Of course Israel's on a collision course with Turkey

Or destined to be, sooner or later. That's what professor Eyal Zisser is talking about now:

Turkey was the first Muslim-majority country to recognize the State of Israel, doing so in 1949. Since then, however, relations between the two countries have experienced ups and, above all, downs. For many years, ties remained deeply frozen because Ankara feared antagonizing the Arab states. In the late 1950s, however, Turkey joined Israel, Iran and Ethiopia in establishing the Periphery Alliance as a counterweight to Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

The peace process that began in the region in the early 1990s brought an unprecedented flourishing of relations between the two countries, along with economic, diplomatic and, above all, security cooperation. As it once did with Iran, Israel displayed appalling shortsightedness by helping to develop Turkey's security services and defense industry.

All this changed after Erdogan came to power more than two decades ago. Erdogan seeks to turn his back on the legacy of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, not only regarding the country's secular character but also, and especially, in foreign policy. Turkey's traditional focus on Europe has been replaced by an orientation toward the Arab and Islamic worlds. Turkey has consequently aligned itself with Qatar, the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, using hostility toward Israel as a lever to advance its standing in the Arab and Muslim worlds.

Even after Erdogan took power, however, relations between the two countries continued, particularly in the economic sphere. That remained the case until October 7, after which Turkey sided with Hamas in both words and deeds, bringing about a complete rupture between the two countries, although the Turkish Embassy continues to operate in Tel Aviv.

Following the takeover of Syria by Turkish protégé Ahmad al-Sharaa, Ankara gained a foothold in the country and effectively replaced Iran as its dominant foreign power. This heightened concerns in Jerusalem that Syria could become an arena for confrontation. There were even reports of near-clashes between Turkish and Israeli aircraft. Nevertheless, a hotline between the Israeli and Turkish air forces was established through Azerbaijani mediation to prevent incidents in Syrian airspace.

Oh, we just have to rely on another Muslim country for this. Azerbaijan, of course, is also guilty of jihadist bloodshed against Armenians, and that's one of the reasons why it's terrible how Israel in the past came to do potentially faustian deals with Islamic countries if that's what it took to supposedly keep a stable region. But of course, Islamic taqqiya (deception) is why it won't last long. If Israel's advocates don't show the courage to convince Islamic countries to stop worshiping the Religion of Peace, how do they expect to improve the situation with Turkey?

All this is why eventually, Turkey will have to be regarded as an enemy state, until its modern tyrants like Erdogan can be replaced with saner ones, who preferably aren't Muslim.

Opposition grows against selling military planes to Turkey

Benjamin Netanyahu urged Donald Trump not to sell F35 jets to Turkey:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced strong opposition to the possibility of the US selling F-35 stealth fighter jets to Turkey, following comments by US President Donald Trump indicating that he is considering approving the deal.

In an interview with CNN, Netanyahu argued that such a move would undermine regional stability and reward a government that has repeatedly adopted hostile positions toward both Israel and the US.

"Turkey is not a friendly state to the US," Netanyahu said, describing the government of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as "a regime that's infected with the Muslim Brotherhood, which hates the US."

Turkey under Erdogan has made clear they're as dangerous to Israel as Iran is, and the whole notion the USA would sell them military tools is despicable as it's also dangerous. Why, what if, just like Iran, Turkey's also working on nuclear development, and one day has weapons similar to what Iran's had until recently? Then nothing was solved to begin with. Also, what if Erdogan and his minions are planning to subject the country to Islamic sharia dictates? Another reason why they can't be allowed to posess western-developed weapons.

This issue comes as recent polls show Israelis are losing confidence in Trump on security issues:

The share of Israelis who believe that Israel’s security is a central consideration of President Donald Trump fell to a record low as Democratic support for Israel in the US continued to decline, according to two new polls on Tuesday.

A new poll from the Israel Democracy Institute found that, amid widening disagreements in Israel over US efforts to broker a new nuclear deal with Iran, the share of Israelis who believe Trump prioritizes Israel’s security had seen a “collapse" from 44% in May to 28% in June, pollsters said.

The survey, which polled 603 Jewish respondents and 151 Arab respondents from June 28 to July 1, found that among Jewish respondents, the belief that Israel can fully rely on Trump has plummeted by 38 points between March and June 2026.

Just over one-third of Israelis said they believed Israel’s strategic security situation is better today than it was before the war with Iran. The margin of error was 3.57 percentage points.

It's also reported a poll conducted in part by the AP Wire tells there's a considerable number of Jewish Americans who're hostile to Israel, and quite possibly even favorable to Zohran Mamdani. Assuming that poll has any weight to it, that too is disturbing, and very sad.

Update: also note how Trump's continuing relations with the new Syrian despot, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and that too is troubling.

Update 2: John Fetterman's the only liberal who's willing to oppose the sale of weapons to Turkey.

Knesset resolution submitted to recognize Armenian Genocide

One of the Likud's members - and the foreign minister - is doing the right thing to take a legal step to recognizing the Armenian Genocide in Israel:

At the upcoming government meeting, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar will propose a resolution for the official recognition by the Government of Israel of the Armenian Genocide.

The proposed resolution states that, based on a moral and historical obligation, Israel will recognize the genocide committed against the Armenian people during the final years of the Ottoman Empire. It further states that any denial, minimization, or distortion of the historical truth of these events must be condemned.

The resolution will subsequently be brought before the Knesset for approval as well.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly recognized the Armenian Genocide for the first time in August 2025.

Every resolution like this brought to the table is a vital step towards improvement of foreign relations.

Turkey now has missiles that can reach long ranges

It turns out that Iran's not the only Islamic regime that's had ballistic missiles being built. Turkey's also building them, and put an ICBM on display just recently:

Turkey's Ministry of National Defense research and development center unveiled the Yildirimhan intercontinental ballistic missile at the SAHA 2026 (Turkey's international defense and aerospace exhibition) expo, marking a public debut for one of Ankara's most advanced long-range missile systems.

According to the defense ministry, the missile can reach Mach 25 and has a declared range of 6,000 kilometers (3,728 miles). It uses liquid nitrogen tetroxide as fuel and is powered by four rocket propulsion engines.

