Jew-Hating "Haaretz" Criticizes Ben-Gvir For Establishing Emergency Squads Throughout Israel!

 Haaretz published an editorial Friday morning criticizing the Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, for his policy of distributing firearms and establishing hundreds of civilian emergency squads throughout Israel.

The editorial claimed "In less than 2 months, the National Security Ministry has approved more than 25,000 firearms purchase requests, as well as 145,000 before the massacre, not including firearms already in possession of security forces."

"Ben-Gvir is taking advantage of the vacuum to create so-called 'emergency squads' which are walking about armed without any supervision, and arming the public as well."

The editorial ends with criticism of the appointment of Ben-Gvir as National Security Minister, and for giving him the powers he has: "The danger in giving this portfolio to a convicted criminal is no longer speculative, it is real. The writing is on the wall in blood."

The editorial comes on the heels of a Knesset deliberation in which members of Knesset complained that Ben-Gvir's staff had distributed firearms and licenses without permission.

During the meeting, it was revealed that the state ombudsman had forbidden Ben-Gvir's staff from dealing with firearms licensing requests.

The National Security Ministry's legal advisor commented during the deliberations: "Girl doing national service were given authority as firearms officials for half a year. Knesset employees who helped to check documents were not."

MKs are demanding to cancel the licenses that were issued and open a criminal investigation against the minister and his staff for the malicious misuse of their public office.

Minister Ben-Gvir defended the policy Thursday during a press conference at the scene of a deadly shooting attack in Jerusalem: "We have a strong army and police, but they can't be everywhere. We have seen repeatedly that armed civilians can save lives."

Zera Shimshon

 

Sorry guys but the Zera Shimshon Website is down ... 

Chiloinie Wants to Connect to Her Creator .. Watch What happens

 

Surrender: Blinken Tells Israel It Lacks ‘Credit’ to Defeat Hamas

 

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israel that it lacks “credit” to conduct the kind of military campaign necessary to defeat Hamas, saying that the Biden administration would not tolerate large-scale bombing over months in southern Gaza.

Blinken’s remarks were leaked to the Israeli press. The Times of Israel quoted a transcript of his meeting with Israel’s war cabinet:

Blinken: You can’t operate in southern Gaza in the way you did in the north. There are two million Palestinians there. You need to evacuate fewer people from their homes, be more accurate in the attacks, not hit UN facilities, and ensure that there are enough protected areas [for civilians]. And if not? Then not to attack where there is a civilian population. What is your system of operation?

IDF Chief Herzi Halevi: We follow a number of principles — proportionality, distinction, and the laws of war. There were instances where we attacked on the basis of those principles, and instances where we decided not to attack, because we waited for a better opportunity.

Hamas burned child hostages with motorcycle exhaust pipes to ‘mark’ them, drugged them

 

Children taken hostage by Hamas were “marked” by their captors with burns from searing-hot motorcycle exhaust pipes, family of recently released child hostages have revealed.

“They told us stories about what they went through inside Gaza. The stories are horrible,” said Yaniv Yaakov, the uncle of 12-year-old Yagil and 16-year-old Or, two boys freed this week as part of Israel’s ceasefire deal with Hamas.

“Each child that was taken by Hamas was taken on a motorbike and they took every child, took his leg and put it on the exhaust of that motorbike, so they have a burn so they will be marked if they run, if they escape, so they can find them,” Yaakov said during an interview, according to the Times of Israel.

His nephews and other children held captive by the terrorists were also frequently moved from place to place, and drugged to keep them complacent.

“They were treated so bad, but at least they are with us,” he said.

Yagil and Or’s account was just one of many emerging from relatives of children taken hostage by Hamas during their bloody October 7 attack on Israel. Of the more than 200 hostages, about 40 are believed to be children. At least 32 kids have been released so far.

The youngest, 10-month-old Kfir Bibas, died in Hamas captivity along with his mother and 4-year-old brother. The terror group claimed they were killed by Israeli shelling.

Twelve-year-old Eitan Yahalomi was beaten by a mob of Gazan citizens when he was first carried across the border from Israel, his aunt Deborah Cohen said, according to Reuters.

Later, the terrorists forced him to watch graphic footage of their massacres in Israel, Cohen said.

