Yom Hazikaron 2021:  ILTV Israel News, Youtube, Apr. 13, 2021 — Today we remember the contributions of Israel’s many service-members… while mourning the loss of the thousands who sacrificed everything in pursuit of our national safety, sovereignty and self-determination.

Opinion: The Sound That Commands Us To Remember:  IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi, World Israel News, Apr. 13, 2021 — The sirens blaring as Israel marks Yom Hazikaron — Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism — command that we distinguish this day from all others. Their wail is a cry for the loss and the pain, and a command to put aside anything that is not essential and focus solely on the duty to remember.

Isi Leibler, Courageous And Principled Jewish Leader, Passes Away At 86:  Greer Fay Cashman, Jerusalem Post, Apr. 13, 2021 — Some people are born leaders, some become leaders through force of circumstance, and some are leaders as a result of both natural abilities and situations that demand action and involvement. Isi Leibler, who passed away on April 13 at the age of 86, was one of the latter.

Europe’s Vax Disaster Shows Trump, UK’s Bojo Got Biggest COVID Challenge Right:  Betsy McCaughey, NYPost, Apr. 12, 2021

[President Trump and Prime Minister Johnson have both saved lives through rapid and decisive support for  the development of Covid-19 vaccines. Forty-seven per cent of U.K. residents and 36 percent of U.S. residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, compared to only 15 percent of the European Union’s population.]

 “Yet the enemies of both men have tried to rewrite history, with Biden going so far as to claim, “When I came into office, the prior administration had contracted for not nearly enough vaccine to cover adults in America. We rectified that.’

“Sorry, even the left-leaning Kaiser Health News rates that ‘mostly false.’ Without the contract giving the US first dibs on supply, America would have been left high and dry like the Europeans. Worse, the vaccines might never have been produced. Trump’s intervention made warp-speed vaccine development less risky for the companies doing it.

“That’s crucial because this is not the last pandemic. Trump’s Operation Warp Speed is a model to follow next time.”

After Capitol Riot, Pentagon Announces New Efforts to Weed Out Extremism Among Troops:  John Ismay and Helene Cooper, NY Times, Apr. 13, 2021

On Pentagon’s 60-day “stand-down” “to address extremism in the military.”

“The latest “stand-down” was ordered up by the first Black defense secretary, to remind the nation’s military personnel that the oath they took to support and defend the Constitution means that they cannot storm the Capitol to stop lawmakers from certifying election results they do not like [and] to better prepare service members leaving the military to re-enter civilian life…

“The Marine Corps released a video last month that some Black Marines, in private chats, characterized as seeming forced. [Senior officers,] both white men, urged Marines to pay attention to the “stand down”…But while the military is one of America’s most diverse institutions–some 43 percent of those on active duty are people of color–officials acknowledge that the view of white troops skew conservative.

On American bases around the world, televisions are often tuned to Fox News…since President Biden was sworn in, CNN and MSNBC have started showing up more….”

                           WEEKLY QUOTES

“In the Middle East, there is no threat more dangerous, serious and pressing than that posed by the fanatical regime in Iran.  Mr. Secretary, … we both agree that Iran must never possess nuclear weapons. My policy as prime minister of Israel is clear — I will never allow Iran to obtain the nuclear capability to carry out its genocidal goal of eliminating Israel.” – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin who was received in Israel by his host Defense Minister Benny Gantz  in the Kirya Headquarters in Tel Aviv. He is the first senior Biden administration official to visit Israel. (United With Israel, Apr. 12, 2021)

“Israel played a very bad gamble if it thought that the attack will weaken Iran’s hand in the nuclear talks.”  — Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif tweeted on Israel’s electrical attack on Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility. “If US wants to avert consequences of this foolish gamble, it must cease to consider economic terrorism perpetrated by Trump or recent nuclear terrorism as negotiating leverage & remove all sanctions imposed, re-imposed or relabeled since the adoption of the JCPOA [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.]” (World Israel News, Apr. 13, 2021)

Fereydoun Abbasi, head of the Iranian Parliament’s energy committee:  “The enemy’s plot was very beautiful … looking at it from a scientific point of view. They thought about this and used their experts and planned the explosion so both the central power and the emergency power cable would be damaged.”  (NY Times, Apr. 13, 2021)

