“To prevent the next Operation Protective Edge, the State of Israel must adhere to two principles: The first is zero tolerance for terrorism, zero containment of shootings or attacks against Israelis. Those who come to kill us, we will rise up and kill them first. The second principle is that we need to make the civilian population in Gaza realize that they can live a different life. To pressure Hamas to stop shooting at Israel. … For a long time, the only two options on the table were occupying Gaza or endless rounds of fighting. Our job is to find better solutions.” – Israeli PM Yair Lapid at Mt. Herzl in Jerusalem during the state memorial ceremony for those who fell in Operation Protective Edge. (Israel National News, July 10, 2022)
“ … After my predecessor reneged on a nuclear deal that was working, Iran had passed a law mandating the rapid acceleration of its nuclear program. Then, when the last administration sought to condemn Iran for this action in the U.N. Security Council, the United States found itself isolated and alone ….In Israel, we helped end a war in Gaza — which could easily have lasted months — in just 11 days. … We also rebuilt U.S. ties with the Palestinians. Working with Congress, my administration restored approximately $500 million in support for Palestinians, while also passing the largest support package for Israel — over $4 billion — in history. … In Saudi Arabia, we reversed the blank-check policy we inherited. I released the intelligence community’s report on the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, issued new sanctions, including on the Saudi Arabia’s Rapid Intervention Force involved in his killing, and issued 76 visa bans under a new rule barring entry into the United States for anyone found to be involved in harassing dissidents abroad. From the start, my aim was to reorient — but not rupture — relations with a country that’s been a strategic partner for 80 years. …. I know that there are many who disagree with my decision to travel to Saudi Arabia. My views on human rights are clear and long-standing, and fundamental freedoms are always on the agenda when I travel abroad, as they will be during this trip, just as they will be in Israel and the West Bank. As president, it is my job to keep our country strong and secure. We have to counter Russia’s aggression, put ourselves in the best possible position to outcompete China, and work for greater stability in a consequential region of the world. To do these things, we have to engage directly with countries that can impact those outcomes. Saudi Arabia is one of them … On Friday, I will also be the first president to fly from Israel to Jiddah, Saudi Arabia. That travel will also be a small symbol of the budding relations and steps toward normalization between Israel and the Arab world, which my administration is working to deepen and expand. In Jiddah, leaders from across the region will gather, pointing to the possibility of a more stable and integrated Middle East, with the United States playing a vital leadership role. … Still, compared to 18 months ago, the region is less pressurized and more integrated. Former rivals have reestablished relations. Joint infrastructure projects are forging new partnerships. Iraq, which had long been a source of proxy conflicts and regional rivalries, now serves as a platform for diplomacy, including between Saudi Arabia and Iran.” — US President Joe Biden explaining why he was going to Saudi Arabia, a move that his progressive base criticizes. The president lands in Israel today. (Washington Post, July 9, 2022)
“This award makes no sense. A ‘true friend of Israel’ and fighter against antisemitism would not pursue the numerous policies undermining Israel’s sovereignty and security that President Biden and his administration are pursuing, including 100’s of millions of U.S. tax dollars financially aiding and abetting Palestinian Arab terror against Jews.” — Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton A. Klein in a statement. He objects to Israel’s decision to present U.S. President Joe Biden its Presidential Medal of Honor during his visit to the country. (WIN, July 12, 2022)
“We’ve got to take this stuff seriously, as seriously as you are because you have been forced to take this seriously. The whole nation should understand and have a level of empathy to understand that this could happen anywhere [to] any people in any community. And we should stand together and speak out about why it’s got to stop.” – US VP Kamala Harris speaking at the site of the Highland Park, Ill. July 4th shooting. Critics term the remarks, “a joke,” “a word Salad,” the “product of first-generation artificial-intelligence software,” and “meaning absolutely nothing.” (NY Post, July 6, 2022)
