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In-Depth Issues:
How Should Israel Respond to Hizbullah's Deadly Attack on Majdal Shams - Yaakov Lappin ( JNS)
On Saturday, a Hizbullah rocket hit a soccer field in the Druze town of Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights, killing 12 children and teens.
IDF Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, a research fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, emphasized the need for a strategic and decisive response.
"The primary objective must be clear: to deliver a severe blow to Hizbullah to show that we do not overlook such a heinous act."
That Hizbullah had used a rocket with such a heavy warhead in a civilian area "with full awareness" was a new development, he said, and something Israel "cannot accept."
Israel must "stick to its goals in Gaza while exacting a very heavy price from Hizbullah," said Kuperwasser.
In addition, Israel will need to rearrange the security situation in the north to allow tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to return to their homes.
"Our actions should convey that we are not deterred by the possibility of further escalation. This could involve striking Hizbullah's military infrastructure, its strategic capabilities, and national [Lebanese] infrastructure that serves Hizbullah's military capabilities."
White House Says "Golan Heights Is Part of Northern Israel" - Tovah Lazaroff ( Jerusalem Post)
After the Hizbullah attack Saturday that killed 12 children in the Druze village of Majdal Shams, U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Adriane Watson and Vice President Kamala Harris's national security adviser both spoke on Monday of the "horrific attack" that took place in "northern Israel."
When asked if the Biden administration considered the Golan Heights part of Israel, National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby replied, "Yes."
Former U.S. President Donald Trump recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights in 2019.
Kirby said that U.S. "policy on the Golan Heights has not changed under this administration....We continue to recognize the circumstances that were in the 2019 proclamation recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights."
"That proclamation stated, and I quote from it, that aggressive acts by Iran and terrorist groups, including Hizbullah in southern Syria, continue to make the Golan Heights a potential launching ground for attacks on Israel. So again, no change to the policy."
3 Palestinian Terror Suspects Caught after Crossing U.S. Border Illegally - Jennie Taer ( New York Post)
U.S. border agents detained three Palestinian migrants earlier this month, who illegally crossed the southern border in the San Diego sector, after they were found to have possible ties to terrorist groups.
On the phone of one of them was a picture of a masked man holding an AK-47 rifle, federal law enforcement sources said.
After Israel's Oct. 7 Intelligence Disaster, Now No Stone Goes Unturned - Anshel Pfeffer ( The Times-UK)
At the entrance to the military staging areas around the borders of Gaza, a yellow sign greets Israeli soldiers just returned from the battlefield: "Collection Point" for intelligence-gathering.
It is one end of a pipeline leading to a massive information collating operation.
Items dropped off include mobile phones, documents and computers suspected of belonging to Hamas members.
A reserve officer who was called up when the war began said: "It's a mountain of documents, literally millions of them through which we have to sift. So much of it is of value but we need to work out which documents are of the highest priority."
The two highest priority categories are clues to the location of Hamas commanders and information about the whereabouts and condition of the Israeli hostages snatched into Gaza by Hamas on Oct. 7.
The physical documents taken from Gaza have furnished intelligence analysts with a wealth of information on Hamas's military infrastructure and the planning of the Oct. 7 attack.
In an attempt to obtain more up-to-date information, IDF Military Intelligence has called up hundreds of former case officers to carry out interrogations of captured suspects.
Palestine Action Amsterdam Defaces Royal Palace ( NL Times-Netherlands)
The Royal Palace on Dam Square in Amsterdam was defaced with red paint on Sunday night by pro-Palestinian activists who said they wanted to show solidarity with the people in Gaza.
The activists said, "This useless building symbolizes the colonial system of our nation-state."
Hizbullah Is Destroying Animal Life in Israel's North - Alan Rosenbaum ( Jerusalem Post)
Rona Nadler Valancy, chief of the Agamon Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in the Galilee, said, "The war in the north has caused tremendous losses to the animal habitat."
"While, for example, adult birds can escape fires by flying away, there are nestlings and hatchlings and even fledglings that don't have the capability to escape a fire, so they all perish."
She adds that the reptile population in the North has been devastated, because they move too slowly to escape the fires. Small mammals such as hedgehogs are also susceptible.
Even the animals that can escape the devastation find that when they return, their habitat has been destroyed.