“Every time a child cried there, they threatened them with a weapon to make them be quiet. Once they got to Gaza, all the civilians, everyone was hitting them,” she said in an interview with French outlet BFM TV.

“We’re talking about a child 12 years old,” she added.

Emily Hand, a 9-year-old who spent her captivity dodging between houses in Gaza with her captors to avoid shelling, has only spoken in whispers since her return after they conditioned her not to make noise.

“I had to put my ear close to her mouth to hear. In captivity, she was told not to make any noise. You can see the terror in her eyes,” her father, Thomas Hand, told CNN after her recent release.

Another girl held with Emily, 13-year-old Hila Rotem Shoshani, is also speaking only in a hushed voice, according to her family.

Many children reported being kept underground in Hamas’ elaborate tunnel system throughout the duration of their captivity, where they subsisted on desperately small rations of rice and pita bread.

The ceasefire deal started on November 24 after Hamas agreed to release 50 hostages in return for a four-day truce and the release of 150 prisoners.

Hamas was given the option to extend the ceasefire another day for every 10 additional hostages released.

Over 100 hostages have since been released as the truce is scheduled to lift at 7 a.m. local time Friday, unless another deal can be reached.

IDF announces renewal of fighting in Gaza. 'Hamas violated operational pause.'

 

The IDF has announced the renewal of fighting in Gaza, after the Hamas terror organization violated the terms of the operational pause.

An IDF spokesperson said that IAF aircraft are attacking Hamas targets in Gaza. A diplomatic source said, "We are renewing the fighting with all our might. There are no negotiations for the release of hostages."

At the same time, the IDF's Home Front Command updated the guidelines for the Israeli public, and in most cities in central Israel, schools will be open only in locations where a protected space is accessible within the required amount of time.

The pause was set to expire at 7:00a.m. Friday morning, but reports by the Wall Street Journal claimed that an agreement was reached on extending the ceasefire by a day. This report was not confirmed by Israel, and by Friday morning, Israel had not yet received a new list of hostages to be freed.

At 5:48a.m. Friday morning, sirens sounded in Israeli communities near the Gaza border. A few minutes later, the IDF announced that it had successfully intercepted a launch from Gaza.

An hour later, at 6:53a.m., sirens sounded in the Israeli community of Holit, located near the Gaza border.

Less than half an hour later, at 7:05a.m.. the IDF announced, "Hamas violated the operational pause, and in addition, fired toward Israeli territory."

"The IDF has resumed combat against the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip."

The IDF also clarified: "Following the initial report regarding sirens sounded in Kibbutz Holit, a number of launches were identified from the Gaza Strip toward Israeli territory.

"The launches were not intercepted according to protocol.

"IDF fighter jets are currently striking Hamas terror targets in the Gaza Strip. Details to follow."

On Thursday, after several days of quiet, the IDF successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed into Israel from Lebanon.

The IDF confirmed: "A short while ago, following the sirens that sounded in the areas of Dovev, Mattat, and Sasa in northern Israel, the IDF Aerial Defense Array successfully intercepted a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory."

House Passes Resolution to Block Iran’s Access to $6 Billion From Prisoner Swap

 The House passed a bipartisan measure Thursday that would block Iran from ever accessing the $6 billion recently transferred by the U.S. in a prisoner swap, a step Republicans pushed in response to the nation’s alleged role in the deadly attacks last month by Hamas on Israel.

The measure — titled the No Funds for Iranian Terrorism Act — passed 307-119 as Republicans sought to hold the Biden administration accountable for what they call their complicity in funding Iranian-backed terrorism in the Middle East.

“With such instability in the region, the last thing we need to do is to give access to $6 billion to be diverted to more Iranian-sponsored terrorism,” Rep. Michael McCaul, the Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said during a debate.

U.S. officials have rebuffed this criticism, noting that not a single dollar has yet to be made available to Iran and insisting that when it is, it can only be used for humanitarian needs.

Republican critics like McCaul say that despite the money being restricted to aid, it is fungible, and could free up other funds for Tehran to provide support to Hamas like they believe it did before it attacked Israel in early October.

