MEDIA-OCRITIES
It’s Mayday for the Jewish People: Ronald S. Lauder, World Jewish Congress, July 25, 2023
The following message by WJC President Ronald S. Lauder has been published today in The New York Times and will also appear this week in other major U.S. and Israeli publications:
“We, the Jews of the diaspora, usually refrain from meddling in Israeli politics. We love Israel and we are committed to Israel. But we are always cautious to respect sovereignty.
But today, Israel’s future hangs in the balance. The Jewish people’s one-and-only state is facing imminent existential danger. A combination of unprecedented external and internal threats has brought Israel to the brink.
The external threat has three dimensions. Over the last year, Iran has amassed enough nuclear material for several nuclear weapons, according to the United Nations, and soon could pose a direct threat to Israel’s security. Hezbollah is turning into one of the most dangerous and powerful terrorist organizations in the world. It has acquired the capability to attack Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The Palestinian Authority’s legitimacy is being undermined by Hamas and other radical forces. Consequently, the West Bank is heading toward chaos and violence. …
“Everybody has an opinion on Israel. They don’t have an opinion on the riots in France or the protests there or the debates that happen inside other countries. You have a major debate between the Supreme Court and the executive right now in America, and I really don’t care to comment about it. But if people choose to comment about ours. It’s OK. We’ll make our own decisions. In solid states, sovereign democracies, the elected representatives of the people make the decisions, and that is how it is going to be in Israel.” – PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Fox’s Life, Liberty and Levin. (WIN, July 31, 2023)
“The Supreme Court has no authority to intervene in Basic Laws. I am sorry to disappoint you, High Court judges; you are definitely not above the law. A ruling without authority is void … therefore, I will not respect an intervention in Basic Laws.” — Likud MK Tally Gotliv on Twitter. She responded to a High Court decision in September to strike down the Law to Cancel the Reasonableness Standard that passed into law last week. (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 1, 2023)
“… there is no ‘right of return’ for Palestinians. You all know this. The demand of returning millions of descendants of refugees is a demand to obliterate the Jewish people’s right to self-determination, and this will never happen.” — Israeli UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan at a UN Security Council meeting. (United With Israel, July 31, 2023)
“Impeach Biden for the crimes! Impeach Garland for the cover-up”— Rep. Jim Banks (R.-Indiana).
“An impeachment inquiry allows a lot more detail to come to Congress, it certainly forces stronger subpoenas and it has to be on the table. . .The American people need to understand and know if the president is compromised by foreign agents.” — Rep. Nick Langworthy (R.-NY).
“Under the Trump hearings, there were accusations made that were never proven. Under the Biden investigations, we have so much. . .materials [sic] to prove the allegations were correct”— Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R.-Texas).
“I’m not going to get into hypotheticals. They — [Republicans] can do whatever they wish to do, but we are going to stay steady and stay steadfast” — White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, commenting on the increasing calls for an impeachment inquiry.
