Friday, March 29, 2024

Zera Shimshon Parshas Tzav

 


Gaza terrorist describes raping Israeli woman on October 7th


  GRAPHIC LANGUAGE - DISTURBING

The IDF has released new interrogation footage of an Islamic Jihad terrorist who confesses to r**ing an Israeli woman in a kibbutz in southern Israel during the October 7th massacre.


A Gaza terrorist affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement confessed to raping an Israeli woman during the invasion of October 7th, telling interrogators details about the sexual assault.

On Thursday, the IDF released a five-minute video clip recorded during the questioning of Manar Mahmoud Muhammad Kasem, a 28-year-old Islamic Jihad terrorist from the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Yunis who was captured by Israeli forces.

During his interrogation, Kasem candidly describes his attacks on Israelis during October 7th, as well as the rape he perpetrated against an Israeli woman in her home.

“First thing in the morning I woke up and went to the command and control center. My friend, Mahmoud al-Khush, had told me to come,” Kasem said.

He crossed the Israel-Gaza border armed with a pistol and two grenades, while his companion carried an AK-47, Kasem said.

During an ensuing gun fight, Kasem ran towards a nearby kibbutz.

“We walked and I got off before the jeep and then we walked a bit, and the person who was with me was hit in the head,” Kasem recalled.

“Out of fear, I entered the kibbutz and went in the nearest house.”

Initially, Kasem said, he did not see anyone in the house.

“But then I entered a room and there was someone there, she was frightened.”

“She was afraid of me, but asked me to help her. I took her and threw her onto a couch.”

When asked to describe her, he said the woman had “hair that wasn’t extremely long – like normal – and she was thin.”

“She was wearing a blue skirt and white shirt.”

“The devil took control of me,” Kasem continued, describing the rape. “I laid her down and started to undress her. Then I did what I did. I slept with her.”

When pressed to fully elaborate, Kasem admitted: “I raped her.”

“She pushed me. It didn’t last long; I heard shouting outside. It was two minutes, maybe a minute and a half.”

Moments later, two more terrorists burst into the home, and another woman, possibly the rape victim’s mother, was heard screaming.

“After we heard the screams, she and I both started to get dressed, and then these two men entered. They had uniforms of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades.”

“They pulled in the girl’s mother and sat the two next to each other. The girl and the mother started comforting each other, from what I understood.”

“Then suddenly they took the girl and the woman…I stayed in the room and they left through the gate they had entered from.”

Afterwards, Kasem said he opened fire on several Israeli men, wounding one of them.

“I heard gunshots near me, in the houses behind me. I drew my pistol and I shot one [man], he fell on the floor. Another hid, and I threw a grenade and fled the kibbutz.”

*TELL PRESIDENT BIDEN DAYENU. WE’VE HAD ENOUGH!*

 

We need your help NOW to sign 180,000 letters that we will hand-deliver to the White House on the 180th day of the nightmare we have been living since Oct. 7!

Sign your letter TODAY!
👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇

Forward to 18 more people so we can reach 180,000 letters by April 3rd!*

Crown Heights Rabbis call for prayers against secular studies

 

Crown Heights Rabbis have called for a day of prayer ahead of a court decision in a case against haredi educational institutions in the region that refused to teach secular studies required by the state.

The case is part of a longer legal battle that has already taken several years. As part of the process, the New York Department of Education has published instructions for haredi institutions to begin changing their curriculum.

The appeal was filed by young haredi men who have become agnostic and claimed that they were robbed of the ability to make a living due to the insufficient education they received at these institutions.

“We call for, beg, and request that anyone interested in the good of our community, and all parents of students in our holy institutions, take the time to pray fervently to god, “ to assemble and protect themselves” (Esther 8:11),’” the Rabbis wrote.

“We are in great distress,” they added, citing the Jewish prayer for days of fasting. “We must appeal for the future of our descendants, which hangs in the balance, by saying chapters of Psalms and increasing Torah study, prayer, and charity, that our righteousness be brought to light and that decrees against us and the education of our descendants be canceled.”

Sick!!! Photograph of Israeli woman's corpse paraded by terrorists wins prestigious photojournalism award


 The photograph that won first place in the prestigious POY photojournalism competition's Team Picture Story of the Year category is a photograph of Hamas terrorists in the back of a truck posing over the half-naked corpse of German-Israeli citizen Shani Louk.

