|
In-Depth Issues:
Massive Explosion Linked to Missile Fuel at Iranian Port Injures Hundreds - Frances Mao ( BBC News)
At least 25 people have been killed and 750 injured on Saturday in a suspected chemical blast at Shahid Rajaee, Iran's largest commercial port, near Bandar Abbas.
Videos show a fire growing into a huge inferno before the explosion.
The fire had been the result of "improper handling of a shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic missiles," according to Ambrey Intelligence, a global maritime risk firm.
Campus Protests Fizzle Out in 2025 - Gabby Deutch ( Jewish Insider)
For a brief moment, it looked like 2024 all over again on Tuesday night: Tents were erected at Yale University's central plaza, with anti-Israel activists hoping to loudly protest the visit of an Israeli minister to campus.
But then something unexpected happened. University administrators showed up, threatening disciplinary action, and the protesters were told to leave - or face consequences. So they left.
The next day, Yale announced that it had revoked its recognition of Yalies4Palestine, the student group that organized the protest.
"In general, protest activity is way down this year as compared to last year," said Hillel International CEO Adam Lehman.
Jewish students, leaders, and professionals attribute the change to stricter consequences from university leaders, fear of running afoul of President Trump's pledge to deport pro-Hamas foreign students, and the issue generally losing steam and cachet among students.
"For the most part, the enforcement of rules, the understanding of what the rules are, what you can do, what you can't do, requiring people to get permits for protests, has really calmed things down [from] the sort of violence that we saw last year," said Jordan Acker, a member of the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan.
Houthis Cut Pay, Fear Desertion amid U.S. Strikes - Shachar Kleiman ( Israel Hayom)
Yemeni sources reported Friday that the Houthis have begun reducing salaries for their fighters to $61 a month.
They fear that some operatives might abandon the frontline following reports of an approaching ground offensive by forces affiliated with the pro-Saudi Yemeni government.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Claims First and Second Jewish Temples Were in Yemen, Not Jerusalem ( MEMRI)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Central Council on April 23, 2025:
"In the Noble Quran - and I believe that also in other divine books - it says that the [First and Second Jewish] Temples were in Yemen."
"[The Jews say:] 'This is where Solomon's Temple was.'...I am telling you, a large part of history is falsified. People who read the Quran know this."
Palestinian Leader Abbas Appoints Deputy, Shows How Out-of-Touch PA Leadership Has Become - Adam Rasgon ( New York Times)
The Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee met in the West Bank on Saturday night to allow Mahmoud Abbas, the aging Palestinian Authority president, to appoint a longtime loyalist, Hussein al-Sheikh, as deputy chairman of the committee.
Al-Sheikh said on social media that he also now bore the title of "vice president of the State of Palestine."
"The ship is sinking, and everyone's fighting over who's going to be seated at what table," said Ghaith al-Omari, a former adviser to Abbas and a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
See also Will Hussein Al-Sheikh Be the Next Terrorist in a Suit to Head the PLO? - Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch ( Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)
U.S. Medical Group Seeks Immunity for Hamas-Connected Hospital Official - Seth Mandel ( Commentary)
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya was arrested in Gaza by Israeli forces for allowing Hamas to operate in his hospital - an undeniable war crime.
Yet the American Association of Pediatrics joined the call to drop the investigation, taking sides in favor of those who had taken children hostage.
The AAP wasn't concerned about the health of Jewish children deliberately killed or abducted; it just wanted a Hamas-connected hospital official to be given immunity.
|
|
News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- Trump: If We Can't Get a Deal with Iran, I'll Lead the Pack Against Its Nuclear Sites
In an interview on April 22, President Trump was asked: You reportedly stopped Israel from attacking Iran's nuclear sites.
Trump: "That's not right. I didn't stop them. But I didn't make it comfortable for them, because I think we can make a deal without the attack....I didn't say no. Ultimately, I was going to leave that choice to them."
Q: Are you worried Netanyahu will drag you into a war?
Trump: "No."
Q: The U.S. will stay out of it if Israel goes into it?