“McCarthy vows Biden impeachment inquiry wouldn’t be political.” — Kerry Picket —calls for an inquiry increased after two IRS whistleblowers provided convincing testimony calling into question the IRS’ s investigation of Hunter Biden’s corruption case, and by Rep. Senator Charles E. Grassley’ releasing of a formerly confidential FBI special paid informer’s confirmation that Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter to “protect us through his dad”.) (Washington Times, July 25, 2023)
“. . .throughout academia, the DEI machine has become a well-funded behemoth whose sole purpose is to identify, track and shut down dissenting voices. These departments often implement what is known as bias repeating systems, which chill speech through intimidation, encouraging students to anonymously report their peers for alleged infractions.” – Executive Director Speech First Cherise Trump. Speech First is a non-profit that protects students’ free speech rights. (Washington Times, July 26, 2023)
“[Xi praised] the splendid strategic [vision] of Kissinger’s role in recognizing China in July, 1971, adding] we’ll never forget our old friend. . . I hope you and other insightful Americans will continue to play a constructive role in bringing U.S.-China relations back on the right track”. Kissinger, now 100 years old, was in Beijing on his own recognizance and not representing the Biden Administration, was received warmly by Xi and other high Chinese officials (including Li Shangfu, China’s Defence minister, who a month earlier bluntly declined a meeting in Shanghai with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin).” — Joyu Wang. (WSJ, July 20, 2023)
“[China has a ten-year plan to rewrite the Bible, the Quran and other religious texts to conform to communist dogma]. ’Scholars’. . .are refashioning the Old and New Testaments into communist-friendly versions that will reflect the theology of Mao Zedong and Mr. XI rather than the Holy Spirit of God. . . . [E.g.], In John’s Gospel, Jesus says of the adulterous woman, ‘He who is without sin cast the first stone,’ and tells the woman to ‘go and sin no more.” In the new, improved version, Jesus stones her to death himself.” — Robert Knight. (Washington Times, July 29, 2023)
“Smugglers demand higher pay with lower numbers at border—as more immigrants cross at established border crossings and numbers fall at illegal areas, the prices extorted by the cartels aiding their journeys have risen–$17,000. for a family from Guatemala, $12,000. from Mexico to Arizona; $42,000. to be delivered from China to Los Angeles, from Mexico to Laredo, Texas has risen from $7,400. To $9,500. . .” — Stephen Dinan. Although he claims credit for shifting the illegals’ pattern from earlier improvised crossings to official ports of entry, Alejandro Mayorkas, Homeland Security chief, refused to comment on whether the cartels are now making even more money than before. Indeed, Ronald Vitiello, former head of the Border Patrol, said, “this Administration has been a windfall for them—the cartels are now making more money from human smuggling than from drug trafficking” (Washington Times, July 30, 2023)
“The FISA Court judge revealed that the FBI [illegally] spied on 278,000 Americans in 2022, including—all unnamed—a U.S. Senator, a state senator and a state judge. These revelations. . were buried on the back pages of weekend newspapers and never made it to a national debate. The story was not even featured prominently on major websites.” — Andrew P. Napolitano. (Creators, July 27, 2023)
*Hot enough for you? Thank a MAGA Republican.” — Hillary Clinton@Hillary Clinton. (Twitter, July 21, 2023)
SHORT TAKES
IDF PREPARING FOR POSSIBLE CLASHES WITH HEZBOLLAH (Jerusalem) — Defense Minister Yoav Gallant recently pre-approved several options for IDF action against Hezbollah and raised the alert level along the entire northern border. [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah recently made speeches claiming that Israel is disintegrating from within due to the split in the nation over judicial reform, including within Israel’s armed forces, in his assessment of his enemy’s weakness. Gallant’s moves come in the wake of several cross-border provocations initiated by Hezbollah over the last several weeks. (WIN, July 30, 2023)
GALLANT SAYS IDF READY FOR WAR, WARNS AGAINST COLLAPSE OF COHESION (Jerusalem)–The Knesset’s Foreign and Defense Affairs Committee, chaired by MK Yuli Edelstein, met with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday, July 31, 2023 Gallant told the Committee in a special closed session at military headquarters that the IDF is still war-ready, but that continued quitting by reservists en masse protesting government policy could erode that readiness in the medium term, (Jerusalem Post, July 31, 2023)