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- U.S. Condemns Hizbullah for Rocket Attack on Majdal Shams
U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said Sunday:
"The horrific attack yesterday in northern Israel that killed a number of children playing soccer...was conducted by Lebanese Hizbullah. It was their rocket, and launched from an area they control. It should be universally condemned. Hizbullah started firing on Israel on Oct. 8, claiming solidarity with Hamas."
"Our support for Israel's security is ironclad and unwavering against all Iran-backed threats, including Hizbullah." (White House)
- Support for Hamas Triples in West Bank after Prisoner Exchange Deal - Nicola Smith
Support for Hamas has more than tripled in the West Bank since the Oct. 7 attacks led to a deal securing an exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages, according to polls by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.
West Bank support for Hamas spiked from 12% in September 2023 to 41% in May 2024.
Veteran Palestinian pollster Dr. Khalil Shikaki attributed Hamas's leap in popularity to the November ceasefire, which saw 105 Israeli civilian hostages released and swapped for 240 Palestinian prisoners. "All of the prisoners released were from the West Bank. And so if you are able to release prisoners through violence, you are able to demonstrate to Palestinians the efficacy of violence. Hamas did that."
Moreover, the Palestinian Authority had "never been as low in terms of legitimacy, credibility, support," with demand for the resignation of President Abbas reaching 94%. (Telegraph-UK)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- IDF Waits for Right Opportunity to Retaliate Against Hizbullah in Lebanon - Yoav Zitun
Israel is waiting for the operational opportunity for a retaliatory strike in Lebanon that was approved by the Security Cabinet on Sunday, after the massacre on Saturday that claimed the lives of 12 children and teenagers in Majdal Shams. "Israel wants to hurt Hizbullah but not drag the Middle East into all-out war," a senior security official said. "We're preparing for the possibility of several days of fighting."
(Ynet News)
See also U.S. Leads Push to Rein in Israel's Response to Hizbullah after Deadly Rocket Attack - Maya Gebeily
The U.S. is leading a diplomatic dash to deter Israel from striking Lebanon's capital Beirut or major civil infrastructure in response to a deadly rocket attack on the Golan Heights that killed 12 youths on Saturday. Israel and the U.S. have blamed Hizbullah for the rocket strike.
(Reuters))
- Israel Intercepts Hizbullah Drone Heading to Gas Rig for 2nd Time in 2 Days - Yoav Zitun
For the second time in two days, the Israeli Navy intercepted a UAV heading toward an Israeli gas rig in the Mediterranean Sea that was launched from Lebanon.
(Ynet News)
- Israel: "Hamas Is Preventing a Hostage Deal"
As negotiations over a proposed hostage deal with Hamas are continuing through intermediaries, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday:
"The Hamas leadership is preventing an agreement. Israel neither changed, nor added, any condition to the outline. On the contrary, as of now it is Hamas which has demanded 29 changes and has not responded to the original outline. Israel stands on its principles according to the original outline: Maximizing the number of living hostages, Israeli control over the Philadelphi Corridor, and preventing the passage of terrorists, weapons, and ammunition to northern Gaza.
(Prime Minister's Office)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
The Gaza War
- Why Hamas Is Refusing a Hostage Deal - Amit Segal
In the spring, President Biden turned a cold shoulder to Israel as support for destroying Hamas morphed into a call to end the war and a warning against entering Rafah. Strategic weapons shipments were delayed in American ports. The International Court of Justice is seeking arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister and defense minister, effectively equating them with Hamas leaders.
No wonder Hamas refused any deal offered, however generous. If the U.S. president seeks to end the war and the world will soon force the Israel Defense Forces to stop, why give up Israeli hostages?
When Vice President Kamala Harris became the de facto Democratic nominee, she gave Hamas an important gift. After meeting with Mr. Netanyahu, she said the next day, "We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the [Palestinians'] suffering. And I will not be silent." Ms. Harris is apparently unaware that food prices in Gaza are significantly lower than in Israel. In any other war in the past century, has one side regularly supplied food and goods to the enemy's civilians - and still been attacked by the White House?
By adopting the anti-Israel narrative, Ms. Harris is giving Hamas's leader, Yahya Sinwar, every reason in the world to refuse a hostage deal. Why give Israel the hostages without ending the war if there is a possibility the 47th president will force Israel to end it anyway?
