“A further glance at the signatories reveals that at least 20 are socialists, reflecting their parties’ frequent significant incitement against Israel and sympathy for the repressive, corrupt, anti-democratic, and murderous Palestinian leadership”

BEGIN-SADAT CENTER FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES
50 European Political Has-Beens Oppose Trump’s Peace Plan
by Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld
March 23, 2020

Fifty former senior European politicians have published a letter against the Trump peace plan in the Guardian. Many signatories can be characterized as veteran anti-Israeli inciters. Some can even be labeled antisemites. All have held positions in countries where antisemitism is endemic. In 2019, even before the Trump plan was published, a similar letter was published by former EU officials…Many of the signatories can be characterized as veteran anti-Israel inciters. If one applies the most common definition of antisemitism, that of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, some can even be labeled antisemites. All the signatories have held positions in countries where antisemitism is endemic. READ MORE

Posted in Israel & Middle East, Jewish, Politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“Employment Service says new applications slowing after ebbing of initial wave of layoffs in travel, service industries, but more expected as pandemic affects other industries”

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Israel’s jobless rate surges to 16.5% as virus puts 500,000 out of work
by Staff
March 22, 2020

The unemployment rate in Israel has skyrocketed to 16.5 percent, with over 500,000 people losing their jobs since the start of March, the Employment Service said Sunday. The unemployment rate was 3.6% in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the Bank of Israel. Many Israeli businesses have been forced to put their staffs on unpaid leave or lay people off as regulations closing borders and restricting movement have obliterated tourism and service industries, leading to thousands of people per day applying for unemployment benefits. READ MORE

JPOST ‘1 mil. Israelis with coronavirus is conservative,’ disease expert says Infectious disease specialist says percentage of Israelis infected with coronavirus is growing

ARUTZ SHEVA Why Israel’s corona crisis is spinning out of control Israel’s healthcare system is underfunded, understaffed, and lagging behind in crucial areas.

ISRAEL HAYOM Gov’t exploring voiced-based corona testing technology Defense Ministry seeks to develop new methods to test for the coronavirus – including a voice-recognition app that might be able to facilitate home-diagnosis of initial symptoms.

Posted in Israel & Middle East | Leave a comment

Soros: “For defending themselves, the Jews are getting what they deserve”

AMERICAN THINKER
Soros’ Anti-Israel Funding
by Rachel Ehrenfeld
March 22, 2020

George Soros seems to have developed a special dislike of the State of Israel. He has rewritten Middle Eastern history to better jibe with his idea of the “poignant and difficult case” of “victims turning perpetrators.” Soros, much like the virulent anti-Semitic graphic daily propaganda in Arab, Palestinian, and Iranian newspapers, has been comparing Israel’s self-defense against repeated attempts of annihilation by Islamist/Arab terrorists to Nazi atrocities. The successful defense against terrorism, especially preemptive actions, is never appropriate in Soros’ book. READ MORE

Posted in Islam, Israel & Middle East, Jewish, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

“The failure of the Chinese Communist Party to protect the world from COVID-19 is likely to reverse China’s recent gains in power and prestige”

THE AMERICAN INTEREST
The Geopolitics of the Coronavirus
by Michael Mandelbaum
March 24, 2020

Throughout history, great wars have overturned the international order, making and breaking entire countries and their political systems while increasing the power and status of some and reducing those of others. Modern weaponry has become far too powerful to permit conflicts on the scale, for example, of the two world wars of the last century, but in this century a variant has appeared: global crises. The one that began in 2008, with the near-meltdown of the American financial system leading to the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression, boosted the confidence, increased the aggressiveness, enhanced the international stature, and generally accelerated the rise of China. The present crisis, the direct result of the coronavirus pandemic that began in China, could reverse those gains. READ MORE

Posted in Politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Bibi: “I will leave office on the agreed date; there will be no shticks and tricks. Millions of Israelis are waiting for us”

JERUSALEM POST
Netanyahu implores Gantz to join gov’t, vows to rotate as PM without tricks
by Gil Hoffman
March 22, 2020

Imploring Benny Gantz’s Blue and White Party to join the Likud in a national unity government, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Saturday night to rotate as prime minister and to leave the role at the agreed transition date without “any shticks or tricks.” Netanyahu claimed in an interview on Channel 12 that the Likud and Blue and White had completed negotiations for what a national unity government would look like, and under which he would serve first as prime minister and would then be replaced by Gantz. “I will leave office on the agreed date,” Netanyahu said. READ MORE

TIMES OF ISRAEL Israel approaches 1,000-patient mark as lockdown rules to come into effect Ministers late Saturday night updated the emergency regulations designed to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, which will come into effect on Sunday at 8 a.m. for seven days. According to the rules, which the government has vowed to enforce, Israelis must remain at home, with exceptions made for buying essential food and medical supplies or seeking medical treatment.

