Israeli windsurfer wins silver medal in competition

Here's some impressive sports news about an Israeli windsurfing girl who won the silver medal at RS-X championships in Italy, possibly a 2020 Olympics qualifier.

Nice's Jewish community faces uncertain future

Because of all the stuffing of Islam into France, now the Jewish community in Nice is fading:

This sleepy Mediterranean city has been a haven for Jews for nearly 1,000 years.

As recently as 15 years ago, this former trading hub with a tradition of tolerance was home to the fourth-largest Jewish community in France, with about 20,000 members. But the combined effects of anti-Semitism, terrorism, financial problems and assimilation have taken their toll.

Last year, for the first time since World War II, the French Consistoire, a national organization that provides religious services to Orthodox Jews, estimated that Nice’s Jewish population had dipped below 3,000, though some local Jewish officials think the number may be higher.

Security and economics are changing life for Jews throughout France, but they’re hitting particularly hard in Nice, which lacks the vibrant economy and robust job opportunities that help sustain Jewish communities in other French metropolises.

“[Nice] is a small city with a small Jewish community and you really feel the wave of aliyah,” said Yaacov Parienti, a 29-year-old student, using the Hebrew word for immigration to Israel. Parienti’s sister has already left for Israel and his parents are planning on leaving soon.

“Does my community have a future? I don’t know,” Parienti said. “I think it’s a general problem for all Jews in France. But it’s just more felt in a small one like ours.”

It's a problem for everyone, in fact. But what'll really be corrosive is if nobody's willing to go to war in the future as was done in WW2, which'll contradict what that war was all about. How can a problem truly be solved if nobody's willing to be vigilant?

Ideology is even more dangerous than the terrorists themselves

Rachel Avraham makes a crucial point about Islam:

Mendi Safadi, head of the Safadi Center for International Diplomacy, Research, Public Relations and Human Rights, stated in a recent interview: “Terrorism is spreading and we are engaged in a pursuit of those who commit terrorist actions but we have still not learned that terrorism is based on an ideology, not people. We have still not learned the essential basis of the War on Terror. We still have not given the victims of terrorism the consolation that there will be no more victims. What more needs to happen until we understand that the solution is in our hands and that we only need the courage to face up to it until terrorism is destroyed?

“We cannot fight against terrorism using democratic tools and human rights laws,” he explained. “We clearly see that a radical terrorist state is building an atomic bomb and in the West, they are exploring how to take care of it without collateral damage. They do this as followers of the mullahs' regime shout "Death to America and death to Israel" while educating their people to hate and be bloodthirsty.”

Safadi believes that the best way to take care of this threat is to go after the ideology that stands behind the terror.

The question remains: If the root of Islamist terrorism is the ideology and not the people, then why until now have we gone after the terrorists but not their ideology? According to Dr. Mordechai Kedar of Bar-Ilan University, “The ideology is embedded in the religion. Jihad is an obligation, a mitzvah. There are all kinds of modern interpretations, such as jihad being against one's evil inclinations or the devil but these do not convince those who are sure that jihad is against the infidel. It is a very big problem to fight against the ideology, so we take the weapons from them and convince them that the damage that will be caused to Muslims and Islam will be much worse than the gain from jihad. It is called a credible threat. Only credible threats will change their decision.”

To prove this point, Kedar explained that the only time Iran halted its nuclear program was when former US President George W. Bush invaded Iraq and the Iranians thought that they were going to be next: “But once they understood that America was a paper tiger that was going to do nothing against them, they resumed it. Economic measures will not make them change their policies. They only have to survive a year with the sanctions and just hope that Trump won’t be re-elected. Trump’s strategy will only work if he is re-elected. Nevertheless, the ideology is very well-rooted in the culture. It is 14 centuries old. You cannot tell them to leave basic tenets of Islam. It is not easy at all. This is what makes it very hard.”

This is exactly why distinctions have to be made between good or bad religions, along with ideologies. And, to be transparent about what elements exist within a specific religion/ideology. Otherwise, how will you convince anybody, say, that Judaism's a religion worth upholding by contrast?

Israeli president Rivlin gives Netanyahu the task of forming a goverment

Reuven Rivlin's given Benjamin Netanyahu the task of forming a new government:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been given the job of forming a new Israeli government by President Reuven Rivlin, after the opposition rejected any national unity government that allowed Netanyahu to lead it.

The center-left Blue and White party of Benny Gantz won 33 seats to the conservative Likud’s 32 seats in the elections last week — the country’s second last year after the small, secular nationalist Yisraeli Beiteinu party of Avigdor Lieberman refused to serve in Netanyahu’s coalition with religious parties. The election produced a stalemate in which neither the left-wing bloc around Blue and White (54 seats) nor the right-wing bloc around Likud (55 seats) had enough seats to form a governing majority in Israel’s 120-seat Knesset. Lieberman held the balance and insisted on a unity government that included both of the two major parties. Netanyahu agreed, and offered Gantz a power-sharing deal. He reiterated that offer today upon being tasked with forming a government.

But Gantz refused to serve under Netanyahu in any capacity — even temporarily as part of a rotating prime ministership — because Netanyahu is facing indictment for charges that critics say are partisan and meritless.

From a logical perspective, it makes sense Rivlin would task Netanyahu to form a government - he's the one with experience in public office, while Gantz is not. But will Gantz be willing to cut out this nonsense, supporting trumped up charges of "corruption" against Netanyahu, and agree to form a government with him? That remains to be seen. Gantz isn't doing a bit of good here, at a time when Iran's nuclear threats loom large, among other serious issues.

For now, Rivlin did the right thing giving Netanyahu the assignment.

Update: Gantz seems to be willing to negotiate, but only time will tell if he's honest.

Lieberman continues to refuse to sit with certain parties in a coalition

Avigdor Lieberman's keeping on with his political virtue-signaling:

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman reiterated his opposition on Tuesday to sitting with the ultra-Orthodox and right-wing religious parties, as well as the Arab parties and the Democratic Union.

If this is supposed to be some moral equivalence, I'm not amused. Lieberman's just making things more difficult, and it's regrettable some people in the public bought into his farcical efforts to damage the Knesset's ability to operate properly.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that any unity government between his Likud Party and Blue and White needs to include his ultra-Orthodox allies as well as the religious-Zionist Yamina Party.

In comments he made on Facebook Tuesday afternoon, Liberman doubled down on his commitment never to join such a coalition and insisted that the formation of a national unity government including Blue and White, Likud, and possibly his own, was an urgent need due to Israel’s security and economic challenges.

Liberman said he was responding to “spin” and “commentary” published of late regarding the possibility that Yisrael Beytenu might enter a government including the parties it has previously declared to be out of bounds.

He also insisted that his party was not “coordinating” with Blue and White or with Likud, as has been speculated, given his enigmatic decision not to recommend either Blue and White co-chairman Benny Gantz or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form the next government.

Sure they're not working in synch with Blue & White. And if they do care about security and economy, they wouldn't be remaining in the opposition and undermining the political scene so badly. Based on all this, I'd say it's best if Lieberman remained in the opposition, because he doesn't deserve any government role the way he's behaving.

Court is dragging on in case of Malka Leifer

The court in charge of the case of the Haredi woman wanted in Australia on charges of sexual assault on students is slowing down the proceedings again:

The Jerusalem District Court decided Monday that it will appoint an expert panel of psychiatrists to rule on whether or not alleged sex offender Malka Leifer is fit to stand trial for extradition.

Judge Chana Miriam Lomp said that since there has been a considerable amount of conflicting information and testimony on the case, she needed to hear from a new expert panel in order to make a definitive ruling on Leifer’s mental fitness.

A hearing on October 6 in the Jerusalem District Court will determine which psychiatrists will be on the three-member panel. The panel will be expected to issue its opinion by December 10.

