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| Meraglim "the Gedoilei Hador" of the "dor deah" |
On Sunday, the people of Beit Shemesh elected a new mayor, Shmuel Greenberg. He is affiliated with the ultra-Orthodox Degel HaTorah political party, and he defeated the incumbent mayor, Aliza Bloch, who is Orthodox but not part of the Chareidie world. The election wasn’t particularly close; Greenberg won 58% of the vote. It’s hardly likely that last-minute electioneering saved him from defeat. Greenberg won and was always going to win. So why did some rabbis, ostensibly in the name of Torah values, resort to slander in order to ensure his election? |
Special Counsel Robert Hur was in the hot seat for four hours Tuesday as President Biden’s congressional allies sought to destroy him for doubting Biden’s intellect.
They had no case. And instead, they turned the event into Three Stooges-caliber theater.
Hur’s report last month concluded that Biden had “willfully retained and disclosed classified materials” — violations of federal law.
But Hur said that prosecuting him would be dicey because jurors could view Biden as an “elderly man with poor memory.”
The House Judiciary Committee hearing on Hur’s report was only about “Republicans trying to re-elect the former white supremacist-in-chief,” according to Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.).
Fixating on Biden’s document shenanigans could aid Trump and cause the worldwide triumph of tyranny, wailed Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.). Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) derided Hur as a Republican bootlicker hoping to get a prize appointment if Trump is re-elected.
One Democrat after another put Hur into a headlock and jammed words into his mouth.
When Hur objected to Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) claiming his report exonerated Biden, she cut him off: “Mr. Hur, it is my time.”
Democrats, veering toward full “Manchurian Candidate,” seemed ready to recite with glazed eyes: “Joe Biden is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.”
Biden needs plenty of sycophants because of his hypocrisy, legal violations and brazen falsehoods.
After the FBI raided Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home to seize classified documents in August 2022, Biden said he was stunned that “anyone could be that irresponsible.”
After Hur’s report came out, Biden declared.
“I did not share classified information.”
Biden claimed that all the classified stuff “in my home was in filing cabinets that were either locked or able to be locked.”
But Hur testified that those claims were “inconsistent with our findings.”
Most congressional hearings shed far more heat than light, but the testimony of special counsel Robert Hur was a welcome exception.
Yes, there was plenty of heat, but in the end, viewers witnessed a clear demonstration of how partisanship has corrupted the Department of Justice.
They also saw that Democrats are not troubled by that rank favoritism as long as their guy gets a free pass and the other guy gets nailed.
There are many causes for the deep polarization gripping America, but one of the most important is the contrasting ways Donald Trump and Joe Biden have been treated for their alleged mishandling of classified documents.
Trump faces a 40-count federal indictment, while Biden gets off scot-free despite a finding that he improperly kept and used such documents for 40 years.
On its face, the disparate treatment smacks of a double standard, especially because no former president had ever been indicted for anything after leaving office.
That history created a formidable barrier, but Jack Smith, the prober assigned to Trump, was bulldog-aggressive and treated him like a common criminal, complete with a surprise FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago.
On the other hand, Hur, assigned to Biden’s case, was far more restrained and respectful of whom he was dealing with.
There’s a lot that can be learned from the Holocaust and World War II as a whole. There are lessons in the bravery of some and the cowardice of others. There is so much to be learned from how Hitler was allowed to start another World War and commit a crime so great a new word had to be developed to describe it, "genocide", as well as how he was finally defeated.
People seem to love to try to apply these lessons to Jews and the Jewish State, Israel, especially in the aftermath of the Hamas massacre of October 7, the worst massacre committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust. But the lessons they want Israel to learn would not have stopped World War II or saved a single one of the six million Jews who were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators.
On Sunday, during the Academy Awards, Writer/director Jonathan Glazer used his acceptance speech for Best International Picture to attack Israel using the supposed “lessons” of the Holocaust and even “renounced” his Jewishness.