It's entirely possible such devices could reach north America as much as Europe and Israel, if nothing's done about it. So we have to hope Donald Trump makes this an issue. Also, during Trump's first term of office, Turkey was misbehaving already.

A sad mistake made by J.D Vance

The vice president of the USA erased a message for remembering the Armenian Genocide committed by Turkey's Islamic Ottoman empire during WW1:

US Vice President JD Vance’s X account on Tuesday posted and subsequently deleted a message acknowledging the Armenian genocide after he attended a wreath-laying ceremony in Armenia.

The original post stated that Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, attended the ceremony to honor the victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide, a term that broke with Trump administration policy.

Armenians have long sought international recognition for the 1915-1917 killings in the Ottoman era as genocide, which they say left some 1.5 million of their people dead.

Turkey -- the Ottoman Empire's successor state -- strongly rejects that the massacres, imprisonment and forced deportation of Armenians from 1915 amounted to a genocide.

The US has avoided using the word "genocide" to describe the events due to concerns over damaging relations with Turkey, a key regional ally. However, former President Joe Biden in 2021 officially used the term “genocide" when describing the Ottoman Empire's persecution of the Armenian community, sparking outrage from Ankara.

A spokesperson for the vice president attributed Tuesday’s post to staff who were not part of the official delegation.

The White House later clarified there was no change in policy, referring back to a previous statement issued on Armenian Remembrance Day. Vance’s account reposted a more neutral message, including a photo of his handwritten note in the guest book: "In solemn remembrance of the lives lost, we honor the resilience and enduring spirit of the Armenian people."

Seriously, this is a huge letdown, because it doesn't solve the problem at all of obscuring history, to say nothing of the Religion of Peace's role in the horror of the early 20th century. And it comes as a slap in the face to Armenia after they'd welcomed Vance to the ceremony.

Update: the above isn't the only mistake Vance is making now. There's also this:

US Vice President JD Vance indicates that the US is not planning to overthrow the Iranian regime, but rather to ensure that it doesn’t obtain a nuclear weapon.

Asked by reporters if he wants to see regime change in Iran, Vance replies, “If the Iranian people want to overthrow the regime, that’s up to the Iranian people. What we’re focused on right now is the fact that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon.”

Seriously, it's not encouraging of him to imply the Iranian opposition is on its own, and if he's saying they're okay with the ayatollahs remaining in power, should nothing else happen, that's wrong too, and undermines his ostensible defense of Europe's better interests.

Steve Witkoff continues his inappropriate approach

The USA envoy Witkoff has outraged Israeli officials with a position that Israel open the Rafah border on the other side of Gaza even before the body of the last remaining hostage/kidnapee from October 7, 2023 is returned:

Officials in Jerusalem have expressed anger toward US special envoy Steve Witkoff, who is pressuring Israel to open the Rafah crossing before the return of the final hostage, Ran Gvili.

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, sharply criticized Witkoff in a conversation with Ynet: “Witkoff pushed to bring our major rival, Turkey, to the border. The clock is ticking backward toward a confrontation with Turkey, which would pose a real danger to our security."

Kan 11 News reported that Israeli officials were caught off guard by the announcement regarding the opening of the Rafah crossing and intend to demand explanations from envoys Witkoff and Jared Kushner. The Security Cabinet is scheduled to convene on Sunday, where it is expected to approve the crossing’s opening and discuss recent developments in Iran.

Any demand Witkoff makes that the crossing be opened in a way that would enable more weapons to be smuggled to Hamas is offensive in the extreme, and if Kushner's going along with this, that too is reprehensible. That they would even want Turkey to be allowed anywhere near is also offensive. This is why plenty don't consider Witkoff a good envoy, and it ranks right down there as one of the bad things the Trump administration is doing, along with recognizing Ahmed al-Sharaa as a "valid" leader of Syria. How do we convince them to dismiss Witkoff from his post?

Update: speaking of Iran, Witkoff's also taking a dangerously lenient position on their autocracy as well:

A senior Israeli official confirmed that Witkoff is serving as the intermediary with Iran. "Witkoff brought Trump a WhatsApp message from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, along with a written assurance from President Masoud Pezeshkian, in order to persuade him to postpone the strike," the official said.

This may not have been the sole reason for the delay, as preparations for a major operation were not fully complete two weeks ago, but it did influence the president's mood. "Even now, as intelligence and testimonies from Iranians reach Israel and intelligence agencies in other countries in the region, as well as the US itself, Witkoff continues to push for a diplomatic route to resolve the Iran problem," the senior Israeli official said, expressing clear frustration.

This too is atrocious in the extreme, and one more reason Witkoff must be removed from his post.

Trump taking serious risk of betraying Iranian public

Robert Spencer is let down that POTUS Donald Trump backed away from taking serious military action against Iran's totalitarians so far:

The Iranian people trusted him. They kept protesting, even as the inhuman guardians of the Islamic Republic mowed them down in ever-increasing numbers, as many as 20,000. They renamed streets after him. They knew that he would send the help he promised. They knew he would help them see the end of the bloodthirsty and demonic regime that has murdered so very many Iranians since 1979. They knew they finally had someone who heard their cries. Someone they could count on.

Yet by Wednesday afternoon, something had changed. Trump said: “We have been told that the killing in Iran is stopping, it’s stopped, it is stopping. And, uh, there’s no plan for executions, or ex— an execution, or executions. So I’ve been told that on good authority, we’ll find out about it.”

There was no reason to believe this, and it was unclear whether or not Trump himself believed it. The Islamic Republic is built on terror and preserves itself through terror, for as an Islamic government, it follows the Qur’an’s guidance for how to deal with its opponents: “strike terror in the enemies of Allah” (8:60). The Islamic Republic will keep killing protesters as long as there is an Islamic Republic. [...]

Unless this is a strategic feint, as many have claimed, and the promised attack is still in the works, apparently the Islamic Republic will continue as well, hiding its murders behind closed doors instead of parading them before the world. Trump’s promise of help has so far proven hollow. His encouragement of the protesters only ended up getting 20,000 of them killed.

