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Wednesday, November 6, 2024

DIN Doesn't see a path for Harris to win. Republicans take Senate

 




The final polls have closed.

Here are the states left to call: Alaska, Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and three of Maine’s four electoral votes.

The updated scoreboard of electoral votes stands at 247 for former President Donald Trump and 210 for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Vice President Kamala Harris will not speak to the nation tonight, her campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond announced early Wednesday morning.

“We still have votes to count ... so you won’t hear from the vice president tonight," he told the crowd at Harris' watch party at Howard University. "She will be back here tomorrow."

"Go H-U and go Harris," he added.

Donald Trump's chances of returning to the White House are looking fairly bright, according to numerous live forecasts.

The New York Times is currently giving Trump a 93% chance of victory in its election forecast, while Polymarket pegged his chances at 96.6%.

Thus far, the Associated Press has only called on battleground state — North Carolina — leaving six outstanding. Trump is also currently leading in the so-called "Blue Wall states" of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

Michigan has just 56% of the vote in, while Pennsylvania has 88% and Wisconsin has 83% of its votes reported, per the latest figures.

Grim looks are a common sight at Kamala Harris' Election Night watch party — as roughly half of the crowd headed home by midnight without a visit from the vice president.

In scenes reminiscent of Hillary Clinton's dismal watch party at the Javits Center in 2016, young Harris supporters on the campus of Howard University frowned, crossed their arms and stared with mouths agape at TV screens.

Harris, 60, was expected to triumphantly visit her alma mater in the event of good news — but remained at her official DC residence after losing North Carolina and lagging behind Donald Trump in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Netanyahו finally gets rid of Gallant as Defense Minister

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Tuesday evening.

Netanyahu explained that this is the result of a crisis of trust and significant differences between the two in the management of the war. "My highest commitment as Prime Minister of Israel is to maintain Israel's security and bring us to a complete victory," Netanyahu said in a statement after the dismissal announcement.

He added, "In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defense. Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last few months this trust has cracked between me and the Minister of Defense."

"Significant gaps were discovered between myself and Gallant in the management of the campaign, and these gaps were accompanied by statements and actions that contradicted the decisions of the government and the cabinet. I made many attempts to bridge these gaps, but they kept getting wider. They also came to the public's attention in an unacceptable way, and worse than that, they came to the knowledge of the enemy - our enemies took pleasure in this and derived a lot of benefit from it," he said.

Netanyahu stated that he is in favor of differences of opinion and debate, "But the crisis of trust that gradually opened up between myself and the Minister of Defense has become public, and this crisis does not allow for the proper continuation of the management of the campaign. I'm not the only one who says this, most of the members of the government and most of the members of the cabinet, almost all of them share this feeling that this cannot continue."

"In light of this," he said, "I decided today to end the term of office of the Minister of Defense. In his place, I have decided to appoint Minister Israel Katz. Israel Katz has already proven his abilities and his contribution to national security as Minister of Foreign Affairs, as Minister of Finance, and as Minister of Intelligence for five years, and no less important than that, as a member of the political and security cabinet for many years."

He noted that he is inviting former Minister Gideon Sa'ar to join the government and assume the position of Foreign Minister from Minister Katz. "In addition, I spoke today with Minister Gideon Sa'ar and suggested that he join the coalition with his faction and fill the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs. As a member of the government and cabinet for many years, Gideon Sa'ar brings with him extensive experience and expertise in the fields of policy and security, and he will be a significant reinforcement for our leadership team."

Gallant stated in response, “The security of the State of Israel always was, and will always remain my life’s mission."

The move was welcomed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who said, "The prime minister did well to remove him from his position.” Ben-Gvir claimed that "it is not possible to achieve absolute victory" with Gallant as Defense Minister.

On the other hand, opposition figures condemned Gallant's firing, Democrats chairman Yair Golan called on the public to "take to the streets" in protest.

National Unity MK Orit Farkash Hacohen said, “A Defense Minister who announces conscription orders for thousands of Haredim is fired in the middle of a war on the eve of an [expected Iranian] attack for the sake of the evasion law.”

IDF Demolishes 29 Villages in Southern Lebanon

 The IDF illustrated how every home in south Lebanon was a rocket launching base:


 IDF forces conducting a counterterrorism operation against the Hezbollah terror organization in Southern Lebanon have demolished close to 30 villages and towns that were in proximity to the Israeli border.