The U.S. and Iran reached the tentative agreement in August that eventually saw the release of five detained Americans in Tehran and an unknown number of Iranians imprisoned in the U.S. after billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets were transferred from banks in South Korea to Qatar. But days after the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, the U.S. and Qatar agreed that Iran would not be able to access the money in the meantime, with officials stopping short of a full refreezing of the funds.

Aharon Haliva has got to go. Now

An intelligence chief who publicly rejects the government’s characterization of a war, whose poor professional judgment led to catastrophe and who has a history of contemptuous insubordination simply cannot be trusted

by Caroline B. Glick

 Immediately after the blackest day in Israeli history, a consensus formed that we must wait until after the war to investigate how Hamas was able to invade the country, slaughter 1,200 innocents and get away with 240 hostages. There’s a lot to recommend this position.

We’re at war. Now is not the time for action, not recrimination and trials for failed generals, security chiefs and politicians. Good or bad, you go to war with the army and leaders you have. People have jobs to do, and our job is to let them do theirs.

While reasonable on its face, there is a problem with delaying a reckoning. At least in some cases, it seems clear that the people whose failures enabled the Hamas attack are not capable of bringing us victory.

Case in point: Israel Defense Forces Intelligence Directorate Chief Chief Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva. In the weeks since Oct. 7, more and more information has come out about why Hamas was able to pull it off. All of the information points to Haliva and his close subordinates.

The Field Observers unit at Nahal Oz base suffered the greatest losses there during Hamas’s assault. The unit, comprising female soldiers, is responsible for monitoring the footage from security cameras along the Gaza border around the clock and alerting forces on the ground and in the intelligence community to anything suspicious.

Marco Rubio: I want Israel to destroy every element of Hamas

 

]

US Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fl) stated that Israel should "destroy every element of Hamas" when confronted by activists from the anti-Israel Code Pink organization who asked if he would support a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization.

"I want them to destroy every element of Hamas they can get their hands on," Rubio told the activists. "These people are vicious animals who did horrifying crimes, and I hope you guys post that."

When asked about the civilians who are killed during the battles between Israel and Hamas, Rubio replied that he blames Hamas for all civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip.

"Hamas should stop hiding behind civilians, putting civilians in the way. Hamas knew that this was gonna lead to this, so Hamas has to stop building their military installations underneath hospitals," he said. "I think it's horrifying, I think it's terrible, and I think Hamas is one hundred percent to blame."

Livia Dickman 24 Beit Shemesh teacher Murdered in Yerushlayim by Hamas

 

She was a teacher in Derech Emunah in Beit Shemesh 

More info later, but she was pregnant 

Children Screaming "Shma Yisrael"

Satmars Do Not Pray for the Success Jewish Soldiers but Are they Praying for the Satmar Rebbes Grandchild?

 Meet Chaim Tzvi Meisels, the grandson of the Satmar Rebbe who is now serving in Gaza! (Right)

Meisels who recently got married (left) chose to immigrate to Israel 7 years and enlist in the IDF. He left everything behind in NY and came to a new country, not even knowing Hebrew, but he enlisted in the IDF and overcame many hurdles and eventually became a platoon commander in the Golani Brigade.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jewish Breaking News (@jewishbreakingnews)

UN Employees Smiling and Laughing it Up with Released Terrorists

 

Dear @ICRC
why are your employees smiling and laughing it up with released Arab terrorists? pic.twitter.com/4YvzvHA53D

— Yisrael Medad (@ymedad) November 29, 2023

Beit Shemesh Principal Mrs. Chana Ifirgan 67 Murdered In Yerushalyim

Another educator who works in a Beit Shemesh school was injured in the attack.
The public is asked to daven for a refuah sheleimah for Shoshanah Bracha bas Rivka Yehudis b’toch sha’ar cholei Yisrael.

 The three victims of the the Jerusalem terror attack on Thursday morning were identified as HaDayan HaRav Elimelech Wasserman, H’yd, Mrs. Chana Ifirgan, H’yd, and Libi Dickman, H’yd – all residents of Jerusalem.

Mrs. Chana Ifirgan, H’yd, 67, was the principal of a school in Beit Shemesh, the wife of HaGaon HaRav Shimon Ifirgan, a leading Talmid Chacham in Jerusalem.