Leifer is standing trial for extradition on 74 counts of sexual abuse in Australia against sisters Dassi Erlich, Ellie Sapper and Nicole Meyer while she was principal of an ultra-Orthodox school. She has for many years claimed to be mentally unfit for extradition.

The decision will mean that the legal efforts to extradite Leifer to Australia – which have already taken six years – will drag on even longer, frustrating Leifer’s alleged victims and activists who have waged a concerted campaign for Leifer to stand trial in Australia.

Jewish Community Watch (JCW) stated that it was very disappointed with the judge’s decision to consult with a new expert panel.

“After more than 57 court hearings, the court has pushed off the decision once again and assigned it to yet another group of psychiatrists,” the JCW said. “The real decisions the court has made today is that it wishes to be seen as an international embarrassment instead of a justice system which protects the most vulnerable.”

JCW pledged to continue to support the survivors.

“Their fight for justice is our fight, and we hope the community will rally around them until such time that Leifer is finally extradited back to Australia,” the advocacy group said.

Well this is definitely aggravating, that the court still sees fit to delay extradition yet again. I'm sorry, but this is unacceptable, and insulting to Australian authorities as well.

Furthermore, let's be clear. Anybody who would commit crimes as repellent as Leifer did should not be given privileges unafforded to non-Haredis. When somebody commits such crimes, they have to ready to accept what they'll face in a foreign prison, period, and there can be no exceptions. Leifer's extradition should be carried out immediately without legal wrangling.

British Labour party supports giving foreign nationals right to vote in UK elections

And that very easily means giving all those illegal immigrants, mainly Muslims, the ability to swing elections in Labour's favor. Breitbart says:

In a move that would demolish a foundation of the British democratic system, Labour is set to back giving foreign nationals the right to vote in General Elections.

Currently, EU citizens and other foreigners living legally in the United Kingdom can vote in local and European Parliament elections, while only Britons, Irish citizens, and those from the Commonwealth can vote in national General Elections.

According to the Independent, the Labour Party will commit to backing extending the voting franchise to all those foreign citizens with residency rights, which the progressive-liberal news website says “could have a seismic impact on a future Brexit referendum”.

In the 2016 referendum, only those who could vote in national elections could vote on the UK’s membership of the EU. However, if the country’s voting franchise is extended and there is a General Election before Brexit is delivered, the some three-million EU citizens living in Britain could swing an election victory for Labour. If a Labour government then holds a second referendum on EU membership, those European citizens would hold power over Britons on the future of their country’s place in the world by forcing a vote to Remain.

What about the potentially more than a million Muslims living in Britain? Well of course the Independent's not going to get into that if they can help it. But it's still something to worry about. Even Boris Johnson hasn't done much to prove he's willing to oppose this kind of lunacy, and the way things are going, it could always turn out there won't be a Brexit at all, tragically enough. The British left and even some on the right have done everything they can to avoid Brexit, and if all this awful stuff comes to pass, then not only will Brexit not take place, the UK will end up in an even worse situation than before.

Progressives in Massachussettes actually take offense at signs stating Islam's "right" about women

Here's an odd story from Winchester, about signs posted about town stating "Islam is Right About Women", which, ironically enough, seem to have offended leftists, of all people:

Is it Islamaphobic? Is it misogynistic? Could it be both? That’s what women and Muslims are questioning after seeing signs posted around the Winchester, Massachusetts area that read “Islam is Right about Women”. [...]

Eventually the media was alerted to the instance of the posters showing up around the Winchester area, stirring outrage within “Progressives” who aren’t exactly sure how to respond other than to be emotionally perturbed. [...]

What’s funny here is that if the sign is condemned then it means that they’re against Islam’s treatment of women, which would mean that the people being against it would be classified by “Progressives” as “Islamaphobic”.

If you agree with the message and support the Islamic view of how women should be treated, then it makes you “misogynistic” in the eyes of “Progressives”.

That is an oxymoron, isn't it? For years, they've whitewashed these horrors, and now, they suddenly blench when they see something hinting at all the vile beliefs about women in the Koran, implying it's seen by the writers of the posters as "positive", when truly, it's not.

So what do those leftists and/or progressives think now? Do they realize they've been promoting lies? Or are they just panicky because the signs can actually verify what opponents of Islam feel is repellent about the Religion of Peace?

President Rivlin supports unity government

Israeli president Reuven Rivlin's done something good today, recommending that there be a unity government:

Likud representatives told Rivlin that they are recommending Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to receive the mandate. "When we began these elections we asked the public for a mandate to form a right-wing government with our partners in the previous government," Minister Levin told Rivlin. "We have to make every effort to reconcile what we wanted, what we presented to the public and reality."

Rivlin responded that "the people of Israel want a government that will be stable and be capable of leading the state. As an Israeli citizen, I feel that the only way to prevent [another] election is the ability of the two large parties - which are almost equal in size - to join forces and form a government."

Considering the dreadful situation Avigdor Lieberman's led to, that's why it's a good thing Rivlin's thought of this. Interestingly enough, while much of the Joint Arab List decided this time to support Gantz, the Balad faction did not:

While the Joint List made history on Sunday evening when its leader, Ayman Odeh, recommended Gantz for prime minister in its meeting with Rivlin, Blue and White officials downplayed the endorsement, because Balad’s three MKs did not endorse anyone, leaving Netanyahu with a majority of recommendations. Yisrael Beytenu did not recommend anyone.

Even if Lieberman didn't, that still doesn't make his stunts of recent acceptable. And indeed, they're not. But what's transpired now is mostly a good thing, though it still remains to be seen how this is going to turn out.

Poway shooter thinks he's "defending" his nation

The gunman who shot up a synagogue in Poway, California, had a bizarre defense for his actions in court:

“I’m defending our nation against the Jewish people, who are trying to destroy all white people,” John T. Earnest is heard saying on the 911 call. He told the operator he believed he had killed people and gave detailed descriptions of the San Diego intersection where he was parked shortly before he was taken into custody.

The recording was played at the hearing where witnesses also included a combat veteran who confronted the suspect and a medical examiner who described the wounds of the woman who was killed.

This is an oxymoron if there ever was one, because the majority of Jewish people are white. Evidently, the creep is that far gone, he can't figure out anything, and considers Jews the only whites who're invalid. Let's hope Earnest gets sent to the chair, because he really went the barbaric route and cost innocents their lives.

Guest post by Mr. Cohen for September 21, 2019

Here's another special guest post written by commentor Mr. Cohen:
----------------------------------------------------------------
If you really want to know the details about Muslims around the world committing violence against their non-Muslim neighbors, then please go to:

www (dot) JihadWatch (dot) org

Articles on Jihad Watch right now include:

[1] Muslim scouted landmark sites in Boston, NYC, and DC including Fenway Park and Statue of Liberty for jihad massacres

[2] 61% of “Palestinians” approve of jihad murder of Israeli teen

[3] UK: Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina gives Qur’an reading in Westminster Abbey

[4] Women’s March Replaces Anti-Semites with Another Anti-Semite

[5] That Was Quick: Women’s March Drops Anti-Semite It Brought in to Replace Its Other Anti-Semites

[6] Afghanistan: Taliban target election rally, murder 50 in jihad bombings, warn people not to vote or face death

[7] “Anti-Muslim” Event at Michigan Church Cancelled Quite Unnecessarily

[8] Bangladesh: Muslim mob vandalizes Ahmadi mosque, cops say mob is too large to oppose

[9] Smuggler claims he will get Islamic State jihadis into Europe for $8,000

[10] Glazov Gang: Revealed – Obama’s Betrayal of SEAL Team Six

[11] Muslim Mayor of Prospect Park, N.J., Enraged at Being Questioned by Border Agents on Return from Turkey

[12] Why We Are Bogged Down in Afghanistan

[13] Miami: Muslim American Airlines mechanic who sabotaged plane had ISIS videos, spoke of wanting to harm non-Muslims

[14] India: Jammu and Kashmir official says religion terrorists follow is “definitely not Islam”

[15] Germany: ISIS bride arrested after photo of cake celebrating 9/11 found on her lost phone
----------------------------------------------------
Thanks again to Mr. Cohen for writing this.