According to a report by Asharq Al-Awsat, Israeli forces have destroyed 29 villages dotted across a strip 120 km long from the Rosh HaNikra on the coast in the west, to Shebaa in the east.

Mohamed Chamseddine, policy research specialist at Information International, told the Saudi daily that the villages of Aita al-Shaab, Kfar Kila, Adeisseh, Houla, Dhayra, Marwahin, Mhaibib, and al-Khiam have been “completely destroyed” along with some 25,000 houses.

Israel launched a counterterrorism offensive in the area on October 1, following a year during which Hezbollah bombed Israeli communities and cities, killing dozens of soldiers and citizens.

The terror organization used these villages, many of which overlook Israeli communities, as its base of operations from which it launched missiles, explosive drones, and anti-tank rockets.

Soldiers returning from the battlefield recounted how they found weapons in every home they searched in the area, essentially turning the buildings into legitimate targets according to international law.

The IDF revealed that in one month of combat in Lebanon, it eliminated some 1,500 terrorists and uncovered about 3,000 explosive devices and over 2,500 rocket launchers and anti-tank missiles hidden in the homes of Lebanese civilians in villages across Israel’s border.

The IDF stated on Tuesday that in the past day, the Air Force attacked about 100 terrorist targets in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, hitting weapons warehouses, rocket launcher positions, military buildings, and other terror targets.

by David Israel JP

North Korean troops 'Gun down Russian comrades after shooting in the wrong direction

 



North Korean troops sent to aid Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine gunned down their own Russian comrades after shooting in the wrong direction, a captured Russian soldier has claimed.

Video purportedly shows the Russian soldier recalling his experience in the Kursk region with Putin's newest recruits. 

The unnamed soldier says his unit was in a forest with ten North Korean soldiers after having been sent to dig out trenches when they were caught in a crossfire.

During the assault, the Koreans started firing at us', he explained. 

'We tried to explain to them where to aim, but  they shot two of our own

'I decided it was better to surrender in this situation that to be killed by our own bullet', the soldier said. 

The apparent episode of friendly fire is the latest in a series of frontline humiliations for Putin and his blundering forces.

It comes after North Korea's foreign minister vowed last week that it would stand by Russia until its victory in Ukraine during a visit to Moscow. 

Choe Son Hui's visit to Russia came amid reports that up to 10,000 North Korean troops could be training in Russia and on the brink of entering the more than two-year conflict on Russia's side. 

US intelligence said last week that some North Korean troops had already made their way to the Kursk border region, with Washington and Seoul warning North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to withdraw his army. 

Russia's lower parliament meanwhile unanimously ratified a defence treaty with North Korea that was struck between Putin and Kim  during the Russian president's state visit to the North Korean capital in June.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's intelligence services released audio last week of that they claimed to be Russian troops complaining about the arrival of North Korean fighters.

In one recording, a pair of soldiers can be heard bellyaching about the so-called 'K battalion', referring to them as 'f***ing Chinese' and declaring one of his fellow servicemen had said 'who knows what the f*** we're supposed to do with them'.

Another clip obtained by Ukraine's Defense Intelligence (GUR) appeared to expose the lack of communication and planning regarding the North Korean troops' integration with their Russian counterparts.

'He was just talking about the K battalion, I say: ''And who is getting the weapons and ammunition for them? We got rations, and as far as I heard those are for the brigade'',' one Russian soldier moaned.

'He was like ''What f***ing brigade? You're getting everything.'' I just said that I understood everything and went out for a smoke.'

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has called the deployment a 'provocation that threatens global security beyond the Korean Peninsula and Europe'.

Yoon also said South Korea will 'review' its stance on providing weapons to Ukraine in its war with Russia, which the country has long resisted.

Seoul has already sold billions of dollars of tanks, howitzers, attack aircraft and rocket launchers to Poland, a key ally of Kyiv.



Another Top Iran Military Commander Killed in Plane Crash

 


Two members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) died in a gyroplane crash near Sirkan, a city in the Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan, on Monday according to the Fars News Agency.

One of the dead named in the report was Brigadier General Hamid Mazandarani, commander of the Nineveh Brigade. His pilot was also reported to have been killed.

Detailing the crash, a report on the Fars News Agency website says: "An Iranian general and pilot were martyred in an ultra-light gyroplane crash during a counterterrorism maneuver in the Southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan on Monday."

The report also details that the "ultralight aircraft was conducting a combat operation during a military exercise when it crashed" and that the crash followed the deaths of 10 Iranian law enforcement members days earlier after a terrorist attack in the Gohar Kuh district of Taftan.

