“We will not be able to be part of such a process if the new administration returns to that deal. We think that if the United States returns to the same accord that it already withdrew from, all its leverage will be lost,” Ambassador Gilad Erdan to Israel’s Army Radio. While the White House still insists that Iran must adhere to the deal before the U.S. will drop sanctions, it has been signaling its willingness to compromise with the regime, such as appointing left-wing Obama-era adviser Robert Malley as Iran envoy. Israel may be forced to pursue its own strategy, according to a report in Israel Hayom. (Breitbart, Feb. 16, 2021)
“In the end, the JCPOA failed and cannot accomplish what its original architects intended. But that doesn’t mean there’s no hope for diplomacy. Israel and its regional allies aren’t opposed to a new agreement. Washington and its European negotiating partners must look past the 2015 nuclear deal. The next deal must fully prevent Iran from maintaining a “civilian nuclear program” in underground facilities. It must also address all three elements of Iran’s illicit nuclear program: fissile materials, weaponization, and means of delivery.” – writes Jacob Nagel, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a visiting professor at the Technion Aerospace faculty. He previously served as acting national security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and as head of the National Security Council. He also notes that its too late to return to the JCPOA in its original form since Iran now has the know-how to make a bomb quickly. (Jerusalem Post, Feb. 11, 2021)
“This appointment is both risible and dangerous. Ilhan Omar’s long-standing hatred for Israel and contempt for Jews and for America make this a mockery of human rights advocacy. I have little doubt that she will abuse the framework of ‘human rights’ to further her campaign to demonize the Jewish State, as the UN Human Rights Council does on an annual basis. Rep. Omar should have been stripped of her committee assignments, rather than rewarded with a promotion.” — Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, the Coalition for Jewish Values’s (CJV) Israel regional vice president, one of 1500 Orthodox rabbis who called on Congress to rescind the appointment of Rep. Ilhan Omar, (D-MN), to vice chair of a House foreign affairs subcommittee based on her past anti-Semitic statements and behavior. (Post Millennial, Feb. 16, 2021)
“All the lawyers for former President Trump redeemed themselves. All three of them presented very, very effective rebuttals to the managers’ case. I think they should now sit down quickly and get a vote. I think they have won.” — Dershowitz to Newsmax co-hosts Bob Sellers and Alison Maloni. (Newsmax, Feb. 16, 2021)
“Trump attorney David Schoen has left the Senate to observe the Sabbath. At synagogue tomorrow, he will hear the reading from the Torah of: Mishpatim – Rules. Exodus 21:1-24:18 includes: ‘You shall not spread a false report. You shall not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness. You shall not fall in with the many to do evil, nor shall you bear witness in a lawsuit, siding with the many, so as to pervert justice,’ — Tapper tweeted, referring with the weekly bible reading in synagogues. Tapper, who is also Jewish, appeared to be mocking Schoen, insinuating that the lawyer was violating the Torah by representing the former president at the Senate impeachment trial. (WIN, Feb. 11, 2021)
“Well, you know, again, I think, we, there are ongoing processes and internal interagency processes, one that we, I think confirmed an interagency meeting just last week to discuss a range of issues in the Middle East where we’ve only been here three and a half weeks. And I think I’m going to let those policy processes see themselves through before we give kind of a complete lay down of what our national security approaches will be to a range of issues.” — White House press secretary Jen Psaki when asked during a press conference if “the administration still consider the Saudis and the Israelis important allies?” (Fox News, Feb. 12, 2021)
“He will never do what needs to be done, or what is right for our Country. Where necessary and appropriate, I will back primary rivals who espouse Making America Great Again and our policy of America First. We want brilliant, strong, thoughtful, and compassionate leadership,” – former President Donald Trump in a strongly-worded statement, criticizing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-Ky.) leadership. He said the Republican Party won’t be successful in the future with McConnell at the helm. (Epoch Times, Feb. 16, 2021)
“When I was younger, I wanted to write about history (historian), so I studied and got a PhD. -Then I wanted to be part of history as it happens (journalism). More recently, I wanted to make history (policy advice, analysis). Now I’m writing about the future (drone warfare),” – journalist Seth J. Frantzman tweets. (Twitter, Feb. 16, 2021)