Even worse, there are reports that Trump called off an attack at the last minute at the behest of Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia, three Sunni states that have long counted the Shi’ite Islamic Republic of Iran as an enemy, but whose solicitude for the well-being of the United States should not be taken for granted.

Although it may be strategic, of course it's not good if Trump's hesitating. If the 2nd world war had been literally handled this way, it would never have been won.

Now, recent reports note that Texas senator Ted Cruz supports military action as a last resort, and the USA military does seem to be making preparations for war, as they no doubt realize they can't just back away now. Even so, issuing statements that don't get followed through as quickly as assumed is not a good idea, and only damages morale.

Pope Leo is the latest Christian representative to kowtow to Islam

Pope Leo's unsuprisingly but very sadly revealed himself as the latest letdown to followers of Christ (Hat tip: Jihad Watch):

Questioned about a growing trepidation among western Christians about the growth of Islam outside of the Middle East, especially in predominantly Christian nations in the West, the pope said this was something touched on in his discussions with interfaith leaders in Turkey and Lebanon.

Many of these conversations “concentrated on the topic of peace and respect for people of different religions,” Leo said, noting that this has not always been the situation between the two religions, and that in Europe the fears are real.

However, he cautioned that oftentimes these fears are “generated by people who are against immigration and trying to keep out people who may be from another country, another religion, another race.”

“In that sense, I would say that we all need to work together. One of the values of this trip [is] precisely to raise the world’s attention to the possibility that dialogue and friendship between Muslims and Christians is possible,” he said.

Forget it, this completely obscures the issue of taqqiya (deception), and his failure to comprehend how illegal immigration has facilitated the entry of the Religion of Peace into many other countries speaks volumes. Leo's ignorance gets worse with the following (also via Jihad Watch):

Pope Leo said on Sunday that the only solution in the decades-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people must include a Palestinian state, reaffirming the Vatican’s position.

“We all know that at this time Israel still does not accept that solution, but we see it as the only solution,” Leo, the first US pope, told journalists on a flight from Turkey to Lebanon during his first in-flight press conference.

What's sad about dhimmis like Leo is that they're obsessed with all this "2-state solution" propaganda till the bitter end of time. And the way he dismisses the opposition of the Israeli public to it is truly awful. As a result, who can believe he's really on Christianity's side?

Update: and in case it wasn't entirely clear before, Leo has attacked fears of Islam in Europe as "bigotry", parroting a repellent left-wing narrative:

Pope Leo gets asked about fears over Islam in Europe

He answers that the fears are created by those "against immigration and trying to keep out people who may be from another country, another religion"

He says Lebanon, run by Muslim terrorists, is a model for Europe and U.S. pic.twitter.com/6PEbNUa2d4

— Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately" (@Sultanknish) December 5, 2025

What Leo says is humiliatingly bad. And it makes clear that any condescending view he has of Israel applies to Europe as well. Still, what else could one expect from somebody who first worked in a far-left state like Illinois?

Update 2: more commentary on Leo's dhimmitude from Pamela Geller.

Turkey cuts commercial ties with Israel

This is no shock at all:

In a move unsurprising given Turkey’s harshly anti-Israel Islamist government, the country’s foreign minister announced Friday that Turkey has cut commercial ties with Israel—barring Israeli vessels from its ports, blocking Turkish ships from Israeli ports, and restricting Israeli planes from entering Turkish airspace.

“We have totally cut our trade with Israel, we have closed off our ports to Israeli ships and we are not allowing Turkish vessels to go to Israel’s ports,” Hakan Fidan stated. “We are not allowing container ships carrying weapons and ammunition to Israel to enter our ports, and airplanes to go into our airspace.”

Before Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power in 2014, Turkey and Israel had strong strategic ties. That soured quickly, although a brief reconciliation occurred in 2016. Erdogan threatened to break relations again in 2017 after the U.S. recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Diplomatic ties were restored in August 2022, but only 16 days after the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre of more than 1200 Israelis, Erdogan stated, “Hamas is not a terrorist organization … [but rather] a liberation group, ‘mujahideen’ waging a battle to protect its lands and people.”

“Turkey’s antipathy toward Israel and its affinity for Hamas is now so well established that diplomats accept it as fact. The open romance between the NATO member and the terror group began in 2006,” FDD reported. Erdogan has stated, “I don’t see Hamas as a terror organization. Hamas is a political party.”

For years already, Erdogan's been inciting against Israel in many ways, and now, he's certainly done what's actually better for Israel, because we don't need relations with anybody who's upholding Islamofascism. I suppose that's partly the reason why Netanyahu gave long needed official recognition to the Armenian Holocaust, and again, it's about time.

Turkey and Erdogan should be isolated for their offenses, and just like the PLO minions, should not be allowed into the USA either.

Netanyahu makes an official recognition of the Armenian Genocide

For the first time, Benjamin Netanyahu's made a major recognition in his own words of the Armenian Genocide committed by Turkey's Islamic Ottoman empire during WW1:

For the first time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday that he recognizes the Armenian Genocide during World War 1.

Netanyahu’s comments came in an interview on the PBD Podcast, hosted by Patrick Bet-David.

Bet-David initiated the discussion by contrasting the near-universal recognition of the Holocaust with the lack of broader acknowledgment for the Armenian and Assyrian genocides.

"For anybody that doesn't recognize Armenian-Assyrian genocide, if there's any country that I would have expected to be on the list that recognized the Armenian and the Assyrian and the Greek genocide, it would be Israel," Bet-David said.

He then directly asked the Prime Minister, "Why haven't you yet recognized the Armenian, Assyrian and the Greek genocide that the Turkish did to that community?"

In response, Prime Minister Netanyahu stated, "In fact, I think we have, because I think the Knesset passed a resolution to that effect."

Bet-David expressed uncertainty about the official nature of the recognition, asking, "I don't know if it's come from you, though. I don't know if it's come from the prime minister of Israel."

Netanyahu then offered a direct confirmation, saying, "Yeah, I just did."

For many years, Israel has refrained from recognizing the Armenian Genocide due to its good relations with Turkey, but those have significantly deteriorated since the start of the war.

