McKinsey, which works with China, Russia, and corrupt South African authorities, dropped sponsorship over Linda Sarsour appearance

FREE BEACON
Rashida Tlaib and Biden Official Were Featured Speakers at Conference So Controversial It Lost Its Corporate Sponsor
Alana Goodman
March 9, 2023

Democratic representative Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and a Biden State Department appointee spoke at Harvard University’s annual Arab conference, even after the conference lost its top corporate sponsor due to the participation of anti-Semitic activist Linda Sarsour. Tlaib and State Department special adviser Sara Minkara participated in the event, which saw speakers call to “end U.S. support for Israel.” The pair appeared as others abandoned the conference—McKinsey & Company, the white-shoe consulting firm, pulled its sponsorship of the conference after discovering Sarsour “had a history of anti-Semitic comments,” it said in a statement…The annual Harvard gathering is the “largest pan-Arab conference in North America” and draws over 1,000 attendees…READ MORE

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That China was able to step in and broker a deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia, is perhaps the biggest Biden Admin foreign policy failure yet

TABLET MAG
Biden Is Delivering the Middle East to China
Michael Doran
March 15, 2023

Can Washington recognize a Sputnik moment when it sees one? The reconciliation that Chinese leader Xi Jinping brokered last week between Iran, America’s adversary, and Saudi Arabia, its most influential Arab ally, toppled the United States from its throne as the unrivalled strategic actor in the Middle East. This coup should banish, once and for all, any doubts that Xi aspires to pose a direct challenge to American military primacy in the Middle East. For those who have been watching closely, Xi has been signaling this aspiration for years. READ MORE

JNS China brokers an Iran-Saudi rapprochement In a move on Friday that came as a surprise to some, Saudi Arabia and Iran announced renewed ties brokered by China, including the reopening of their respective embassies within two months. It came rather suddenly, even though the two nations have communicated officially for two years now and seen an abatement of cross-border attacks Early reports on social media interpreted the news as China’s rise and Washington’s decline on the global diplomatic stage. 

Seen on Twitter: That China was able to step in and broker a deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia, is perhaps the biggest Biden Admin foreign policy failure yet.

JINSA Fellows React to Iran-Saudi Deal Gabriel Noronha: “We’ve gone from four US-led peace deals in the Middle East to China taking over diplomacy to help Iran,” according to JINSA Gemunder Center Fellow Gabriel Noronha, “this is a damning indictment of Biden’s Middle East policy: we abandoned the region and China swooped right in.” Naronha also argues, “because the United States refused to stand up against Iran, Saudi Arabia felt compelled to repair ties. And so goes Saudi, so goes the region. That means Iran can devote more of its energy to attacking Israel, Europe, and the United States and our interests. And they will.”

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Republicans’ views are unchanged, with nearly eight in 10 (78%) continuing to sympathize more with the Israelis while 11% side with the Palestinians

GALLUP
Democrats’ Sympathies in Middle East Shift to Palestinians
Lydia Saad
March 16, 2023

After a decade in which Democrats have shown increasing affinity toward the Palestinians, their sympathies in the Middle East now lie more with the Palestinians than the Israelis, 49% versus 38%. Today’s attitudes reflect an 11-percentage-point increase over the past year in Democrats’ sympathy with the Palestinians. At the same time, the percentages sympathizing more with the Israelis (38%) and those not favoring a side (13%) have dipped to new lows. Sympathy toward the Palestinians is also at a new high among political independents, up six points to 32%. However, more independents still lean toward the Israelis (49%). READ MORE

WASHINGTON TIMES Jews popular in U.S. despite increase in antisemitic attacks Judaism is the most favorably viewed religion in the United States, according to a Pew Research Center study, despite a rise in antisemitic incidents across the country. Jews scored a net +28 rating in the analysis released Wednesday. The study also found that Americans generally view Roman Catholics and mainline Protestants favorably but tend to view Muslims, atheists and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, commonly known as Mormons, negatively.