Trump: "No, I didn't say that. You asked if he'd drag me in, like I'd go in unwillingly. No, I may go in very willingly if we can't get a deal. If we don't make a deal, I'll be leading the pack." (TIME)
- ICC Judges Ordered to Review Israel's Challenge of Jurisdiction
Appeals judges at the International Criminal Court on Thursday ordered a lower panel to reconsider Israel's objections to the court's jurisdiction over arrest warrants issued against Israeli leaders last year for their conduct of the Gaza war.
The appeals chamber said the court had not properly weighed challenges by Israel to its jurisdiction, saying there had been an "error of law." "The Appeals Chamber therefore reversed the decision and remanded the matter to the Pre-Trial Chamber for a new ruling on the substance of Israel's challenge to the jurisdiction of the Court," the appeals judges said.
(Reuters)
- U.S. Reverses Policy, Says UNRWA Can Be Sued in New York - Benjamin Weiser
Reversing a Biden administration position, the U.S. Justice Department argued that a lawsuit could proceed in Manhattan that accuses UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, of providing more than $1 billion that helped to enable Hamas's Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. The lawsuit says that UNRWA allowed Hamas to siphon off the organization's funds to help build a terrorist infrastructure that included tunneling equipment and weapons that supported the attack.
The Biden administration argued last year that UNRWA could not be sued because it was part of the UN, which enjoys immunity from such lawsuits. But the Justice Department told a federal judge in Manhattan on Thursday that neither UNRWA nor the agency officials named in the lawsuit were entitled to immunity.
The suit was brought on behalf of about 100 Israeli plaintiffs, including survivors of the attack, the estates of some who were killed, and at least one person who was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. The suit says that UNRWA and current and former agency officials aided and abetted Hamas in building up its terror infrastructure and the personnel necessary to carry out the Oct. 7 attack.
(New York Times)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- Houthi Missile Fire at Israel Continues Sunday
IDF aerial defenses intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Yemen by the Houthis targeting the Arava Desert area on Sunday. A Houthi missile targeting the Israeli city of Beersheva was intercepted on Saturday. (Ynet News)
- Freed Israeli Hostage Speaks for First Time about Hamas Captivity
On Friday, former hostage Ron Krivoi spoke for the first time to Israel's Channel 12 about his time in Hamas captivity. Krivoi was working as a soundman at the Nova music festival when he was taken hostage and was freed during the November 2023 ceasefire.
Krivoi was first held for some time in a Gaza apartment. At one point, the house was bombed and Krivoi was able to escape, trying to make his way through Gaza for several days before being recaptured. "The people who caught me beat me up....When they caught me and brought me back, the people who beat me were ordinary Gazans."
He was then taken to a tunnel. "These aren't the tunnels you see in pictures. We were in something really small, deep underground. There wasn't even a floor - we were on sand, and the mattresses were all moldy. We were inside a very, very small cage. Honestly, about a meter and a half by a meter and a half, and we had to lie down and rest in it - you couldn't stand. No height, no toilets, no food. We were five people, we ate one small dish with some canned food and a pita that we divided among us. I was there for 51 days and lost nine kg. (20 pounds)."
Krivoi said soldier Matan Angrest arrived a day after he did. "His injuries were very severe." Krivoi said Angrest, who is still in Gaza, suffers greatly at the hands of captors due to being a soldier. (Times of Israel)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
The Gaza War
- Hamas Claim that 70 Percent of Gaza Dead Are Women and Children "Demonstrably False" - Patrick Sawer
Claims by Hamas that 70% of casualties in the Gaza conflict are women and children have been dismissed as "demonstrably false" in a new report by the Henry Jackson Society think tank. The report claims that the IDF has generally managed to avoid disproportionately harming civilians, even though many thousands have been killed.
In the report, Prof. Lewi Stone and Prof. Gregory Rose said that claims made by the Gaza Ministry of Health of a 70% casualty rate for women and children are inconsistent with its own underlying hospital casualty figures. They found that Gaza hospital records and lists of the deceased showed that, since the start of the conflict, women and children have accounted for 51% of deaths overall, and that in the past year the rate of civilian casualties has fallen to below that figure.
For example, the report found that although women and children comprised 75% of the
population of the city of Khan Yunis, during fighting last year they accounted for 34% of deaths. Numerous warnings were issued by the IDF for civilians to leave Khan Yunis before its troops began their search for Hamas combatants.