She served as the principal of the Bnos Hadassah school, a Sephardi elementary school in Ramat Beit Shemesh Aleph. She was known as a talented educator and a Ba’ales Chessed. Until last week, she hosted evacuees from the southern cities of Ofakim and Netivot in her home on Rechov Rashi in the Mekor Baruch neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Libi Dikman, H’yd, 24, a resident of Har Nof, is the daughter of HaRav Yehudah and Michal Steinhaus of Har Nof. She was expecting her first child.

She worked as a teacher in the Derech Emunah school and was on the way to work when she was killed Al Kiddush Hashem.

Her levaya will take place at 2:30, leaving from her parent’s home on Rechov Zerach Barnet 14 in Har Nof and continue to Har HaMenuchos.

Additionally, a Dayan was injured in the attack. The public is asked to daven for the refuah sheleimah of HaRav Avidan Moshe ben Mina Rivka b’toch sh’ar cholei Yisrael.

Also, one of the soldiers who shot the terrorists and neutralized them, was shot and is lightly to moderately injured. The public is asked to daven for a refuah sheleimah for Ro’ee ben Michal b’toch sha’ar cholei Yisrael.

Rabbi Elimelech Wasserman, one of the foremost Dayanim in Israel Murdered in Yerushlayim

 One of those murdered in the shooting attack in Jerusalem has been confirmed to have been hasidic rabbi and rabbinic judge Elimelech Wasserman.

He was among the most important figures in the Belz hasidic community, and a member of the Ashdod Rabbinical Court. Members of his family say that he was on his way to the court when he was murdered by terrorists at a bus stop in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Wasserman studied in the Vizhnitz Yeshiva in Haifa, and after his marriage, pursued ordination as a rabbinical judge in the Harry Fischel Institute in Jerusalem, where he was ordained by Rabbi Yosef Cohen as well as the Chief Rabbinate of Israel 28 years ago. He is the son-in-law of Rabbi Asher Freund.

He served as a judge in the Monetary Court in Jerusalem, and was one of the most learned of the judges, with great experience in both instruction and ruling on cases, and had considerable knowledge of the Talmud and authorities in the Jewish law.

Rabbi Wasserman is survived by sons, daughters, and many descendants who follow in his path.

The President of the Great Rabbinical Court and the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, eulogized Rabbi Wasserman, saying: "I mourn the murder of the judge and sage Rabbi Elimelech Wasserman, who was murdered by villains this morning in Jerusalem. Rabbi Wasserman was a rare scholar, and even after he retired he insisted on continuing his work for those seeking ordination as rabbinical judges. The rabbinical courts will miss his grandeur and outpouring of good and kindness."

Religious Affairs Minister Michael Malkieli (Shas) eulogized him as well: "It was with tremendous shock and grief that I received word of the villainous murder of the sage and judge Rabbi Elimelech Wasserman while he was on his way to the court in Ashdod. Rabbi Wasserman, one of the most experienced and important judges in the rabbinical court system, served the people of Israel for many years with great dedication, and greeted everyone happily."

Meet the Israel-haters at the top of Biden’s pro-Iran government

 

Americans have looked on in horror as pro-Hamas sympathy and genocidal Jew-hatred have erupted across college campuses, on city streets and up to Capitol Hill in the aftermath of the jihadist group’s monstrous Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

But perhaps even more horrific is how prevalent the “buttoned-up” version of this worldview is at the highest echelons of the US national-security and foreign-policy apparatus — and how the Biden administration’s Middle East agenda reflects it.

For the latest example, look to the social-media accounts of the CIA’s associate deputy director for analysis.

Amy McFadden, a decorated intelligence officer once responsible for overseeing the production of the all-important President’s Daily Brief, shared Palestinian propaganda on her Facebook page just two weeks after the Black Sabbath massacre, the Financial Times reports.

The woman who serves as one of three officials “responsible for approving all analysis disseminated inside the agency” changed her cover photo to an image of a man waving a Palestinian flag in a keffiyeh-patterned shirt — a design euphemistically referred to as a symbol of Palestinian “solidarity” popularized by the late Palestine Liberation Organization terrorist-in-chief Yasser Arafat.

McFadden previously posted “a selfie with a sticker saying ‘Free Palestine’ superimposed on the photograph,” FT says.

It is bad enough for an American official to share a domestic political message on social media.