“We made incredible progress on the economy from where we were a year and a half ago”— President Biden, in a speech in Ohio, as inflation stands at 8.6%., recession looms, and 88% of those polled believe the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction. (Washington Times, July 6, 2022)
“Nearly 600,000 Covid deaths have occurred on Mr. Biden’s watch despite vaccines and better treatments—about 10,000 more than under Donald Trump. One lesson is the importance of diverse opinions. The Biden administration paid too much heed to experts such as Dr. Fauci and ignored those who argued against placing all its eggs in the vaccine basket. Another lesson is that science evolves, and there is no shame in admitting error. Most scientists were wrong about what it would take to achieve herd immunity…” political columnist Allysia Finley. (WSJ, July 7, 2022)
“[Millennials] immersed in social media that have “contracted their horizon to themselves, to the social scene around them,” unable to “think beyond the clique and the schoolyard,” they pay the severe “opportunity costs of digital diversions” — “mind-maturing activities” forgone, such as learning a language, mastering a musical instrument, following the real politics of governance. Books are the best “reprieve from the bombardment” of the digital age, but the bombardment makes young people “bibliophobes,” drawing them into “the maelstrom of youth amusements.” – columnist George F. Will quoting Mark Bauerlein, Emory University professor of English from his book written 14 years ago, “The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30)” (Washington Post, July 8, 2022)
“I’ve been called the most vile, hateful things, accused of inciting violence and spreading hate myself, all for sharing videos freely posted to Tik Tok by progressive leftists who are proud of their words and actions. It’s a simple concept: Use their own words and actions to expose them. It works because this is the first time these people, who are living out their fantasies in their intolerant, liberal bubbles, have had to face reality. Under the account Libs of TikTok, I just repost what they’ve already posted themselves. It’s like holding up a mirror. And it infuriates them. I just repost public posts and share them with the normal people who work for a living, who don’t have time to imagine themselves as a rainbow gender unicorn puking up glitter sprinkles. The Tik Tok posters state the way they want others to treat them yet are entirely unaware of how badly they treat people themselves. Many of the teachers featured are self-centered narcissists who get their validation for their sexuality from their 8-year-old students. Other TikTokers demand we adhere to their new set of pronouns, or else. We are constantly being told in a demeaning way, to change our language, feelings, and thoughts. What I have done is burst the bubble, expose the echo-chamber fantasy, and for this I have been vilified, insulted, and called hateful. It’s not hateful to show the truth. It’s not vile to shine a light on the dangerous delusions that have taken over our cultural space.” – Libs of TikTok founder Chaya Raichik after she was doxed by the Washington Post. (Human Events, July 6, 2022)
“…. From my experience, this price increase in fuel costs is a reminder of why climate action is so important, and why as a country we have to work even harder and move even faster towards a green economy. It’s an insurance policy against high energy prices.” – Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland dismissing critics who called her callous and out of touch. Statistics Canada reported that inflation hit 7.7 percent in May, the fastest pace since January 1983. Soaring gas prices — which were 48 per cent higher in May compared to a year earlier — were a major factor. (Kamloops Now, July 7, 2022)
“You (Mr.) Lafrenière [the prosecutor], did not present an expert opinion. The Crown is asking a lot. You are making arguments that have not been put into evidence … I am not convinced that doing what you are asking me to do does not prejudice the accused. It would have been easy to prove that the Daily Stormer was a far-right site. It would have been easy to bring a historian to prove that Nazism was behind the extermination of the Jews.”– Quebec Judge Manlio Del Negro in the trial of Gabriel Sohier Chaput, 35, a Montreal man accused of fomenting hatred against Jews through a 2017 article he wrote on the neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer. The judge argues that the prosecutor failed to establish that the murder of Jews by the regime of Adolf Hitler was a consequence of Nazi ideology. The two sides agreed to return to court on Aug. 29 to fix a date for a debate as to whether it is common knowledge that the Daily Stormer is a far-right website and that Nazism did indeed lead to the Holocaust. (Global News, July 8, 2022)