Campus protesters "are showing exactly what the human emotion should be as a response to Gaza," she said recently. She claims that a war between a pro-Iranian murder organization and a democratic state "is not a binary issue."
The U.S. administration is taking a similar stance on the Lebanese front.
The Iranian proxy Hizbullah has been firing at Israel for months. There is no "siege" and no "occupation," yet the Biden administration is mediating between Hizbullah and Israel like a real-estate broker, instead of sending Iran an unequivocal, threatening message to halt the rocket fire.
The writer is chief political commentator on Israel's Channel 12 News.
(Wall Street Journal)
- The West's Betrayal of Israel Is Shameful - Editorial
When the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor announced that he was seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned the decision and said the UK would lodge a legal challenge. In a shameful abnegation of Britain's moral duty to an ally engaged in an existential war, the new Labour Government has now cast this policy aside. It amounts to an appalling betrayal of Israel in its hour of need.
There can be no lasting peace in the Middle East without the destruction of Hamas. The terrorists started this war when they launched a murderous pogrom on Oct. 7, and the extent to which this has been forgotten in the West is shocking. Israel remains under attack, including from Hizbullah. If Western leaders are unable to rediscover their courage, our enemies will be left in no uncertainty about how weak we have become. (Sunday Telegraph-UK)
Hizbullah
- Weakness Won't Deter Hizbullah after Its Soccer-Field Attack - Editorial
Hizbullah's rocket attack on Saturday killed 12 children and wounded more on a soccer field in Israel's Golan Heights. The response in the West has been weakness and a lack of resolve. U.S. pressure for Israeli restraint gives Hizbullah a green light to keep shooting, which makes it harder for Israel to avoid war.
The better way to make war less likely is to announce that American munitions transfers to Israel will be expedited immediately, as they were earlier in the war and as Congress has approved, and that all oil sanctions on Iran will be enforced again.
(Wall Street Journal)
- Israel's Response to Hizbullah
Matthew Levitt, director of the Washington Institute's Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, said Israel can no longer tolerate Hizbullah firing rockets and drones across the border on a near-daily basis. The government is keen on getting its citizens back to their homes in the north. Hizbullah is unlikely to accept a diplomatic solution so long as it believes it can maintain the current tempo of fighting without risking full-fledged war.
The Oct. 7 attack completely changed Israel's perspective on external security threats, making it less likely to accept a perpetual Hizbullah threat on its border or a diplomatic solution that simply kicks the can down the road regarding the group's massive rocket and missile arsenal.
Brig.-Gen. (res.) Assaf Orion, an International Fellow of the Institute and former head of the IDF Strategic Planning Division, says Iran appears to have entered a new stage of aggression and risk-taking in support of its proxies. Hizbullah and Tehran may be overconfident about their ability to inflict damage on Israel.
The requirements for a diplomatic solution are clear. Beirut must reestablish state control in southern Lebanon, and the international community must acknowledge the need to destroy Iranian supply lines to its proxies, the main problem underlying recent cycles of escalation. However, any agreement with Hizbullah would only last until Nasrallah believes he can safely attack Israel again. (Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
Iran
- Appeasing Iran Will Suck the U.S. into Another Middle East War - Gadi Taub
In his speech before a joint session of Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defined the war with Hamas as one tributary of the larger struggle against Iran and called on the whole of Western civilization to unite around it. The speech created the illusion of wide consensus around self-evident moral truths. But in reality, the Biden administration is not exactly part of such a consensus.
The designation of Iran as a common enemy of both the U.S. and Israel may strike many Americans as uncontroversial, even trivial. But from day one, the Biden administration has been doing its best to ignore, deny and downplay Iran's role in the war Israel is fighting against Tehran's proxy in Gaza. The administration has done this to divert attention away from its own policy towards Iran, which has replaced deterrence with "de-escalation."
From the moment it took office, the Biden administration has been signaling to Iran that it is seeking accommodation, not confrontation. One of the first acts of the Biden administration was to take the Houthis off the list of designated terror organizations and then withhold from the Saudis weapons with which to wage war against them. It then forced Israel to make concessions to Lebanon to the benefit of Hizbullah in a 2022 maritime border agreement that granted the Lebanese - and therefore Hizbullah - access to presumed underwater gas reservoirs in return for nothing.