Posted in Israel & Middle East, Jewish, Politics | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A solidarity message from Israeli Foreign Ministry to its Arab neighbors: “We are all human beings; we are all brothers”

ALGEMEINER
Coronavirus Crisis Brings Israel and Arab World Together, at Least Online
by Benjamin Kerstein
March 18, 2020

The Israeli Foreign Ministry has been receiving messages of solidarity from across the Arab world as the coronavirus crisis intensifies, including messages like, “May Allah protect you.” Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot reported that the messages came in response to a social media post by the ministry, which showed a photo of three employees making heart signs with their hands. The accompanying Arabic-language text read, “This is a message to you from Israel: We pray to Allah to protect the inhabitants of Arab countries.” “The coronavirus that is spreading intensely in the world these days knows no borders, religions, and nationalities,” it added. READ MORE

Posted in Islam, Israel & Middle East, Politics | Tagged | Leave a comment

Echo Chamber redux: “In echo of Iran regime propaganda, Obama era critics falsely claim U.S. sanctions target food and medicine”

FREE BEACON
Ayatollah’s American Allies Seize on Pandemic in Fresh Push for Sanctions Relief
by Adam Kredo
March 19, 2020

The architects of the Obama administration’s self-described pro-Iran echo chamber have used the coronavirus outbreak to argue that U.S. sanctions are to blame for the virus’s aggressive spread across the Islamic Republic—a line the Iranian government is also peddling. Former Obama officials and their allies have argued that the United States is depriving Iranian citizens of much-needed food and medical supplies by continuing to impose sanctions as the coronavirus has devastated the country. Trump administration officials say, however, that humanitarian channels have remained open to Iran since before the virus erupted. READ MORE

THE HILL Seth J. Frantzman: Cornered by coronavirus, Iran could lash out The picture that emerges is an Iran on edge and a precarious position for U.S. forces in Iraq. Iran has watched the U.S. drawdown of forces in Afghanistan and is eager to pressure the U.S. in Iraq. Amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Iranian regime may be more emboldened and beholden to its more militarist elements in the IRGC.  Iran still wants to avenge the U.S. killing of IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, and Iran claims the “countdown” to U.S. withdrawal from Iraq has begun.

Posted in Islam, Israel & Middle East, Politics | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

“Teva, the giant Israeli pharmaceutical company, has announced that it will donate more than six million doses of hydroxychloroquine sulfate tablets”

JERUSALEM POST
Teva donates potential coronavirus treatment to hospitals across the US
by Staff
March 21, 2020

…Recently, Israel’s Health Ministry has approved multiple experimental treatments, and companies worldwide are attempting to determine what could be used to treat the deadly disease. Teva, the giant Israeli pharmaceutical company, has announced that it will donate more than six million doses of hydroxychloroquine sulfate tablets through wholesalers to hospitals across the United States, starting March 31. Over 10 million tablets are expected to be shipped within a month. The tablets are approved by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of malaria, lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. The tablets are currently under investigation to determine their efficacy against the coronavirus, and US government officials have asked for their immediate availability and use. READ MORE

TECH STARTUPS Hydroxychloroquine is found to be more effective and potent than chloroquine in vitro treatment of coronavirus, new study published by NIH shows New controlled clinical study conducted by doctors ​in France shows that Hydroxychloroquine cures 100% of coronavirus patients within 6 days of treatment (covidtrial.io) On March 16, we covered a story about new academic study that revealed over-the-counter anti-malaria med Chloroquine may be highly effective at treating coronavirus. The study presented by Thomas R. Broker, (Stanford PhD), James M. Todaro (Columbia MD), and Gregory J. Rigano, Esq., in consultation with Stanford University School of Medicine, UAB School of Medicine, and National Academy of Sciences researchers, shows that over the counter anti-malaria pills Chloroquine may be highly effective at treating coronavirus COVID-19. 

Posted in Israel & Middle East, Politics | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

“CAMERA’s Israel office today prompted correction of Gideon Levy’s March 6 error-ridden Haaretz article “

CAMERA BLOG
Haaretz Corrects: Israel Didn’t Deny Entry to Gazans Whose Daughter Died From Cancer
by Hanan Amiur and Tamar Sternthal
March 15, 2020

In Ha’aretz, Gideon Levy falsely alleged that the parents of young cancer patient Miral Abu Ambsha were denied permission by Israel to travel from Gaza to the West Bank to be by their dying daughter’s side. In truth, as Israel’s Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) confirmed to CAMERA, Miral’s mother was granted permission to travel, and her father never even applied for a travel permit. CAMERA prompted Haaretz to correct…In response to communication from CAMERA, Haaretz commendably ran the following correction in today’s print editionREAD MORE

Posted in Israel & Middle East, Politics | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Two from Lipson: “What have these past bureaucratic egregious abuses got to do with CDC, NIH, HHS, and the Wuhan coronavirus? Quite a lot, actually”

REAL CLEAR POLITICS
Democracy and Bureaucracy in a Time of Pandemic
by Professor Charles Lipson
March 19, 2020

As the coronavirus spreads and the Centers for Disease Control work around-the-clock to mitigate the disaster, it’s easy to see why we need competent government agencies. We don’t always get them. The CDC and National Institutes of Health botched their initial response to the virus — and we are all paying the price. They distributed unreliable test kits and, incredibly, prevented top research hospitals from developing their own tests. They failed to plan for the now-predictable spike in demand for respirators, ventilators, and beds in intensive-care units. Only now are tests becoming widely available, long after the disease has spread. Ugh. READ MORE

SPECTATOR USA Charles Lipson: Beijing’s attempts to elude blame for the Wuhan virus will backfire [SUBSCRIPTION] All the people locked in their homes in California, all the people lying in intensive care units in Milan, Marseille and Seattle desperately ill, all the people being carried from those ICUs to cemeteries around the world: they are there because of policy choices by the Chinese Communist party. Every waiter and sales clerk who lost her job can look, in sorrow and anger, to those party apparatchiks in Beijing. The CCP may not have been able to stop the initial outbreak in Wuhan, but they could have prevented its spread to other countries. Instead, to protect their own hold on domestic power, they suppressed vital information and unleashed a deadly pandemic on the world.

Posted in Politics | Tagged , | Leave a comment