Merkel defends her immigration policy, no matter how poor it already is

Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, says they're fighting terrorism, yet continues to defend the very poor policy that's enabling jihadists to enter:

In her New Year’s speech, Chancellor Angela Merkel affirmed that her government will win the fight against terrorism with compassion and denied that her open-door mass migration policy, which directly brought terrorists to Germany, was wrong.

In the federal chancellor’s New Year address to Germany, Merkel asserted that the terror attacks committed by Islamist migrants in Würzburg, Ansbach, and recently at a Christmas market in Berlin were not attacks on Western civilisation but an attack on ‘refugees’ and Germany’s willkommenskultur (‘welcome culture’).

She stated terrorists “mock [the willingness of Germany to help] with their deeds [acts of terrorism], like they mock those who really need and deserve our protection.”

Adding that it is “particularly bitter and repulsive” when terrorist attacks are committed by migrants, Merkel pushed back against criticism of her unwavering commitment to mass migration, saying that Germany will fight the “hatred” of terrorism with “humanity” and “unity.”

Some "unity" alright! Much like Francois Hollande over in France, she's only taking all sorts of positions that divide and alienate. And that've had a most disastrous effect on the country. If she really meant what she said about combatting terrorism, she'd recognize that jihadists are exploiting her awful policies to cause chaos. That she's unwilling to do so only proves she was never a reliable politician to begin with.

Obama and the PLO are still plotting against Israel

There may be 21 days left of Obama's tenure as president, but even then, he's not letting up on his assault against Israel as he collaborates with the PLO to undermine:

The Palestinian Authority has been in contact with the Obama administration and European countries about the possibility of taking more UN action on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before President Obama leaves office next month, a senior PA official told Breitbart Jerusalem.

The official said the UN action could come in the form of declarations by UN bodies, including the General Assembly; UN sessions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; or even another United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution. He said any further UNSC resolution would depend on the support of the U.S. and European countries after the upcoming Paris Mideast summit slated for January 15.

He said the UN action would seek to set the parameters of a future Palestinian state with a clear timeline for negotiations. If the action comes in the form of a resolution at a UN body, it could call for an infrastructure to establish mechanisms to enforce last week’s UNSC resolution, which demanded a complete halt to Israeli construction in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem and declared those territories occupied Palestinian lands.

The PA official said the proposals set forth at the Paris Mideast conference will likely serve as the basis for upcoming UN action.

An Israeli official told Breitbart Jerusalem that the Israeli government is aware of the possibility of more UN action in the coming weeks, although the official did not have information about a new UNSC resolution.

Fortunately, Congress is planning actions against the UN to defund them, as is long overdue. The Israeli government says they've found evidence Obama arranged all this, and it wouldn't be shocking if he and his staff did. All that aside, it's time already to stop providing money to the UN and send a message we don't approve of their horrific conduct that harms not only Israel, but the rest of the free world.

Haredi establishment's bad conduct is causing assimilation

Rabbi Haim Amsalem blames the Haredi bigwigs for leading to assimilation of Jews:

Rabbi Amsalem pulled no punches while sharing his opinion on the subject of the hearing. He is known for criticizing the Chief Rabbinate's conversion policies, which he considers too stringent and which he often compares unfavorably with the opinions of Sephardic rabbis on the subject.

He quoted the Bible's words calling for the Ingathering of the Exiles, but charged that today, the State of Israel behaves in the opposite manner: "I blame the rabbinic and Torah establishments and all the State's institutions because they brutalize those seeking to convert with a heavy, unyielding, and un-halakhic hand, and instead of drawing people close we are dividing the Jewish nation and distancing it from ourselves - and this is a grave sin."

The Rabbi recalled the Jewish world's support for the establishment of the State of Israel as a guide to Diaspora relations: "I suggest a different, attractive approach styled after that of Harav Uziel and all the great Rabbis of Israel who went in his path - to draw close and embrace and find every way possible not to lose a single Jewish soul and not to do what the State of Israel is doing in so many issues: Conversions, nullifying conversions, non-recognition of conversions performed by community rabbis - all these things are exasperating, against the halakha, and infuriating."

Rabbi Amsalem attacked the approach of the haredi Members of Knesset who say there is no connection between Judaism and Reform: "The haredi MK's are misled and they mislead others. Yes, they have the State by the throat and they dictate policy. But I believe a day will come when things will change and for this reason I am returning to politics because this extreme haredi approach must cease and the State must understand who means for her good and who seeks to turn the Jewish people into a nation of maybe one million Jews, and all the rest, as far as they are concerned - the secular, Conservatives, Reform, and actually anyone who doesn't identify with the haredi way...are on the other side of the fence and out of the camp.

On this he's certainly correct. Their MO is poor and basically dictates that all Judaists are their "property". That's why they don't deserve to be in positions like they have now.

