After being ambushed with demands for him to call for a ceasefire in December last year, he replied: “No, I will not. On the contrary … I want [Israel] to destroy every element of Hamas they can get their hands on.
“These people are vicious animals who did horrifying crimes.” To the activists, he added: “I hope you guys post that, because that’s my position.”
The Knesset held a series of discussions about the proposed law. Professionals representing government ministries and the Knesset‘s legal counsel stated clearly that this is unconstitutional legislation that cannot be implemented, and if it reaches judicial review it will be revoked. Knesset members from right-wing parties nonetheless decided to advance it, though they are well aware that it is a populist bill not worth the paper it is written on, in order to set the stage for a confrontation between the Knesset, professional groups, and the Supreme Court.
What are the problems with the law? This is not a law at all: it is a populist pamphlet, which, like many other things this terrible Knesset is doing, is intended to mark Arab citizens and residents as disloyal, whose presence is contingent on containment.
The bill was attacked during the debate in the plenum by Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmad Tibi, who retweeted a statement by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) arguing that its purpose was “to regulate the discourse in schools and to harm teachers whose statements and worldview do not coincide with those of the education minister and the political parties controlling the Education Ministry.”
“The purpose of the law is to threaten teachers and principals of Arab schools, to mark them and make them a target for surveillance and persecution,” the rights group stated, arguing that the tools already at its disposal before the current law were “adequate and sufficient.” “The law severely violates the rights to expression, employment and pedagogical autonomy of teachers and administrators,” it added. The teachers’ unions also opposed the bill.
Israel’s Justice Minister Yariv Levin has announced Thursday, October 31, he’s pushing a bill to impose 20-year prison sentences on Israelis who advocate for sanctions against the country or its leaders. In other words: 20-year prison sentence for exercising freedom of speech in Israel.
The far-right government craziness in Israel is intensifying after a “Call for International Pressure,” initiated by Academy for Equality activists, was wide-world published last week and signed by over three thousands petitioners, including a group of leading Israeli academics, among them: Anat Matar, Smadar Ben-Natan, Moshé Behar, Tamir Sorek, Rafi Greenberg, Shira Klein, Lior Sternfeld, Ophira Gamliel, Hilla Dayan, Regev Nathansohn, Uri Hadar, Snait Gissis, Amalia Saar, Avishai Ehrlich, Efraim Davidi, Maya Rosenfeld, Avraham Oz, Ronnen Ben-Arie, Yael Berda, Anat Biletzki, Sivan Rajuan Shtang, Hannan Hever, Orly Lubin, Raz Chen-Morris, Hannah Safran, Revital Madar, Ilana Hairston, Amos Goldberg, Tamar Hager and Miriam Eliav-Feldon.
The petition stated, “We, Israeli citizens, living in Israel and abroad, are calling on the international community – the United Nations and its institutions, the United States, the European Union, the Arab League and all the countries of the world – to intervene immediately and apply every possible sanction… put real pressure on Israel for an immediate ceasefire.”
Among the acts that would be construed as support for terror would be visiting the family of an attack suspect.
According to the proposal sponsored by Likud MK Ofir Katz, a candidate can be banned by the Central Election Committee without needing the final approval of the High Court of Justice, as is currently required. The proposed law is at base to ban Hadash and Arab parties from participating in the election, as well as weaken the Supreme Court’s power to overturn the decision. Furthermore, since left-wing and Arab voters do not belong to the right-wing camp, blocking participation of Hadash and Arab parties will also benefit the current far-right governing coalition electorally and increase its chances to win the next election.
A Knesset committee session on a controversial bill that proposes deporting relatives of terrorists erupted into a heated altercation, involving shouting and personal insults. The session escalated after MK Ofer Cassif opposed the bill, leading to a tense exchange with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who labeled Cassif a “terrorist.”
The bill would give authority to the interior minister, after holding an arraignment, to expel the family member “to the territory of the Gaza Strip, or a different expulsion destination, depending on the circumstances.” The expulsion would apply for seven to 15 years for an Israeli citizen and 10 to 20 years for a noncitizen. According to the bill, the Israel Police has “all of the authorities given to it by law, including the authority to enter any place, remove from it any person, and use reasonable force to do so.”