Armenia's opening an embassy in Israel

For years, Armenia did not have an official embassy in Israel. Now, in some good news for a change, the former's opening an embassy in the latter:

Armenia announced on Thursday that it intends to open an embassy in Tel Aviv, a move expected to bring the once cool ties between the two countries to a different level.

“Israel is an important player in the Middle East,” Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan was quoted as saying in a cabinet meeting. “The opening of the embassy will contribute to the deepening of bilateral relations and protection of Armenia’s interests in the region.”

According to the cabinet decision, the move will also strengthen the Armenian Apostolic Church’s presence in the country. The new embassy is expected to open by the beginning of next year.

Mnatsakanyan said that Armenia would welcome a reciprocal move by Israel, and that “this is on the agenda of our dialogue.” Israel gave no indication, however, that it was considering opening an embassy in Yerevan.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz praised Armenia’s decision, saying that it is a “significant step in the development of bilateral relations” between the two states.

I think it'd be wise for Israel's government to reciprocate, and make sure they open an embassy over in Armenia in exchange for this good favor. This is a positive development indeed.

No wonder Yamina fared poorly

According to Yehuda Schlesinger, there's plenty of valid reasons why Yamina was otherwise a flop for a right-wing party:

The Israeli public abhors political disagreements. When everyone rallied behind Bennett in 2013, Habayit Hayehudi garnered 12 Knesset seats. But this time around, nearly every step that the Yamina faction – of which Habayit Hayehudi is a member – took was accompanied by arguments and internal criticism. The party, which had hopes to earn 12 Knesset seats, will barely scrape by with seven.

Barely a day goes by in which there is some report of friction in Yamina. It started with covert pressure from Shaked on Peretz, and as reported by this paper, culminated in an ultimatum, to let her take his place at the head of the list. To this day, there are people in the party willing to swear on their lives that Shaked had a hand in the publication of recordings of Peretz's wife Michal that served to deeply embarrass Peretz in the public sphere. In the recordings, Michal can be heard saying that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said Peretz would only stay on as education minister if Shaked were kept off the top of the list. The reports in the media only added to the pressure on Peretz to step down. Shaked, of course, denies having anything to do with the leaked recordings.

These types of reports were coming out on an almost daily basis during the election campaign. Shaked wanted to hang a huge sign on the Ayalon Highway, and members of Habayit Hayehudi opposed the idea. The decision to have Shaked's picture plastered on the side of buses angered party members. Smotrich published a missive to the national religious community. Peretz, who hadn't been informed of the move, was angered by it.

On the one hand, it's weird how they wouldn't want to make use of Shaked's picture on buses and the Ayalon highway, unless they actually thought Haredis wouldn't vote for them based on her iffy background. On the other hand, she proved such an embarrassment in her own way, it probably would've better if they didn't bother. And her faction colleagues showed up late to meetings and such. It's clear at this point she and Bennett weren't worth supporting in the first place, and time they both retired. But they'll probably renege on that too, and it just shows why they were bad choices in the first place for candidates.

Ayelet Shaked should resign, and Itamar ben-Gvir should vanish from politics

The partners in the Yamina merger (which has now mostly split up) turned against Shaked for failure, and I hope they're not overlooking Naftali Bennett:

Leader of the Yamina list Ayelet Shaked was under fire Wednesday after exit polls from Tuesday's do-over election predicted only seven seats for her party, considerably fewer than the party had expected to win under her leadership.

Shaked reportedly said at a meeting with party officials on Monday evening that if she failed to bring in more than seven seats, she would resign.

A senior Yamina official said Wednesday: "She has no leadership ability. We're in shock. She managed to push a pencil around. We're waiting for her to resign."

So am I. And Bennett should be called out for his own serious mistakes too. The way they went on and on lashing out at Netanyahu, accusing him in alarming fashion of literally wanting to form a government with Benny Gantz as though he agrees with the latter's platforms, and then accusing his crowd of "hating" her. That was not how to lead a meaty campaign at all. She was doubtlessly taking cues from Bennett, who'll have to be held responsible for his own embarrassments. They don't deserve to be in the Knesset, and should both resign from politics, because it's clear they had at least some hand in damaging the right wing's chances. Nobody should do business with them either.

And ben-Gvir hasn't set a better example post-election:

After the far-right party Otzma Yehudit failed to make it past the minimum electoral threshold for the second election in a row, party leader Itamar Ben-Gvir sent a letter to party activists on Wednesday in which he blamed right-wing leaders and the right-wing media for the party's crash and burn. [...]

"I won't lie – I'm disappointed, sad, and in pain. I thought we could win, but there were those who did everything so that wouldn't happen. First and foremost, Prime Minister Netanyahu, who in an inexplicable step chose to go after us and never stopped attacking, when he should have learned from [Blue and White's] Gantz and Lapid, who embraced [Labor leader] Amir Peretz, who was also hovering over the minimum electoral threshold. Anyone who wants to help the Right doesn't shoot at its own people," Ben-Gvir continued.

He then went on to attack former Education Minister Naftali Bennett and former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, as well as National Union leader Bezalel Smotrich, whom he called "an arrogant braggart."

"Last on the list – members of 'sectarian' media, like B'Sheva or Arutz 7, and of course [journalists] Amit and Haggai Segal, who think that they represent all religious Zionism and did what they accuse the left-wing media of doing."

While criticism of Shaked and Bennett is valid, ben-Gvir's attacks on some others is not. He misses the point that when you don't run united, it risks wasting votes, which was exactly what he did. It was clear he wouldn't reach the threshold, and now, he's caused quite a lot of damage on his part. For that, he should get out of politics, period.

Knesset is still in a deadlock

There's no clear winner in this re-do election. When exit polls came in, it looked like Blue and White got more, even though their support may have slipped, and the Joint Arab List may have done better than expected. Now, as nearly 40 percent of votes are counted, it looks like the Likud might've done a bit better, but Avigdor Lieberman's still remained a kingmaker, astonishingly enough:

Exit polls published on Tuesday night showed that Blue and White was the largest party in the Knesset and is followed by the Likud, but it does not appear that either party has enough seats to form a coalition.

Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party will probably be the deciding factor in determining who will head Israel’s next government – Binyamin Netanyahu or Benny Gantz.

Well this has been a very disappointing election, mainly because Otzma Yehudit just had to run till the end. I think if Itamar ben-Gvir's smart, he'll disappear altogether from the political scene. This has been a very sad situation.

Miri Regev on the first step for Israeli sovereignty in Judea/Samaria

Israel National News interviewed culture minister Miri Regev, who welcomes approval of Mevo'ot Yericho's status, and makes a point about what Netanyahu had to do in the past:

“This is a very important declaration as the first step in applying sovereignty over the communities in Judea and Samaria which will come later,” said Regev.

“I am very happy about all the interviews that the Prime Minister has given, about his statements, about the clear statement. For eight years, Netanyahu fought the Obama administration in order to stop the withdrawals [from Jewish communities], and now with President Trump it’s a new era. An era of sovereignty in the land of Israel.”

In the past decade, Obama was a serious problem. Now, under Trump, it's changed for the better.

Netanyahu will annex Hebron/Kiryat Arba

Another positive statement made by the prime minister:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to annex Kiryat Arba, a settlement adjacent to Hebron, along with the Jewish areas in Hebron itself, if re-elected in the upcoming election on Tuesday.

The promise was made Monday morning in his interview for the "Good Morning Israel" show on Army radio.

Monday's pledge goes further than what the prime minister has said during his visit to Hebron on September 4, when he vowed that Jews would never be driven out of the city.

That's another vital step that needs to be taken.