John Kerry's disgracefully biased attack on "settlements"

John Kerry gave an unsurprisingly dismal speech about the oh-so problematic "settlements" in Israel, to which Benjamin Netanyahu had a suitable response:

Kerry claimed an historically right-wing government in Israel is pushing their nation toward annexation of the West Bank, intentionally eroding the viability of a Palestinian state through its settlement enterprise with the goal of creating a "permanent one-state reality."

Shortly after the conclusion of the speech, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Kerry's focus on Israeli settlements as obsessive, saying his "biased" comments ignored the "root of the conflict."

"For more than an hour, Kerry obsessed over the issue of settlements and hardly touched on the root of the conflict - Palestinian resistance to a Jewish state within any borders," the premier said.

What Kerry's doing is downright sick. And the Israeli government has never been solely right-wing. There were left-wing governments before, and by the end of the century, they'd reached the bottom of the barrel. For now, Kerry's proven he has no genuine concern for any of the real/challenging issues, and only wants to undermine Israel, which he'll surely continue to do even after Obama leaves office.

Update: here's another stunner from Kerry:

Kerry recounted his many visits to Israel, including historic and religious sites, and the Holocaust memorial of Yad Vashem. He said that had sensitized him to the security concerns of ordinary Israelis. But he said that the “fundamental reality” was that “Israel can either be Jewish or it can be democratic, but it cannot be both.”

Absolutely disgusting. He's saying that neither Jewish race or religion are compatible with democracy, even as his own party in the past sought the votes of the Haredi communities like Satmar, which are hardly compatible with Judaism at any rate. Here's an extra item about the response to Kerry's nonsense.

Update 2: Jonathan Tobin asks why Kerry resorted to falsehoods.

Candle lighting in Old City, in defiance of UN hostility

The prime minister ideally lit Hanuka candles in Jerusalem's Old City following the UN's anti-Israel resolution:

Demonstrating that Israel will not abide by the UN resolution denying Jewish historical and legal rights to Jerusalem, Netanyahu lit Chanukah candles in the Old City, celebrating the Maccabean victory in 164 BCE – long before the arrival of the Palestinians.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not originally plan on lighting the second Chanukah candle in the Old City of Jerusalem, but in light of the anti-Israel US Security Council resolution that passed on Friday, claiming that Jewish communities in the Holy City of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria were illegitimate, he was inspired to go.

Here's more on Breitbart. It's a perfect way of sending a message to the UN that everybody's fed up with an organization that's basically built on false sincerity.

Terrorists attack soon after UN's anti-Israel vote

It wouldn't be shocking at all if the UN's members even expected, or worse, hoped it would happen. But that's just what took place these past 2 days:

On Sunday, a drive-by shooting attack was carried out targeting Beit El, a Jewish West Bank community adjacent to Ramallah. No injuries were reported.

On Friday night, a 50-year-old Israeli man was lightly-to-moderately injured in a stabbing attack in Efrat, a Jewish community located in the West Bank about 7.5 miles south of Jerusalem.

And on Saturday, Israeli police arrested a 35-year-old knife wielding Palestinian woman in Jerusalem’s Old City. Police say she was plotting a stabbing attack.

Predictably, no genuine condemnations from the PLO, who only published a cartoon where "settlements" are stabbed. By contrast, Donald Trump's called the UN a sad case, and indeed they are.

Alan Dershowitz also condemned Obama for refusing to help Israel at such a terrible time. One can already say Obama will be remembered the way Jimmy Carter is for his own failures when he was president.

Obama could have more terrible surprises in store before he's left the White House

The prime minister warns that Obama could be preparing more reprehensible attacks on Israel before leaving office:

TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday that President Barack Obama may have more surprises in store for Israel following the U.S.’s “shameful” abstention at the United Nations.

It wouldn't be shocking at all. He's on his way out of the Oval Office, so he could be seeking every opportunity to undermine Israel even before then.

On a related note, Shmuley Boteach points out how Samantha Power ignored the real problems in the middle east, which lie in Syria:

What most amazes me about this past Friday’s anti-Israel resolution that was cooked up by Barack Obama, John Kerry, Susan Rice, and Power is not that it took place. We have long known that the quartet had this in the works, and my organization, The World Values Network, even took out a full page ad against the proposed UN resolution a few months back.

Rather, the truly shocking part is that the most senior members of the American foreign policy team were pushing this resolution through while Aleppo burned.

Just imagine — there is a genocide going on for years in the Middle East in general and Syria in particular. It involves ISIS targeting Yazidis and Christians for extermination, and, in Syria, Shia Muslims joining Alawites to exterminate Sunnis. This is the classic definition of genocide where an ethnic group is target for annihilation.

The genocide reaches fever pitch in December 2016, just as the Obama administration, which hasn’t lifted a finger to protect 500,000 Arabs from being slaughtered, is winding down. Aleppo is in the news daily, as the world watches the horrors of bombings of civilians amid incalculable loss of life.