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Ticketmaster helpfully assists the “godfather of hate” play Chicago

JERUSALEM POST
Ticketmaster under fire for selling tickets to Louis Farrakhan event
Maya Zanger-Nadis
March 7, 2023

Popular California-based ticket sales and distribution company Ticketmaster has come under fire from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) this week after they hosted ticket sales for antisemite Louis Farrakhan’s Saviours’ Day conference which was held in Chicago on Feb. 24-26. Described as an “extremist figure” by the ADL, Farrakhan is the head of the National of Islam. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), the National of Islam is “based on a somewhat bizarre and fundamentally anti-white theology.” The SPLC also characterized Farrakhan as “an antisemite who routinely accuses Jews of manipulating the US government and controlling the levers of world power.” READ MORE

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These seven men and one woman — Theodore Herzl, Chaim Weizmann, Vladimir Jabotinsky, Abba Eban, Louis Brandeis, Ben Hecht, Ron Dermer, and Golda Meir — are eagerly split between American and European origins, and they all play starring roles in the long-deferred return to Zion

AMERICAN GREATNESS
The Triumph and Tragedy of Abba Eban
Rick Richman
March 11, 2023

…Eban’s speeches were a record of eloquence unequaled by any diplomat during that period. Conor Cruise O’Brien, representing Ireland in the U.N. (sitting next to Eban in the General Assembly), called him “the most brilliant diplomatist of the second half of the 20th century.”  In 1974, however, Yitzhak Rabin left Eban out of his new Israeli government, and Eban never again held a ministerial job. By 1988, he was so low on the Labor Party electoral slate that he was not reelected to the Knesset. Humiliated, he retired from political life, relocated to New York, and spent the rest of his life teaching, writing, and speaking. Eban’s meteoric rise and dramatic fall was a classic tragedy—and one that extended beyond his personal political career. It holds a lesson for today. READ MORE

THE NEW YORK SUN Israel Finds a New Storyteller  Changes to the judiciary are on the way. Plenty of people are afraid for Israel these days, which makes the timing of Rick Richman’s “And None Shall Make Them Afraid: Eight Stories of the Modern State of Israel” all the more fortuitous. A Zionist “Profiles in Courage,” it is a briskly written reminder that giving up on the Jewish state is a bad bet.  Mr. Richman, author of “Racing Against History: The 1940 Campaign for a Jewish Army to Fight Hitler,” here aims to give “full due” to eight drivers of what he names as the two most successful ideologies of the last century: Zionism and Americanism. 

VIRTUAL EVENT
Zionism, Americanism, and the Modern State of Israel
Tuesday April 25, 2023
12:00 PM – 12:45 PM PDT
Click here to register

On the day before Israel celebrates its 75th anniversary, join AJU Scholar in Residence Rick Richman and AJU Distinguished Professor of Jewish History Michael Berenbaum for a discussion of Richman’s new book, And None Shall Make Them Afraid: Eight Stories of the Modern State of Israel. Dive into the history of how Zionism, supported by Americanism, created a modern miracle – told through the little-known stories of eight individuals who collectively changed Jewish history. These individuals, whose stories span from 1895 to 2015, include Chaim Weizmann, Louis Brandeis, Vladimir Jabotinsky, Ben Hecht, and Golda Meir.

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Since the rise of 24/7 cable news, in which television stations for the first time had to fill 1,440 minutes of air time every day, our news ecosystem has become reliant on stoking fear and outrage

FOUNDATION AGAINST INTOLERANCE & RACISM
How to bring civility back to our politics
Julian Adorney and Mark Johnson
March 13, 2023

…The idea that our Republic is in unprecedented danger if we let our political foes take power is historically naive. Are matters of policy really more urgent now than they were in 1964, when Congress was debating the Civil Rights Act; or 1864, when the nation was at war with itself? The United States isn’t embroiled in a world war, and we don’t face the threat of annihilation if we elect the wrong leader. Our legislative battles are important, but less important than similar battles in 1865 (when the 13th Amendment was ratified) or 1919 (when the 19th Amendment was ratified). When we take a longer view, it’s hard to justify the idea that political wins are more crucial now than at any other point in history. READ MORE