Ayelet Shaked just demonstrated how childish her campaigning approach is

The more I hear Ayelet Shaked campaign and attack Netanyahu far too noticeably, the more disgusted I get with her. Here's her latest galling conference speech where she accuses the Likud of "hating her":

Knesset candidates from the Yamina party gathered for an emergency party meeting in Airport City Sunday afternoon.

The emergency meeting was called Sunday, amid concerns the Likud party may draw large numbers of voters from Yamina in Tuesday’s election.

At the conclusion of the meeting, party chairwoman Ayelet Shaked addressed reporters, claiming that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu planned to turn the center-left Blue and White party after the elections to form a national unity government.

"Netanyahu never wanted us in his government," said Shaked, "each time we had to make special efforts to enter the government. The voters tend to forget Netanyahu's political history and believe his fake news that [Yamina] can be small and weak."

Look who's talking. Shaked's peddling fake news here herself.

Shaked also alluded to reports that Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, had a personal grudge against Shaked and Naftali Bennett.

"You’ve never heard this from me, but it's the truth. The people around Netanyahu have something against us, and I don't know why and where this is coming from. This hurts me."

Talk about being thin-skinned! That's her alright. After the damage her boss Naftali Bennett, whom she's surely taking cues from, tried to damage Israel Hayom's business a number of years ago (and she admitted she too had followed suit), that's pretty rich, I'd say. Despite any suggestions to the contrary, she and Bennett never did enough to be satisfying, and these attacks on the Likud and Netanyahu only signal a lack of confidence and desperation on her part, because she must realize they're not doing well, mainly because this is almost all she seems capable of doing.

Bennett himself didn't make things any better after he presented an alleged map that supposedly represents the US peace plan, and led to criticism even from American officials:

A map released by the Yamina party showing most of Judea and Samaria included in a future Palestinian state as part of the soon-to-be-released Middle East peace plan drawn up by the Trump administration is “inaccurate” and “not part” of the plan, a senior US official said Sunday. [...]

A senior US official pushed back, Sunday, telling The Jerusalem Post that the map presented by Bennett was “inaccurate”, and does not reflect the actual peace plan.

"The map posted by Naftali Bennett today on twitter and his claim that this represents the vision for peace of the Trump administration is highly inaccurate," the official said.

Earlier on Sunday, Likud officials blasted Yamina over the map, saying it “hurt the sensitive relationship with the Trump administration.”

"The map that Bennett, Smotrich and Shaked are advertising - is incorrect and not part of Trump's Deal of the Century. Absolute Fake News.”

And a terrible disfavor to the right. Granted, Bennett has slammed Benny Gantz and said he's unfit to be a premier, but his reliance on a form of moral equivalence ruins everything. At a time when it can be considered an emergency, you shouldn't be attacking your own side in such an alarmingly negative manner. Because of this, that's why, if you're voting for a smaller party, I figure at this point Otzma Yehudit would have to be the better choice, if they hopefully got enough supporters to clear the threshold.

Bennett and Shaked are bound to go down in history as prime examples of how not to conduct a campaign in politics.

Town in Jordan Valley approved for valid status

The Israeli government's done something positive just prior to the election, giving approval for authorizing Mevo'ot Yericho as a permanent district for Israeli citizenry:

The cabinet on Sunday approved the prime minister’s proposal to authorize the community of Mevo’ot Yericho in the Jordan Valley, during its meeting today in the area.

The decision will enable the community, which began as a farm at the end of the 1990’s, to become a permanent and independent town.

The vote took place after the attorney general removed his opposition to holding a vote on the issue.

Earlier Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ministers Amir Ohana, Yariv Levin and Bezalel Smutrich spoke with Attorney General Dr. Avihai Mandelblit in an attempt to persuade him to change his opinion against authorizing the community of Mevo’ot Yericho.

Mandelblit had asked the prime minister whether it was crucial that a decision on the issue be made today, to which Netanyahu responded that the urgent nature of the matter stems from the expected release date of the Trump administration peace plan and the desire to ensure the status of the community before the release of the plan.

Following the conversation, Mandelblit removed his opposition, and the vote was held.

Speaking earlier at the cabinet meeting, Netanyahu had reiterated his pledge to soon apply Israeli sovereignty in the Jordan Valley and Dead Sea area.

He's done the right thing here, and this is good for Israel's future.

The importance of a mutual defense pact

Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu both spoke about the development of the Mutual Defense Pact (via Breitbart):

US President Donald Trump on Saturday said he had spoken with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the phone of a potential Mutual Defense Pact, or MDP, between the two countries, and that he hoped to continue such talks after Tuesday’s election.

“I had a call today with Prime Minister Netanyahu to discuss the possibility of moving forward with a Mutual Defense Treaty, between the United States and Israel, that would further anchor the tremendous alliance between our two countries,” he tweeted.

“I look forward to continuing those discussions after the Israeli Elections when we meet at the United Nations later this month,” he added, in a comment that was interpreted in Israel as indicting his hope that Netanyahu will win the elections on Tuesday.

Let's hope of course that the Likud's bid for reelection will be successful. It'll only be a true success if voters actually come out to cast their ballots.

Mark Levin's right about Israel's mainstream press: it sucks and is leftist

In this Fox video interview with attorney/commentator Mark Levin, he shows his amazing knowledge of what Israel's leftist media is like, and he's correct - it really does suck. Levin's interview is a must-see.

Relative of 9-11 victim has a stern reply to Ilhan Omar's contempt

A relative of a 9-11 victim had a very important response to Muslim Congresswoman Ilhan Omar over her minimization a few months ago of the tragedy in 2001:

During Wednesday's 9/11 Memorial and Museum ceremony in New York to honor the lives lost 18 years ago, one victim's family member had a message for freshman Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.

Nicholas Haros Jr., whose mother Frances Haros was killed in the World Trade Center at age 76, wore a black T-shirt with the words "Some people did something" as he read a list of victims' names, including his mother's.

"Today I am here to respond to you exactly who did what to whom. Madam, objectively speaking, we know who and what was done," Haros Jr. said on Wednesday. "There is no uncertainty about that. Why your confusion?"

Haros Jr.'s comments are a reference to a controversial statement made by the Minnesota representative, who said while speaking about the Muslim community's resilience in the face of discrimination that "[Council of American-Islamic Relations] was founded after 9/11 because they recognized that some people did something and that all of us were starting to lose access to our civil liberties."

Omar's claim CAIR was founded post-911 is a repellent lie. It was founded as early as 1994.

Omar's comments sparked instant outrage by conservatives who accused her of belittling the historic tragedy. Others argued her comments were being taken out of context to unfairly attack her.

All she did was resort to the predictable victimology so typical of Islamophiles like herself. To which Haros had the following response:

"On that day, 19 Islamic terrorist members of al Qaeda killed over 3,000 people and caused billions of dollars in economic damage. Is that clear?" Haros Jr. said.

He continued, "But as to whom, I was attacked. Your relatives and friends were attacked. Our constitutional freedoms were attacked. And our nation’s founding on Judeo-Christian principles were attacked. That’s what some people did. Got that now?"

"We are here today, congresswoman, to tell you and the squad just who did what to whom. Show respect in honoring them, please. American patriotism and your position demand it. For God and country, amen," Haros Jr. said.

The guy's absolutely correct. He did the right thing in sending a message to a most repellent woman who so far hasn't offered a convincing apology for her abominable conduct. I'm glad Haros is standing up and doing the right thing to speak out against America's enemies in the political field.

Almost a quarter of Arab Israelis feel Netanyahu is best suited to lead a government

The Times of Israel reported on a most recent polling of what Arab Israelis think of the coming election. It appears that again, many won't be voting as they don't see any point, but, here's where the results become most interesting:

The Labor party and the Democratic Camp – a political alliance comprising former prime minister Ehud Barak’s Israel Democratic Party, Meretz, and breakaway Labor MK Stav Shaffir – are together projected to secure under 1% of Arabs’ votes.