[...] Earth to Samantha: 500,000 Arabs died in Syria. Do you really think the problem in the Middle East is Jews building extra bedrooms in communities in Beit-El?

Her failure to say anything about Syria's death zones is disturbing and cowardly. The harm they're doing to Israel and to Syria cannot be ignored, and must be protested.

Obama's staff at UN enables anti-Israeli resolution against Judea/Samaria

Obama's just pulled what Israeli officials are calling his "last sting" before leaving office, by abstaining in a UN vote against Israel's right to residency in Judea/Samaria (and even Jerusalem), which enabled all those who did vote to pass it through:

The United States’s failure to veto a Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements was the “last sting of President Obama” that exposed his “true face,” unnamed Israeli officials said Saturday evening. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, thanked President-elect Donald Trump for his promise for support at the international body after he takes office.

The US’s abstention in Friday’s vote “is the last sting of President Obama. It exposes the true face of the [Obama] administration,” the officials said Saturday evening. “Now it’s easier to understand what we dealt with the past eight years.”

The move, which allowed the resolution to pass 14-0, “was expected,” the official said, and charged that “the United States acted behind the back in composing and advancing the resolution against Israel. We knew about it through Arab and international sources.”

“President-elect [Donald] Trump, members of Congress and Jewish organizations were enlisted to prevent this move by the Obama administration. As some of the representatives in the US express, they’re considering legislation against the states who advanced the motion,” the sources said.

And by all means they should. That's the good news. Any country's government that doesn't withdraw their support for such monstrosities deserves all the condemnation they get.

Haredi man assaults teen Haredi girl

An 18-year-old sought an excuse to beat up on a 14-year-old from his own community:

An 18-year old haredi man was charged with assaulting a 14-year old girl in Jerusalem Thursday the haredi Behadrei Haredim news website reported

The alleged assault took place last Wednesday, in the Mekor Baruch neighborhood of Jerusalem. The suspect, a resident of Romema, also located in Jerusalem, allegedly approached the girl and told her she had a cockroach on her clothes. He offered to help her get the bug off and proceeded to attack her.

The Jerusalem District Attorney's office filed an indictment against the suspect Thursday, along with a request to keep the suspect in custody until the end of the trial.

The Jerusalem Magistrate Court, however, decided to release the suspect under restrictive conditions.

The prosecution sought to delay the release and filed an appeal against it. At present, the suspect remains in custody.

And kept in custody he should be. It's not clear from this report, but it wouldn't be shocking if his attack had been of a sexual nature, one more reason he should be kept behind bars.

2 examples of assaults on free speech

In Jerusalem, a right-wing activist was arrested for daring to say something on Facebook against the repellent "prophet" of the Religion of Rape:

Police on Thursday detained a right-wing activist accused of posting an incendiary photo on social media, Israel Radio reported.

The suspect, Haim Brosh, was taken into custody in Jerusalem the previous evening after uploading to Facebook a photograph of a pig on the Temple Mount drinking rainwater just steps away from the holy site. He was released shortly after questioning and was forbidden to visit the Temple Mount for 15 days.

On his post, Brosh had written underneath the photograph that “the government of Israel allows pigs to control the holiest site for the Jewish people.”

The Temple Mount is the Jews’ holiest site, and is considered the third most holy site in Islam. According to an agreement between Israel and Jordan, the Temple Mount is controlled by the Jerusalem Islamic Wakf.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, Brosh’s attorney, said that he intends to appeal the expulsion order, arguing that his client did not break the law.

“Israel continues to act as if we live in Iran or Syria,” Ben- Gvir said. Even more serious is how quickly police took Brosh from his home and instituted the 15-day ban, he added.

And over in France, a mayor affiliated with the Front National is going to be tried for opposing Islam:

Robert Menard, who is an ally of France’s anti-immigrant National Front party, will face a charge in a Paris court of incitement to hatred or discrimination, the source said.

“In a class in the city centre in my town, 91 percent of the children are Muslims. Obviously, this is a problem. There are limits to tolerance”, he said in September 5 comments on French news channel LCI.

Also in September, on France’s first day back to school, he tweeted his regret at witnessing “the great replacement”, using a term by xenophobic writer Renaud Camus to describe the country’s white, Christian population being overtaken by foreign-born Muslims.

Menard, who is the mayor of southern France town Beziers, denied his comments were discriminatory.

“I just described the situation in my town,” he told AFP. “It is not a value judgement, it’s a fact. It’s what I can see.”

So long as these oppressive laws, including those over here - which may even get the backing of Haredi politicians - remain in place, corrupt officials will continue to feel free to persecute all the wrong people.

The really sad part regarding Israel's own outmoded laws is that even some rightists have to shoulder blame, like any who support the Shas bill to make Reform/Conservative customs a crime punishable by outrageous penalties. I think this could explain why what Brosh went though took place - because even right-wing politicians are enabling it to happen.