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Police say gunman shot dead after opening fire at people outside cafe on Dizengoff Street; another victim in serious condition; Hamas claims terrorist as member

TIMES OF ISRAEL
3 wounded, including 1 critically, in central Tel Aviv terror shooting
Emanuel Fabian
March 9, 2023

Three people were shot and wounded in a terrorist shooting near a cafe in central Tel Aviv on Thursday night, police and medics said. Police said the Palestinian attacker opened fire at people outside the cafe on the corner of Dizengoff Street and Ben Gurion Street, an area typically bustling on Thursday night. He then fled the scene while shooting at other people in the area, before being shot dead in a shootout with police officers a short time later. One victim was listed in critical but stable condition after undergoing surgery and was still fighting for his life, said doctors at Ichilov Medical Center, where the injured were taken. The other two were listed in serious and moderate condition, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said. READ MORE

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Cancelling planned protest, elite air force squadron will ‘continue to serve the Jewish and democratic State of Israel as long as it is required’ and report to training

HAARETZ
Elite Israeli Reserve Air Force Pilots Reverse Decision to Protest, Set to Meet With Their Commanders
Amos Harel
March 7, 2023

Reserve pilots from an elite squadron in Israel’s Air Force announced on Tuesday that they will not boycott an upcoming training exercise as had previously been planned and will instead arrive for a meeting with their commanders. Earlier this week, most of the pilots from Squadron 69 had announced that they would not show up to training in protest of the Netanyahu government’s judicial overhaul. On Tuesday, the pilots informed their commanders that they would show up to the exercise. “We have full confidence in our commanders,” the pilots said after discussions with IAF officials, adding that they “will continue to serve the Jewish and democratic State of Israel as long as is required.” READ MORE

I24News Israeli Air Force axes reserve fighter pilot urging to boycott training The Israeli Air Force on Thursday sacked a reservist fighter pilot allegedly leading calls to boycott daily duties and trainings in protest of the government’s judicial reform. The reservist officer, Col. “Gimmel” — referred to in Hebrew media by a single initial letter — was suspended indefinitely over outspoken interviews in local media and “conduct around the current events.”

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Bibi: “Those who say, ‘Well, if we take action against Iran, we will face war’ – You will face a war if you don’t, a potentially horrible nuclear war if you don’t”

JPOST
Netanyahu: ‘Horrible nuclear war’ will break out, if Iran isn’t stopped
Tovah Lazaroff
March 9, 2023

A “horrible nuclear war” will break out if the world does not stop Tehran from obtaining atomic weapons, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in his first ever address to the Iranian people on Thursday night.  “If Iran gets a nuclear weapon, this will be a problem all of us will face. It will change the world,” he said in an English-language interview with Washington-based Iran International that was also dubbed into Persian and broadcast in Iran. A nuclear Iran will cause “the criss-crossing of the Middle East with nuclear trip wires,” as other regimes who understand the danger of a nuclear Iran will rush to arm themselves,” Netanyahu said, using the platform to urge global action in response to Iran’s enrichment of uranium to 84%, which is close to 90% weapons grade. READ MORE

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The U.S.-backed anti-judicial reform protests in Israel are being shaped by the intersection of two crises, one in U.S. Iran policy and the other resulting from the rise to power of religious communities in Israel

TABLET MAG
How U.S. Ambassador Tom Nides Became Israel’s Arsonist-in-Chief
Michael Doran
March 6, 2023

So what, precisely, is the source of the terror that these [Israelis] are feeling? The reform is five conflicts in one. First, it is a debate about the proper role of the Supreme Court, which has usurped authorities that rightly belong to the Knesset. Yair Lapid, the leader of the opposition, now paints any attempt to change the court as a fascist putsch, but in 2016 he critiqued the court precisely as the reformers are now critiquing it. Indeed, any observer who examines the reforms with a traditional American understanding of checks and balances, cannot but conclude that many of the demands of the reformers are not only reasonable but also desirable. READ MORE

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