If the United States Supreme Court overturned a law on the grounds that it was not “reasonable” there would be rioting in the streets; in Israel though its business as usual

JNS
Supreme Court hearing on ‘reasonableness’ law kicks off
September 12, 2023

Israel’s Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, convened on Tuesday to consider petitions against the so-called “reasonableness” law, an amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary passed by the Knesset in July. The hearing, three days before the start of the High Holidays, is the first time in the court’s 75-year history that all 15 justices have presided over a case. The amendment, passed on July 24 by all 64 lawmakers in the governing coalition, bars justices from using “reasonableness” as a justification for reversing decisions made by the cabinet, ministers and “other elected officials as set by law.” Following its passing, NGOs immediately filed petitions asking the Supreme Court to strike it down. READ MORE

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Mossad chief vows to target Iran’s ‘highest echelon’ if Israelis, Jews hurt in terror

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Ex-Mossad official claims spy agency chief’s threat to Iran actually aimed at US
Emanuel Fabian
September 11, 2023

A former senior Mossad official said Monday that a warning issued by spy agency chief David Barnea to Iran a day earlier was in fact aimed at making it clear to the United States that Israel has the freedom to act, even in the heart of Tehran. Haim Tomer, a former Mossad chief of intelligence and operations, additionally claimed that Barnea’s comments carried the approval of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…Barnea on Sunday warned Iran’s leaders that they would pay a direct price, even if they were deep in the Iranian capital, should any Israelis or Jews be harmed in what he said was an ongoing, significantly stepped-up, state-organized Iranian terror effort worldwide. READ MORE

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Phish and Contemporary Jewish Identity’ explores the the relationship between the band and Jewish fans

JTA
What’s Jewish about the jam band Phish? Many things, according to a new book
Stephen Silver
September 9, 2023

Those who are Jewish, or Phish fans — or both — have likely noticed at one point: Jews really seem to love Phish. There are many possible reasons for this, starting with the fact that the genre-bending jam band has many ardent fans of all stripes, having sold millions of albums and played to enormous festival crowds for decades. Two of the band members — bassist Mike Gordon and drummer Jon Fishman — are also Jewish, and the group has been known to play Jewish songs such as “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav” and “Avinu Malkeinu” live. But there’s something else — a certain kind of spiritual aspect to Phish fandom that seems to attract the average modern Jewish fan. READ MORE

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McKinney recently said that “we know that the Jews represented by AIPAC and ADL have a problem with strongly opinionated Black men” and that “Zionists run Washington”

ALGEMEINER
Jews Are The Problem’: Former US Congresswoman Promotes Antisemitic-Black Nationalist Crossover Event
Andrew Bernard
September 11, 2023

Cynthia McKinney, a former US congresswoman and 2008 presidential nominee for the Green Party, on Monday promoted a livestream event featuring notorious white supremacist David Duke and the black nationalist author of a book called Jews Are The Problem. “I know where I’ll be and what I’ll be watching at 6:00 pm EASTERN time today!” McKinney posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Her post included a promotional image of an event with the question “Can Black people and White people work together to defeat our common enemy?” written above a large Star of David and a photo of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the US. READ MORE

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German tennis player Alexander Zverev told the match umpire that a spectator had chanted “Deutschland über alles.” The man was promptly removed from the rest of the US Open match.

DEUTSCHE WELLE
Tennis fan kicked out of US Open for singing Nazi-era anthem
September 5, 2023

A tennis fan was ejected from the US Open in New York on Monday after German tennis player Alexander Zverev protested that the man had been chanting words from the Nazi-era anthem. Zverev said that the spectator had chanted “Germany above everything” during his encounter with Italy’s Jannik Sinner. “He started singing the Hitler anthem. That was too much,” Zverev said. “As a German, I’m not proud of that part of history and it’s not OK to do that. He was sitting in the front row, so a lot of people heard it. If I didn’t react, it would have been bad from my part,” he said. READ MORE

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“The last Mayor of Chicago was 1) Black 2) a woman, and 3) a lesbian and even she didn’t play the victim card this quickly”