It’s infinitely worse when not just any official but a senior intelligence hand publicly promotes a foreign political cause — in this instance, Palestinian nationalism, right after Hamas’ Nazis executed a catastrophic and savage attack overwhelmingly supported by Palestinian Arabs against one of America’s foremost allies.

The Free Beacon adds that McFadden had in recent days liked a LinkedIn post from the International Crisis Group promoting an article critical of Israel for “making the utter defeat of Hamas its top priority.”

Another senior Biden national-security official once led that very conflict-resolution-focused nonprofit.

His name is Rob Malley.

Hundreds of Pro-Palestinian protesters, one carrying swastika, swarm Midtown in bid to derail Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting

 Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters swarmed the streets surrounding Rockefeller Center Wednesday, clashing with NYPD cops and chanting “river to the sea,” long seen as an antisemitic slogan, in an effort to derail the annual tree lighting in support of Gaza.

Waving Palestinian flags and signs calling for the “end to genocide,” the ralliers gathered along Sixth Avenue alongside hordes of tourists waiting in line to see the iconic ceremony.

Unable to get to the NYC Christmas tree, the enormous crowd instead swarmed around the tree outside the News Corp building, which houses The Post and Fox News, and has already been targeted by pro-Palestinian protesters on at least two occasions.

“Free free Palestine!” the protesters chanted.

One rallier was seen climbing on top of the pillar bearing the building’s address, and another was seen carrying a massive sign bearing a swastika, comparing the Israel Defense Forces to German Nazis.

NYPD officers continuously pushed back the crowds, who shoved back, calling the cops “f–king Nazis.”

Hostages Were Held At Homes Of a UN Teacher And Gazan Doctor

 

In a startling revelation by Channel 13 News, Almog Boker reported that one of the recently liberated hostages had been detained for 50 days in the attic of a UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) teacher’s home, providing more evidence that the U.N. was complicit in Hamas’s terror operations.

“One of the abductees, held for nearly 50 days in an attic, reveals he was held by a UNRWA teacher – a father of ten children. This teacher locked the victim away, barely provided food, and neglected medical needs,” Boker wrote on X.

This incident is part of a far broader and troubling pattern, as Boker further reported on another hostage situation involving a Gazan doctor. “Another abductee was held captive by a Gazan doctor who, simultaneously, cared for children,” Boker wrote, highlighting the dual lives led by many “innocent civilians” in the Gaza Strip.

These are not isolated cases, but part of a larger picture where civilians are actively involved in the captivity of hundreds, including women and children.

UNRWA, the United Nations agency dedicated to assisting the descendants of Arab refugees from Israel’s War of Independence, has faced criticism over alleged links to Hamas and the reported extreme antisemitism among some of its employees. These latest reports of a UNRWA teacher’s involvement in a hostage situation lay bare the agency’s willingness to actively support terrorists.

Adding to the grim picture, Devora Cohen, aunt of 12-year-old Eitan Yahalomi who was also recently released, disclosed that Eitan experienced physical abuse at the hands of Gazan civilians. She revealed that children, including Eitan, were threatened with rifles if they cried.

TERROR IN JERUSALEM: 3 Murdered, 6 Injured, In Shooting Attack At Entrance To Jerusalem

Three people were murdered and six people were seriously and moderately injured in a shooting attack at the entrance to Jerusalem on Thursday morning. One of the fatalities was a 24-year-old woman, a second was a man in his 70s, and the details of the third fatality are not yet known.

Two terrorists opened fire, one with an automatic weapon and one with a pistol, toward passersby on Rechov Weizmann. The police said later that the terrorists arrived in the area by car and opened fire at people waiting at a bus stop. Cartridges with hundreds of bullets were found in the terrorists’ vehicle

Both terrorists, who were later reported to have been residents of East Jerusalem, were neutralized by a soldier who was nearby. Channel 12 News reported that the soldier was on a 12-hour leave from his post in the Gaza Strip.

Eight victims were evacuated to Shaare Tzedek and Hadassah Ein Kerem hospitals, five in serious condition, one in moderate condition, and two in light condition.

Watch the reserve soldier run to his car to get his gun to shoot the terrorists in the video below – at 14 seconds:

Video Player

Senior CIA Official Posted Pro-palestine Propaganda on Social Media

 

Dissension among foreign-policy professionals with the Biden administration’s support for the Jewish state’s war to destroy Hamas has now manifested in America’s espionage agency.