Newsweek reached out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran for comment via email.

It was unclear why Mazandarani was visiting the southeast, when he is based in a northern province, according to Reuters.

Fars News also mentioned the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's death in a helicopter crash in May but said that such aviation incidents are rare in Iran.

It is unknown officially what caused the crash that led to the president's death, along with those of Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and seven others.

The city of Sirkan has reportedly been the site of clashes between Iranian security forces, Sunni militants and drug traffickers, according to Reuters.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is currently embroiled in a battle with the Israeli military, in which saw Israel recently launch an attack on Iran that likely damaged a facility operated by the IRGC.

Satellite images indicated that the attack on October 26 struck the IRGC's Shahroud base, which is responsible for constructing ballistic missiles and launching rockets as part of Iran's space program.

Following the attack, Iranian Foreign Minister Syed Abbas Araghchi accused the U.S. of being involved in the attack, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the U.S. for its "close coordination and assistance" in conducting the attack.The IRGC is likely preparing for a retaliatory strike, with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issuing a warning to the U.S. and Israel on November 2.

"The enemies, whether the Zionist regime or the United States of America, will definitely receive a crushing response to what they are doing to Iran and the Iranian nation and to the resistance front," Khamenei said.

Established after the 1979 revolution, the IRGC reports directly to Khamenei and works with partner organizations Hamas and Hezbollah, according to the Council on Foreign Relations




Son of Shoimrei Emunim Rebbe Enlists in the IDF in the New "Hashmonaim Brigade"


Mendel Rata (Right)

Hasidic musician Mendel Rata, son of the Rebbe of the "Shomrei Emunim" hasidic court of Ashdod, announced Monday evening his decision to enlist in the new haredi Hashmonaim Brigade.

Rata revealed the dilemmas that accompanied him over the past year, since the outbreak of the war: "For an entire year I knew at every moment that something is very wrong with my way of life. The blood of my brothers is spilled like water and I sit and remain silent," he wrote. "Instead of dragging out a bag of different excuses while inside, my conscience tells me I must get up and take action."

The decision was made after a decisive meeting with the commander who will lead the brigade, Col. Avinoam Emunah. "I felt like I was talking more to the dean of a yeshiva than to a colonel," he shared.
He shared his desire to enlist as a combat soldier: "The final decision was made. Mendel is going to enlist in the new haredi brigade as a combat soldier, undertaking another mission of creating Jewish spirit and spiritual influence in this brigade."

He added: "I am aware of the possibility that during the basic training I will feel that I am not mentally or physically capable of the role of a combat soldier, and should that be the case, I will devote all my activities in the brigade on the spiritual and emotional level, with the help of God."

According to Rata, the new brigade marks a fundamental shift in the IDF: "The IDF understood something it had not understood until today, and decided to do 'everything' for this endeavor to succeed. It decided to listen very attentively to all the spiritual and emotional needs of the haredi public."

He claimed that most, if not all, of the haredi rabbis who were exposed to the details of the program "welcomed the tremendous initiative wholeheartedly," although they noted that mass enlistment of haredim is possible only after a trial year.
"I am very excited and proud of this decision," he wrote, "This brigade brings with it a new spirit and true hope with significant historical meaning for the future of the pained and divided Israeli society."


Haaretz in Panic Tries to Backtrack, Attempts Damage Control After Its Publisher Calls Terrorists “Freedom Fighters”



 In an attempt at damage control, Haaretz is hastily trying to distance itself from a firestorm created by its own publisher, Amos Schocken. Schocken’s comments, in which he referred to Palestinian terrorists as “freedom fighters,” have not only angered Israelis but also prompted multiple government ministries to sever ties with the notoriously left-wing newspaper.

Schocken, speaking at a Haaretz conference in London last week, decided to air his grievances against the Israeli government with remarkable tone-deafness, stating, “The Netanyahu government doesn’t care about imposing a cruel apartheid regime on the Palestinian population. It dismisses the costs to both sides for defending the [West Bank] settlements while fighting the Palestinian freedom fighters that Israel calls terrorists.” The remarks, captured on video and widely shared, seemed to conveniently ignore the reality of terrorism in favor of Schocken’s ideological agenda.