[...] But perhaps the biggest surprise in the Rudnitzky-Barak poll was the fact that 23.6% of respondents said they believed Netanyahu was best suited for the role of premier – a surprising show of support given Netanyahu’s video plea during the 2015 elections urging his supporters to vote so as to offset the “droves of Arabs” ostensibly rushing to the polling stations.

Only 9.9% of Arab Israelis said they believed Joint List leader Ayman Odeh should be the prime minister; and 9.6% named Blue and White leader Benny Gantz as the best candidate for the job; followed by Barak (7.7%), Liberman (7.5%), and Yamina leader Ayelet Shaked (7%).

Now isn't that also flattering that a certain number also think Shaked's ideal for a premier candidate. What this shows is that, whatever their opinions on Israel as a country, they do realize Netanyahu is far better for their future than the hopeless candidates on the left, and as noted earlier, the Meretz alliance with Ehud Barak has cost them a Druze candidate who was running on their list, because he was offended by their partnering with a man who alienated many Arabic residents around the turn of the century.

Netanyahu has provided positive economic policies, for example, and that's a good reason to recommend him. So it's certainly amazing the Arabic community in Israel sees him as a worthy politician.

Some history on the 9-11 attacks

The Ammo website has a whole history article about the horrifying jihad attacks by al Qaeda that destroyed the World Trade Center, and what happened in the years after as the war on terrorism came about.

Nafatli Bennett is actually still chairman of his faction, despite Ayelet Shaked's placement on top

The Times of Israel revealed that, despite putting Ayelet Shaked up as the ostensible chairwoman of Yamina, Naftali Bennett still remains in charge of his own faction of the party:

Naftali Bennett is the chairman of the New Right party, not Yamina leader Ayelet Shaked, as the two have led the public to believe, Zman Yisrael, the Hebrew sister site of The Times of Israel, revealed on Tuesday.

Formerly the leader of the Jewish Home party, Bennett, along with then-justice minister Shaked, split from the national-religious party in December 2018 to form the New Right, saying their new party seeks to forge a full, equal partnership between the secular and religious sectors.

The two had hoped to pull votes away from both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and the Union of Right-Wing Parties – a faction comprising of the Jewish Home, the National Union, and the far-right Otzma Yehudit Party – but the maneuver failed and New Right did not pass the 3.25% electoral threshold in the April 9 elections.

Ahead of the second vote this year, set for September 17 after Netanyahu failed to form a coalition, New Right joined forces with Jewish Home and the National Union to form the Yamina alliance and, in an attempt to broaden voter appeal, named Shaked – a controversial but very popular politician – as its leader.

However, a review of the New Right’s party bylaws reveals that Bennett has remained New Right chairman, despite Shaked being publicly presented as its leader throughout the campaign and being placed at No. 1 on Yamina’s Knesset slate. Bennett is New Right’s No. 2, making him No. 4 on Yamina’s merged slate.

As New Right’s chairman, Bennett maintains the authority to split the party from Yamina after the elections, potentially leaving Shaked with no Knesset faction to head.

New Right declined to comment on the party’s official legal status and Zman Yisrael’s attempt to get a clear answer on whether Bennett was indeed the sole chairman or if Shaked was listed in other official documents as co-chairwoman was met with a refusal by the party to comment.

The reason for this ambiguity seems to be the party’s desire to maintain Shaked’s status as head of Yamina during the election campaign and defer any discussion on the faction’s political future until after the results come in.

This explains why, when they allegedly sought a merger with Itamar ben-Gvir's Otzma Yehidit faction, Shaked told him she'd have to get Bennett's approval on anything, and Bennett apparently sabotaged any chance of merging them as well. Not that I think much of ben-Gvir, but this just compounds why I've never been very impressed with Shaked any more than Bennett. It's not an authentic leadership they're presenting, and with the way Shaked's been using scare tactics in some of her campaign speeches that Netanyahu is going to form a government with the left/Gantz/Lapid/Amir Peretz is quite honestly disgusting. It just shows what a lack of confidence she really has in her own abilities to lead. Her English-language accent isn't very impressive either.

I guess this is just one more reason why I'd rather vote for the Likud than Yamina. Bennett's the main problem, of course, and his shadow only makes Yamina less appealing to me.

9-11 Senate hearing makes no mention of Islam

It appears political correctness has invaded this year's 9-11 Memorial hearings on Capitol Hill:

No mention of radical Islam was made by any senators during Monday’s Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing — uniquely held at the National 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City, NY — days before the 18th anniversary of the Islamic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Post-9/11 domestic instances of Islamic terrorism were also ignored, including but not limited to the attacks in Chattanooga, Fort Hood, Orlando, and San Bernardino. The only references to ideological dimensions of Islamic terrorism were made by former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, who referred to “jihadi terrorists” in three instances.

And what was brought up instead?

“Climate change poses an existential threat” to America and Earth, declared Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. He linked “climate change” to 9/11 in his opening remarks [...]

This same Democratic senator also used another diversionary tactic to water down the serious issue of Islamofascism:

Peters also singled out “white supremacist violence” as a national security threat, with Chertoff similarly warning of “white supremacists.” “A rise in violence driven by racism, religious discrimination, and other hateful ideologies has altered our perception of domestic terrorism,” said Peters.

I'm sure he's not talking about radical leftists either. Even gun control was turned into an absurd issue by Democrats. But what's really disturbing is if no Republican senators showed the guts to bring up the challenging issues of Islamic jihadism. Coming as this news is just before 9-11, it's very disturbing indeed, and does nothing to help combat the continuing crisis around the world.

"Deal of the Century" could be a very positive project

In this video from one of Benjamin Netanyahu's press conferences, he spoke of applying official sovereignty to Judea/Samaria, and indicates this is what Donald Trump's Deal of the Century could be about:

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held a press conference Tuesday evening to make a "dramatic statement about the Trump Administration's "Deal of the Century."

"We are on the eve of the elections. President Trump said he will present his Deal of the Century few days after the election and it is just around the corner. This presents us with a great challenge and a great opportunity to apply Israeli sovereignty to Judea and Samaria and other areas," Netanyahu said.

The prime minister announced that after the elections he would apply Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea area.

"There is one place that Israeli sovereignty can be applied immediately after the elections if Israeli citizens let me in. Today I announce my intention to apply Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea," he declared.

"This will be our defensive belt to the east. It ensures that we will never be a country a few miles wide," Netanyahu said.

I think this is a very positive statement he's made, one that could greatly benefit Israel in the future. So I hope it'll help the Likud in the election next week.

In another form of good news, US ambassador David Friedman attended the opening of a yeshiva in Sderot:

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Rabbi Rafi Peretz attended today's inauguration ceremony and laid a cornerstone for expanding the study hall at the Sderot Yeshiva.

The interior structure was donated by David E. Feldman to memorialize Rabbanit Goldie Fendel, the mother of Rabbi David Fendel of the yeshiva.

The event opened with singing and dancing in the new building's plaza and affixing a mezuzah by the U.S. Ambassador. A cornerstone was then dedicated to expand the Beit Midrash.

Education Minister Rafi Peretz said: "We're all with the Gaza area communities, the entire way; we're in the same boat, what the Yeshiva students have been doing here for many years is great. It's great to see the living Torah, the breathing Torah. Exactly what we read in the Haftarah prophet's reading last Shabbat: 'Comfort, comfort my people; Speak to the heart of Jerusalem'; this is the consolation, surely Isaiah the Prophet sees such a yeshiva, the robustness of the Torah, the robustness of such a city - and he is proud."

Peretz referred to attacks on religious Zionism by Leftist politicians: "You hear the attacks; religious Zionism works, it does its work faithfully, it goes out to give to the people of Israel everywhere, with great love for this people."