David Friedman is an excellent choice for US ambassador to Israel

I wanted to comment on this, but haven't had time till now. Donald Trump's choice for USA ambassador to Israel is lawyer David Friedman, a strong supporter of Israel:

President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday he will nominate bankruptcy lawyer David Friedman as US ambassador to Israel — and pledged that the diplomat would work in the “eternal capital” of Jerusalem instead of Tel Aviv.

The president elects praised Friedman and said the lawyer would help the two countries cooperate on military and intelligence issues.

“As the United States’ Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman will maintain the special relationship between our two countries,” Trump said in a statement.

“His strong relationships in Israel will form the foundation of his diplomatic mission and be a tremendous asset to our country as we strengthen the ties with our allies and strive for peace in the Middle East.”

I fully agree on this. The plan to move the embassy to Jerusalem is another plus, if implemented, and if Friedman does his best to ensure it'll be done, he'll be a real hero.

Russia shouldn't trust Turkey after ambassador was assassinated

This week, Russia's ambassador to Turkey was murdered by an Islamofascist who was apparently a police official. The question at this point is, where will Russia decide to go after this? According to this news, the relations may not be that good after all:

Andrei Karlov, Russia's ambassador to Turkey, was shot dead on Monday while giving a speech at a gallery by a former police officer who shouted "Don't forget Aleppo" and "God is greatest."

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said the attack was an attempt to undermine the country's relations with Russia, which have recently been tested thanks to the ongoing conflict in Syria.

Oh? Isn't Erdogan and his bunch of hypocrites the ones who've been pushing an Islamist narrative that led to this tragedy? And he knows it.

According to Wolfango Piccoli, co-President of Teneo Intelligence, Monday's attack could hurt the progress made in Russian-Turkish relations.

"The attack, in the center of Ankara, will throw a wrench in the progress of a fragile Russian-Turkish rapprochement, especially as Ankara has been the main international supporter of the forces affiliated with the Free Syrian Army which have recently been forced to evacuate Aleppo," Piccoli said in a note Monday night.

"Since the rapprochement with Moscow in June, Erdogan has attempted to avoid criticizing Russia directly although the pro-government media has been outspoken in its condemnation of the civilian casualties as the result of alleged Russian air strikes in Aleppo," Piccoli added.

Monday's shooting took place while large demonstrations against Russia's bombing of Aleppo were happening outside the Russian consulate in Istanbul.

The relationship between the two countries has been fragile since a Russian airplane was shot down last year. At the time, Turkey argued that the plane had entered its airspace without authorization.

That Turkey would commit such a heinous act just shows what their true image really is. Russia shouldn't be leading relations with Turkey, because they'll exploit them to the fullest to build up their own Islamofascist agenda. Unfortunately, it looks like they're set on making serious mistakes about whom to associate with.

A huge menorah exhibition at the Israel Museum

Israel National News has a list of pictures from the Israel Museum of very old menorahs on special display for Hanuka.

9 people murdered in truck attack at Christmas market in Berlin

Another terrorist attack similar to the one last summer in Nice, France, has taken place this time in Germany:

At least nine people were killed and up to 50 injured when a truck ploughed into a crowd at a Christmas market in Berlin on Monday evening.

German police have arrested a suspect near the scene of the incident and are investigating whether he was the driver, German police said on Twitter.

A German police spokesman said the co-driver of the truck died in the incident.

[...] Television pictures from Berlin showed a large Scania truck standing amid debris near small wooden stalls that make up the “Christkindlmarkt”, of which there are several in Berlin at this time of year.

Once again, Angela Merkel's dhimmitude has wound up costing a terrible price that's only going to make the public in Germany very angry for all the damage and desecration her stingy politics have brought upon the country.

Arabic neighborhoods in Judea/Samaria becoming ghost towns

At a time when Amona is facing a terrible situation of eviction, it's interesting to note that there's a different scene taking place in Arabic villages around the same area:

Media reports about the Arab struggle to retrieve the lands of Amona has been presented by politicians and the media as part of an Arab tradition of loyalty to their land.

Indeed, one of the Arab claimants against the Amona community has been quoted as saying, "If your child dies, you can make another one in his place, but land that you sold cannot be replaced."

And yet, a report in Friday's Makor Rishon suggests reality on the ground in Judea and Samaria reflects a somewhat different set of values. Local Arabs may not be willing to sell their land, but many of them don't live on said land either, preferring instead to emigrate to the US.

According to reporter Assaf Gibor, Route 60, which runs from Afula, on Israel's side of the "green line" through Jenin, near Shechem, through Ofra and outside Ramallah to Jerusalem and then through Gush Etzion, past Hebron all the way to Be'er Sheva, features ghost villages on either side of the highway. The Jewish settlers of Ofra and Amona have been wondering what has happened to neighboring Arab villages such as Silwad, three miles from the main road and about 8 miles north-east of Ramallah. A visitor happening inside the village can see numerous, luxurious villas, that are deserted.