20 photographs from the Associated Press (AP) depicting the war that began when Hamas massacred 1,200 people on October 7 received the award. The first of these photographs was taken by Associated Press (AP) photographer Ali Mahmud, who accompanied the terrorists who committed the massacre on October 7, stood by calmy, documented their atrocities unemotionally as they were committed, and captured the terrorists celebrating over Louk's corpse on his camera.

The picture was submitted with the caption: “Palestinian militants drive back to the Gaza Strip with the body of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli dual citizen, during their cross-border attack on Israel, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.” In Israel that "attack", during which over 1000 civilians of all ages were brutally raped, beheaded, burned to death and shot cold, is called a massacre. The "militants" are part of a "terrorist army."

The annual award is bestowed by the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri's School of Journalism. The prize committee stated, "The militant Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented, multi-front attack on Israel at daybreak Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, firing thousands of rockets as dozens of Hamas fighters infiltrated the heavily fortified border in several locations by air, land, and sea and catching the country off-guard on a major holiday."

"Israel's retaliation after Gaza's militant Hamas rulers launched the unprecedented attack on Israel killing over 1,200 Israelis and taking captive dozens, has been fierce for Gaza and its people. Heavy Israeli airstrikes on the enclave have killed thousands of Palestinians."

The decision to give the award to a photographer who accompanied the terrorists as they committed the worst massacre against the Jewish people since the Holocaust was widely condemned.

Israeli Special Envoy for Combatting Antisemitism Michal Cotler-Wunsh wrote on X, "AP won the 'Picture of the Year' award of RJI for the photo of a Palestinian photographer who entered Israel on October 7 together with a mob of murderers and Hamas kidnappers, in order to photograph war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the shocking photo of Shani Louk on the Toyota.

"This is what the normalization of antisemitic hatred looks like. Never again is now," she added.

The Honest Reporting organization stated, "Congratulations to @AP for winning a Pictures of the Year award. How does it feel to do so on the back of Palestinian photojournalists who infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7 and took photos like the one below of Shani Louk's dead body in a Hamas pickup?"

Nissim Louk, Shani's father, told Ynet, "It's good that the photo won the prize, this is one of the most important photos in the last 50 years. These are some of the photos that shape human memory, the Jew raising his hands, the paratroopers at the Western Wall, photos that symbolize an era. This documentation of Shani, and of Noa Argamani on the motorcycle, they symbolize this era. I think it's a good thing to use it to inform the future. If I start crying, what will come of it? This is history. In 100 years they will look and know what happened here. I travel the world and everyone knows who Shani is."

He contrasted the beauty and light of his daughter with the darkness and extremism of her murderers, noting that he asked representatives at the UN whether they were on the side of light or the side of darkness epitomized by Shani's killers.

Israel Raises Terror Threat Level for Israelis Traveling for Pesach

 Israel’s government has warned its citizens to be cautious while traveling over Pesach, and is warning travelers to avoid certain destination spots altogether.

The National Security Council (NSC) released a risk-assessment message Thursday, saying that Israelis should avoid Turkey, Morocco, Jordan and Egypt — including the Sinai peninsula, a popular holiday destination over Pesach.

In a general warning for global travel, the NSC said the “potential for terrorist threats against Israelis and Jews more than five months after the start of the war is very high.”

One counter-terrorist official advised Israelis traveling abroad not to reveal their identities during their trips.

“You can speak Hebrew with each other, but you don’t have to laugh at the other family or your friends at the other end of the street,” he said in a press briefing.

He also advised Israelis traveling to Malmo, Sweden, not to reveal their Israeli identity. “This is an event that should be handled with discretion. The site of the competition will be under very heavy security, but the surrounding area could be problematic. Malmo is a city with many hostile areas. We are not saying not to travel there, but those who travel should not walk around with Israeli signs.”

According to the written threat assessment, there are increased attempts amid the Gaza war by jihadist organizations to inspire lone attackers to target Jews and Israelis abroad.

Israeli Supreme Court Orders Stop to Yeshivah Funding for Haredim Required to Enlist in Idf

 

 Israel’s Supreme Court on Thursday issued an interim order prohibiting the government from providing stipends to some haredi, or ultra-Orthodox, Jewish men who do not serve in the Israel Defense Forces.