It's definitely about time a clear message was given. One that can help defeat the repulsive Rachel Avraham's propaganda that was hurtful to Armenia too. At least one statement she once made was dangerously similar to antisemitic Holocaust denial, and to think she'd even publish screeds that implied Armenians were Aryan, in a way that's meant to be derogatory! That was shockingly offensive, and she should be ostracized by all realists for making such a disgusting statement that's also hurtful to the citizenry of countries like Denmark and Holland.

Netanyahu did the right thing to make a statement recognizing the Armenian Holocaust, and let's be clear: no Islamic-run country has the right to veto discussion of the subject, period. If this were allowed to continue, it would be hurtful to Israel's causes, and serious apologies are owed to some of the Israelis who were making efforts to get it more widely discussed in Israeli society.

Turkey's occupation in northern Cyprus does pose a danger to Israel as much as to the Cypriots

Shay Gal wrote about how Turkey's occupation of northern Cyprus is as much Israel's problem as it is for the Cyprian citizens themselves, in ways similar to Hamas in Gaza:

Cyprus recently marked the 51st anniversary of Turkey's 1974 invasion - a lasting trauma for Greek Cypriots. For decades, Israel treated this conflict as a distant Greek-Turkish issue, but must now clearly acknowledge: Northern Cyprus is not just a Greek-Cypriot problem - it is also an Israeli one. In practical terms, Northern Cyprus functions as an international no-man's land, enabling Turkey and terrorist groups like Hamas and Iran's Quds Force unrestricted operational freedom.

Since the invasion, which killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands, Turkey's presence has quietly transformed. The area is now a forward base for Turkey's military, hosting sophisticated weapons systems, cyber surveillance, and signals intelligence (SIGINT) infrastructure capable of intercepting both military and civilian Israeli communication, alongside covert terrorist facilities supported by Ankara. According to leaked intelligence documents, senior Turkish officials characterized Northern Cyprus as an ideal location "where anything can be done without interference by police or judicial oversight".

Turkey can deploy armed drones from Lefkoniko airfield - converted from an abandoned airport into a drone base amid regional gas disputes - far more rapidly than from its mainland bases. Since May 2021, Turkey officially stationed armed Bayraktar TB2 drones there, and more advanced Akinci UAVs were publicly showcased at a military parade in July 2024. These UAVs can rapidly target Israeli gas rigs, naval vessels, and strategic sites. In addition, Turkey's advanced ATMACA anti-ship missiles, with a range exceeding 200 km, could directly threaten Israeli maritime assets, including its critical natural gas platforms. Moreover, Turkey's new Typhoon ballistic missile is capable of precisely hitting targets up to 560 kilometers away. According to Western intelligence, missile bases in Kyrenia and Famagusta are already prepared for their deployment, posing Turkey's first direct ballistic threat to Israel, with the capability of striking Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa Bay.

That strongly hints Turkey's just as willing to declare violent war against Israel sooner or later, much like Iran. And for all we know, Turkish forces quite likely built underground tunnels and headquarters on the nothern end they occupy, and that too can be very dangerous. Why, who knows how many similar locations like that were built in secrecy in mainland Europe, and even in the USA and Canada?

I have to take issue with one part here though:

It is not Israel's role or desire to liberate Northern Cyprus. However, if the threat from the area reaches a critical threshold, Israel's strategic posture must shift. Israel, in coordination with Greece and Cyprus, must prepare a contingency operation for liberating the island's north. Such an operation would neutralize Turkish reinforcement capabilities from the mainland, eliminate air-defense systems in Northern Cyprus, destroy intelligence and command centers, and finally remove Turkish forces, restoring internationally recognized Cypriot sovereignty.

Oh for heaven's sake. That's ludicrous to imply Israel shouldn't play a part in seeking to free Northern Cyprus from the jihadist poison still lurking there. By Gal's logic there, Israel shouldn't have taken part in WW2, nor come to defense of Druze/Christian inhabitants in Syria. Let's be clear. While security forces in Cyprus obviously shouldn't ignore this, that doesn't mean Israel shouldn't be ready to act upon such an issue either. Islamic jihadism is everyone's concern, and the situation's only gotten worse everywhere, including in Europe. If we fail to act on behalf of innocent non-Jews, we're failing every innocent European during WW2. And failure to act only fuels antisemitic accusations that Jews "don't care" about anyone but themselves. We can't afford such possibilities, no matter what. So, Israel should help Cyprus put a stop to the Turkish monster at the north end of the island, and not just to protect Israel itself. Even non-Jews are in danger of Turkey's own atrocities.

Update: Middle East Forum, interestingly, says that Turkey's grip on the northern area is deteriorating, and we should not reinforce it. Absolutely correct, and all must be done to get Turkey's overlords off the island.

Trump has sadly made a serious mistake when it comes to dealing with Syria's new jihadist autocrat

Many no doubt were disturbed when Emmanuel Macron met with Ahmed al-Sharaa recently. But now, Donald Trump has caused more damage to the ability to deal properly with Islamic terrorism in Syria - and anti-Christian persecution occurring there - as he was willing to meet with al-Sharaa and even lift sanctions against Syria:

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the head of the jihadist terrorist organization Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), praised President Donald Trump in an address on Wednesday for taking the “courageous and historic” step of lifting sanctions on his country.

Sharaa delivered a speech to the Syrian people following an in-person meeting with President Trump in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where President Trump concluded the first of three stops in a Middle East tour on Wednesday. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who first met Sharaa shortly after HTS toppled the half-century-old Assad family regime in Damascus, arranged and presided over the meeting.

The event was the first time in 25 years an American president had met a Syrian head of state.

President Trump announced that he would lift sanctions on Syria on Tuesday before the meeting. He reinforced his commitment to the decision in remarks to reporters following his meeting with Sharaa, who he called “pretty amazing.”

Syria is currently on the State Department’s list of State Sponsors of Terrorism and the subject of extensive, onerous sanctions. All stem from the behavior of former dictator Bashar Assad, who allied himself closely with Iran and its entire terrorist proxy network and, throughout over a decade of civil war, committed a host of atrocities against his own people. HTS, the al-Qaeda offshoot Sharaa led under the alias Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, overthrew the Assad regime in December, sending the dictator fleeing to his patrons in Moscow.