Gibor, who describes those empty homes as "white elephants," met in Silwad a man in his 79s named Salah, who sat with him over a cup of coffee and revealed that he's been living in Puerto Rico for 52 years. Having left in 1964, before the Israeli liberation of 1967, Salah got his BA in Puerto Rico and MA in Tennessee, and now he is retired and living off his rental property on the island. His children were born in the US, one is a lawyer, the other a pharmacist, both Harvard graduates. Sadly, they've only visited the old country once – but both speak Arabic.

Hamza Awada, 21, who lives with his parents in Arizona, met Gibor in Dir Dibwan, not far from Silwad. He is visiting to conclude a two-year wife search. It's an arranged marriage, and after the wedding the happy couple will move to America. Hamza has lived in New York City and in Arizona, as well as in Jordan. "Life here in the village is quaint, but it's not for me."

Wow. Even some very fancy houses are left behind as many Arabs/Muslims clearly don't find life there appealing. And if that be the case, what's the point of trying to "help" them reconquer Jewish land when they don't even care about it?

UN ambassadors' delegation visits Western Wall and Ma'aleh Adumim

In a positive example set by some delegates at the UN (and those are surely rare today), they joined Danny Danon on a visit to two important places:

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon welcomed a delegation of fourteen ambassadors to the UN to Israel for a tour of the country organized by AJC Project Interchange.

On Thursday the delegation visited the Yesha city of Ma'aleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem, and toured the Western Wall Tunnels in Jerusalem's Old City.

The delegation also met with Ma’aleh Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel who briefed the ambassadors on the history of the city.

[...] Danon also addressed resolutions adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) denying the Jewish people’s historical ties to the city of Jerusalem.

"We showed the ambassadors the historical and religious connections between the Jewish people and our historic capital of Jerusalem. This is our answer to those who try to deny reality and rewrite history," Danon said, adding that he hopes that the visit to Israel will provide the ambassadors with the chance to gain a comprehensive view of Israel’s challenges in a volatile region, as well as the Jewish state’s accomplishments.

Will this change the main UN council's position? Unfortunately, I'm not sure that'll happen, even if the particular delegates who did visit are willing to be positive here.

Muslim fakes "hate crime" to attack Trump supporters

And when it turned out this was all a hoax, the MSM abandoned it. From what the report now tells, it suggests she just made up the story to escape the wrath of a possessive Muslim father, and:

...Kids say the darndest things to escape the wrath of a strict Muslim parent—especially when their clandestine date with a Christian runs past curfew.

True. That can happen. And any Muslim parent who does that kind of abominable behavior should be condemned to the fullest as well.

Authorities not enforcing restrictions against pair of Haredi child molestors

An article in the Jerusalem Post alerts everybody that the state attorney/police have released two child rapists from the Haredi enclave of Mea Shearim without restrictions, and may not even be pursuing the case seriously in court:

If two men accused of sexual molestation and sodomy against minors were living freely in your neighborhood for three months without any court restrictions, you might be justifiably concerned.

If the presiding judge had stated that, after the initial police investigation the evidence against one of the suspects was “of considerable strength” and a written admission of guilt by the other suspect had been submitted to the police, the ongoing freedom of the accused might be more worrisome still.

And if there were at least seven complainants against the two suspects, the confusion, disquiet, and anger of the families of the alleged victims might be well understandable.

Yet this is the current situation of two ultra-Orthodox men who were arrested almost four months ago and investigated by the police on suspicion of sexual abusing teenage boys in Jerusalem’s Mea She’arim neighborhood.

Since their release from jail at the end of August, the suspects have been living in Mea She’arim without police or court restrictions. [...]

One complainant, currently 15, has two recorded phone conversations with one of the suspects, heard by The Jerusalem Post, in which he admits to having convinced the complainant to perform sexual acts with him, and to having paid him for such acts.

The complainant, Haim (not his real name), also has a WhatsApp message from the same suspect, seen by the Post, in which the suspect admits that he performed sexual acts with the complainant.

Both men were arrested in August, and were released after several days in prison to house arrest. However, the house arrest term expired at the end of August, and neither man has since been under any police or court restrictions.

The State Attorney’s Office declined to answer why four months since the two were arrested, and with so many complainants and other evidence, indictments have not yet been handed down or the case closed.

This is outrageous. It's practically the kind of negligence that enabled Yishai Schlissel, the crazy Haredi who murdered Shira Banki at the homosexual march in Jerusalem, to roam freely and commit his evil deed. And it's just what destroys the sanity and safety of many youngsters. The authorities should act immediately to reinstate restrictions against both of the rapists. But just as importantly, why doesn't the neighborhood's residents do anything to shun them? Sick.

