…The [Iranian] regime has two plans to avoid the wrath of the people—repression and sanctions relief. And the Biden administration is giving the Iranian regime every reason to believe that it can pull off both. In the not-so-distant past, Iranian dictator Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s decision to elevate Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi to serve as Iran’s next president beginning next month would have been greeted with stunned revulsion. Raisi is a sadistic mass murderer. He first rose to prominence in 1988, when he served as one of one four members of the “death commission” that was directly responsible for the execution of some 30,000 dissidents, including children. READ MORE
Ben & Jerry’s boycott of “Occupied Palestinian Territories” represents “a new form of terrorism,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Wednesday. “The boycott of Israel is a new sort of terrorism, economic terrorism,” the newly installed president said, according to a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. “Terrorism tries to harm the citizens of Israel and the economy of Israel,” Herzog said. “We must oppose this boycott and terrorism in any form… It takes aim at the Israeli economy.” The comments come one day after Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned the US company’s British owners, Unilever, that the ice cream maker’s boycott “is an action that has severe consequences” and said Israel could “take strong action.” READ MORE
JNS Will US anti-BDS laws cause financial meltdown for Ben & Jerry’s and Unilever?“By virtue of its wayward subsidiary, Unilever—a massive international conglomerate—risks potentially crushing financial consequences in terms of its ability to receive investments from, or do business with, the majority of U.S. states,” said Brooke Goldstein of the Lawfare Project.
NEWSWEEK Florida and Texas Threaten Sanctions Against Ben & Jerry’s Over Israel BoycottFlorida and Texas have both threatened sanctions against the ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s following the brand’s announcement of an upcoming boycott that will end sales of its product within Israel’s occupied Palestinian territories. Florida and Texas are two of 35 states that have passed laws or have executive orders that forbid companies and organizations from participating in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS).
By “popular demand” (aka Pro-Palestinian social media pressure) @benandjerrys announced their newest flavor of the month: Only Boycott the Jewish State‼️
The Department of Justice made a stunning announcement this week. Four Iranian nationals have been charged with plotting “to kidnap a Brooklyn journalist, author and human rights activist.” A fifth individual is facing related charges. The indictment doesn’t name the intended victim. But Masih Alinejad, a well-known human rights campaigner, quickly made it known that she was the target. Alinejad’s revelation was hardly surprising. She’s dedicated her life to exposing the horrors of the Iranian regime, refusing to bow to pressure even as Iranian authorities locked up and harassed her family members.READ MORE
Speaking at Christian’s United for Israel’s 2021 summit in Dallas on Monday, Sandra Hagee Parker, chair of the CUFI Action Fund and daughter of CUFI founder Pastor John Hagee, the organization’s advocacy wing, said with some force that the multiple polls indicating waning support for Israel among evangelicals are false...She said it was a fallacy that evangelical support is waning or that it is so closely tied to the Republican Party that their influence is waning with a Democratic administration and Democrats in charge of Congress. Nor, she said, is it weakened by Israel’s new government in the Knesset, which no longer is led by conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. READ MORE
A Palestinian singer has been arrested by Palestinian Authority security forces for performing in the settlement of Ariel. The singer, a resident of the West Bank village of Kafr ad-Dik, will be put on trial for allegedly promoting normalization with Israel. The singer was recently invited to perform at a party held by an Israeli factory for its Palestinian workers at the Ariel Industrial Park, Palestinian sources told The Jerusalem Post. “Contrary to the claims of the Palestinian Authority, settlers did not attend the party,” the sources said. “The party was organized by the factory owners for the Palestinian workers.” READ MORE
A prospective oral coronavirus vaccine is set to start clinical trials in Israel, and the developer believes it could help get vaccines to countries that are struggling to inoculate because of limited infrastructure. Oramed Pharmaceuticals has created a single-dose oral version of a prospective vaccine being developed by India-based Premas Biotech, and in March announced that it had successfully generated antibodies in pigs. It hopes that the Israeli-developed pill will be suitable as a simple initial vaccination, as it won’t need to be stored at low temperatures and eliminates the need to have professionals administering injections. READ MORE
…The political divide between left and right over a host of issues, including Israel and racial politics in the United States, has to some extent left the community too painfully divided to come together in any meaningful way. That makes the lesson the sages teach that the destruction of Jerusalem was caused not so much by the actions of outside foes but by sinat chinam—baseless hatred—among the tribe, which is all the more applicable on this Tisha B’Av. And coming after more than a year of the coronavirus pandemic, unexpected tragedies, war and a related surge in anti-Semitism, the need for more introspection and unity, and less blaming and shaming, remains greater than ever. READ MORE
A missile fired from an Iron Dome battery during May’s conflict with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip nearly hit an Israeli Air Force (IAF) F-15 fighter jet by mistake, according to Israeli media reports. The aircraft was on its way to the Gaza Strip for a mission during Operation Guardian of the Walls when an interceptor missile instead of targeting a Hamas rocket mistakenly targeted the F-15. Crews on the ground noticed the error and gave the self-destruct instructions for the missile before it took down the aircraft.READ MORE
…While organizers struggled to put a good face on their well-intentioned effort, the dismal turnout undermined the notion that the rally signified a united and mobilized Jewish community. Raw numbers don’t always mean a lot; however, after the buildup for this event, the small numbers in attendance seemed insignificant when considering the importance of the cause and the large number of organizations co-sponsoring it. While the organizers claimed that 3,000 showed up, The Washington Post put the number at only “hundreds.” Either way, by the standards of the endless stream of protests on behalf of causes that regularly occur in the capital, it didn’t amount to much. READ MORE
THE JEWISH VOICE Lauri B. Regan: The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions The road to hell is paved with good intentions – and often large egos. And that is why the No Fear rally in Washington, D.C. on Sunday was such an epic failure. Rather than inspire American Jews to fight antisemitism, it achieved the opposite result making us look weak, apathetic, and anything but united. The key problem: the inexperienced organizers refused to put aside their leftist ideology, work with people who knew how to organize successful rallies, accept advice from those in the know, and take all measures necessary to ensure the rally’s success.
ArchitectGuy on Israel 