“The more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied.” (Exodus 1:12)
Many were the achievements justly celebrated on Israel’s 70th anniversary last month: the country’s prowess in matters military, its world-famous technological knowhow, its record of economic growth and stability, the rich variety of its cultural offerings, the vibrancy of its religious life, the indomitable spirit of its people. Yet still another achievement, perhaps the most impressive but one that’s mostly unknown, needs to be added to the list: Israel’s stunning demographic success. In this essay, I hope to repair the deficiency. READ MORE
…While the Netherlands is probably the country with the best public relations in the Western world, its image is far more positive than its reality. Many in the world know about the brave Dutch people who hid Anne Frank and her family. Few have heard about the special units of Dutch policemen and volunteers who sniffed out Jews and resistance fighters for financial gain during the German occupation. They arrested an estimated 15,000 Jews, the majority of whom were murdered. Historian Ad van Liempt says that such search units were unique in the German-occupied countries. READ MORE
Pre-competition favorite Netta Barzilai won the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest for Israel on Saturday with her song “Toy.” Barzilai beat out competition from 42 other countries’ performers to claim the music extravaganza’s annual crown at the Grand Final in Lisbon, Portugal. There was a strong field of contestants at this year’s event, and the Israeli entry topped close competition from Cyprus, Austria, Sweden and Germany…Her win — Israel’s fourth and first since 1998 — means her country hosts next year’s Eurovision Song Contest, which is watched by some 200 million people. “Next time in Jersualem!” Barzilai shouted to the audience as she picked up her award. READ MORE
…The billions he [Obama] poured into Iran rescued the regime and allowed it to hold off the next wave of political protests. The Iran deal killed Iranians, Yemenis, Syrians, Iraqis, Americans and Israelis. It shredded our national security while putting the political power of the White House behind our greatest enemy. Obama allowed Iran to get away with anything and everything because after the failure of the Arab Spring’s gamble on Sunni Islamists, he bet his whole foreign policy on the Shiite Islamists of Iran. Now it’s over.READ MORE
FREE BEACON MSNBC’s Ruhle Suggests Trump ‘Blew Up’ Iran Deal to ‘Please’ Wealthy Israel Supporter“MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle suggested on Thursday that President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal to “please” wealthy Republican donor and avid Israel supporter Sheldon Adelson”No acknowledging the #IranDeal had terrifying implications–including Iran’s paved path to nuclear wareheads–for many people, not just “Republican” or “Jewish” ones. It must be Sheldon Adelson who controls the White House. Stephanie also tweeted similar sentiments dovetailing nicely with MSNBC’s new tagline ‘This Is Who We Are’
…”Arous on the Red Sea, a wonderful world apart,” the glossy brochure says, pronouncing it “the diving and desert recreation centre of Sudan”. Illustrated with pictures of putty-coloured chalets on a sun-drenched beach, a smiling couple in scuba gear, and varieties of exotic fish, the advertisement boasts of “some of the best, clearest water in the world”…The Sudanese International Tourist Corporation was also happy. It had leased the site to a group of people introducing themselves as European entrepreneurs, whose venture brought some of the first foreign tourists to the country. The only thing was, unbeknown to the guests or the authorities, the Red Sea diving resort was entirely fake. READ MORE
We’re all educated by our peers, and, over the years, a good portion of Donald Trump’s peers have been thugs. Operating in the New York construction world meant dealing with S&A Concrete, co-owned by “Fat Tony” Salerno of the Genovese crime family, and John Cody, the notorious head of Teamsters Local 282, who was convicted on racketeering and tax evasion charges. Building casinos in Atlantic City brought Trump into similarly genteel circles. Trump’s hero was Roy Cohn, who unfortunately was born too late to serve the emperor Caligula. READ MORE
President Trump’s declaration Tuesday that he would exit the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was more than just a fulfillment of a campaign promise; it was a much-needed shift in US foreign policy…The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was among the worst deals negotiated in modern times. In exchange for the suspension of America’s toughest economic sanctions, Iran needed only freeze its nuclear program for a limited amount of time — keeping its nuclear capabilities on standby while perfecting its missile arsenal, increasing support to terrorism and expanding its military footprint throughout the Middle East. READ MORE
NEW YORK TIMES Bret Stephens: A Courageous Trump Call on a Lousy Iran Deal The Obama administration refused to submit the deal to Congress as a treaty, knowing it would never get two-thirds of the Senate to go along. Just 21 percent of Americans approved of the deal at the time it went through, against 49 percent who did not, according to a Pew poll. The agreement “passed” on the strength of a 42-vote Democratic filibuster, against bipartisan, majority opposition.
