“Putin, Rouhani and Erdogan are right that, as of now, they are the victors in Syria. But let us not empower them by believing them invincible”

JERUSALEM POST
Portents of Quagmires in Syria
by Caroline B. Glick
November 23, 2017

…Russia’s alliance with Iran and Turkey is predicated on Russia remaining in Syria – come what may. And what is coming is not likely to be pretty. While Putin, Erdogan and Rouhani were congratulating themselves in Sochi, another conference was happening in Riyadh. There, leaders of the anti-Assad militia were meeting to discuss their next moves ahead of the UN-sponsored talks next week in Geneva. True, the forces represented in Saudi Arabia aren’t as powerful as the Iranians, Hezbollah and Russia. But they have guns. And they are disgruntled. And if any number of governments want to give them more guns, they will have more guns and bullets. READ MORE

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Crown Prince Salman on Iran: “We learned from Europe that appeasement doesn’t work”

ISRAEL HAYOM
Saudi crown prince calls Iranian leader ‘new Hitler’
by Reuters and Staff
November 24, 2017

Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called the Supreme Leader of Iran “the new Hitler of the Middle East” in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday, sharply escalating the war of words between the archrivals. The Sunni Muslim kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran back rival sides in wars and political crises throughout the region. Mohammed bin Salman, who is also Saudi defense minister in the U.S.-allied oil giant kingdom, suggested the Islamic republic’s alleged expansion under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei needed to be confronted. READ MORE

BESA CENTER The Desperate Saudi Bid to Prepare the State for All-Out War

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What do they know about Israel’s situation: “Most American Jews don’t have children serving as soldiers, going to the Marines, going to Afghanistan or to Iraq”

REUTERS
Israeli official under fire for comments on American Jews’ military service
November 23, 2017

A top Israeli diplomat was rebuked by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday for suggesting that American Jews have a poor commitment to service in the U.S. military. Asked in an English-language television interview about criticism of Israeli policies by some U.S. Jews, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely questioned whether “people that never send their children to fight for their country” could understand the “complexity” of the Middle east… “They don’t feel how it feels to be attacked by rockets, and I think part of it is to actually experience what Israel is dealing with on a daily basis…” READ MORE

ISRAEL HAYOM Deputy foreign minister in hot water over US Jewry comment

RABBI PRUZANSKY’S BLOG Anatomy of a Smear

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Kuwaiti writer: There is no Palestine and no Occupation [VIDEO]

JERUSALEM POST
Kuwaiti writer says Israel is a legitimate state, not an occupier
by Eric Sumner
November 22, 2017

A Kuwaiti writer challenged the Arab states’ longstanding solidarity against Israel Sunday in interview with Kuwait’s Alrai TV channel, calling the Jewish state “independent and sovereign.” “Like it or not, Israel is an independent and sovereign state,” Abdullah Al-Hadlaq said. “It exists, and it has a seat at the United Nations, and most peace-loving and democratic countries recognize it.” READ MORE

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Kushner under investigation for trying to protect Israel from Obama

JEWISH PRESS
Special Counsel Mueller Probing Kushner’s Role in Blocking Obama’s Betrayal of Israel at UNSC
by David Israel
November 22, 2017

Robert Mueller’s investigation is now moving to Jared Kushner’s interactions with foreign leaders during the presidential transition (between the Nov. 8, 2016 election and the January 20, 2017 inauguration), with an emphasis on his attempt to prevent President Barak Obama’s parting shot at Israel at the United Nations Security Council in December, when the US abstained in a landmark resolution demanding a halt to all Israeli settlement in the “occupied territories,” the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday…According to the WSJ, the Mueller team is now questioning witnesses about Kushner’s involvement in that controversial resolution, when Israeli officials asked the Trump team to help block the UNSC vote with a US veto, even though Trump was not yet in office. READ MORE

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“I tell them that I’m from Jerusalem, Israel. And their first reaction usually is: ‘Wow. Welcome’”