After backlash reached a fever pitch, Schocken issued a “clarification,” claiming his “wording should have been different” and hastily adding that “as for Hamas, they are not freedom fighters.” In a hasty attempt to contain the damage, Haaretz published an editorial, almost begrudgingly titled “Terrorists are not freedom fighters,” attempting to undo the self-inflicted mess. In the piece, Haaretz concedes that, “The fact that he didn’t mean to include Hamas terrorists doesn’t mean that other terrorist acts are legitimate, even if their perpetrators’ goal is to free themselves from occupation.”

In a spectacularly belated acknowledgment of the obvious, Haaretz goes on to declare, “Deliberately harming civilians is illegitimate.” Apparently, Haaretz felt the need to remind its readers that targeting innocent men, women, and children for ideological or political ends is indeed terrorism, not “freedom fighting.”

The editorial struggles to strike a balance between historical narratives and the clear-cut nature of terrorism, yet somehow manages to paint Schocken’s initial comments as an innocent misstep. Haaretz concludes with a note that the term “freedom fighter” may have a “romantic connotation,” as if that excuse somehow mitigates the offense.

This rushed editorial seems less like an apology and more like an attempt to excuse Schocken’s ideological misadventures. Whether this “clarification” will restore the newspaper’s credibility remains to be seen, but the damage from Schocken’s comments has been done—and it’s doubtful this half-hearted editorial will win back the confidence of those it alienated.

US airline industry implementing effective 'boycott' of Israel by suspending direct flights



 The U.S. airline industry is implementing what a Democratic member of Congress calls an effective boycott of Israel by suspending all direct flights in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks. 

More than one year after the Hamas attacks, as the war between Israel and Iran-backed terrorist groups in the region continues, no major U.S. airlines are flying directly from the United States to Israel. Travelers departing the United States can only catch a direct flight to the Jewish state via the Israeli airline El Al. Meanwhile, airlines in Arab countries like the United Arab Emirates are still flying there. 

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., described this as an effective boycott in a letter to the CEOs of American, United, and Delta in August. 

"My understanding is that in order to travel to Israel, your only option is El-Al, which is gouging prices. So the lack of availability of air travel from [U.S. airlines] has led to price gouging. It has made air travel to Israel far less accessible and affordable to Americans, which is fundamentally unfair," Torres told Fox News Digital. 

Torres said in his letter that the "lack of competition has made air travel to Israel less available and less affordable, putting customers at the mercy of a de facto monopoly." 

Monday, November 4, 2024

Hilarious! The most famous Pollster Ann Selzer Doesn't know what the "D" or the "R" Represents!


 


“Famed” pollster Ann Selzer

"I’m confused… What does this D represent, and the R represent?”

As IDF Dati Leumi casualties rise, so does resentment of Charedi exemption bill

 


The belief that there is a divine commandment for men to serve in the IDF has been one of the central points of disagreement separating religious Zionists from their more insular Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox, brethren for at least half a century.

But as the number of IDF soldiers killed or wounded in action continues to rise, and as the religious Zionist community continues to pay a disproportionately high price in casualties, that disagreement has transformed into enmity.

“I am married to IDF Captain Avi, who serves in the Nahal brigade,” wrote Rachel Goldberg in a letter addressed to MKs in anticipation of Haredi-backed legislation seeking to enshrine in law military exemption from compulsory military service for yeshiva men.

“He has done over 220 days of reserve duty in the last year. In the past 10 days he fought in a village in Lebanon and I did not have an opportunity to talk to him. As a nurse, I serve diverse populations, including Haredim,” Rachel wrote. “I don’t understand how it is possible to support a law that exempts large groups from military service. Where is the morality? Where is the sense of shared obligation? Why do we as a family need to sacrifice so much for the state at a significant risk?”

Avi Goldberg was an educator and a rabbi of a religious high school who received ordination from the chief rabbinate of Israel. On October 26, after his wife wrote the letter, he was killed in Lebanon.

Three days later, Rachel, now his widow, read from the text she had written in an anguished television interview.

As of October 30, 777 IDF soldiers have been killed and 5,196 wounded in Israel’s multifront war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

A disproportionately high percentage of religious Zionist soldiers are represented in combat units. That fact, combined with their high motivation on the battlefield, has resulted in inordinately high numbers of religious Zionist soldiers who have been killed or wounded in action.

Channel 12’s political commentator Amit Segal, himself a religious Zionist, estimated on air last week that over 60% of the IDF soldiers killed in October were religious Zionists.

“There isn’t a religious Zionist school, a neighborhood, a yeshiva, without a soldier who fell or who was injured,” said Segal.