As one of several factions actively combatting the Assad regime, HTS made a longstanding enemy of Iran and the Shiite terrorist axis and did not participate in the Assad regime’s crimes – though it engaged in its own atrocities, particularly against groups that Assad did not persecute, such as Christians and Alawite Shiites. HTS massacres of Alawites have been documented to have occurred as recently as this March; Sharaa has attempted to distance himself from the violence.

Seriously, this causes terrible damage to the cause of Christians who fell victim to horrific crimes of jihadists in the area, and the whole notion al-Sharaa had nothing to do with it is naive. It's regrettable Trump is doing this, no matter what for.

A similar concern could be raised about whether Trump intends to meet with Vladimir Putin:

President Donald Trump said Friday that he would like to set up a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin “as soon” as possible.

Trump made the comments in Abu Dhabi as he prepared to return home to the United States at the end of his Middle East tour. He had previously floated a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Putin in Turkey, but the Russian president refused to attend.

“They all said Putin was going and Zelensky was going. And I said, If I don’t go, I guarantee Putin is not going, and he didn’t go,” Trump said. “And I understand that, but we’re going to get it we’re going to get it done. We’ve got to get it done. Five thousand young people are being killed every single week on average, and we’re going to get it done.”

While Ukrainian and Russian officials are meeting in Turkey on Friday, Trump said he believed he would have to meet with Putin to make real progress toward ending the war.

And this meeting between Putin and Zelensky is being conducted in equally bad territory, Turkey? Well that's got to be telling too in its own way. No matter how one looks at this, what's regrettable here is the whole notion Putin cannot be brought down in any way, even though he's the one who began all this, not to mention that he still acts as an autocrat. And meeting in Turkey is not improving the situation either.

Minister for diaspora affairs says Muslim migration in Europe is main source of antisemitism now

Also the main source of sexual violence on the continent. Here's what Amichai Chikli says about both the hostage situation and Europe's own crisis:

Chikli linked the rise in antisemitism in Western European countries with their failure to combat rising Islamist violence as a result of mass immigration.

"Antisemitism is a growing problem in Europe due to Muslim immigration,” he said. “The European right wing parties have a point, because they realise the problem and are presenting a solution.

"They understand the challenge of radical Islam and they are willing to take the necessary steps. So many countries have it completely wrong. Look at the UK, for example, I'm not sure that what is happening there is reversable. These countries need to get a hold of the problem."

According to Chikli, figures like Marine Le-Pen in France proved their support for Israel by participating in pro-Israel events and promising not to enable legislation that could block Kosher slaughter.

Chikli was asked whether he was concerned that the erosion of democracy in Europe, characterized among others by xenophobia and Islamophobia, would eventually lead to a threat against Jews. The minister responded that he did not believe there to be a problem of islamophobia since there was a “very good reason to worry” about the rise of Islamism in Europe.

Chikli expressed support for immigration policies in Hungary and Poland, as examples of places where Jews can walk around freely. The comment drew murmurs from the crowd, with one person claiming that Hungary had a fascist government.

Chikli also warned against the spread of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria via its new regime, which is backed by Turkey. Erdogan and Turkey had the “exact same ideology” as Hamas, and therefore the Syrian front was one Israel should be concerned about.

Hugh Fitzgerald followed up on the news, and notes:

Chikli is deeply suspicious of Abu Muhammad Al-Julani, Syria’s de facto ruler, and of the rebel group he headed, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Al-Julani claims that he years ago broke all his ties to Al-Qaeda and ISIS, and is now intent on rebuilding the broken nation-state of Syria, not in furthering a pan-Islamic caliphate. But the schoolbooks just adopted in Syria contain worrisome changes in their texts, that stress Islamic themes and anti-Israel propaganda.

As some people were rightly worried, the current Syrian autocrat is another example of going from bad to worse, and cannot be recognized as a valid politician.

Rachel Avraham continues her obsession with invalidating Armenia

The propagandist Rachel Avraham, a decidedly phony "conservative", is continuing her efforts to undermine Armenia, and make Azerbaijan look morally superior in every way. A most peculiar moment here:

Two countries are set to be impacted by Trump's strategic moves: the first is, of course, Israel, which is engaged in a difficult war against Islamist terror organizations in the region. The second is Azerbaijan, a country that borders Iran, is an ally of Turkey, and a true friend of Israel. Azerbaijan is a pro-Israel country, despite its majority Shia Muslim population, which, logically, should make it a staunch supporter of its southern neighbor, Iran. But it is not, which creates strategic threats to Azerbaijan's survival, just as in the past.

But Turkey is an enemny of Israel, so I'm confused as to what she's babbling about here, right down to how she obscures any wrongdoing on Azerbaijan's part, which recently included destruction of Armenia's Christian heritages in Arsakh. And does she understand that not all Islamists side with one another? The Religion of Peace practically allows fighting between 2 clans who both follow it, one of the reasons why the wars between Iraq and Iran years before.

We need to understand that when Iran weakens a pro-Western country in the Middle East, it sends a message to all other pro-Western nations not to engage with it. More importantly, Iran strengthens itself in the process. Therefore, we can certainly expect the Trump administration to bolster those countries seeking peace with the West, and Azerbaijan is among them. In fact, President Trump views a strong Azerbaijan to be key to stability in the South Caucuses. The Americans will utilize Azerbaijan in order to strengthen the relationship between Israel and Turkey, as well as to confront Iranian aggression in the region.

The Democrats did not view the region in this manner, as they are heavily influenced by the Armenian lobby. However, the Republicans are less influenced by the Armenian lobby and therefore are more likely to see the merits that Azerbaijan has to offer than their Democratic opponents. Therefore, a Trump presidency is likely to pressure Armenia to make peace with Azerbaijan and Turkey, so that the Armenians can be distanced from the Iranians, rather than embolden hard-liner Armenian positions.

To say the Democrats are allegedly influenced by an "Armenian lobby" is about as effective as saying the Republicans are influenced by the Jewish lobby. And while I'm aware of any wrongdoing Armenia's committed, including any positions their government took that are harmful to Israel, that doesn't excuse whatever horrors Islamofascists committed against them, past, present or future. No sane person should have to make choice between Iran or Azerbaijan, nor should they be deceived by taqqiya. And does it occur to Avraham that the Democrats have sold out to Islam, and won't convincingly oppose Azerbaijan's antics?