The debate before the vote was heated, as far-right MKs who supported the bill accused MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash), who opposed the bill, of being a “terrorism supporter.” At one point, Knesset ushers had to physically stand between Cassif and MK Almog Cohen (Otzma Yehudit) who brutally attacked the Communist lawmaker.
As Cassif entered the hearing, a woman told the Cassif that he should be “ashamed of his position,” and far-right lawmakers began shouting at Cassif, with National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir calling him a “terrorist.” As Cassif addressed the committee, which he called a “gathering of fascists,” lawmakers screamed at him to leave and called on chairman Ofir Katz (Likud) to have him removed from the room. “Lucky you didn’t bring your pager,” one MK quipped, referring to the mass attack attributed to Israel that saw thousands of Hezbollah pagers explode on the men carrying them.”
(December 9, 2023)
The documents also report no sign of any preparations by Israel to activate its nuclear deterrent. (…)
The US has made no secret of its opposition to the targeting of either Iran’s nuclear research facilities or its oil installations.
(January 14, 2020)
This reckoning is already being billed as Iran’s “Chernobyl” moment, an analogy to the way the 1986 nuclear disaster in the Soviet Ukraine “exposed all the incompetence, state deception and rot in that regime,” according to IranWire, a site for Iranian citizen journalists in the diaspora.”
But whether Iran’s grief and fury could lead to revolution is hard to tell.
Days after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the Pentagon quietly dispatched several dozen commandos to Israel to help advise on hostage recovery efforts, U.S. officials said.
Those troops from the Joint Special Operations Command were quickly joined by a group of intelligence officers, some working with the commandos in Israel and others back at the C.I.A. headquarters in Langley, Va.
The heavy historical burden has compelled Germany to support Israel unconditionally in all international forums. While such support might be understandable in the context of historical relations, using it as a pretext to overlook Israel’s ongoing human rights violations in Gaza is both ethically and politically unjustifiable.
(August 12, 2024)
The bureau said in a statement that Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians. “This constitutes around 1.8 percent of the total population in the territory,” PCBS said.
According to the data, approximately 24 percent of those killed by Israel in Gaza are youths.
Nagasaki decided not to invite Cohen to mark this year‘s 79th anniversary of the bombing, citing security reasons to avoid possible protests.
That decision prompted the ambassadors of the United States, Britain and the European Union, among others, to skip the ceremony and send lower-level officials instead.
(9. März, 2016)
Jeder Idiot, wenn auch kein “Linker” heutztage, begreift, dass ein Angriff von außen nur die herrschenden, autoritären und auf Krieg angewiesenen Kräfte stärkt.
Jeder “Politiker”, jeder Militär, jeder Funktionär ist zum Erbrechen, wo man nur hinschaut.
Fazit:
Im Westen nichts Neues.
(January 5, 2024)
In 1988, the Central Intelligence Agency did discover that Riyadh bought SS-2 medium-range missiles from China but only after the deal was sealed. In 2003, when China exported DF-21 ballistic missiles to the Kingdom, the CIA again found out and was even allowed to verify the missiles were not nuclear-capable, but only after the missiles were delivered.
Several years later, when intelligence finally leaked out that China secretly built missile factories for the Saudis, the Trump administration was mum on whether there was an intelligence failure and allowed speculation that it had blessed the transaction. Then, in 2020, when US intelligence confirmed China was helping the Kingdom mill uranium domestically, it did so, again only after the mining and milling were well underway.
This track record of studied inadvertence, then, brings us to the next worry: MBS wants Washington to green-light the Kingdom enriching uranium…
(March 19, 2023)
In general, the Saudis wish to present themselves as Iran’s equals, and if Iran can enrich uranium, say the Saudis, then so can we. In addition, the Saudis want to keep all their nuclear options open, even if they are not intending to work on the development of nuclear weapons immediately.
(September 14, 2023)
Top Israeli sources have told the Jerusalem Post that there are secret technological ways to ensure that the Saudis do not misuse civilian nuclear items, which the US may give them as part of a three-way normalization deal, for military purposes.
Although there are no guarantees, because the issue is highly technical and there are issues to address regarding the Palestinians and highly complex politics, these technological fixes could be key to locking in a normalization deal between Riyadh and Jerusalem, under Washington’s auspices.
(March 27, 2019)
Many U.S. lawmakers are concerned that sharing nuclear technology with Saudi Arabia could eventually lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. (…)
Last month, Democratic House members alleged in a report that top White House aides ignored warnings they could be breaking the law as they worked with former U.S. officials in a group called IP3 International to advance a multibillion-dollar plan to build nuclear reactors in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia.