ALL 15 SUPREME COURT JUSTICES TO HEAR PETITION ON REASONABLENESS STANDARD (Jerusalem) — All 15 justices on the Supreme Court will participate in the September 12 panel, which will hear and discuss the petition against the Reasonable Standard law that was passed last week. The legislation is an amendment to the Basic Law: The Judiciary limits the Supreme Court’s ability to declare actions taken by the government “unreasonable.” A decision by the Supreme Court to strike down an amendment to a Basic Law would be unprecedented and confer on the court even greater power, as Basic Laws have quasi-constitutional status beyond normal laws. (Israel National News, July 31, 2023)
BIDEN SAYS ISRAEL-SAUDI NORMALIZATION ‘MAYBE UNDER WAY’(Washington) — U.S. President Joe Biden said that a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia could be coming. “There’s a rapprochement maybe under way,” Biden told 2024 reelection campaign contributors at an event in Freeport, Maine. He did not provide any details, but the comments came as Biden dispatched U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan to Saudi Arabia to discuss the possibility of the kingdom joining the Abraham Accords. (United With Israel, July 30, 2023)
MOSSAD CHIEF SECRETLY VISITED DC TO DISCUSS SAUDI DEAL(Washington) — The head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency David Barnea secretly met with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan at the White House ahead of the latter’s July 27 visit to Jeddah to discuss with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) and senior Saudi officials the possibility of the kingdom joining the Abraham Accords. Barnea also sat down with Middle East envoy Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein, special presidential coordinator for global infrastructure and energy security, who both joined Sullivan on the recent trip to Saudi Arabia, according to the report, which sourced two U.S. officials. (WIN, July 31, 2023)
‘HUGE REVOLUTION’: NETANYAHU’S PLAN FOR HIGH-SPEED RAIL THAT CAN REACH SAUDI ARABIA (Jerusalem) — At the weekly Israeli cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed plans for a transportation “revolution” in Israel. “Today, we are launching the ‘One Israel’ project – to link the entire country with a fast railway from Kiryat Shemona to Eilat,” Netanyahu announced. “This project is underway with a NIS 100 billion multi-year budget. My vision is that every citizen in the country will be able to go to and from the center of the country, from anywhere in the state, in less than two hours.” (United With Israel, July 30, 2023)
GOLDA MEIR CONSIDERED PALESTINIAN STATEHOOD, DECLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS REVEAL (Jerusalem) — Former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir acknowledged the possibility of future Palestinian statehood in 1970 – three years after the Six-Day War – according to recently-declassified protocols published by Haaretz on Monday. Meir, who famously said “There was no such thing as Palestinians” in 1969, apparently viewed the possibility of a future Palestinian state as likely to materialize. “It will be necessary to leave the Arabs of Judea and Samaria an option to earn self-determination at a later stage, if and when it suits us,” Meir said at the start of the meeting. “In other words, there will be another country (next to Israel),” she declared. (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 1, 2023)
70% OF SECULAR JEWS IN THE US, 50% IN EUROPE MARRIED TO NON-JEWS (Washington) — A dramatic new report by the Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) has delved into the world of Jewish intermarriage rates, shedding light on a key concern among Jewish leaders and policymakers worldwide. The report, titled “Intermarriage of Jews and non-Jews: the global situation and its meaning,” examines intermarriage prevalence across countries covering over 95% of the global Jewish population. Moreover, it contextualizes the data with Jewish fertility rates to gauge the threat of intermarriage to Jewish community sustainability around the globe. Dr. Daniel Staetsky, Senior Research Fellow and Director of JPR’s European Demography Unit, authored the comprehensive report, bringing to the forefront some compelling insights about intermarriage in Jewish communities. Among the key findings are: Global intermarriage prevalence: The report reveals that the overall prevalence of intermarriage stands at 26% worldwide. However, a stark distinction emerges between Israel, where intermarriage is relatively low at 5%, and the Jewish Diaspora, where it reaches 42%. (Jerusalem Post, Aug. 1, 2023)