The White House on Tuesday attempted to walk back comments made by President Joe Biden over the weekend saying that an Israeli offensive of Rafah would be a “red line” for him.
In a Saturday interview on MSNBC, Biden said that an Israeli invasion of Rafah would be a red line but also said in the same breath that crossing it would not result in punitive measures against Israel.
“It is a red line, but I am never going to leave Israel,” Biden said. “The defense of Israel is still critical, so there’s no red line I’m going to cut off all weapons.”
Speaking at a news briefing on Tuesday, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters, “The President didn't make any declarations or pronouncements or announcements. The red line came up in a question he was responding to that question. I think he gave a full answer to it.”
Pressed on the issue by CNN’s MJ Lee, Sullivan appeared to blame the media for turning the idea of a red line into a “national security parlor game for the President.”
“He's really focused on the substance, on the policy on his concern about the protection of civilians, and about Israel being able to sustain a campaign in a way that ultimately leads to an outcome in which the people of Israel are secure. Hamas is crushed and there is a long-term solution to stability and peace in the region,” said Sullivan.
Netanyahu responded to Biden on Sunday, telling Politico, "I don't know exactly what the President meant, but if he meant by that that I'm pursuing private policies against the majority, the wish of the majority of Israelis, and that this is hurting the interests of Israel, then he's wrong on both counts."
The dispute between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden over Israel's plan to enter and engage in military action in Rafah, as part of the war to eradicate Hamas, rekindles a historic meeting between Biden and a former Israeli prime minister, the late Menachem Begin.
At the time several American newspapers described the meeting between the two on June 22, 1982, when Begin appeared before the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee and was verbally attacked by Senator Biden from Delaware, who threatened him that if he did not accept the US position on the First Lebanon War, the US would stop military aid to Israel.
Begin responded harshly. “Don’t threaten us with cutting off your aid. It will not work. I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history.”
“Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid," Begin added, leaving Biden speechless.
An unusual confrontation took place at the UN building in Manhattan on Monday when an Israeli-Bedouin whose relatives were taken hostage by Hamas on October 7th confronted Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour.
Four of Ali Al-Ziyadna’s relatives were taken hostage but two of them, in their teens, were returned to Israel with the other children and teens in November. The other two remain in captivity, including his nephew and brother who is a diabetic, along with three other Israeli-Bedouins. In addition, 21 Israeli-Bedouins were murdered on October 7th.
Al-Ziyadna was part of an Israeli delegation that accompanied Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz to a meeting of the UN Security Council for a discussion of Hamas terrorists’ violation of women on October 7th.
After the meeting, Al-Ziyadana confronted Mansour: “I’m speaking to you as a Muslim to a Muslim. We’re both fasting [for Ramadan]. Why did Hamas abduct my relatives? What crime did they commit that they abducted them? They’re in tunnels for five months for what? On what basis? They’re Muslims just like me and you. They returned the Thais without a deal but our children, no. They left the Muslims starving in the tunnels, wounded and naked.”
An Israel real estate sales event that was scheduled to take place at the Shul on Avenue N and East 27 Street will not take place tomorrow at this location. The event had triggered a planned protest outside the shul.
Additionally, the Rabbonim are asking all those who were planning to counter-protest, to please not attend, as the event is not going forward tomorrow.
Many of the protesters are known agitators, and with (literally) thousands of children being dropped off by buses from yeshiva at that very time of the event, [not to mention this being a highly residential neighborhood], the question was posed to the one of the leading Poskim, Hagaon HaRav Dovid Cohen who ruled that the event should be canceled.
Regardless of the event being canceled, there will be a massive NYPD and Flatbush Shormim presence at the Shul all day.
IDF soldiers celebrating Ramadan.