Ambassador Friedman said at the event: "I want to congratulate the Mayor, all the students, and the yeshiva, who continue the great way you are traversing. Rabbi Meir Fendel, the father of the yeshiva (Rabbi David) was my manager in America. I remember he set up a yeshiva in Long Island, in a place with no Torah at all, 'in an uncultivated land', and there he established a venue of Torah where my brothers and I learned and from there I received the love of the State of Israel and my Zionism.

"I remember like yesterday when I was in third grade when the Six Day War started; we stopped classwork and followed what was going on in the country, and when we won we were really happy for the State of Israel. A large percentage of what I am today I received from my studies at Rabbi Fendel's school.

"In my job, I'm always asked what I like here in the State of Israel in my role, what makes an impression, and my answer is everything. It's a great country, and when they say to me, 'Give us one good place anyway,' so I can say Jerusalem, the Holy City, Tel Aviv for business, the Dead Sea, which is the lowest place in the world, Masada, Tiberias, Tzfat, etc. All places are the correct answer, but you cannot complete the answer without mentioning the city of Sderot, without saying this place. A place that proves that Jews will be in Eretz Yisrael forever and ever.

"There's no other place in the world where people will be and succeed and believe and learn Torah when there are rockets and all the dangers that exist here. Most Jewish cities express the connection with the past, here in Sderot they stress the future. The city of Sderot proves to everyone in the world, also in the U.S., that anyone who wants to raise anti-Semitism in the world, hatred of Jews in the world, will see here and understand that he won't succeed. The days we passed in the last century that the haters of Jews would endanger us will no longer be. It is my honor to be here and congratulate you, I'm proud of you, celebrating with you, and the United States of America is here with you praying for you, and we'll always be with the city of Sderot," Friedman said.

For this, we should thank Friedman too.

Israeli left despises Yair Netanyahu for stating facts about Yitzhak Rabin's role in attacking the Altalena

The prime minister's son enraged leftists like those of the Labor party for discussing how the late Rabin had carried out the horrific assault on the Altalena boat in the 1940s, even slaughtering Holocaust survivors:

Prime Minister’s Benjamin Netanyahu’s son, Yair, raised the ire of Israel’s left when he slammed the assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin for his role in the Altalena Affair, in which a gun ship bringing weapons to Israel was destroyed off the Tel Aviv beach.

Although the prime minister said he disagreed with the tweet, left-wing leaders held him responsible.

Yair, a proficient Twitter user who uses the platform to defend his father’s record and right-wing political views, had tweeted: “Rabin murdered Holocaust survivors on the Altalena. Rabin brought Arafat and tens of thousands of terrorists from Tunis and caused the deaths of 2,000 Israelis.”

The prime minister distanced himself from his son’s post on Saturday night, in a statement put out by his spokesman, Ofer Golan.

“I do not agree with what my son Yair wrote about the late Yitzhak Rabin. Yair’s positions are his alone and made on his own,” the statement said. [...]

Despite the outcry, there is apparently an element of truth to Yair’s words. According to the historical record, Rabin had fired on a ship bringing arms to Israel in June, 1948. The ship, the Altalena, was organized by the Irgun, a Jewish underground group which Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion was determined to eliminate, seeing it as a threat to the state.

Rabin commanded the IDF and Palmach forces on the shore.

Ship’s captain Monroe Fein recalled, “As men began jumping off the ship and swimming toward the shore, those of us still on shipboard saw that they were being shot at continuously from rifles and machine guns on the beach.”

The firing continued even after Monroe raised a white flag on the ship’s bridge.

Israeli Attorney Yoram Sheftel, a pundit who often weighs in on political issues on TV and in print, referred to the issue on Israel’s Army Radio on Sunday. He said Yair’s tweet had been correct.

“At Rabin’s instruction, 900 passengers on the Altalena were fired at, many of whom were Holocaust survivors. They shot at them even as they jumped into the water. Rabin gave the order to shoot at Holocaust survivors. That is the story, and there is no denying it,” he said.

That anyone on the left would consider this even remotely acceptable only attests to how desensitized to violence they really are. And that's very disturbing. In addition, it shows how they remain unrepentant over an act of violence committed in the name of power possession. The younger Netanyahu was right to state facts, and they're going to have to come to terms with that.

In the comments section, one said:

Too much candor for the darlings on the Left?
The fact that Rabin was ordered by Ben Gurion to attack the Altalena is established fact that can be checked out in historical textbooks.
To this day the Left Establishment is still trying to destroy their rivals on the right,...any way they can,...nothing is too low for them.
To the insiders on the left, control of Israel is their version of la Cosa Nostra (Our Thing).
All this mirrors the endless attacks on President Trump in America.
The insiders feel they own the show & don't want to give their power to the general public.

Another said:

Yair! You can be proud for having said the truth, the whole truth that Rabin being part of the left governing Israel at the birth of the state by any means necessary including sinking a ship full of weapons and volunteers to fight for Israel when the Arab states united in numbers dwarfing the number of fighters for Israel for the simple reason that they were not part of the abject left. Rabin was the leftist who ordered the bombardment of The Altalena. I still remember Begin screaming "Altalena" his rallyng cry that made the left pay back in losing elections after elections. No one should stop screaming Altalena while pointing to the left. Bravo Yair!

And another said about Amir Peretz, who attacked Netanyahu over this:

Amir Peretz, lol. Talk to us when you are politically relavent. I am not a fan of Yair, but what he said is not wrong. It may be difficult to hear, but his statements are true.

Yup. Sooner or later, he'll have to come to terms with facts.

Israeli police performed illegitimate actions in pursuing Netanyahu

A new report first revealed on Channel 12 news found that police, going out of their way to "get the dirt" on Netanyahu, no matter how petty the accusations, used inappropriate tactics to press people to "help" them:

A Friday report on Israel’s Channel 12, which revealed undue pressure was exerted on a key figure in one of the corruption cases against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has raised serious questions about the conduct of Israel’s police. The Israel Bar Association chief has asked the attorney general to open an investigation into the possible abuse.

Channel 12 reports that the Israeli police department’s Lahav 433, also known as “Israel’s FBI,” tried to “break” Elovitch in order to get him to turn state witness. They pressured his son and daughter to help.

Elovitch, owner of telecommunications giant Bezeq, is involved in Case 4000, considered the most serious of the corruption cases against Netanyahu. The prime minister is accused of driving through a merger for Elovitch in return for favorable coverage on the Walla! web portal.

According to the report, the police used Shaul Elovitch’s son, Or Elovitch, to try and convince him to drop his lawyer, Jack Chen, who they believed was standing between them and convincing Elovitch to flip against the prime minister.

On Sunday, the daily newspaper Ma’ariv quoted attorney Rami Tamam, a former investigator for Lahav 433, who said on Israel radio that while “the practice is legal and certainly was approved, it’s not legitimate.”

“Police officers should not pass an opinion on the lawyer and say whether he is good or bad. There is a lot of legitimate trickery in the way of exploring the truth, but not everything is legitimate,” Tamam said.

Israeli Justice Minister Amir Ohana of the Likud party also weighed in, writing in a Facebook post, “What you saw was the use of Elovitch’s son, who was being detained for the first time in his life, to pressure his father to replace a lawyer who seemingly wasn’t to the liking of law enforcement authorities, while eavesdropping on a conversation between the detained father and his son and recording it in the designated lawyer consultation room.”

What this proves is that the police system, as much as the justice system, is in dire need of an overhaul. And the police owe some serious apologies for taking horrific steps in order to blackmail somebody into assisting them over a politically motivated issue.

Lieberman reneges, refuses to support law for cameras at polling stations

Avigdor Lieberman's once again, in a startling display of betraying the right, refused to back a bill for posting cameras at polling stations during elections to prevent the voter fraud he supposedly worried about earlier:

Yisrael Beytenu Chairman MK Avigdor Liberman has announced that his party will not support the Camera Law as it is presented written, demanding that only the Elections Committee be authorized to use cameras in voting places. The present bill permits all election observers to use cameras at voting areas. [...]