Mrs. Avraham continues to be a shoddy disgrace who even downplays the serious issues of Islam, all for the sake of bizarre virtue-signaling, and the worst part is that she likely doesn't give a damn if Azerbaijan's military commits horrors anew.

Syria's Assad regime falls, but may not see positive replacement

One of Syria's worst dictatorships has fallen to other Islamists:

Reports from the Middle East indicate that the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad has fallen, with the dictator fleeing the country as rebel forces entered the capital city of Damascus.

Unconfirmed social media reports also suggest that Assad’s plane crashed.

The part about whether Assad's plane crashed appear to be inaccurate, unfortunately. But he has been deposed, and has fled to Russia.

The sudden collapse of the Assad regime, dating back over half a century to the rule of Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, has rocked the Middle East and could mean the Iranian regime, a Syrian ally, is in danger.

Assad was one of the most notorious tyrants in the world, one who used chemical weapons against his own people. His regime nearly fell in the civil war that erupted during the Arab Spring in 2011, but he was shored up by Russian and Iranian forces.

President Vladimir Putin used Syria to restore Russia’s presence in the Middle East for the first time since the Cold War, while Iran used Syria as a conduit to Hezbollah in Lebanon, sending weapons and advisers.

Assad had bombed rebel-held cities with no regard for civilian life, and torturing suspected rebels and dissidents. President Barack Obama drew a “red line” in 2012 when he said the U.S. would intervene militarily if Assad used chemical weapons, but then failed to act.

President Donald Trump launched airstrikes against the regime in 2017 after a chemical weapons attack, firing nearly 60 cruise missiles at Syrian air bases, which had the intended effect.

Trump reduced the U.S. troop presence in Syria, though small forces remained to counter threats from the so-called “Islamic State,” or ISIS, which still operated in the country. Turkey also had an interest in Syria, targeting Kurdish militias operating in Syrian territory.

While Trump's said the USA shouldn't intervene in what's going on now, these "rebels" appear intent on imposing Islamic sharia upon what's left of the Syrian piecemeal, and that's something that shouldn't be allowed to continue, any more than the Taliban's reimposition of sharia in Afghanistan. Other than that, it's understandable why some can't care less if these Islamofascists tear each other apart.

An interesting advantage for Israel is that the IDF was able to take over a buffer zone on the mountain between Israel and Syria:

On Friday, the IDF said that it had reinforced Israeli positions on the Golan Heights, the plateau seized by Israel from Syria during the Six-Day War of 1967. (Syrian forces had used the Heights to shell the Israeli villages below for years.)

On Sunday, Israel’s Army Radio reported that the IDF had moved tanks into the demilitarized zone between Syria and Israel, an area that is supposed to be free of any military presence under the disengagement agreement that ended the Yom Kippur War in 1973. In that war, Syria and Egypt conducted a surprise attack on Israel during the holiest day on the Jewish calendar; Syria nearly overran the Golan Heights before IDF reservists pushed it back.

It's seriously time to take back that area; Syria's never deserved it, nor any other area where Islam's had a foothold. For now, Assad won't be missed, but ultimately, even the terrorists now taking over Syria's remnants can't be allowed to maintain their reign of terror for long. As Reuters was actually willing to point out:

Western and Arab nations fear that the HTS-led rebel coalition may seek to replace Assad's regime with a hardline Islamist government, or one less able or inclined to prevent the resurgence of radical forces, three diplomats and three analysts told Reuters.

"There is strong fear inside and outside the region of the power vacuum that Assad's sudden collapse may cause," said Abdelaziz al-Sager, director of the Gulf Research Center, a think tank focused on the Middle East. He cited the civil wars that followed the toppling of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in 2003 and Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

One senior Western diplomat in the region, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that - with the rebel forces fragmented - there was no plan for how to rule Syria, a complex nation divided into various sects and ethnic groups, each with its own regional power base.

The senior diplomat expressed fears that lawlessness in Syria could allow the flourishing of extremist groups like Islamic State (IS), which in 2014 swept through large swathes of Syria and Iraq and established an Islamic Caliphate before it was driven out by a US-led coalition by 2019. [...]

So far, Washington had mostly thrown its support behind Syrian Kurdish groups, such as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), whose areas of control are in northeast Syria. These groups, however, are in conflict with one of the main victorious rebels factions, the Syrian National Army (SNA), backed by regional power broker, Turkey, which opposes Kurdish influence.

Any movement that supports the Religion of Peace cannot be upheld, that's for sure.

Update: a number of European countries are now suspending asylum applications from Syria, hopefully out of concern terrorists could infiltrate.

Rabbi murdered in UAE

A missionary rabbi was sadly found murdered in the UAE:

An Israeli man who went missing in the United Arab Emirates has been found murdered, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Sunday, denouncing his death as a “heinous antisemitic terrorist act.”

Zvi Kogan, a rabbi who worked in the Gulf Arab country for an Orthodox Jewish group called Chabad, vanished in Dubai on Thursday.

“The state of Israel will use all means at its disposal to bring the criminals responsible for his death to justice,” the prime minister’s statement said.

The authorities of the UAE did trace and arrest some suspects, and this is what's revealed about them:

It is believed that Kogan was attacked by three Uzbeks, who are suspected of having been hired by Iran. The three allegedly followed Kogan from his workplace, the kosher supermarket in Abu Dhabi, and then escaped to Turkey. Kogan's vehicle was found an hour and a half's distance from Dubai.

What that demonstrates is how Islamofascists can hire other Islamofascists from all sorts of places to do each other's dirty work. And now it's cost a defenseless man his life. Condolences to the rabbi's family.

Strasbourg city hall sells out to Islam

The French city of Strasbourg, which has a far-left mayor, has approved the financing of a mega-mosque, while their famous Christian cathedral by contrast is plunged into darkness:

It is difficult not to give in to pessimism, as the great Algerian novelist Boualem Sansal, author of “2084,” does when he says this week: “Islam is preparing to conquer France.”