Of 11,224 people killed since October 2024, 76.3% (8,565) were male and 23.7% (2,659) were female. Of these, 58% were men of fighting age. "The reduced proportion of women and children casualties indicates increased Israeli avoidance of Gazan civilian harm since Oct. 7, 2023. This data shows the opposite picture to what one would expect from the narrative of Hamas and its allies, who alleged indiscriminate killing."
Stone and Rose said their work "identifies extensive statistical anomalies, glaring inconsistencies, and a concerted effort by Hamas to inflate the number of civilian deaths - particularly among women and children - while systematically omitting combatant fatalities, especially among its own operatives." Prof. Rose said: "Hamas has waged not just a physical war but an information war, and far too many in the West have fallen for it." (Telegraph-UK)
- Pro-Israel Saudi Blogger Dismantles Hamas Lies - Hanan Greenwood
Pro-Israel Saudi blogger Loay Alshareef said during his third visit to Israel, "Until I was 20, I was the quintessential mainstream Arab-Muslim in the Muslim world - radical against Jews, anti-Jewish, anti-Israel, anti-everything related to most non-Muslims, especially Jews and Christians. The indoctrination in schools throughout the Middle East was so radical that it completely shaped my worldview."
During his first visit, he toured the kibbutzim near the Gaza border and "I saw the savage attack carried out by the barbaric terrorists of Hamas. They didn't attack soldiers. They call what they did 'resistance.' In what dictionary is kidnapping a toddler considered resistance in war? Attacking and killing people at a music festival is resistance? Of course, it's not resistance. It's an act of barbarism and terrorism that must be condemned."
"This is a war that Israel didn't ask for, didn't want, and didn't start....This war could have ended yesterday if those who started the war had ended it. I support ending this war with a complete victory and defeat of Hamas, so we don't reach another round and another war....Hamas started this war because they truly believe in erasing Israel, they truly believe in killing Jews for God so they can go to heaven." (Israel Hayom)
Iran
- U.S. and Iran Divided on Key Issues in Nuclear Talks - Benoit Faucon
The U.S. and Iran approached the nuclear talks in Oman on Saturday at odds over whether Tehran can continue to enrich uranium. The discussions ended with major disagreements and a pledge to meet again.
Iran has long insisted that it has the right to enrich its own uranium. But this would leave Iran in control of a key precursor to building a nuclear weapon. Other points of disagreement include the Trump administration's demands that an accord cover Iran's missile program.
Iran is producing enough enriched uranium needed for a single nuclear weapon each month and would need only a week or two to turn it into weapons-grade material, U.S. officials say.
Trump has given a deadline of two months to conclude a pact and has repeatedly threatened to turn to military force if Iran balks at a deal.
(Wall Street Journal)
Israel-Europe Relations
- UK Prime Minister Shuts Down MP's Anti-Israel Rant - Lorin Bell-Cross
Sir Keir Starmer shut down an anti-Israel tirade by MP Zarah Sultana in the House of Commons on Wednesday. The Coventry South MP accused the Prime Minister of blocking the detention of Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, whom she termed an "unindicted war criminal," during his visit to the UK, despite there being no warrant for his arrest. She lamented that "the red carpet was rolled out" for Israel's top diplomat - who met Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Jewish communal leaders.
Saar was the subject of an application to the government for an arrest warrant ahead of his visit on the basis of alleged war crimes but the request was denied. The action against Saar last week was brought by anti-Israel group the Hind Rajab Foundation, founded by former Hizbullah fighter Dyab Abou Jahjah.
A spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office said: "The Law Officers have declined to provide consent to the prosecution of Gideon Saar. International law requires that immunity is accorded to serving ministers for foreign affairs in domestic criminal proceedings irrespective of the subject matter, or gravity, of any complaint." (Jewish Chronicle-UK)
- Israel: European E3 Statement on Gaza "Is Morally Twisted" - Lee Harpin
A joint statement by the UK, France, and Germany demands that Israel "immediately restart the flow of aid" to Gaza. It also criticizes comments by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz who last week said that Israel has no intention of allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza until a "civilian" mechanism is established to bypass Hamas's control of supplies. Katz also said the IDF would remain in buffer zones "in any temporary or permanent reality in Gaza" to protect nearby Israeli communities.