94% DROP IN SYMPTOMATIC COVID CASES AMONG ISRAEL’S VACCINATED – STUDY (Jerusalem)
The Pfizer vaccine not only prevents infection but also reduces the risk of contracting a serious case of COVID-19, new data released Sunday by Clalit Health Services shows. The data, which was based on a study of 1,200,000 people – 600,000 who received the vaccine and 600,000 who did not – showed 94% fewer symptomatic coronavirus cases and 92% fewer cases of serious illness among those who were vaccinated. (Jerusalem Post, Feb. 16, 2021)
HAS ISRAEL JUST FOUND THE CURE FOR COVID? (Tel Aviv)
Two drugs developed in Israel show great promise in clinical trials: EXO-CD24 and Allocetra. EXO-CD24, an experimental inhaled medication developed at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, cured all 30 moderate-to-severe cases in a Phase I clinical trial. EXOCD24 stops the “cytokine storm” – where the immune system goes out of control and starts attacking healthy cells – that occurs in the lungs of 5-7% of Covid-19 patients. Meanwhile, Enlivex Therapeutics last week reported positive results from a multi-center Phase II clinical trial of its experimental Covid-19 immunotherapy drug Allocetra in severe and critical Covid-19 patients. Five Covid-19 intensive care patients were discharged from Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem after treatment with Allocetra. (United With Israel, Feb. 8, 2021)
BIDEN’S SILENCE TOWARD ISRAEL CRYSTALLIZES INTO ICY MESSAGE (Washington)
The United States is Israel’s closest ally, yet Biden continues to refuse to call its prime minister. Netanyahu dismissed any talk of a rift earlier this week, noting that he spoke with Biden during the transition and saying he expects to hear from the president once he works his way over to the Middle East after speaking to North American and European leaders. (WIN, Feb. 11, 2021)
HARRIS TAKES CUSTOMARY ROLE OF PRESIDENT BY CALLING SEVERAL HEADS OF STATE (Washington)
Vice President Kamala Harris has recently called multiple heads of state, a task that is normally done by the president. Harris spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday, the White House said. Harris shared a call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this month. The White House said it was her first call to a foreign leader as vice president. (Epoch Times, Feb. 16, 2021)
US TO REJOIN ANTI-ISRAEL UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL, EVEN AS IT ADMITS IT’S ‘FLAWED’ (Washington)
Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the U.S. was reversing a Trump administration decision and would rejoin the “flawed” UN Human Rights Council that is known for its anti-Israel bias. However, for now the U.S. will only “engage with the Council as an observer,” US Sect. of State Antony Blinken announced. (WIN, Feb. 8, 2021)
ISRAEL, RUSSIA HOLD SECRET TALKS ON HUMANITARIAN ISSUES IN SYRIA (Jerusalem, Moscow)
In recent days, there have been telephone conversations between Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, between Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu, and between Foreign Minister Ashkenazi and his Russian counterpart Lavrov. The “urgent” meetings were held via a video conference. A source familiar with the details stated that the meeting dealt with a “security” matter. (Arutz Sheva, Feb. 16, 2021)
ISRAELI COMMANDER SAYS HAMAS HAS AMASSED VAST ARSENAL (Gaza)
According to Israeli military estimates, Hamas has some 7,000 rockets, as well as 300 anti-tank and 100 anti-aircraft missiles, an Israeli commander said. It also has acquired dozens of unmanned aerial vehicles and has an army of some 30,000 militants, including 400 naval commandos who have received sophisticated training and equipment to carry out seaborne operations, the commander added. He spoke on condition of anonymity under military guidelines. The smaller Islamic Jihad group, which often acts independently of Hamas, boasts a similar arsenal, the commander said. That includes 6,000 rockets, dozens of drones and anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles, and some 400 naval forces. (AP, Feb. 11, 2021)
FAUCI AMONG SEVEN LAUREATES OF TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY PRIZE HONORING PUBLIC HEALTH (Tel Aviv)
The Dan David Prize announced that the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has been named a recipient of the award for 2021, along with fellow distinguished health and medical scholars and researchers, reflecting the global focus on the coronavirus crisis and the immense efforts the scientific community continues to undertake for the betterment of global health. Along with Fauci, who won the prize in the field of Public Health (Present category), this year’s laureates include health and medicine historians Professor Alison Bashford, Professor Katharine Park and Professor Keith Wailoo in the field of History of Health and Medicine (Past category); and the pioneers of anti-cancer immunotherapy Professor Zelig Eshhar, Professor Carl June and Dr. Steven Rosenberg in the field of Molecular Medicine (Future category). (Algemeiner, Feb. 16, 2021)