BIDEN TO SKIP TRADITIONAL MEET-AND-GREET, HANDSHAKING WITH ISRAELI OFFICIALS ON TARMAC (Jerusalem) — President Joe Biden will not greet or shake hands with more than a handful of Israeli officials on the tarmac after landing in Israel today, in a major departure from the standard procedure for visiting dignitaries. Only Prime Minister Yair Lapid and President Isaac Herzog are expected to greet Biden. Alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett may also give a brief speech at the event. The reasons given are “scheduling pressure, COVID, and the hot weather.” (WIN, July 12, 2022)
POLL: GANTZ-SA’AR COMBINE FOR 14 SEATS, YAMINA OUT (Jerusalem) — A new poll conducted by Dudi Hassid and published by Kan News shows that if elections were held today, the Likud would win 34 seats; Yesh Atid: 23 seats, the new joint list of the Blue and White and New Hope parties: 14 seats; The Religious Zionism party: 10 seats. The Shas: eight; United Torah Judaism: seven seats; The Joint Arab List: six;, Yisrael Beyteinu and Labor: five each, and Meretz and Ra’am four seats each. The Yamina party would receive just 1.9% of the vote and fail to secure any seats in the 25th Knesset. The Netanyahu bloc would receive 59 seats, two short of the 61 needed to form a majority coalition. (Israel National News, July 12, 2022)
MAJOR ISRAELI STUDY: COVID DEATH RATE AMONG ELDERLY SLASHED BY 72% AFTER 4TH VACCINE (Jerusalem) –Fourth COVID-19 vaccine shots have provided a 72 percent reduction in death rates among the most vulnerable Israelis, according to a large Israeli study conducted by Tel Aviv University, Ben Gurion University, and the Health Ministry. The fourth shot of Pfizer’s vaccine slashed the chance of hospitalization for COVID by over 60% and delivered a 34% reduction in chances of infection. (The Times of Israel, July 10, 2022)
IN A BLOW TO ISRAEL’S RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT, ISRAELI COURT RULES THAT ONLINE MARRIAGES MUST BE HONORED (Jerusalem) — A district court in Lod ruled that Israel’s Interior Ministry is required to recognize the marriages of couples who use a virtual wedding service provided by Utah County in Utah. If the decision stands, it would mean that couples who do not want to or cannot have an Orthodox Jewish wedding could get the benefits of marriage without leaving Israel, as they are currently required to do. Jewish marriage in Israel has long been controlled by the Orthodox establishment, which has frustrated non-Orthodox Israelis and those who convert to Judaism outside of Orthodoxy. (JTA, July 11, 2022)
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ACCUSES RUSSIA OF ANTISEMITISM AND EXPLOITING JEWISH SUFFERING (Washington) — In hard-hitting language, the Biden administration accused the Russian government of antisemitism and of exploiting Jewish suffering through its claims that its war against Ukraine is a “denazification” operation. It is timed ahead of an informal session Monday afternoon of the United Nations Security Council that Russia called to bolster its denazification claim. (JTA, July 11, 2022)
CANADIAN ARMY AIDS ILLEGAL PALESTINIAN LAND-GRAB: WATCHDOG(Ottawa) — Regavim, a non-governmental organization that combats the illegal takeover of state lands, documented Canadian military personnel in uniform patrolling the South Hebron Hills in Area C. This patrol included a meeting with Palestinians at an illegally-built Palestinian structure on land belonging to Maon, a Jewish area near Hebron. Under the terms of the Oslo agreement, most Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are located in areas of Judea and Samaria designated as Area C. Area C includes more than 100 Jewish settlements with an estimated population of more than 400,000. It also includes Arab villages, IDF bases, and uninhabited areas. (United With Israel, July 10, 2022)
MOST DEMOCRATS DON’T WANT BIDEN IN 2024, NEW POLL SHOWS (Washington) — 64 percent of Democratic voters said they would prefer a new standard-bearer in the 2024 presidential campaign, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll. Voters nationwide have soured on President Biden’s leadership, giving him a meager 33 percent job-approval rating. Widespread concerns about the economy and inflation have helped turn the national mood decidedly dark, both on Mr. Biden and the trajectory of the nation. (NY Times, July 11, 2022)