Amy McFadden, an associate deputy director for analysis at the CIA, posted a Palestinian flag as her Facebook background two weeks after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks against Israel.

Her LinkedIn page also showed support for the International Crisis Group, an anti-Israel organization linked to an Iranian propaganda network and previously led by Robert Malley, the suspended special envoy for Iran. The page also features the banner “I am for equity because equity starts with everyone.”

The Financial Times, which broke the story and did not name McFadden, also reported the CIA director had posted a selfie with the phrase “Free Palestine” imposed on it.

Following FT’s inquiry into the photo, McFadden removed the image.

McFadden is a Middle East specialist whose duties previously included preparing the President’s Daily Brief.

Henry Kissinger Dies at 100 Blocked Military to Israel During Yom Kippur War

 

 Henry Kissinger, the Jewish child refugee who defined American foreign policy during the 1970's while turning his back on his People, had died. He was 100.

*Born in Germany to a frum family,* he escaped with his parents in the 1930s and immigrated to the United States. His ties to the Washington Heights kehilla of Adath Yeshurun frayed as he climbed the ladder of success, and were cut completely when he married out of the faith. As such, he will not be buried by the kehilla's chevra kaddisha.

Kissinger, as President Nixon's nation security advisor, forced Israel to cede most of the territory out gained in the 1967 Six Day War, and later tried blocking military aid when Israel was attacked by seven Arab countries in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. He denied this in an interview earlier this year but historians say that the story is true but he was overridden by Nixon.

After Nixon resigned, Kissinger became secretary of state to President Ford. He proved to be one of the most effective diplomats of the 20th century, opening up China to the West in 1971 and engineering a detente with the Soviet Union. This helped bring about the end to the Vietnam War and to contain the Communist world.

He earned the wrath of many for supporting massive bombing campaigns in Vietnam and Cambodia, backing the authoritarian regime of Chile’s Augusto Pinochet and turning a blind eye to genocide in East Timor and Bangladesh.

In 1973, Kissinger engineered a lasting peace between Israel and Egypt after the Yom Kippur War by acting as an intermediary as part of “shuttle diplomacy” to resolve the conflict.

Hamas Tortured Captive Jews with Electric Cables

 

A Thai hostage who was released by Hamas told Israel’s Channel 12 that the Jewish hostages with him were beaten with electric cables and that all the hostages were denied adequate food.

Channel 12 also quoted the Thai hostage as saying that Jewish hostages were kept in worse conditions than others.

As reported by the Times of Israel:

“He says there was little to eat for the hostages — a pita a day, sometimes a tin of tuna to share between four, and sometimes a piece of cheese. Held for more than seven weeks, he says they were allowed to shower once.

“We were with Israelis, and they were guarded all the time,” he is quoted saying. “The Jews who were held with me were treated very harshly, sometimes they were beaten with electric cables.”

In addition, it has been reported that Hamas tortured children by forcing them at gunpoint to watch films of atrocities against Israeli civilians during the attack. It also kept some children alone for weeks and denied hostages sufficient food, water, and sunlight.

Many hostages lost weight, and not unexpectedly, many of the children have shown signs of psychological trauma.

The Red Cross has not made any attempts to visit the hostages, nor has it transferred medicines and other needed items to them. In fact, there is no evidence that the Red Cross, which has immense leverage, has made any serious effort to pressure Hamas to allow them in.

Stark images of murder and torture in Israel leave US senators in tears and silence

 

Sen. Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat, runs out of a Senate room where there was a screening of the Oct. 7 Hamas atrocities, in the U.S. Capitol, Nov. 28, 2023

 If there’s a trait that unites the 100 members of the U.S. Senate, it is volubility: These folks, who invented the filibuster, know how to talk.

It was remarkable to see them then exiting a screening room on Tuesday in the bowels of the Capitol building, barely able to shape their mouths into a single word.

The unusual silence came after two senators, Jacky Rosen, a Jewish Nevada Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, screened for their fellow senators 43 minutes of harrowing footage of the carnage Hamas terrorists committed on Oct. 7.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat, said as she walked away, her eyes filled with tears.