On Wednesday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi again stressed that the military needs to be larger, as reserve soldiers — who have served multiple stints over the past year in Gaza, on the northern border, and now in southern Lebanon — have been expressing frustration that ultra-Orthodox men are largely not being drafted.

“To all the reservists, I understand the costs, family, employment and the burden. Now we need solutions… The IDF needs to be larger, both in the standing army and reserves, which is why we’re building up more forces,” Halevi said to officers during a visit to the northern border.

The war in Gaza erupted after Hamas’s October 7, 2023, massacre, which saw some 3,000 terrorists burst across the border into Israel by land, air and sea, killing some 1,200 men, women and children, and seizing 251 hostages, amid acts of brutality and sexual assault.

In Israel, all able-bodied men and women over 18 are obligated by law to perform military service. However, the argument over Haredi draft dodging has focused almost exclusively on males.

Haredim and religious Zionists are committed to the same Jewish legal texts, cite and hallow the same Talmudic scholars, and share the same theology regarding creation, historicism and the authority of halacha, or Jewish law, both in theory and in practice.

Yet a deepening rift separates Haredim and religious Zionists when it comes to military service — and it is having an impact on politics.

On Monday, United Torah Judaism chairman Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf backed down from an ultimatum that his party would bolt the coalition and derail the passing of the 2025 budget unless the government passed a law cementing Haredi military exemption prior to the budget vote.

If in the past, politicians supported by religious Zionists had the freedom to appease Haredi politicians with draft exemptions for Haredi yeshiva students for the sake of maintaining a right-wing coalition that advances other agendas important to religious Zionists, their electorate is rebelling .

Grassroots political activism, emotional pleas and halachic arguments are being mustered in and out of the Knesset to block Haredi attempts to maintain blanket exemptions from military service for yeshiva students.

A number of leading religious Zionist rabbis have made public declarations based on their understanding of Jewish law saying there is no justification for excusing yeshiva students from helping with the war effort.

“All MKs from all the parties who see themselves as religious Zionists should know that legislation providing sweeping exemptions from military service for Torah scholars is a betrayal of religious Zionist values,” Rabbi Yitzhak Shilat, head and co-founder of Birkat Moshe Hesder Yeshiva in Maale Adumim, recently wrote in a letter addressed to students, alumni and parents.

“There is absolutely no halachic or moral justification for exempting part of the nation from military service and participation in a mandatory war of rescuing Israel from its enemies. In a mandatory war, everyone is obligated to participate, even a bridegroom under the wedding canopy,” he wrote.

A bereaved father speaks out

Meanwhile, Rabbi Dr. Tamir Granot, head of Tel Aviv’s Yeshivat Orot Shaul, taped a video message directed at the Haredi yeshiva world on October 27, ahead of the new semester of yeshiva learning which officially begins November 3.

The date also happens to be the anniversary of the death of his son Amitai Tzvi, who was killed by a Hezbollah missile.

In the 14-minute video, Granot pointed to Goldberg as a model for “true Judaism.”

Marshaling halachic sources, Granot claimed that in the present situation of dire danger to the Jewish people, there is no justification for exempting able-bodied men from military service, even if they are engaged in Torah study.

To back up his argument he quoted the late Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz, also known as the Chazon Ish, the name of his magnum opus, who was the intellectual founder of non-Hasidic Haredi culture and thought in modern Israel.

“I fear that your Torah will not promote life, rather death,” Granot said in an emotional appeal. “This is not Torah. If this situation continues, God forbid, and on one side there is dying and on the other there is living, on one side falling and collapsing and women not eating or sleeping, and on the other side everything is normal, it will be callous and cruel.”

One of the largest grassroots groups pushing to block legislation exempting Haredim from military service is made up of over 2,000 religious Zionist women and is called Shutafot La’Sherut (Partners in Service).

Its members define themselves as “mothers and wives of Torah scholars who demand a fair partnership in the national effort.”

Members of Shutafot La’Sherut met Wednesday in the Knesset with MKs in an attempt to prevent the passage of legislation allowing military exemptions.

Other private initiatives have sprung up across the nation.

“Here in Efrat we’ve held around 10 demonstrations outside [MK Ohad Tal of the Religious Zionist Party’s] house in the last few weeks,” resident Benayahu Orbach told The Times of Israel.

The demonstrations are aimed at pressuring Tal to oppose legislation exempting Haredim from military service, said Orbach.

by Mati Wagner

Islamophobia Awareness Month

 

“Innocent” Palestinians in Gaza on full display.