(Oct 04, 2023)
Amid reports that Saudi Arabia is seeking United States support for its nuclear energy program—whose capacities critics fear could be utilized to develop nuclear weapons—a group of 20 U.S. senators on Wednesday urged President Joe Biden to „seriously consider“ whether such a move is in the national interest as the administration brokers a possible normalization deal between the kingdom and Israel.
(August 30, 2023)
Policymakers in Washington and the Middle East have been busy talking about the possibility of Saudi Arabia normalizing its ties with Israel in return, in part, for a formal defense pact with the United States. Receiving far less attention is a critical question, at least for Riyadh: Would such a move jeopardize Saudi Arabia’s recent diplomatic accord with Iran?
“We are here at a historic time … and now it is an historic moment of opportunity,” Blumenthal stated. “It really is a magnificent potential achievement with enduring effect to match the successes of the battlefield with diplomatic successes.
(October 8, 2024)
„We can get you a treaty through the Senate between the United States and Saudi Arabia, a defense agreement like you have in Japan and Australia, if you do it on President Biden‘s watch,“ Graham, who is seen as close to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, told reporters in Jerusalem.
„The next president will have a very difficult time getting 67 votes,“ he said in reference to the two-thirds majority needed in the U.S. Senate for approving a defense treaty.
Two U.S. officials told Axios that during a call on Friday White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told Israel‘s minister for strategic affairs Ron Dermer that the U.S. expects „clarity and transparency“ from Israel about its plans to retaliate against Iran because it will have implications for U.S. forces and interests in the region.
– Call was ‚direct and very productive,‘ White House says
– Defence chief Gallant says retaliation to be ‚surprising‘
– Israel‘s UN envoy: ‚It will be painful for the Iranian regime‘
Lord Michael Levy, the former Middle East adviser to Tony Blair, told BBC Radio 5 Live yesterday: “The whole Middle East is potentially in a blow-up situation. And if that happens … how much further can that go for all of us in the world today, there must be a way forward.
“I don’t think there’s any hope for peace with [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu in power,” he added. “I would like to think that Netanyahu could be part of a positive way forward. Regrettably, I just don’t think that is possible at all.”
According to the Zionist news website „Ynet“: „Netanyahu said in a special session of the government on the first anniversary of the October 7 attack that he wants to rename the „Iron Swords“ war to the „Resurrection War“.
„We choose to keep up the fight in a long war of attrition, one that is painful and costly for the enemy,“ said Abu Obeida, spokesman of the militant group‘s armed wing.
He also warned that scores of people taken captive into Gaza on October 7 last year were enduring a „very difficult“ situation.
His statement, broadcast on Al Jazeera, came on the one-year anniversary of the Aqsa Flood operation.
He now has the political capital for negotiations that could set the country‘s next budget and allow him to continue to call the shots for at least another year in the multi-front regional war Israel is fighting.
„He feels he is winning,“ one of Netanyahu‘s aides told Axios.
The six-time prime minister will outlast President Biden, who has largely failed in his attempts to contain the conflict in the Middle East and rein in Netanyahu.
Even more surprising is the Israeli public’s near-total embrace over the last three weeks of Netanyahu’s declared desire to prosecute a war for “total victory”. Prior to this, hundreds of thousands of people were out on the streets, demanding a “deal now” and accusing the prime minister of prolonging the war for his own ends.
Now, it seems the majority of Israel’s Jewish public, from Ben Gvir supporters to fans of the centre-left Zionist Yair Golan, wants a never-ending war. Even the first casualties from the ground invasion of Lebanon are not shifting this support – at least so far.
„Isn‘t that what you‘re supposed to hit? I mean, it‘s the biggest risk we have, nuclear weapons,“ he said.
„When they asked him that question, the answer should have been, hit the nuclear first, and worry about the rest later,“ Trump added.
The official added that it is “really hard to tell” if Israel will use the anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attacks to retaliate.
“We hope and expect to see some wisdom as well as strength, but as you guys know, no guarantees,” the official said when asked by CNN if Israel has assured the US that Iran’s nuclear sites are off the table.