Last month, Liberman expressed support for the law, which allows cameras to be placed in voting stations, saying: "Today there's 'Big Brother' on every street corner, so I see no reason why not."

In other words, he was for it before he was against it. The election committee could always handle what he supposedly wants, so it's clear he doesn't really want it at all. And now, the bill so far has indeed failed to pass in a Knesset committee:

A controversial bill that would allow party operatives to bring cameras into polling stations during next week’s elections failed to gain a majority in the Knesset Regulatory committee Monday, leaving the Likud-proposed legislation without an immediate path to become law before the September 17 vote.

In the committee vote on a motion to shorten the normal legislative process so that the bill would not have to wait the usual 45 days before a Knesset vote, MKs were tied 12-12, with Yisrael Beytenu lawmakers voting against it, stymieing the proposal and preventing it from facing a scheduled first reading in the plenum later in the day.

The so-called Security Cameras Law would have allowed representatives of Likud and other parties to bring cameras into polling stations, despite staunch opposition from the attorney general, the Central Elections Committee, and the Knesset’s legal adviser.

Speaking to reporters at the Knesset ahead of a faction meeting, Yisrael Beytenu chair Avigdor Liberman called the legislation being pushed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an effort to steal the September 17 vote.

He's virtue-signaling for the left, and it contradicts whatever stance he takes on ensuring their won't be voter fraud. It's clear at this point he's only opposing the bill because Netanyahu's the one backing it. Otherwise, he would've put aside his supposed misgivings with Netanyahu and put state and security first.

The prime minister's already voiced his disappointment:

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu blasted his former defense minister, Avidgor Liberman, on Monday, over Liberman’s opposition to a Likud-backed bill which would permit election observers to use cameras in voting areas to combat voter fraud.

In a video message Monday afternoon, Netanyahu accused Liberman of joining with Arab lawmakers to block the passage of the “Camera Law”.

“There is absolutely no reason for anyone who wants to protect the integrity of our elections to oppose the Camera Law, which will prevent election fraud,” said Netanyahu.

“Nevertheless, I’m not all that surprised that Lapid and Gantz joined with Ahmed Tibi and Ayman Odeh to bury the Camera Law, because they are working together towards a left-wing government which will include Ahmed Tibi and Ayman Odeh as ministers.”

It could be that's the nasty trick they're hoping to pull. And then Lieberman has the gall to accuse his former boss of working with Odeh? This is just simply atrocious, and makes clear Lieberman's not worth anyone's time in voting for, has nothing new or convincing to offer, and is therefore not suited to serve as a politician, nor does he deserve to.

Meretz loses a Druze candidate who's troubled by their joint list with Ehud Barak

A Druze candidate running on the Meretz list has quit the party because of their joining with Ehud Barak:

A Druze lawmaker resigned from the left-wing Democratic Camp party this week, saying that the faction was not taking him seriously and that the Arab community would not support the party because of its resentment toward former premier Ehud Barak.

Ali Salalha, from the village of Beit Jann, said on Tuesday that he saved the Meretz party in the previous elections in April, and was frustrated with his low placement on the Democratic Camp’s slate, Haaretz reported on Saturday. He said that the Arab votes he brought to Meretz in April pushed the party across the electoral threshold.

The Democratic Camp is a union between the left-wing Meretz party, MK Stav Shaffir, formerly of Labor, and former prime minister Ehud Barak.

The party is expected to win 6-7 seats, and with Salalha in the 20th spot on its slate, he does not realistically have a chance of making it into the 120-member Knesset.

It's not certain they'll win even that much, if more voters leave them over their alliance with a man who associated with Jeffrey Epstein and may have been involved in disturbing activities at his estates.

“These people don’t take Ali Salalha seriously,” he said in frustration over his low placement. “All of a sudden you’re giving up on the media star of the last election? On the legendary educator that brought the Druze educational system to first place?”

Salalha is an award-winning educational director in Beit Jann, Haaretz reported.

He won fifth place on Meretz’s electoral slate in internal elections for the last national vote. The Democratic Camp is headed by Meretz’s Nitzan Horowitz.

Salalha reportedly believes that the Democratic Camp would lose the Arab vote because of the community’s resentment toward Barak. In October 2000 at the start of the Second Intifada, while Barak was prime minister, police killed 13 Arab Israeli protesters. Barak has since apologized and expressed regret for the deaths.

“When Meretz held negotiations with Ehud Barak, they didn’t take me into account,” Salalha was quoted as saying. “Did you all go crazy? I brought you tens of thousands of Druze. Who did the Druze vote for before? For the right. For Likud, for Liberman, for Shas. I brought them with me and you put me at 20th place?”

“We, the Druze, have no problem with Barak. The Arabs do,” Salalha said. “[Arabs] voted for us when I was with Meretz. After Barak landed on us, I hear Arabs saying ‘we’re not going with Barak.’”

And some other members of the public may not either because, again, he was chummy with Epstein. It's also clear many Arabic residents haven't excused Barak for what happened in late 2000, so that could cost the party votes, and the resignation of their Druze candidate from the parliamentary list also doesn't look good for them so close to election day.

Leftist Salon endorsed the bloody theft of Hagia Sophia in Turkey

Robert Spencer, writing on Pajamas Media, found that the ultra-leftist Salon website's basically approved of how the Hagia Sophia church in Istanbul was taken over by jihadism:

That inexhaustible fountain of Leftist propaganda, Salon on Saturday published a bubbly piece by Ashima Krishna, “an architect and historic preservation planner,” enthusing about how “churches in neighborhoods that aren’t doing well [in] areas that are less attractive to developers looking to turn a profit” have recently been converted into houses of worship of other religions. In the course of her excitement, Krishna likened this phenomenon to one of the bloodiest jihad conquests in history, which apparently has her full endorsement. Just another day at Salon.

“In Buffalo, New York,” Krishna informs us, “two empty Roman Catholic churches were recently converted — not into apartments or offices, but into other places of worship. One became an Islamic mosque, the other a Buddhist temple.”

As far as Krishna is concerned, this phenomenon has no downside: “With immigrant and refugee populations growing in post-industrial cities across the U.S., the conversion of vacant Christian churches into new places of worship can preserve historic architecture and strengthen burgeoning communities.”

What’s more, she says, this conversion of worship spaces has a noteworthy historical precedent: “Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia famously switched from a Christian church to a mosque in 1453. The same sort of conversions have been taking place in Buffalo’s East Side. Many former Catholic churches have, over the years, been converted into other denominations…But several former Christian churches in Buffalo’s East Side also now serve as sites of worship for other religions. Two mosques, Bait Ul Mamur Inc. Masjid and Masjid Zakariya, used to be Saint Joachim’s Roman Catholic Church and Holy Mother of Rosary Polish National Catholic Church, respectively.”

The same sort of conversions have been taking place in Buffalo that took place in Constantinople in 1453? Really? The Hagia Sophia “switched” from a church to a mosque? This is akin to saying that Jews switched to lampshades in Nazi Germany. The History of Jihad From Muhammad to ISIS recounts how, after over 700 years of trying, the warriors of jihad finally entered the great city on May 29, 1453. When they did, they made the streets run with rivers of blood. Muslims raided monasteries and convents, emptying them of their inhabitants, and plundered private houses.

Yet another example of leftists desensitized to violence, leading in turn to their watering down serious cases involving Islamic jihad. Very grave, and that aside, it's a bad thing if religion temples in Buffalo and elsewhere are being turned into mosques.

PLO school textbooks clogged with violence and anti-Israel incitement

The latest study of what the PLO indoctrinates its subjects with is repulsive but not shocking at all:

Palestinian schoolchildren are exposed to a dramatic amount of incitement and intolerance against Jews and Israel, a research institute based at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found.

IMPACT-se describes itself as a “research, policy and advocacy organization that monitors and analyzes education,” according to “international standards on peace and tolerance as derived from UNESCO declarations and resolutions.” The organization studied the current Palestinian curriculum (2019-2020) taught in Palestinian Authority and UNRWA schools in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.