The environmentalist municipality of the city of Strasbourg, which houses one of the two wings of the European Parliament, the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe, has decided to turn off the cathedral’s lights at 11 pm “to save energy and money.”

Every evening since the end of August, Strasbourg Cathedral has been in darkness. The green municipality has decided to immerse the religious building in darkness to be “exemplary at a time when efforts to reduce energy consumption are being asked of all citizens.”

Strasbourg Cathedral, whose construction began in 1176, is the fifth tallest in the world. A jewel of Gothic art with light filtering through the stained glass windows, the historiated portal and the famous “Pillar of the Angels,” which Victor Hugo called “a marvel of grandeur and grace.”

An exemplary story.

The same city council of Strasbourg has, in fact, arranged for the financing of 2.5 million euros for the construction of an immense Turkish mosque at the behest of the Green mayor Jeanne Barseghian.

That means 44 meters high for the minarets, 28 domes, a prayer room for 3,000 faithful and another outdoor space for 2,500 people, “the largest mosque in Europe” had a subsidy of 2.5 million and financial help from Qatar, a country whose royal house is in tears these hours for the killing of the head of Hamas, Yahya Sinwar.

The mosque financed by the city of Strasbourg is built by a country, Erdogan’s Turkey, which makes no secret of wanting to Islamize Europe.

Where does the mentality come from that leads them to cut the cathedral lighting to save 1,728 euros a month, when they vote for a subsidy of 2.5 million euros for the construction of the Islamist Eyyub Sultan mosque in the city? There are no logical or rational explanations: the only answer is submission.

This is horrific, of course, but no longer shocking leftists like "greenies" are capable of enabling such evil. It must be addressed some way or other, and if Israelis would do so, that could come in helpful.

Globally speaking, Armenia is on the front line in the war against Islamic jihadism

Robert Spencer is making the case an awful writer like Rachel Avraham refuses to make in all her selling out to Azerbaijan's propaganda. A most important concern is raised:

Like the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, this is a religious conflict that is widely misunderstood to be a dispute over land. Just as the Palestinians and their allies will not accept the existence a Jewish state of any size, because they believe that the entire region is Islamic land, so also the Azerbaijanis and their allies (which include Turkey) will not accept any Armenia of any size. As is always the case with jihad, a victory is only a prelude for more aggression: Azerbaijan and Turkey have already begun to make new territorial demands against Armenia for a corridor that will link the two countries. The ultimate goal is to create a Turkish-dominated Islamic bloc stretching from Istanbul to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan; Armenia is the only non-Muslim entity standing in the way, and so it must be destroyed.

Why, then, is Armenia not generally recognized as the primary jihadi target that it is? Primarily because the global jihad is still widely ignored, denied, and misunderstood. Few people, and none of them are in the U.S. State Department, recognize that the Israeli/Palestinian conflict is a jihad. This analytical failure has deformed the American response to this conflict for decades, and continues to do so. The Israelis themselves have never demonstrated any serious awareness of the fact that they’re dealing with an enemy with whom there can be no lasting negotiated settlement, and ultimately no peaceful coexistence, no matter how many concessions they make.

That may be one reason why Israel is allied not with Armenia, but with Azerbaijan. The Israeli government is not infallible, but its friendship with Azerbaijan is an understandable exercise in realpolitik: Azerbaijan is continually at odds with the Islamic Republic of Iran, which of course would love above all else to destroy Israel. So for Israel to aid Azerbaijan and try to force Iran to have to worry about something other than how to go about eradicating the Jewish state is simple common sense, at least for the short term.

In the long run, however, it could be disastrous. Azerbaijan will accept Israel’s help as long as it is useful, but as it continues its jihad against Armenia, it demonstrates that it is committed to principles that are ultimately incompatible with its alliance with Israel. Will Azerbaijan give up Israel or Islam? Anyone who is aware of the history of Islam and the trajectory of nations that relax Islamic rules and appear more secular for a period will not bet that Azerbaijan will ultimately give up Islam.

Well this is definitely a valid argument. For too long, Israel really screwed the pooch when it came to Armenia, and resulted in a very divisive situation that could've been avoided long ago. I myself will definitely not side with a country like Azerbaijan, which has its own record of misogyny and violence. And it's an utter disgrace what the Soviet Union did, leading to this situation in the early 20th century where Arsakh was separated from Armenia.

All that aside, anybody who recognizes the seriousness of the issue here must object to surrendering Armenian land to Azerbaijan just like Israel cannot continue doing so when it comes to Islamic-led countries.

More about a Turkish painter's conversion to Judaism

Here's another article about Turkish painter Lea Gul's journey to Judaism:

Artist Lea Gol's living room in her Jerusalem home is also her studio. The evidence is scattered all over: brushes, paints, and artwork from all periods of her life. The ZOA House (Beit Ziyonei America) in Tel Aviv is currently displaying an exhibition of her paintings "Exposed to the Forces of Nature": 23 large canvases, full of emotions, reflecting the spiritual journey she encountered, documenting her life history and femininity, and also magically touching stories of Jewish tradition. Two men, one with wings, struggle in a surrealistic landscape full of color – a symbol of the struggle between Jacob and the angel, between good and evil; or the painting of "Eshet Chayil" – "I drew the seven Sefirot, and it is quite clear," Gol claims, mentioning the Kabbalistic term in passing. "There are also many different codes in the colors I chose: crimson and light blue are the colors of the Temple. I generally do not need to explain the painting; people understand on their own, but I enjoy hearing what they have to say about my paintings. Sometimes we see the same things, and sometimes I discover new things through what I hear from them."

This is her first exhibition in Israel, but certainly not the first in her life – she has held dozens of exhibitions in Turkey. "Painting and art are an inseparable part of who I am. This is the world I was born into. My mother studied art at the Academy of Art in Istanbul, and I grew up in a house of artists. My mother's uncle was a famous director who won international awards, and after spending a long time in the United States, he returned to Turkey and moved in with us, so I got to know this world from a close-up. When I was young, I wanted to be a ballerina, but pursuing this career wasn't possible in Turkey. I started drawing, and I was good at it, so my parents took it seriously and I became an artist.