TIMES OF ISRAEL
From Qom to Medina: Israeli Jew visits holy sites across Muslim world
by Raphael Ahren
November 21, 2017

A Russian-born Israeli Jew has been visiting holy sites across the Muslim world, including mosques in Iran, Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Photos and videos Ben Tzion posted Monday on his social media accounts from the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina — Islam’s second-holiest site — prompted angry comments from some Muslim users, leading Instagram to suspend his account on Tuesday. By Tuesday morning, his video from within the mosque had been viewed more than 30,000 times and garnered some 3,500 comments…The people he met in Tehran, Qom, Beirut or Riyadh were overwhelmingly friendly to him, he said, even after finding out that he is an Israeli Jew. READ MORE

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Lesson #1 on Gaza: “The belief that poverty leads to terrorism is an unsubstantiated liberal myth”

MIDDLE EAST FORUM
A Marshall Plan for Gaza Is a Bad Idea
by Efraim Inbar
November 15, 2017

Voices inside and outside the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are advocating for a “Marshall Plan” – a massive international mobilization – for the improvement of Gaza’s living conditions. They believe that an improved Gaza economy will reduce anti-Israel violence, whereas further economic deterioration in Gaza will accelerate the radicalization process resulting in elements more extreme than Hamas taking control. This rationale is faulty on many counts…Second, the belief that greater affluence for Gazan civilians will bring moderation to the Hamas military leadership is naïve. Radical ideology and religious fervor are unlikely to be influenced by the wealth of unarmed civilians. READ MORE

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Rabbi Fleisher of Hebron: Israelis need to tell the Palestinians, “It’s our land and you are a guest”

JERUSALEM POST
Left-Wing MK Encounters Hostile Audience at Israeli-Palestinian Debate
by Kelly Hartog
November 21, 2017

… [Rabbi Yishai] Fleisher said that he speaks with Arabs all the time, and tells them that Israel has defeated all the Arab nations in every war because “Allah has given this land to the Jewish people. Allah has given us the State of Israel.” Fleisher said that what he hears back from Arabs is that Israel has already left Sinai and Gaza and the Temple Mount, and that they just have to wait and Israel will “go away. [The Arabs] think they are on to a great victory.READ MORE

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“I want to see who is going to have the nerve to face me and say, ‘Jewish women aren’t capable'”

NEW YORK TIMES
Judge Ruchie, the Hasidic Superwoman of Night Court
by Sharon Otterman
November 17, 2017

…This is Ruchie Freier, as friends call her, a 52-year-old Hasidic Jewish grandmother who has blazed a trail in her insular religious community with so much determination that the male authorities have simply had to make room. Eleven years ago, she became one of the first Hasidic female lawyers in Brooklyn, and last November, she was elected as a judge to civil court, making her almost certainly the first female Hasidic elected official in the country. She has done so not by breaking the strict religious rules that govern ultra-Orthodox women’s lives, but by obeying them so scrupulously that there are limited grounds for objection. READ MORE

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#Intersectionality #JVP thinks Jewish institutions like #ADL “control how the police racially profile people of color in the U.S.”

THE FORWARD
I’m A Latina Who Works For The ADL. JVP’s Attacks Shocked Me
by Betsaida Alcantara
November 20, 2017

For months now, the far-left anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) has been targeting our exchange program with Israel with a campaign called “Deadly Exchange”… In my time at ADL, I’ve been especially surprised at JVP’s ignorance, dangerous dogmatism and blind efforts at intersectional cause-making. In their campaign against our program — a program that is designed to save lives — JVP makes the case that American Jewish institutions are responsible for rising levels of police brutality and racism against minorities here in the United States, thanks to their support for these types of exchanges between American and Israeli law enforcement agencies. READ MORE

LEGAL INSURRECTION Linda Sarsour is only the 2nd Most Inappropriate speaker at New School antisemitism event: Under leadership of co-panelist Rebecca Vilkomerson, the anti-Israel “Jewish Voice for Peace” has become a leading enabler and instigator of antisemitism.

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