All the while, the administration has loosened sanctions on Iran, filling the coffers of the mullahs with oil sales revenue, which they then used to boost their proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, West Iraq, Yemen, and Judea and Samaria. All this was a carefully planned - though seriously misguided - policy. But there's a limit to what the administration can do because it can't appear to the American public to be favoring Iran over Israel. The reactions to Netanyahu's speech were a strong reminder of that fact.
Most Americans, including Democratic voters, will not approve of throwing Israel under the bus to appease Iran and save Hamas.
The writer is a senior lecturer at Hebrew University's Federmann School of Public Policy.
(JNS)
- Iran Encircles Israel with the Aim to Destroy It - Barak Seener
Iran has developed a strategy which coordinates all its proxies, including Hizbullah in Lebanon, Hamas and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, Iraqi Shia militias, and the Houthis in Yemen. Iran is encircling Israel in order to be able to create a multifront war against it, while providing a nuclear umbrella to its proxies.
The international community draws an artificial distinction between Iran's proxies and the regime that sponsors these proxies. Iran is not held to account for threatening international shipping by wielding the Houthis to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and conducting piracy near the Strait of Hormuz. Similarly, the Houthis in Yemen and Hizbullah in southern Lebanon have increased their rocket fire against Israel.
The writer is a senior fellow at the Henry Jackson Society.
(Jewish Chronicle-UK)
Other Issues
- The Inside Story of the Hijacking of the British Parliament and the Manipulation of Muslim Public Opinion - Suzan Quitaz
A British-based pressure group called The Muslim Vote (TMV), launched in December 2023, claimed to represent the interests of Britain's four million Muslims and urged them to vote for a list of candidates whose credentials they had already "vetted."
Nigel Farage, a British MP and the leader of Reform UK, accused TMV of engaging in "sectarian voting" in an attempt to take over councils and win seats in the British Parliament by supporting and endorsing candidates standing on a "Gaza agenda." Farage said, "More than 40 council seats went to candidates standing on the Gaza platform. Of course, they all won thanks to standing in Muslim-majority constituencies. If that is not a sectarian vote, then what is?"
Today, in modern Britain, there are 22 MPs, including 14 Labour backbenchers, who have put their name to the pro-Gaza agenda. The former Labour Shadow Minister, Jon Ashworth, who held his Leicester South seat since 2011, was defeated due to a vigorous smear campaign against him, branding him as being "pro-genocide," with thousands of posters posted on walls and delivered to houses in his constituency.
Who is bankrolling the 1,000s of pro-Hamas rallies that have taken place across Britain since Hamas's Oct. 7 massacre? Who is financing printing tens of thousands of posters defaming British MPs? Who is funding the circulation of anti-Israel and also antisemitic literature and stickers posted on underground stations and business premises?
The writer is a Kurdish-Iraqi journalist. (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
Observations:
- The antisemitic demonstrators roiling our campuses and cities certainly don't mean to, but they're making a powerful case for Zionism. In 1896, Theodor Herzl, a Viennese journalist and very assimilated Jew, published The Jewish State, a manifesto calling for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in the biblical land of Israel. That set into motion the modern Zionist movement.
- Herzl had awakened to his Jewish origins when he covered the trial of Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer falsely accused of betraying France. Dreyfus was an assimilated Jew and a proud Frenchman. Yet he was being treated as a traitor because he was a Jew, with cries of "Death to the Jews" reverberating on the streets of Paris.
Confronted with this, Herzl came to the reluctant conclusion that Jews, observant or assimilated, needed their own nation to be safe from persecution.
- In the wake of Oct. 7, we can't deny being witness to a worldwide paroxysm of hate against Israel, which has steadily morphed into classic antisemitism.
- Since its founding, the U.S. has been a most extraordinary haven for Jews. Yet today, even in the halls of Congress, antisemitism has dramatically surfaced, and Jews are being intimidated. It turns out that Herzl was right about the need to re-establish the Jewish homeland.
- Those in the forefront of the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish demonstrations are giving full credence and impetus to the Zionist dream. Even in the most welcoming nation on earth, Jews feel at risk.
- Only in a secure Israel can Jews be certain that they won't be persecuted by reason of who they are. The purveyors of anti-Israel and antisemitic propaganda are the best recruiters any Zionist could ever want.
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