 

Israel Cancels Agreement Recognizing UNRWA

 

Israel has terminated the 1967 agreement outlining the terms of its relations with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), a week after the Knesset passed legislation banning the organization’s operations in the Jewish state.

“UNRWA, whose employees took part in the October 7 massacre and many of whose workers are Hamas operatives, is part of the problem in the Gaza Strip, not part of the solution,” according to a statement by Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Monday.

“The U.N. was provided with countless pieces of evidence regarding Hamas operatives who work at UNRWA and about the use of UNRWA facilities for terrorism, and nothing was done,” he added.

“Don’t believe those claiming there is no substitute for UNRWA. Already, the vast majority of humanitarian aid [in Gaza] is delivered through other organizations, only 13 percent is delivered through UNRWA.

“The State of Israel is bound by international law and will continue to allow the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza in a manner that will not harm the security of the citizens of Israel,” continued Katz.

Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon welcomed the move, and reiterated Jerusalem’s commitment to providing aid to the PA Arabs.

“Despite the overwhelming evidence we submitted to the U.N. that substantiate Hamas’ infiltration of UNRWA, the U.N. did nothing to rectify the situation,” tweeted Danon.

“The State of Israel will continue to cooperate with humanitarian organizations but not with organizations that promote terrorism against us,” he added.

Last week, the Knesset made it illegal for UNRWA to operate in Israeli territory, and for state officials to cooperate with the agency.

Two laws were passed by a large majority following the exposure of UNRWA staff complicity in Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023 massacre, and despite pressure from the United States and other countries against the move.

Following the Knesset’s vote, the Israeli Foreign Ministry called the agency “rotten.”

“It is not just a few rotten apples, as U.N. Secretary-General [Antonio] Guterres is trying to claim. UNRWA in Gaza is a rotten tree entirely infected with terrorist operatives,” the ministry stated at the time.

Despite the ban, which will come into full effect in 90 days, Israel has committed to ensuring the continued flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

“Israel is committed to international law and to providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, and will continue to act on this subject with UN agencies and international organizations such as the World Food Program, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and a number of other organizations, this while complying with its international obligations,” the ministry said.

“Hamas has infiltrated UNRWA in Gaza widely and deeply,” the statement continued. “UNRWA employees were involved in the horrific 7 October massacre. Moreover, Israel handed over to the U.N. details about an additional 100 Hamas operatives who are employed by UNRWA, yet UNRWA has not taken any measures to handle the issue, and is not moving forward with any serious steps to deal with the terrorist operatives in its ranks.”

The U.S. State Department expressed “deep concern” over the legislation, emphasizing UNRWA’s role in delivering aid to Gaza.

The Biden administration has stepped up pressure on Jerusalem to meet a host of demands focused on vastly expanding the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip.

Last month, the White House confirmed an Axios report that Washington had sent a letter to Israel containing an ultimatum: Improve the humanitarian conditions in the Gaza enclave within 30 days or risk a hold-up in the supply of U.S. weapons.



Iranians Execute Jew

 

Iranian Jew Arvin Netanel Ghahremani HY’D, 20, was executed by the Islamic Republic on Monday. Klal Yisroel around the world had been Davening for him.

The court system in Kermansha Iran, had granted a temporary reprieve to the wrongly accused Jewish man, postponing his execution by approximately six months.

Rabbi Moshe Margaretten of the Tzedek Association, had worked tirelessly on the case, as did many other Askanim around the globe. Sadly, the Supreme Court in Iran executed him despite all efforts.

Avrin was exercising at a gym in the city of Kermanshah, located 326 miles (525 kilometers) from Tehran in the western part of Iran. when he was ambushed by seven men, including a 40-year-old man who owed him money.

The purported victim, Amir Shokri, pulled out a large knife and stabbed Ghahremani. Arvin fought back in self-defense and fatally stabbed him.

Ghahremani was convicted of being an “accomplice to the intentional murder of a Muslim” and for “intentionally inflicting nonfatal injuries.”

Dr. Homayoun Sameyah, the Jewish MP in Iran’s Parliament, has tried to intervene by asking multiple lawmakers to mediate with Shokri’s family, even offered to build a mosque in his name. All his efforts were unsuccessful.

Until the last moment, efforts continued via international organizations to prevent the execution. Various parties appealed to several countries to intervene, including Russia and Germany. Additionally, lawyers and officials in Iranian Jewish communities in the US made efforts to try to influence the family of the victim to commute the death sentence and accept financial compensation.

Sadly, he was executed on Monday.