HALF OF G.O.P. VOTERS READY TO LEAVE TRUMP BEHIND, POLL FINDS(Washington) — As Donald J. Trump weighs whether to open an unusually early White House campaign, a New York Times/Siena College poll shows that his post-presidential quest to consolidate his support within the Republican Party has instead left him weakened, with nearly half the party’s primary voters seeking someone different for president in 2024 and a significant number vowing to abandon him if he wins the nomination. A clear majority of primary voters under 35 years old, 64 percent, as well as 65 percent of those with at least a college degree — a leading indicator of political preferences inside the donor class —, would vote against Mr. Trump in a presidential primary. (NY Times, July 12, 2022)
HOLLYWOOD LEGEND WHO LOVED ISRAEL PASSES AT 82 (LA) — James Caan, the Jewish Hollywood star and supporter of Israel died at the age of 82. He is best remembered for playing a mafia prince in the critically acclaimed 1972 movie, “The Godfather.” Caan’s love of Israel came to the fore during a 2016 visit as a guest of Hebrew University and the Albert Einstein Foundation. (United With Israel, July 10, 2022)
FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN AMASSES ALMOST $3 MILLION FOR JEWISH TODDLER ORPHANED AFTER PARENTS KILLED IN ILLINOIS SHOOTING(Portland) — A GoFundMe campaign organized to help support an orphaned Jewish toddler whose parents were both killed in the mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, Illinois has raised nearly $3 million. Irina McCarthy, 35 — a Jewish immigrant from Russia who moved to the Chicago area with her parents — and Kevin McCarthy, 37, were both killed while attending the parade with their 2-year-old son Aiden McCarthy. (Algemeiner, July 7, 2022)
IRAN ENRICHES TO 20% WITH NEW CENTRIFUGES AT FORTIFIED SITE(Tehran) — Iran announced that it has begun enriching uranium up to 20% purity using sophisticated centrifuges at its underground Fordo nuclear plant, an escalation that comes amid a standoff with the West over its tattered atomic deal. 20% purity is a technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90%. (AP, July 10, 2022)
“U.N. ATOMIC CHIEF WARNS OF GROWING NUCLEAR THREATS” (Vienna)—Rafael Grossi, head of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, said recently” we are reaching a defining moment for global nuclear non-proliferation”, in which the risks of the spread of nuclear weapons “pose a problem for everyone”. Grossi pointed to Iranian weapons research and the threat of Russian bombardments to Ukrainian nuclear power plants (including a fire at the Zaporizhzhia installation). (WSJ, July 5, 2022)
THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL FAILS CHILDREN IN SYRIA BY ONLY RENEWING CROSS BORDER AID ROUTE FOR SIX MONTHS (NYC) — The United Nations Security Council voted to reauthorise the Bab al-Hawa crossing for six months. This crossing is currently the only effective route for aid into North West Syria. The decision left UN agencies and humanitarian actors with limited options to reach more than four million people in North West Syria – most of whom are women and children – depending on humanitarian aid to survive. (Relief Web, July 12, 2022
LAWMAKERS AIM TO CUT OFF FUNDING FOR WORK AT LAB LINKED TO COVID (Washington) –-An amendment banning funding for suspect virus research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology has been approved by a House appropriations panel. The fiscal 2023 bill for the State Department restricts any spending in China by the New York-based EcoHealth Alliance—its President, Peter Daszak, is an associate of Dr. Anthony Fauci–which worked on COVID-related” gain of function” bat-virus research in Wuhan. Bill Gertz (Daily Journal, July 7, 2022)
COAL MAKES A COMEBACK AS ENERGY NEEDS GROW (NYC)—The global demand for coal, now in short supply after a decade of declining production, has driven benchmark prices to new records. Led by China and India, but including Great Britain, Germany, the U.S., and other countries, increasing coal production threatens to set back international efforts to keep the rise of global temperatures under 2 degrees Celsius by the end of the century. (WSJ, July 4, 2022)
DEATH TOLL FROM RUSSIAN ROCKET STRIKE ON UKRAINIAN APARTMENT BLOCK RISES TO AT LEAST 24—Civilian deaths from Russian rocket and artillery bombardments in the Donetsk region are rising. (National Post, July 11, 2022).
NASA Shares First Images from James Webb Space Telescope: Michael Roston, NY Times, July 12, 2022 — On Tuesday, NASA rolled out a series of unforgettable scenes of the cosmos captured by the largest space observatory ever built.