Anyone aware of how much influence Islam has in Turkey won't be shocked by that. As further explained:

Conversion is impossible in Turkey. According to an old, but valid, Ottoman agreement between the Turkish state and the Jewish community, a Jewish court in Turkey is not allowed to convert to Judaism. The agreement is rooted in the sources of Judaism in the Ottoman Empire: in 1492, after the expulsion from Spain, Sultan Bayezid II invited the Jewish refugees to come to his country, and about 40,000 people responded to his call, settling mainly in Istanbul and Thessaloniki. According to Islam, a Muslim is, of course, forbidden to convert his religion, so already at the time of establishing the institutions of the Jewish community, the Ottomans strictly forbade the courts from holding any conversions. What does a Muslim woman who wants to convert do? She must travel to another country and find a court that is willing to accept her.

That's assuming she'll be allowed without danger threating her life. Even in Turkey, there's the horrifying threat of honor murders committed against women - and men - who take any actions that Muslims view as slighting their ideology. She's lucky she didn't encounter that. And Gul's aware of what a disaster Turkey's bound to sink into again under the Religion of Peace:

An impressive painting of the Istanbul shores looking from the sea, the Bosphorus straits, and the mosques behind them, their columns and domes hanging on the wall of her home. She did not paint this picture, Gol reveals, but rather her mother. In her voice, you can hear her longing for her native surroundings. If you ask her, she has not cut her ties with the life and culture in Turkey, and her "blood" is still Turkish.

But, she explains to me and her face expresses deep pain, the beautiful, good country she grew up in no longer exists. She believes that the Atatürk Reforms, initiated by the founder of modern Turkey, are going to disappear. Turkey is moving away from the progressive and secular country it used to be. Most of Gol's non-Jewish friends, who are not Erdoğan supporters, have already purchased homes for themselves outside of Turkey, ready for the day when the situation becomes unbearable.

As strange as it may sound, Leah's Jewish friends actually believe that the situation will improve. But she doesn't think like them. "I am happy that my parents did not live long enough to see what Turkey has become today," says Gol. "I am very proud that my children, despite the fear they experienced when the war broke out, never asked to return to Turkey. This is my greatest success."

Well what's happening in Turkey today shouldn't go unopposed. Nor should Azerbaijan be allowed to do what Turkey failed over a century ago to Armenia. Somebody's got to speak up and out about the continuing crisis of Islamic influence the world over.

In the meantime, let's wish Gul good luck with her painting career, and it's good that as a convert to Judaism, she doesn't follow any absurd dress codes.

The sojourn of a Turkish convert to Judaism

Here's the story of artist Lea Gul, a Turkish woman who converted to Judaism, and what's great about this news is that it looks like she's not the kind of convert who follows the kind of dress code the ultra-Orthodox go by:

Painter Lea Gul’s first solo exhibition in Israel – opening the evening of May 15 at the ZOA House in Tel Aviv – marks a new chapter in the fascinating life story of a religious Jewish Jerusalemite raised as a secular Muslim in Istanbul.

A mother of four who looks like a fashion model even though she just turned 51, Lea overcame many obstacles to get where she is today.

Though many students in her Istanbul high school were Jewish, she says, and all her boyfriends were Jewish, her pull to Judaism was precipitated by nearly dying in a car crash in 2000.

“I should have died, and I started wondering why I didn’t,” she says.

That question led her on a spiritual search, and in 2002 she told her parents that she wanted to move to India.

Her mother suggested that first she should read three holy books “to see if I could find the source of the power that protected me from death.”

Converting to Judaism

She was very taken by the Torah’s philosophy and started to research Judaism. Two years later, while visiting Anne Frank’s house in Amsterdam, she made her decision to convert. “That’s what I wrote in the guest book on the way out,” she recalls.

At home in Istanbul, she had two passions: competitive horseback riding and painting. She had a painting studio where she taught adults and children, and hosted evening discussions with art historians and philosophers. She had four solo and two group exhibitions between 1999 and 2005.

Gradually, her mother took over the classes so that Lea (then named Konca, Turkish for “rosebud”) could delve into Jewish learning. Her mother was fully supportive, happy that her daughter had found something to believe in.

But she couldn’t convert in Turkey because Ottoman law forbids Jews from converting Muslims. In 2005, she decided to live in the Amsterdam Jewish community and convert there, but first she had an exhibition of her horse paintings.

Her family may have been "secular" and only Moslem by default, but the rest of Turkey is run by sharia that clearly does pose a threat to ladies like her, so it's lucky she was able to travel elsewhere, if that's what it took to ensure she could convert. That said, Turkey should not have to continue being run by Islam, and someday, all land stolen from Greece must be returned, including the Hagia Sophia cathedral that Recep Erdogan's regime is converting to a mosque.

HER FATHER passed away in 2019 and her mother in March 2021. Needing to support herself, she put her full energy into painting, a passion she had returned to in 2015, using a style she learned from surrealist Turkish painter Erol Denec, a protégé of Austrian painter Ernst Fuchs, co-founder of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism.

“I felt if Hashem gave me this talent, I should use it,” she says.

“My work now is an unlimited way of seeing beyond reality. With Torah, I was able to express what is inside of me.”

One day, a real estate agent who had come to show Lea’s apartment to a prospective client saw Lea’s paintings and told her friend Vered Daya, from the ZOA Gallery, about Lea’s talent.

Veteran art world publicist Michal Sadan, a former curator, was brought in to help make arrangements for a show. Excited about Lea’s potential, Sadan engaged Galit Zimbalist to curate the ZOA exhibition, which runs through the end of June.

“I know that she will find her standing in the Israeli world of art because her work has powerful energy, her paintings are fascinating, and the spectators are deeply moved,” Zimbalist writes in her text for the “Unmasked before the Forces of Creation” show.

“Lea paints her pure emotions, using an intense multicolored palette, layers of color, and the precision of the boundaries that create the sense of virtual reality in the story.

This is something I'm impressed to read, that the lady's talents in art are being recognized, and religion shouldn't have to stand in the way. Nor should there be any fuss about dress codes and such when it comes to how a religious woman runs her life. Something we should hope more ultra-Orthodox will come to recognize as well.