The adoption of the Palestine resolution was the result of a “groundswell of support from the grassroots membership.” — Amy Kishek, one of the organizers of the resolution in a statement.  Geneviève Nevin, another organizer of the resolution, added that “the adoption of this policy today firmly positions the NDP as one of the few parties demanding the end of Canada’s support for illegal settlements and suspending the flow of weapons to and from Israel until Palestinians are free.” Canada’s National Democratic Party’s Palestine Resolution passed with 80% support, means the NDP’s official policy is now to oppose military trade with Israel, and all trade and economic cooperation with illegal settlements. The NDP is a social democratic federal party that falls to the left of the Liberal Party. A second resolution to reject the IHRA definition of antisemitism did not reach the floor. (Ricochet, Apr. 10, 2021)

“If it wasn’t for CNN, I don’t know if Trump wouldn’t have got voted out … Our focus was to get Trump out of office.  Without saying it, that’s what it was. … Trump was … his hand was shaking.  We brought in so many medical people.  They all tell a story that like, it was all speculation, that he was neurologically damaged. He’s losing it, that he’s unfit to, you know, whatever.  We (CNN) were creating a story there that we didn’t know anything about. I think that’s propaganda…. We were just taking shots off the bow just hoping something would hit.” – Charlie Chester, CNN Technical Director admitting that CNN misrepresented information regarding former President Trump to tilt the 2020 election against Trump and in favour of Joe Biden.  (Project Veritas, Apr. 13, 2021)

“Despite its implications to the contrary, CBS was not admonished … because it said something controversial … because it stood up to power, and … because it waded into the middle of a thorny partisan debate. It was admonished because it knowingly broadcast the lie that Governor DeSantis had used Publix to help distribute COVID-19 vaccines because of a wheel-greasing campaign donation, and because it had deliberately omitted an interview clip in which DeSantis not only explained why Publix played the role that it did, but made clear that stores other than Publix got the vaccine first.” – Senior writer Charles C. W. Cooke on the fact that CBS’s 60 Minutes discredited itself by intentionally broadcasting lies about Governor Ron DeSantis (Rep-Fl), and not acknowledging let alone apologizing for the lie. (National Review, Apr. 12, 2021)

“The most privileged CEOs of corporate America — those who sell us everything from soft drinks and sneakers to professional sports and social media — now jabber to America about its racism, sexism, and other assorted sins. … The woke revolution is not a grassroots movement. It is powered by a well-connected and guilt-ridden elite. Yet the religion of wokeness assumes that these high priests deserve exemptions. Their wealth, credentials, contacts, and power ensure that none are ever subject to the consequences of their own sermons.” – writer and classic scholar Victor Davis Hanson criticizing multimillionaires Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian, NBA stars, tenured professors, university presidents, and woke media personalities, as well as exceedingly wealthy political leaders such as Al Gore, Dianne Feinstein and Nancy Pelosi. (National Review, Apr. 8, 2021)

REMOTE-CONTROLLED BOMB CAUSED EXPLOSION AT NATANZ (Tehran)

A Sunday morning explosion at Natanz nuclear facility in Iran was caused by a remote-controlled bomb which was clandestinely smuggled into the site, an Israeli intelligence official revealed to Hebrew-language media.  The explosion brought down both the primary and backup electrical systems at the site, just a day after Iranian officials bragged about inaugurating new centrifuges at the site for advanced uranium enrichment. (World Israel News, Apr. 13, 2021)

60% URANIUM: IRAN BEGINS ENRICHING TO HIGHEST LEVEL EVER (Tehran)

Iran will begin enriching uranium to 60% purity, higher than the program ever has before though still short of weapons grade, after an attack on its Natanz nuclear facility. The announcement marks a significant escalation after the sabotage, suspected of having been carried out by Israel. It could result in further action by Israel, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed never to allow Tehran to obtain a nuclear weapon, and further raise tensions across the Mideast. (World Israel News, Apr. 13, 2021)

IDF HAS HERD IMMUNITY (Jerusalem)

Israel Defense Forces was the first army in the world to vaccinate over 80% of its personnel. The whole operation was conducted with military precision in just 10 weeks without wasting a single vial. Currently, no IDF member has died from Covid-19 and only one had a serious infection. (United With Israel, Apr. 9, 2021)

BORIS JOHNSON AFFIRMS BRITISH OPPOSITION TO ICC INVESTIGATION OF ISRAEL, WARNS OF ‘PARTIAL AND PREJUDICIAL ATTACK’ (London)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed that the United Kingdom opposes the International Criminal Court investigation into alleged war crimes by Israel.  Johnson referred to previous letters sent by CFI (Conservative Friends of Israel) urging the prime minister to condemn the opening of the ICC investigation, announced by the court on March 3 in a decision opposed by Israel, the United States, and other allied nations.  He called the ICC investigation a “partial and prejudicial attack on a friend and ally of the UK.”(Algemeiner, Apr. 13, 2021)

CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK’S STUDENT SENATE VOTES NOT TO ADOPT IHRA DEFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM: ‘DEVASTATING TO JEWISH STUDENTS’ (NYC)

The City University of NY’s student senate voted down a resolution to adopt the IHRA’s Working Definition of Antisemitism, in a process described as “devastating to Jewish students” by a campus Jewish community leader. The University Student Senate (USS) of CUNY voted on two separate resolutions: one calling for the adoption of the IHRA definition, and the other offering a separate definition put forward by the Jewish Law Students Association (JLSA), which would exclude anti-Zionist speech or activity from being considered antisemitic. The JLSA resolution, in contrast, claimed that labeling anti-Zionist and anti-Israel speech and activity as “inherently” antisemitic is a form of “anti-Palestinian racism,” that antisemitism “is not an exceptional form of bigotry,” and accused those opposed to antisemitism of “privileging” one group over another. (Algemeiner, Apr. 13, 2021)

US LAWMAKERS REINTRODUCE BILL TO ADDRESS HATE, VIOLENCE IN PALESTINIAN SCHOOLS (Washington)

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers has reintroduced a bill to require the U.S. State Department to address hate and violence in the Palestinian school curriculum. The measure—the Peace and Tolerance in Palestinian Education Act (H.R. 2374)—was introduced by Reps. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), David Trone (D-Md.) and Brian Mast (R-Fla.). It calls on the State Department to take several steps to monitor the Palestinian Authority educational curriculum, such as: A determination of whether content and passages encouraging violence or intolerance towards other nations or ethnic groups have been removed from such curriculum, and other measures.  (JNS, Apr.6, 2021)

1500 RABBIS WARN BIDEN ADMINISTRATION IS FUNDING TERRORISM (Washington)

The Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV) condemned the decision of the Biden administration to renew funding to both the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Neither the PA nor UNRWA has implemented any of the reforms demanded by humanitarian groups and the Taylor Force Act, which was signed into law in 2018, the group noted. The Taylor Force Act was named for 28-year-old American tourist Taylor Force, who was stabbed to death by a Palestinian terrorist in Tel Aviv in March 2016. (United With Israel, Apr. 9, 2021)

REFORMERS LAUNCH GROUP AIMED AT CHALLENGING MUSLIM ANTI-SEMITISM (Toronto)

Anti-Semitism has become “a pandemic raging for many years” among many Muslims, said interfaith activist Soraya Deen. “Unfortunately, though, we have no vaccine that can cure it.” Deen joined a group of reformist Muslims Wednesday – the eve of Yom HaShoah – to announce their best effort to develop that cure. In a webinar launching the Council of Muslims Against Anti-Semitism (CMAA), author Raheel Raza announced that the organization will be guided by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-Semitism. The definition already appears on the CMAA website and the group’s members seem to see it as a key in curtailing anti-Jewish hate among Muslims. (IPT, Apr. 8, 2021)

Watch:  A Muslim Call to Action Against Global Antisemitism

U.S. TO TEMPORARILY HALT USE OF JOHNSON & JOHNSON VACCINES OVER RARE CLOTTING ISSUE (Washington)

Almost seven million Americans have received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is administered in a single dose. Six recipients, all of them women between ages 18 and 48, developed an extremely rare clotting disorder, known as cerebral venous thrombosis. The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will temporarily halt distribution of the vaccine at federal vaccination sites while an investigation is conducted into a possible link between the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the clotting disorder.  (National Review, Apr. 13, 2021)

OVER 50 PERCENT OF CANADIANS WANT PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU GONE: POLL (Ottawa)

A fresh poll, conducted by Ipsos, shows that 56 percent of those surveyed think that it is “time for a new party to take over” government. This news follows Campaign Research’s earlier poll that showed a Conservative surge in Ontario. This showed the Conservative Party leading in multiple regions like Eastern Ontario, Northern Ontario, and the Hamilton-Niagara area. The CPC is also on top in Conservative Party leader Eric O’Toole’s home region of Durham. Trudeau’s Liberals, on the other hand, are on top in Ottawa and Toronto. (Post Millennial, Apr. 12, 2021)