Responding on Wednesday, Israel's Foreign Ministry said: "Israel is fighting Hamas, which steals humanitarian aid, uses it to rebuild its war machine, and hides behind civilians....Article 70 of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions requires aid when 'the civilian population is not adequately supplied. During the 42-day ceasefire, 25,000 aid trucks entered Gaza. Israel is monitoring the situation on the ground, and there is no shortage of aid in Gaza."
Instead of mentioning that "Hamas is the one targeting Israeli civilians while hiding behind Palestinian civilians," the E3 countries "chose to accuse Israel of strikes on humanitarian personnel and healthcare facilities - this is morally twisted and wrong....All condemnations should be directed at Hamas, which hides in hospitals and behind civilians."
"The so-called balance the E3 statement is trying to create between Israel and Hamas is ethically outrageous," mentioning "only in passing the fact that Hamas still holds 59 hostages in inhumane conditions underground. The war can end tomorrow if the hostages are released and Hamas lays down its weapons." (Jewish News-UK)
Antisemitism
- Ireland's Antisemitism Laces Ignorance with Self-Righteousness - George Chesterton
The profile of "Kneecap," a hip-hop trio formed in Belfast in 2017, has risen in recent times thanks to their confrontational stance on Palestine and Israel, even before the attack of Hamas in October 2023, of which they expressed their immediate approval.
There have been calls for the group to be investigated under the Terrorism Act 2000 after footage from a concert last year in Kentish Town showed one member, Mo Chara, chanting, "Up Hizbullah" and "Up Hamas" while draped in a Hizbullah flag. One member has posed with a book of speeches of Hassan Nasrallah, the now dead leader of the genocidal Hizbullah.
Israelophobia is baked into the band's overarching political agenda that is staunchly anti-British and pro-IRA. That is not surprising since an identification of Palestine with Ireland under British rule is now orthodoxy among significant sections of the population. Pointing out the differences between Britain's actions in Ireland and the links of Jewish people to Israel falls on deaf ears.
God knows there is enough antisemitism in the UK, but the Irish version laces its ignorance with self-righteousness and moral certainty. President Michael Higgins has done nothing to change Ireland's growing reputation as the most antisemitic country in Western Europe.
Kneecap venerated terrorists while at the recent Coachella music festival in California,
despite knowing that it was at the Nova festival in Israel that some of Hamas's worst atrocities were committed. We are talking about murdering, torturing, raping and kidnapping teenagers from a rave, including many who were not Israeli or Jewish. To legitimize this as "resistance" at their own music festivals is utterly toxic.
The great James Joyce satirized Irish antisemitism over 100 years ago. In the second chapter of Ulysses, the teacher Mr. Deasy confides in Stephen Dedalus: "Ireland, they say, has the honor of being the only country which never persecuted the Jews. Do you know that? No. And do you know why?" "Why sir?" Stephen asked, beginning to smile. "Because she never let them in," Mr. Deasy said solemnly. (Telegraph-UK)
Observations:
- President Trump said he would much prefer a negotiated agreement with Iran over military action. But the regime is run by Shia religious fanatics. As the regime repeatedly tells us, it intends to destroy first Israel and then America and the West. There can be no meaningful negotiation with a regime that has such a non-negotiable and apocalyptic agenda.
- The Iranians are skillful and manipulative negotiators. They play multi-dimensional chess in which they identify the weaknesses of their opponents and then mercilessly play on them.
- U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff said the conflict over Tehran's nuclear program had "a real possibility of being solved diplomatically....I think anything can be solved with dialogue by clearing up misconception and miscommunication and disconnects between people."
- But this isn't an argument involving muddled messages. This is a crisis in which the world's most aggressive terrorist state and declared enemy of Israel and the West is poised to arm itself with nuclear weapons.
- Witkoff appears to be placing all his faith in "verification" that Iran would keep its side of the bargain. But the regime ran rings around the inspection program under the 2015 deal.
- Those who hold that all conflict can be ended by negotiation, compromise and peace processes arrogantly assume that everyone in the world is, like them, governed by reason and self-interest. They fail to understand the mindset of Islamist religious fanatics who believe they have a sacred duty to kill "unbelievers" in the name of God.
The writer is a columnist for The Times-UK.
|