Jordan is as evil as any other Islamic country

I found this Jerusalem Post op-ed from October 31, which makes a very valid case that Jordan is just as guilty as any other Muslim regime/Islamophile of undermining Israel:

The recent United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) decision to deny Jews any connection to the Temple Mount was no coincidence. The ill-considered decision came about under the full and continuous support, and at the initiation of, the king of Jordan.

This is no longer a secret. The UNESCO move came barely three weeks after the king spoke at the UN promising doom to Israel because he alleges Israel is unfair to the Palestinians.

This well-calculated and very sophisticated harassment from Jordan’s king, however, was not a mere reaction to anything Israel has done – in fact, as an academic and close observer of Arab affairs, I have seen it as Jordan’s policy for years.

For example, with regard to the current and vicious wave of knife attacks that was launched from the Temple Mount, an official Israel statement was published by Arutz Sheva that confirmed Jordan’s government was an instigator by both actions and verbal incitement, and let’s not forget that the Temple Mount is run fully by the Jordanian king’s own office.

Further, recently Israel expelled Jordan’s state news agency’s reporter, Modar S. al-Momani, for Jerusalem for being a security risk. It turns out the man was not only a reporter but also a senior Jordanian Wakf official – he even bragged about it after he was expelled. Official documents proving this have been posted on Facebook.

And this is what many PC advocates have been putting their heads in the sand about for years now. Members of previous governments owe an apology to the public for ever agreeing to any kind of relation with a country that's firmly retaining its Islamic-influenced antisemitism, to say nothing of tolerance for jihadism. Even Americans shouldn't invest in such an awful place.

Shas is still giving Orthodox Judaism a bad name by submitting an extreme bill for law

The socialist Haredi party wants to pass into law a bill that would land anybody who violates their reprehensible beliefs at the Western Wall into jail with a fine:

The Shas party submitted a bill on Sunday that would make it illegal to hold pluralistic prayer services at the Western Wall plaza.

The proposed law would impose penalties of six months’ imprisonment or a fine of NIS 10,000 ($2,600) on those who hold mixed-gender services or women’s Torah readings, and women who don a prayer shawl or phylacteries.

In its description of the bill, the ultra-Orthodox party said it was meant to prevent actions, including “religious ceremonies,” that “do not fit the custom of the place, which would offend the congregation that prays there.”

What they want to implement is alarmingly sick, and not all that different from Islamic sharia. As if it wasn't bad enough they're pandering to a thin-skinned segment, there's others supporting the same who also look hell-bent on insulting my grandparents' memories:

Shas head Interior Minister Aryeh Deri drafted a proposal for the bill and has gained support not only from members of his own party and United Torah Judaism, the other ultra-Orthodox party, but also from MKs Oren Hazan, David Amsalem and Miki Zohar of Likud, and Bezalel Smotrich, Moti Yogev and Nissim Smoliansky of the Jewish Home party, according to a report in Haaretz.

If this is accurate, they too are making an embarrassment of themselves. The whole bill is little different from the mentality the Wakf goes by on the Temple Mount, and punishes people over a thoughtcrime. It's practically the same thing that's injuring Europe.

The bill is almost certain to be opposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who back the 2015 compromise, as well as religiously liberal ministers and lawmakers in the coalition, including in the Kulanu and Yisrael Beytenu factions. As such, it stands little chance of making it into law.

Well I should hope they know to stand firm against what Shas is doing, which is simply giving Orthodox Judaism a bad image, making it look archaic and totalitarian. To penalize somebody over something otherwise petty is idiotic and does a terrible disfavor for Judaists as a whole, and even gives the left weapons to use against the right. Shas owes an apology.

A new edition of Monopoly dedicated to Jerusalem

The famous board game by Charles Darrow is now getting an Israelized edition set in Jerusalem:

Jerusalem has been fought over for millennia, and continues to be to this day. The struggles have often turned violent, as the city has been battled over by many civilizations, including the Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, and Ottomans. Through it all, the Jewish people have never forgotten their connection to Jerusalem.

Now families can play for control of the holy city from the comfort of their living rooms.

Kodkod, which produces Monopoly games in Israel, has announced that it is creating a special Jerusalem-based version of the popular board game. Instead of vying for the deeds to Park Place or Boardwalk, players will vie for the deeds to the Western Wall, the City of David, the Mahane Yehuda Market, and even the Knesset.

Eli Dagani, the CEO of Kodkod, said: "This is the first time there's going to be a Monopoly game dedicated entirely to one city in Israel, and we want it to reflect the spirit of Jerusalem."

Well this is a great idea, and just what history buffs need as much as board game devotees. I'd certainly like to have a copy of this at home.