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) March 11, 2024
This gotta be painful for the pro Hxmas crowed. pic.twitter.com/fSUrsLv7ru
The number of civilian casualties in Gaza has been at the center of international attention since the start of the war. The main source for the data has been the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, which now claims more than 30,000 dead, the majority of which it says are children and women. Recently, the Biden administration lent legitimacy to Hamas’ figure. When asked at a House Armed Services Committee hearing last week how many Palestinian women and children have been killed since Oct. 7, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the number was “over 25,000.” The Pentagon quickly clarified that the secretary “was citing an estimate from the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry.” President Biden himself had earlier cited this figure, asserting that “too many, too many of the over 27,000 Palestinians killed in this conflict have been innocent civilians and children, including thousands of children.” The White House also explained that the president “was referring to publicly available data about the total number of casualties.”
Here’s the problem with this data: The numbers are not real. That much is obvious to anyone who understands how naturally occurring numbers work. The casualties are not overwhelmingly women and children, and the majority may be Hamas fighters.
Billionaire Zahwa Arafat is the daughter and sole heir of Yasser Arafat. She is only 25 with a fortune estimated at 8 billion dollars. She is one of the richest young girls on this planet, just because she inherited the fortune stolen by her father from the #Palestinian people. pic.twitter.com/dizBSRkVl6
— Hertfordshire Friends of Israel 🇮🇱🇺🇦 (@HertfordshireI) March 11, 2024
Who do you fear more, Israel, US President Joe Biden or G-d?
Who do fear more, Prime Minister Netanyahu, Biden or G-d?
It is nice to have a Compassionate Father in Heaven, whom we can pray to and rely upon for all our needs, while not feeling overly pressured or fearful of Him directly, but this is a false sense of security. More than any friend or foe, we must fear and revere the L-rd our G-d foremost.
So, we have a ruthless Amalekite enemy hiding out in its last strongholds in the Gaza Strip, and Biden says not to route them out. Biden says, don’t you dare attack Rafah. The Hamas leadership is likely in Rafah, and perhaps the remaining hostages, but Biden forbids us from entering that terrorist enclave. Should we listen to him?
With all respect to you, Joe Biden, who are you to tell us not to route out evil? Are you now a supporter of terrorism?
And with all respect to you, Bibi Netanyahu, who do you fear more, Biden or G-d? And who do you serve, America or Israel? Are you the Prime Minister of Israel or a US agent? You’ve committed a whole nation, and hundreds of thousands of its fighting men, to a war against Hamas, to rid the earth of this evil. Will you call it off?
Biden might be on the last legs of his political journey, and he is likely in the twilight of his life, but he remains the commander-in-chief of what is regarded as the strongest army on earth. His word certainly holds clout in this world, but nothing compared to G-d.
And Biden is allegedly on our side, helping us defeat Hamas, so what is he talking about? Why would he ask us not to finish off the job? Could he really be serious? He’s certainly not making any sense. Is he trying to save Hamas?
In situations like these, as with all consequential decisions in anyone’s life, you need only look to G-d. What would God have us do? Spare evil? Betray your people? Serve someone else in place of G-d?
Biden might be the US President, but he is wrong. We do not need to make the same mistakes that he does. Hamas is evil and must be wiped out. We are obligated to destroy them and to do justice. We must learn to fear people less and to fear G-d a lot more. That is the way of righteousness.
U.S. intelligence agencies are claiming that they “expect” protests to bring down the Israeli government and replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been an obstacle to President Joe Biden’s plans for the Middle East.
The claim emerged in the latest “Annual Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Community,” and was published by both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times Monday evening, suggesting a coordinated leak to the media.
The assessment says:
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has publicly stated his opposition to postwar diplomacy with the Palestinian Authority (PA) toward territorial compromise.
Netanyahu’s viability as leader as well as his governing coalition of far-right and ultraorthodox parties that pursued hardline policies on Palestinian and security issues may be in jeopardy. Distrust of Netanyahu’s ability to rule has deepened and broadened across the public from its already high levels before the war, and we expect large protests demanding his resignation and new elections. A different, more moderate government is a possibility.
