seen its streets lined with Palestinian flags and Arabic signage. This cultural shift, led by Muslim elected officials, has led some to question if the city is evolving into an Islamic stronghold.
Muslim politicians, including Mayor Andre Sayegh, Councilmen Shahin Khalique, MD Forid Uddin, and Ibrahim Omar, as well as Deputy Mayor Raed Odeah, are at the forefront of this shift. The officials have championed policies catering to Islamic interests, such as halal food in public schools, school closures for Eid, and the broadcasting of the Adhan (Islamic call to prayer).
During the Hilal Lighting Ceremony, Mayor Sayegh declared Paterson “the capital of Palestine in the United States,” and referred to it as the “fourth holiest city in the world” after Jerusalem, Mecca, and Medina. These statements, along with efforts to prioritize Islamic practices in the city, have raised concerns about the future direction of Paterson.
The event was supported by several organizations with strong pro-Palestinian ties, including the Palestinian American Community Center (PACC) and the Islamic Center of Passaic County (ICPC), both of which have been accused of promoting radical pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel rhetoric.
The political shift in Paterson has led to questions about the role of Islamic influence in American cities and the line between cultural representation and political activism. Critics argue that the city’s transformation into an Islamic and Palestinian enclave could undermine the values that have traditionally defined Paterson.
As Paterson continues to evolve, the city’s identity remains a contentious issue, with Muslim leaders asserting their political and religious influence and others raising concerns about the implications for the broader community.
Horrifying, the mayor of Paterson, NJ declares that it is not an American city, it is a Palestinian city.
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) March 9, 2025
“Paterson is the capital of Palestine in the United States of America.”
pic.twitter.com/uWOB35omDW
Sunday, March 9, 2025
Biden's 'autopen signature' appears on most official docs, raising concerns over who controlled the WH
"WHOEVER CONTROLLED THE AUTOPEN CONTROLLED THE PRESIDENCY," the Oversight Project, which is an initiative within the conservative Heritage Foundation that investigates the government to bolster transparency, posted to X on Thursday.
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