Former Shas MK arrested for accepting bribes, even sexual

In news that deals a blow to the notion that Haredis like the ones leading the Shas party are "moral", former Knesset member Amnon Cohen from their political party has been jailed for accepting bribery, even going so far as to take sexual forms:

Former Shas MK Amnon Cohen was named Thursday as the ex-lawmaker arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes from a businessman, including sexual favors, in return for advancing his business interests in parliament.

Cohen, who served in the Knesset between 1999 and 2015 and was once given a commendation from Israel’s Movement for Quality Government, is suspected of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, according to police.

He was questioned under caution Wednesday before a court ordered he be held for a further five days of interrogation, police said in a statement.

“The national police detained for questioning this morning a former Knesset member over suspicions that while serving he received bribes from a businessman, including favors of a sexual nature, in return for pushing through issues related to his business interests,” a police statement said Wednesday, announcing his arrest. [...]

In March, “Uvda” claimed that the former Shas party member had been on the payroll of a stock market broker for 10 years, during which time he received large sums of money to advance the broker’s interests in the legislature. Lawyers for the ex-MK denied the allegations at the time.

The report said that Cohen received regular payments from prominent broker and investment adviser Daniel Molkandov and in return made use of his position, including as a member of the Knesset’s Finance Committee, to remove regulatory hurdles from the stock market and from Molkandov.

Molkandov told the program the two had an agreement: When Cohen wanted money, he would text him “Can I come and water the plants?” The two would meet in an apartment in the town of Ness Ziona, south of Tel Aviv, to make the exchange. [...]

Molkandov also alleged that during an official parliamentary visit to Belarus in 2007, Cohen requested that he find a female escort for him. “You know Belarus, Daniel,” Molkandov recounted the MK’s words to him. “Can you arrange something for me here? I’m alone in the room, it’s boring.”

“[I made] some calls… a ‘friend’ came over to him… to his room, in the hotel,” Molkandov said. The same woman was later flown to Israel for a second rendezvous with Cohen at a Dead Sea hotel.

Wow, isn't that fascinating how a bunch of "public moralists" don't practice what they preach? If the man's married, then he's also violated the Commandment of Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery. It'd be no shock if the Shas party's other members knew about this but put up with it simply because he's also a member of the party. Now he'll have to face justice that's well deserved for all the weak beliefs they wanted to foist on the public. This is just one more demonstration of how corrupt the Shas movement really is.

A plot to spring a terrorist has been thwarted

The authorities have arrested more members of a Hamas cell that wanted to free a jihadist now serving a life sentence:

A Hamas terror cell plotting shooting and abduction attacks was uncovered this week in a joint ISA, IDF and Border Police operation, Israel’s Government Press Office reported Thursday. During the operation, the Internal Security Agency (ISA) uncovered “considerable war materiel” and also found that the Hamas members were plotting attacks by scoping out IDF forces around the Palestinian village of Tzurif.

The cell’s ultimate goal was the release of security prisoner Ibrahim Abdallah Ghneimat. Ghneimat, 58, is currently serving out a life sentence for involvement in terror attacks carried out in the 1990s, including the murder and abduction of Sharon Edri, an IDF soldier.

Ghneimat’s sons, Fadi Ibrahim Ghneimat, Muhammed Ghneimat, and Shadi Ibrahim Ghneimat, were all arrested as participants in the plot.

He certainly raised his sons quite repellently, as they've just proven. Well if they really love their father so much, they can share a cell with him for the rest of their own undeserved lives too.

Stabbing attack prevented at Tapuach junction

Another jihad knifing was thankfully stopped:

Israeli security forces foiled a terrorist attack at Tapuach Junction in Samaria on Thursday morning.

According to available details, a Palestinian youth who arrived at the junction by bus approached border policemen stationed at a local security checkpoint, and refused to heed their calls to stop. Moving closer to the troops, he drew a knife and charged the policeman closest to him. The troops engaged, shooting the suspect.

The youth, identified as Mahmad Jad Hassin Harb, 18, from Qalqilya, west of Nablus, was critically wounded and died at the scene.

On Wednesday, the Shin Bet security agency revealed the security forces recently arrested a terrorist cell implicated it multiple shooting attacks in Judea and Samaria.

According to available details, the cell comprises three Palestinians, all minors, who carried out at least four shooting attacks targeting Israeli troops stationed near the Samaria community of Ofra during October and November.

The ummah has done quite a job indoctrinating youngsters into monsters.

Justin Trudeau represents weakness

The Canadian prime minister isn't representing the west's best values:

The British weekly The Economist has put him on its cover as “an example for the world”. Now that Donald Trump has been elected in the US, freedom is moving to the north, in the cold Canadian provinces, heated by the charm of the “sexiest prime minister in the world”: Justin Trudeau.

The Canadian Prime Minister has just received the approval of the United Nations. The Bulgarian President, Rosen Plevneliev, “loves” Trudeau. It has been a year since the Liberals won 184 of 338 seats in the Canadian parliament, ending a decade of Conservative power under Stephen Harper.