(04.03.2015)
The prime minister has been warning for over 20 years that Tehran is close to achieving its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
According to Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman: “32 years ago, when Israel killed Abbas Musawi, the co-founder of Hezbollah, the Israeli media announced that the ‘era of Hezbollah was over.’ The desire for revenge leads to blindness, and the intoxication of power makes one forget the lessons of history – as well as the captives and abductees in Gaza, and the war that has been going on for a year.” “The policy of assassinations not only violates international law, but also does not bring us closer to a real security or a stable solution and drags the entire region to the brink of an all-out war. Politicians, both in the coalition and in the opposition, continue to offer only one option: life on the sword and more revenge. The only solution is political and not a military one, the bloodshed must stop now,” she added.
Die öffentlich gewordene Fassung der geplanten Resolution „Nie wieder ist jetzt: Jüdisches Leben in Deutschland schützen, bewahren und stärken“ erfüllt uns jedoch mit großer Sorge. Nach ersten juristischen Einschätzungen kollidiert sie mit dem Grundgesetz, bringt eine mannigfaltige Rechtsunsicherheit, zweifelhafte Praktikabilität und die Gefahr der Diskriminierung mit sich. Durch die autoritative Verwendung der sehr weitreichenden und gleichzeitig unscharfen IHRA-Arbeitsdefinition als Regulierungsinstrument, sowie durch die unklare Frage faktischer Bindung einer Bundestags-Resolution, droht sie enorme Verunsicherung mit sich zu bringen und zum Verstummen jener Stimmen zu führen, die durch entsprechende Ansätze geschützt werden sollen. Ein immenser Schaden für unsere Demokratie wäre die Folge. Doch der Bekämpfung von Antisemitismus gebührt eine Resolution, die mit der demokratisch freiheitlichen Grundordnung in Einklang steht.
Civil society groups, artists and academics, myself included, have criticised the draft resolution in an open letter. We are particularly worried about the threat it presents to freedom of speech, alongside academic and artistic freedoms, while failing to achieve the goal it rightly sets itself.
The draft resolution recommends adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)’s definition of antisemitism as the standard for evaluating state funding requests and determining whether a project is antisemitic.
(March 13, 1962)
c. Commence large scale United States military operations.
3. A „Remember the Maine“ incident could be arranged in several forms:
a. We could blow up a US ship in Guantanamo Bay and blame Cuba.
b. We could blow up a drone (unmanned) vessel anywhere in the Cuban waters. We could arrange to cause such incident in the vicinity of Havana or Santiago as a spectacular result of Cuban attack from the air or sea, or both. The presence of Cuban planes or ships merely investigating the intent of the vessel could be fairly compelling evidence that the ship was taken under attack. The nearness to Havana or Santiago would add credibility especially to those people that might have heard the blast or have seen the fire. The US could follow up with an air/sea rescue operation covered by US fighters to „evacuate“ remaining members of the non-existent crew. Casualty lists in US newspapers would cause a helpful wave of national indignation.
4. We could develop a Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area, in other Florida cities and even in Washington.
The terror campaign could be pointed at refugees seeking haven in the United States. We could sink a boatload of Cubans en route to Florida (real or simulated). We could foster attempts on lives of Cuban refugees in the United States even to the extent of wounding in instances to be widely publicized. Exploding a few plastic bombs in carefully chosen spots, the arrest of Cuban agents and the release of prepared documents substantiating Cuban involvement, also would be helpful in projecting the idea of an irresponsible government.
Israeli Army Radio reported that military aircraft deployed approximately 85 bunker-busting bombs, each carrying one ton of explosives, in an attempt to assassinate Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
The bombs were dropped in civilian areas, resulting in numerous casualties.
(October 25, 2015)
A political consultant once related how he lunched with Benjamin Netanyahu, who ordered a hamburger with fries. He was not supposed to be eating such foods – doctor’s orders. As they were finishing up, Bibi’s wife, Sarah, came in, saw the evidence and began to see red. Netanyahu, all righteous indignation, looked her straight in the eye and said he had eaten no such hamburger. The storyteller said he was convinced at that moment that Netanyahu himself believed it.
If apocryphal, it is definitely in character. Netanyahu regularly embraces bad ideas or even lies so totally that he convinces himself of their rightness. Others start to believe them too. His outlandish idea, uttered in a speech, was that Hitler would have been happy with just expelling Jews if a Palestinian, the then grand mufti of Jerusalem, had not suggested annihilation instead.