PROMINENT UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON SCHOLAR RESIGNS AFTER ACADEMIC BOARD REJECTS LEADING DEFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM: ‘YOU ARE ALL GOING TO HELL!’ (London)
Lars Fischer, a scholar of Hebrew and Jewish studies and editor of an academic journal on Jewish history, wrote in a Feb. th9 blog, “I have now become aware of the prominent role colleagues from Hebrew & Jewish Studies have played in spearheading the appalling assault on the IHRA definition currently being mounted at UCL…. To my former colleagues I say: You are all going to hell!” The prominent University College London (UCI) scholar resigned in disgust after the institution’s Academic Board demanded the administration rescind its adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of antisemitism. (Algemeiner, Feb. 15, 2021)
ROCKET FROM IRAN-BACKED MILITIA KILLS US CONTRACTOR, WOUNDS US SERVICE MEMBER IN IRAQ: Coalition (Iraq)
A rocket attack at a U.S.-led Coalition military base in Kurdish northern Iraq killed a civilian contractor and wounded six other people including a U.S. service member, the U.S. coalition in Iraq said. It was the deadliest attack to hit U.S.-led forces for almost a year in Iraq, where tensions have escalated between Iraqi and Kurdish allies of Coalition forces on one side and Iran-aligned militias on the other. (Epoch Times, Feb. 16, 2021)
70 PERCENT OF CANADIANS BLAME TRUDEAU FOR VACCINE DELAYS (Ottawa)
Sixty-nine percent of Canadians blame the Federal Government for the fact that the country is behind on vaccines, while only 14 percent blame the provincial governments. The poll findings are a blow to Trudeau, who recently said that his plan was working, according to a new Leger poll. While Trudeau shows optimism about his slow rollout, most Canadians do not think that they will be able to get a vaccine before the end of September. Only 10 percent of those polled say they are “very confident” in Trudeau Liberals’ ability to keep their promise of getting vaccines to all by September, with the remaining 34 percent “somewhat confident.” (Post Millennial, Feb. 16, 2021)
TRUDEAU REFUSES TO CALL CHINA’S TREATMENT OF UYGHURS A ‘GENOCIDE’ (Ottawa)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was not prepared to label the ongoing human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang province against the Uyghur people a genocide, saying the term needed to be “properly justified and demonstrated.” Trudeau’s hesitance, he says, was “so as not to weaken the application of genocide in situations in the past.” The prime minister, however, had previously used the term when discussing the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada, telling a crowd in 2019 that he accepted the report’s conclusions, “including that what happened amounts to genocide.” (Post Millennial, Feb. 16, 2021)
POLISH COURT REBUKES CANADIAN HOLOCAUST SCHOLAR FOR DEFAMING ALLEGED NAZI COLLABORATOR (Toronto)
A Polish court order that an eminent Canadian historian and his co-editor apologize for suggesting a man helped kill Jews during the Second World World has angered Jewish human rights activists in Canada and abroad. They say the ruling against Jan Grabowski and Barbara Engelking is part of an ongoing effort to obscure Polish complicity in the genocide of Jews during the Holocaust. Michael Levitt, head of Toronto-based Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies, called the ruling shocking and shameful. The group said it was reaching out to senior government leaders urging them to speak out against “Holocaust distortion in Poland.” At issue was a short passage in a 1,600-page book “Night Without End: The Fate of Jews in Selected Counties of Occupied Poland,” co-edited by Grabowski, a professor at the University of Ottawa, and Engelking, director of the Polish Center for Holocaust Research in Warsaw. (National Post, Feb. 9, 2021)
POLL: TRUMP REMAINS REPUBLICANS’ TOP PICK FOR 2024 BY OVERWHELMING MARGIN (Washington)
According to a Morning Consult/Politico poll conducted at the conclusion of the Senate’s weeklong trial, 54 percent of Republican voters said they would support Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential primary. Also on the list is Mike Pence (12%), Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. (6%), Nikki Haley (6%), Mitt Romney (4%), Ted Cruz (4%) and Marco Rubio (2%). (Post Millennial, Feb. 16, 2021)
PELOSI ANNOUNCES INDEPENDENT 9/11-STYLE COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE CAPITOL BREACH (Washington)
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) stated that Congress will establish an independent body like the 9/11 Commission to look at the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol. The statement comes after Trump was acquitted in the Senate after the House impeached him for allegedly inciting violence at the Capitol. (Epoch Times, Feb. 15, 2021)
FOR FURTHER REFERENCE