Netanyahu was elected to his current term in office in November 2022 with a right-wing coalition that had the largest majority of any Israeli government in decades. His approval dropped during nationwide protests over his proposed judicial reforms, and in the immediate aftermath of the October 7 terror attacks, but recent polls suggest that his support has recovered, as he has led Israel to the edge of victory over Hamas while resisting international pressure.
Most important, there is no sign of division among the right-wing parties forming Netanyahu’s coalition. While some opposition parties have called for early elections, Netanyahu has successfully pushed back against the idea, noting that there is nothing Hamas and its Iranian sponsors would like more than to see Israel divided politically during the war. The next elections are scheduled for 2026, if the current government completes its allotted four-year term in office.
Netanyahu has withstood U.S. pressure to accept the Iran nuclear deal; to accept a Palestinian state as the outcome of the war — which he says would be a massive reward for Hamas; and to retreat from its own border in the face of missile attacks from Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists in northern Israel. As Breitbart News noted earlier Monday, reports have already emerged that the Biden administration is seeking Israeli consultants to help topple Netanyahu’s coalition.
Many observers have long suspected the Biden administration of working to bring down the Netanyahu government through a “color revolution.” A State Department-funded group was at the core of opposition to Netanyahu’s judicial reform, and then-Ambassador Tom Nides was described as the “arsonist-in-chief,” as he openly supported the Israeli opposition movement and the protests. President Biden also froze Netanyahu out, refusing to meet him for months.
Polls suggest that the vast majority of Israelis support Netanyahu’s positions — opposing a Palestinian state; backing the continuation of the war until Hamas’s complete defeat; and preparing for possible war against Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon. Polls also indicate that the vast majority of Americans support Netanyahu’s approach to the war — and oppose Biden’s approach, which has sought to appease terror and dissenting left-wing and Muslim-American voters.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
A US delegation on religious freedom said on Monday it cut short its visit to Saudi Arabia after one of its members was asked to remove his kippah, AFP reported.
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said its delegation was near Riyadh visiting Diriyah, a historic town that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, when the commission's chair, Rabbi Abraham Cooper, "refused their requests that he remove his religious head covering."
"No one should be denied access to a heritage site, especially one intended to highlight unity and progress, simply for existing as a Jew," Rabbi Cooper said in a statement.
The USCIRF said Rabbi Cooper and its vice chair, Reverend Frederick Davie, were invited to tour the site last Tuesday as part of their official visit when, after several delays to the tour, officials requested that Rabbi Cooper remove his kippah "while at the site and anytime he was to be in public, even though the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs had approved the site visit."
Rabbi Cooper said that Saudi Arabia "is in the midst of encouraging change under its 2030 Vision" but added, "However, especially in a time of raging antisemitism, being asked to remove my kippah made it impossible for us from USCIRF to continue our visit."
The USCIRF said it was particularly regrettable it happened to the representative of "an American government agency that promotes religious freedom."
The commission is a US government advisory body mandated by the US Congress.
The Saudi embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to AFP request for comment.
The incident comes against a backdrop of tensions between Saudi Arabia and Israel over the war in Gaza. While Saudi Arabia and Israel do not have ties, the US has been working on promoting a normalization agreement.
Israel and Saudi Arabia appeared to be on track towards normalization before Hamas’ October 7 attack against Israel and the war in Gaza which followed.
Shortly after the start of the war in Gaza, sources told Reuters that Saudi Arabia is putting the US-backed plans to normalize ties with Israel on ice.
Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, later said that he believes talks on normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia will resume immediately after the conclusion of the war in Gaza.
Prince Faisal said in late February that normalization with Israel requires both an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip as well as the establishment of a Palestinian state.
On Sunday, Saudi King Salman called for halting what he described the “heinous crimes” in the Gaza Strip.
Following Rav Yosef's directive the first of the Sfardie families have left Israel and flying to Chutz Le'aarets. Ths exclusive video clip features the "chacham" family!