The report comes after the PA restructured its curriculum for the first time since 2000, following the Oslo Accords. Previously, school children in the West Bank and east Jerusalem were taught the Jordanian curriculum, while students in Gaza used Egyptian textbooks.

All 2019–2020 textbooks for the first semester were analyzed.

The findings convey a horrific reality, where violent acts, hatred and even “martyrdom” are not only justified but encouraged.

The study found that all textbooks in social studies, history, Arabic and national education for grades two to 12 contained problematic content, defined by IMPACT-se as “violence or incitement to violence; hatred of the other; and radical, inappropriate or disturbing content.”

An 11th grade history book described the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre by Palestinian terrorists in which 11 Israeli athletes were murdered as “a strike at Zionist interests abroad.”

And if memory serves, Mahmoud Abbas was one of the planners of the 1972 tragedy. But this is no surprise, and no doubt, whatever Jordanian material they made use of earlier wasn't any different.

The time when Avigdor Lieberman made a deal with the extremist Shmuel Auerbach

This is from over a week ago, but Lieberman's "liberal" credentials have been put under a question mark by his associations with the late Haredi cultist Shmuel Auerbach in 2013:

In what may prove to be a highly embarrassing incident, video footage has emerged of Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman meeting with radical haredi leader Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach in 2013 in which Liberman sought Auerbach’s support, and that of his followers, for Moshe Lion’s mayoral candidacy.

The video, broadcast by Channel 12 News on Tuesday night, shows Liberman meeting with Auerbach, who has since passed away, discussing issues such as the Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem.

Auerbach was the leader until his death in 2018 of the radical Jerusalem Faction, a splinter group from the main political non-hassidic, ultra-Orthodox grouping Degel Hatorah.

Liberman is a close associate of Lion and gave him strong backing in the 2013 Jerusalem mayoral election which he ultimately lost, although went on to be elected Jerusalem mayor in 2018.

“There won’t be all these marches that they do here and the festival of the gays,” Liberman said to the rabbi, apparently promising that Lion would prevent the annual pride march.

Another video showed Liberman speaking with one of Auerbach’s most senior advisers who requested that Liberman thwart legislation designed to increase ultra-Orthodox enlistment to the IDF.

He made deals with an extremist who later encouraged his subjects to block train lines in Jerusalem, which caused serious damage and hurt to innocent people. Very serious, and very grave. But it also shows just how phony Lieberman really is, and isn't so genuine in his alleged issues with the Haredis even now. And that's why it's time he resigned from politics, but alas, he won't.

Afghan in Holland stabbed tourists to protect his false prophet

Another Afghan "refugee" committed a violent crime in the Netherlands, all in order to protect Mohammed:

An Afghan man accused of stabbing two American tourists in Holland says he went there to “protect the Prophet Mohammed,” according to reports.

Jawed Santani, 20, told a judge during a hearing in Amsterdam on Monday that he “came to the Netherlands to protect my prophet,” adding that he was “planning to kill unfair and cruel people, those who make it possible for the Prophet Mohammed to be insulted,” the Daily Mail reported.

Santani reportedly mentioned that his alleged knife attack came only a day after the chairman of the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, Geert Wilders, announced he would not go through with his plans to have a cartoon competition to caricature Mohammed in order to “avoid the risk of making people victims of Islamist violence.”

In other words, it didn't matter that Geert was trying to avoid violence the local authorities wouldn't do anything to prevent; the jihadist was going to go through with his evil anyway. Absolutely obscene.

Youth in Quebec taking up Islamic culture in "solidarity"

Misguided people in the Canadian province of Quebec are making the terrible errors of supporting Islam:

Canada’s French-speaking province of Quebec is seeing a new trend of young non-Muslim people adopting Islamic customs and holidays.

The new phenomenon was first noted by anthropologist Géraldine Mossière who found young people, mostly women, in Montreal who frequented Muslim associations and cafes and began to adopt Islamic practices without ever formally converting, La Presse reports.

According to Mossière, the subjects she met did everything from banning themselves from eating pork to celebrating the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

“These are young people who have experienced in school a cultural mix conducive to the integration of certain cultural beliefs. Sometimes they do it in solidarity with their Muslim friends. Those who do not go to conversion see Muslim practices as personal development, such as yoga or meditation,” Mossière claimed.

Some women do convert to Islam, with Mossière claiming that the attraction stems from a desire to seek out more traditional female roles, suggesting “They see themselves as Quebecers and Muslim. They adopt a ‘pure Islam free of its origins’ of the patriarchal system which they associate with the culture of the Muslim countries of today.”

What do they mean "free of origins"? All they're doing, one way or another, is legitimizing the Religion of Rape, plain and simple. It's also funny how, of all the places where you could seek out traditional roles, it would be in a belief system as awful as that. And why does Islam count, but not Judaism, as a way of finding traditional roles? The indoctrination is clearly there, proving what a disaster schools can be, their having taken Christianity and Judaism out, leaving Islam to fill the vacuum.

Arabs in Bethlehem outraged over honor murder of 21-year-old

It's amazing to see somebody in Bethlehem's offended by an Islamic honor murder that took place in the famous town, though it remains to be seen if they recognize the Religion of Rape's role in the tragedy:

Activists worldwide are calling for retribution for Israa Ghrayeb, a 21-year-old Palestinian woman from Bethlehem, who was murdered last Thursday in an alleged honor killing committed by her brother, according multiple Arab news outlets.

Israa’s brother, Ihab, a Canadian resident, allegedly beat and tortured her in their family home in Bethlehem after she posted a video on social media with a man she was planning to marry.

Ihab was apparently exasperated by the video, claiming the post “dishonored” the family by presenting herself with her soon-to-be husband before the actual wedding.

Israa’s father allegedly ordered her brother to beat her after relatives witnessed the footage online.

During the scuffle with her brother, Israa attempted to escape the violence and fell out of the second-story of their house, causing serious spinal injuries, according to various reports.

Without alluding to exactly what happened, Israa posted on her Instagram account that she would be unable to work for the next two months as she awaited a spinal chord operation.

“I’m strong and I have the will to live – if I didn’t have this willpower, I would have died yesterday,” Israa said. “Don’t send me messages telling me to be strong, I am strong. May God be the judge of those who oppressed me and hurt me.”

While in hospital, Israa was allegedly assaulted a second-time, with footage appearing on social media of her screaming and begging for her life during the attack.

Details surrounding her actual cause of death are ambiguous, with Israa’s family denying the accusations, claiming the 21-year-old died from a heart attack. The Palestinian Authority has not officially commented on the alleged killing either.

Oh, they're in on it simply by their tolerance and acceptance for such horrors in Islam. It's a good thing there's people reacting to this with outrage, but whether they realize and admit Islam's the cause and problem, remains a challenging question.

Teen murdered by Afghan migrant in Lyon

Another horrible murder in France that's not being considered a terrorist act:

Police detained an Afghan man seeking asylum in France after one person was fatally stabbed and nine others injured Saturday outside a subway station in a suburb of Lyon, authorities said. The reason for the attack was unclear.

The assailant was a 33-year-old Afghan citizen who had applied for asylum in France and was awaiting a response, a national police official said.

The suspect provided contradictory information to police, but the attack in the town of Villeurbanne did not appear to be terrorism-related, the official told The Associated Press. The official was not authorized to be publicly named because of French government policy.

Villeurbanne Mayor Jean-Paul Bret told reporters that the detained man was the primary suspect and the only one suspected in the actual stabbing.

The mayor said the victim who died was a 19-year-old man and three of the injured were in critical condition. It was unclear if the slain man knew the attacker, local police said.

The monster committed murder under his religious/ideological influence, and it's not even considered a lone-wolf terrorist act. Once again, local politicians are proving truly despicable.