A landslide victory that prompted Trudeau to speak of a “real change”. But a year later, what did Trudeau really do?

He appointed a “gender balanced” government: fifteen men and fifteen women. A multicultural ministerial party: former refugees, immigrants, Sikhs, Muslims, disabled and members of the Aboriginal community. Trudeau advanced the cause of legalization of recreational marijuana, after euthanasia.

The Canadian liberals then brought in 25,000 Syrian refugees (the Conservatives were not willing to go beyond the number 10 000). Trudeau put an end to the military campaign against the Islamic State, recalling the fighters and diverting the funds to the training of Iraqi troops.

Yes, that's pretty bad management there alright. It's regrettable so many Canadians chose him for incumbent, because all he's doing is risking disaster for the great white north.

Ontario introduces anti-BDS legislation

The Canadian province has become the first to oppose BDS:

Ontario has become the first Canadian province to introduce legislation rejecting the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign against Israel. Motion 36 rejects "the differential treatment of Israel, including the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement," the Canadian Jews News reported Saturday.

The legislation passed with a vote of 49 in favor and five against, with almost half of the 107 members of the Provincial Parliament absent, including Premier Kathleen Wynne, who is currently on an official visit to Asia.

According to the report, the motion, introduced by Ontario Provincial Parliament member Gila Martow, who represents the Progressive Conservative Party, came six months after the Ontario legislature voted against a bill seeking to bar the Ontario government and official province institutions from doing business with companies that endorse BDS activities. The bill, which defined the BDS movement as "one of the main vehicles for spreading anti-Semitism and the delegitimization of Israel globally," was defeated by a vote of 39 to 18, and criticized for being "too ambitious and vulnerable to court challenges," the report said.

Well I'm glad the legislation for Israel's benefit has succeeded now. It looks like there is hope for the better in Canada.

Keith Ellison would make an awful chairman for DNC

Having lost the election, the Democrats are now taking the risk of making more mistakes by possibly electing the anti-Israeli Islamophile Keith Ellison to head the DNC:

In 2009, Ellison lamented that “the people who have a strong sympathy for the Israeli position dominate the conversation” — clearly implying that his sympathies lay elsewhere.

And he told the BBC that it would be unwise for a member of Congress to reach out to Hamas — not because it is a terrorist organization committed to Israel’s destruction, but because, given the inevitable ensuing public scrutiny, “I would spend a lot of time fighting off personal attack.”

At a 2010 fundraiser, Ellison said: “The United States foreign policy in the Middle East is governed by what is good or bad through a country of 7 million people. ”

The sentiment, expressed a year before the Arab Spring and America’s response to it turned the region upside down, would have merely been quaint were it not also dismissive of the importance of Israel as a moral and strategic partner.

If the Dems elect Ellison to head the DNC, it will only lead to more damage, for Israel and even for America.

Muslim arsonists caught in the act

3 days ago, a pair of jihad arsonists were arrested while plying their evil trade:

Two Arab arsonists were captured on Tuesday while they were lighting fires next to the Atarot industrial zone in northern Jerusalem.

Border Police officers operating out of a surveillance point spotted the fires and quickly dispatched and guided units to the scene to apprehend the terrorists.

Officers sent on foot to the area saw two Arab teenagers setting tires on fire just outside of Atarot. The pair attempted to flee, but were captured after a brief chase.

The suspects, both 16-year old residents of Jerusalem, were in possession of lighters and papers for kindling.

For this, they should be forced to do considerable community service or hard labor along with a jail sentence.

Francois Hollande is so unpopular, he's not running for reelection

The presidential incumbent in France is so loathed by the public, he's decided to retire:

French President Francois Hollande announced Thursday he will not be running for reelection, capping an overwhelming political collapse since being elected five years ago.

Hollande, a member of the Socialist Party, is the most unpopular president France has had since World War II. Even in 2013, just a year after taking power, his approval ratings dropped to below 30 percent. By 2016, public disapproval with his performance approached a staggering 90 percent. Hollande was weighed down by a stagnant economy and repeated Islamic terror attacks. Hollande’s tenure was also marked by a 75 percent income tax on incomes over one million euros, which he was forced to repeal after just two years.

Foreseeing likely annihilation in next April’s presidential election, Hollande announced in a televised address Thursday night he will be stepping down after a single term. In the address, Hollande said he was “aware of the risks” that his candidacy would not be able to rally much of the public behind it, and had consequently decided to drop out.

Another serious error his government made was demanding that Israeli products from Judea/Samaria be labeled, in complete contradiction of the rulings that anti-Israel boycotts constituted incitement. I can only figure he and his ilk are so full of despicable positions on Israel, they're willing to go out with a severe whimper on that topic as much as any other. It's like he/they want to be hated, and cause their country only so much embarrassment.

Hollande won't be missed, and should be ostracized by the public in France for all the misery he contributed on his part.