JOHN KASS NEWS
Let’s Talk About Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Ultra-Thin Black Skin
John Kass
September 13, 2023

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is consumed by the color of his skin. It seems that his black skin is all he wants to talk about. Someone close to him might want to tell the poor fellow to simmer down, grow up and act like a man—and inform him he is not the first black mayor of Chicago. But why talk of the color of his skin? Instead, let’s talk about the thinness of it. I’ve been covering Chicago politics for decades—since the 1980s—and never has there been a politician with skin as thin as his. It’s not merely rice paper thin, it is so thin that it makes rice paper resemble cardboard. Brandon Johnson’s skin is so thin it must have been made by the faeries, ephemeral and disappearing, as light as a cherub baby’s breath. READ MORE

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U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt urges Abbas to apologize

I24NEWS
International community appalled by Abbas’ comments about Holocaust
September 7, 2023

European and American officials on Thursday issued statements condemning the speech delivered by the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas where he said Adolf Hitler ordered the mass murder of Jews because of their “social role,” rather than antisemitism. The speech delivered at Fatah’s 11th Revolutionary Council in late August caused outrage and international condemnation. The EU spokesperson’s statement said that it “contained false and grossly misleading remarks” about Jews and antisemitism…It added that Abbas’ remarks “trivialize Holocaust,” fuel antisemitism and “are an insult to the millions of victims of the Holocaust and their families.” READ MORE

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US envoy Amos Hochstein visited Lebanon for talks with senior officials and will also speak with Israeli officials to see “if this is the right time” to try to resolve the border issue

REUTERS
US could help settle Lebanon, Israel border dispute, White House adviser says
August 31, 2023

The United States is exploring the possibility of resolving the long-standing border dispute between Lebanon and Israel, senior White House adviser Amos Hochstein said on Thursday at the end of a two-day visit to Lebanon. Hochstein said it was “natural” to look into the issue following the delineation in 2022 of the maritime border between the two countries, which paved the way for offshore exploration activities to begin on behalf of Lebanon last week. READ MORE

JPOST Hochstein’s mission: Solve Israel-Lebanon border crisis, reduce tensions Hochstein, who last year brokered a maritime border deal between Lebanon and Israel that paved the way for gas exploration in the area, said that he also plans to hear the Israeli view “and to make an assessment if this is the right time and if we have a window of opportunity to be able to achieve it.”

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Recognizing GOP support needed for Israel-Saudi Arabia deal to succeed, son-in-law and senator tell former president that this new normalization accord would be vindication of his Mideast policy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Jared Kushner, Lindsey Graham push Trump to back Biden-brokered Saudi-Israel deal
September 6, 2023

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and former senior White House adviser Jared Kushner have encouraged former president Donald Trump to support his successor Joe Biden’s effort to broker a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. The type of defense pact that Riyadh is asking to sign with the US in exchange for normalizing ties with Israel will likely require Congressional approval and will need the support of at least some Republicans in a deeply divided Congress. Accordingly, vocal opposition from Trump could harm Biden’s chances of getting the bipartisan support he needs…READ MORE

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US prisoners held in Iran have been released, Iran has reportedly slowed down enrichment and even diluted some of its stockpiles, and still Benjamin Netanyahu is quiet

JPOST
Why is Israel silent on the looming Iran deal?
Yaakov Katz
August 31, 2023

All indications are that the United States under President Joe Biden is close to reaching an interim deal – or at the very least some sort of unwritten understanding – with Iran that would see Tehran scale back its uranium enrichment in exchange for billions of dollars. US prisoners held in Iran have been released, Iran has reportedly slowed down enrichment and even diluted some of its stockpiles, and still Netanyahu is quiet. Yes, his office put out a statement a couple of weeks ago after the prisoner release was announced, but it was a written statement and was nothing compared to the way the prime minister used to speak about Iran in the past… Netanyahu needs Biden to close a normalization deal with [Saudi Arabia] and if he starts fighting with the president over Iran, that could turn the president off from wanting to help advance Israel’s ties in the Middle East. READ MORE

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