TARGETING IRAN’S LEADERSHIP, MAHSA ACT INTRODUCED AT US SENATE (Washington) — The bipartisan Mahsa Amini Human Rights and Security Accountability (MAHSA) Act has been submitted to the US Senate, seeking more sanctions on Iranian leadership. Following a unanimous approval at US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee in April, Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Alex Padilla (D-CA) introduced the bipartisan legislation to the Senate on Thursday, potentially tightening the noose on top leaders of the regime — the Supreme Leader and the President as well as their inner circles – over human rights abuses and support for terrorism. (Iran Intn, July 28, 2023)
MYSTERY DEEPENDS ON SUSPENDED SECURITY CLEARANCE (Washington)—The Biden Administration won’t tell lawmakers why Robert Malley, the State Department’s envy to Iran and a long time pro-Arab State Department figure, had his security clearance suspended earlier this year—the timeline of Iran envoy’s leave adds to speculation of leaked U.S. secrets. (Washington Times, July 29, 2023)
ELDERLY VIRGINIA MAN IMPRISONED FOR CONSPIRING WITH IRAN (Virginia) — 72-year-old Virginia resident Behrouz Mokhtari was sentenced to 41 months in prison earlier this week for attempting to violate the United States sanctions against Iran, according to the US Department of Justice. Mokhtari had engaged in prohibited business practices on behalf of the Islamic Republic and was forced to forfeit $2,862,598 USD (10,642,695.66 NIS) that he had obtained by criminal action. He was also forced to forfeit his property in California which had an estimated value of over $1.5 million USD. (Jerusalem Post, July 28, 2023)
EX-HUNTER BIDEN PARTNER DEVON ARCHER TESTIFIES JOE BIDEN WAS ON CALLS WITH FOREIGN PATRONS ‘FOR THE BRAND’ (Washington) —Former Hunter Biden business partner Devon Archer told the House Oversight Committee Monday about President Biden’s role in his son’s foreign dealings — detailing about two dozen encounters as Republicans in Congress move closer to launching an impeachment inquiry. A source familiar with Archer’s nearly four-hour closed-door interview said that Archer testified that Ukrainian natural gas company Burisma Holdings added Hunter to its board in early 2014 because of the Biden “brand” as his dad led US policy toward Ukraine. Steven Nelson, (NY Post, Aug. 1, 2023)
SIX FOUND GUILTY OF TERRORIST MURDER FOR ATTACKS THAT KILLED 32(Brussels)—A Brussels jury found six terrorists guilty of murder for attacks on the Brussels airport and a busy subway station on March 22, 2016 that killed 32 people and wounded hundreds. In total, 10 defendants were on trial—two brothers were found not guilty, and six of the remaining eight (all of whom were convicted for participating in a terrorist group) were convicted of terrorist murder. Sentencing will occur in September. The jury made a clear connection between the attacks and the Islamic State terrorist group; among those convicted for planning and/or carrying it out was Salah Abdeslam, already in prison for his role in the 2015 Paris Bataclan theater and national stadium attacks in Paris. (Seattle Times, July 25, 2023)
ISIS CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR PAKISTAN BOMBING THAT KILLED 45(Bajaur)–The Islamic State on Monday claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of a political rally in Bajaur, northwest Pakistan (Near the Afghanistan border) held by a religious group allied to the government as the death toll from the attack rose to 45. “The attack comes in the natural context of the ongoing war waged by the Islamic State against ‘democracy’ as a regime hostile to true Islam and in conflict with its divine law,” the group’s Amaq agency said on Telegram. An official at a state-run rescue agency, Bilal Faizi, said the death toll had risen to 45. Of more than 130 wounded people, 61 were under treatment, government health adviser Riaz Anwar said. (Washington Free Beacon, July 31, 2023)
CHINA REMOVES ITS OUTSPOKEN FOREIGN MINISTER, FUELING RUMORS OF RIVALRIES WITHIN THE COMMUNIST PARTY (Beijing)—Qin Gang, China’s foreign minister, and a figure unusually close to CCP Chairman XI Jin-Ping, has been suddenly removed from office, without explanation. Formerly ambassador to Washington, Qin disappeared after an unusual meeting of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, the Chinese Communist Party-controlled legislature, and was replaced by Wang Yi, director of the Party’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission. (Among rumors swirling about Beijing was a supposed extra-marital affair, resulting for Qin in an illegitimate child, something the Chinese leadership frowns upon.). (Washington Times, July 25, 2023)