JNS.ORG Jonathan Tobin: Wrong man? Right decision! It took him 16 months to get around to it, but U.S. President Donald Trump finally kept another campaign promise and pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal. To his critics, especially the Obama administration alumni who have dedicated themselves to defending the 44th president’s foreign-policy legacy, the move is quintessential Trump: irresponsible, impulsive, politically motivated, and rooted in ignorance and malice.
WASHINGTON BEACON Matthew Continetti: Donald Trump Ends the Obama MirageThe worldview Trump opposes privileges therapy and dialogue over realism and hard decisions. It imagines that the Iranian theocracy is a reliable or trustworthy hedge against Sunni power and will liberalize gradually as the arc of justice progresses. These are the ideas that motivated the presidency of Barack Obama…In truth, though, Obama’s legacy was disappearing long before Trump made his announcement. Obama’s legacy, like much of his self-presentation, was a mirage, a pleasing and attractive image that, upon closer inspection, loses coherence.
NATIONAL REVIEW Andrew C. McCarthy Trump Dumps Iran Deal — Hallelujah President Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal is the greatest boost for American and global security in decades. If you think that is an exaggeration, then you evidently think the Obama administration’s injection of well over a hundred billion dollars — some of it in the form of cash bribes — into the coffers of the world’s leading state sponsor of anti-American terrorism was either trivial or, more delusionally, a master-stroke of statecraft.
Some 20 rockets were fired at Israeli military bases by Iranian forces from southern Syria just after midnight on Thursday, sparking the largest ever direct clash between Jerusalem and Tehran, with Israeli jets targeting numerous Iranian-controlled sites across Syria. The Israeli army said the initial missile barrage was carried out by members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Forces. This appeared to be the first time that Israel attributed an attack directly to Iran, which generally operates through proxies. READ MORE
JERUSALEM POST Netanyahu: No basis to think Russia will limit Israel’s action in Syria Israel will not be limited in its military operations in the region, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday at the end of a day during which he spent some 10 hours in Moscow in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
JERUSALEM POST Ex-Mossad official: No military solution to Israel-Iran conflict in Syria. Jerusalem and Tehran will eventually need to cut a deal regarding the current Syria conflict as “there is no military solution,” former Mossad official Sima Shine said on Wednesday. Israel and Iran are “on a collision path… Iran wants to stay in Syria. We are determined not to allow them to stay there.
Paraguay will move its embassy to Jerusalem by the end of May, Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said on Monday, making it the third country, following the US and Guatemala, to announce that step. The US is scheduled to move its embassy to Jerusalem on May 14, followed two days later by Guatemala. Nahshon announced the Paraguayan move in a Twitter post that said Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes will come to the country to open the embassy. READ MORE
Two of the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) activists who helped pass a resolution on April 16 in the City Council of Durham, N.C., which banned life-saving police exchanges and trainings between the city’s police department and Israel’s military, are employed by synagogues in the Jewish Federation of Durham-Chapel Hill. In addition to their roles as radicals promoting anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions resolutions, Sandra Korn and Lara Haft are both employed in the Durham Jewish community at two area synagogues and at the Jewish Federation of Durham-Chapel Hill. READ MORE
ArchitectGuy on Israel 