Yeshivah students who did not obtain a military service deferral and who have failed to report for IDF service since July 1, 2023, will now be ineligible for the monthly financial stipends, according to the ruling.

The Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, also decided that an extended panel of nine justices will hear petitions demanding a universal military draft starting in May.

Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote to the court asking for another extension—this time for 30 days—so he could reach a political agreement regulating the haredi IDF draft.

“The government’s intention to settle this complex issue, which has not been resolved for decades, is clear from the fact that the government committed in June of last year to resolve the issue within nine months,” wrote the premier in a letter to the court.

However, Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attacks “obliged us to devote our time and attention mainly to the conduct of the war in the six months that have passed since,” Netanyahu wrote.

He said that while “considerable progress” has been made towards reaching an agreement within the coalition government, the “work is not yet complete.”

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Wow!! Half Of US Muslims Support Hamas, Nearly A Third “Not Sure” If Burning Jews Alive Is Wrong

 

A recent Pew survey reveals that 49% of Muslims in America believe Hamas has “valid” reasons for attacking Israel, while 54% reject Israel’s right to defend itself. Only 45% of Muslims condemned the October 7 massacres, with 21% admitting they supported the attacks and 31% unsure if burning Jewish families alive was wrong.

These findings contrast sharply with the views of the general American public, where an overwhelming majority opposes Hamas and supports Israel’s right to defend itself. The survey also showed that 67% of Muslims in America have an unfavorable view of the “Israeli people,” while 37% admit to a favorable view of Hamas.

The results have sparked concern about the growing support for terrorism among Muslims in America, with many questioning the long-held narrative that Islam has no connection to terrorism. As Muslims and leftists riot in support of Hamas, and public figures praise the terrorist organization, it raises questions about the true extent of support for terrorism in the Muslim community.

The findings have been met with denial and accusations of “Islamophobia” from some quarters, including the Biden administration. However, the survey suggests a troubling reality that cannot be ignored.



Weingarten Brothers from the Lev Tahor (AMI) Cult Convicted Of Kidnapping


 Three members of the infamous Lev Tahor cult – Yoel Weingarten, Yakov Weingarten, and Shmiel Weingarten – have been found guilty of kidnapping a 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, and then spiriting the girl outside the United States to continue an illegal and forced marriage with her adult “husband.”

The kidnapping occurred on a Shabbos in December 2018, when Lev Tahor cultists kidnapped two children from the Teller family, who had escaped the clutches of the cult and traveled to the United States just a month earlier, and were spending Shabbos in Woodridge, NY. Their mother, Mrs. Sara Feiga Teller, is a sister of current (now jailed) Lev Tahor leader, Nachman Helbrans. She is married to Aron Aryeh Teller, rosh yeshivah of Lev Tahor.

Yaakov and Shmiel Weingarten were extradited to the United States in 2022 to face charges over the kidnapping.

“The defendants’ conduct — which included forced child marriages, physical beatings, and family separations — is unthinkable and has caused irreparable harm to children in their formative years,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, who prosecuted the case. “Whether in the name of religion or any other belief system, subjecting children to physical, sexual, or emotional abuse will never be tolerated by this Office.

With Wednesday’s verdict, all nine Lev Tahor leaders and operatives charged for these heinous crimes have been held to account, and will spend decades in prison for their evil acts. The three Weingartens join the monsters who ran the lev Tahor cult, Nachman Helbrans and Mayer Rosner, who were sentenced in 2022 to twelve years in prison.

Lev Tahor was founded and led by Shlomo Helbrans, from the 1980s until his drowning death in Mexico in 2017. Since then, the leadership has moved into the hands of his son Nachman Helbrans, along with Mayer Rosner, and Yankel and Yoel Weingarten – who are even more radical and aggressive than the late founder, they are all on prison.

Yitzchok Frankfurter of Ami Magazine claimed the exact opposite – and ran the following sentence below their headline,

 “The unjust persecution of a group of pious Jews, and the unsettling silence of the Jewish community.”

Senator Joe Lieberman Dies at 82 after falling ...His Last official statement was Against the Jewish Traitor Schumercrap


 


 Former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore in the disputed 2000 election and who almost became Republican John McCain’s running mate eight years later, has died, according to a statement issued by his family.


Lieberman died in New York City on Wednesday due to complications from a fall, the statement said. He was 82.

The Democrat-turned-independent was never shy about veering from the party line.

Ezra Friedlander Under FBI Scrutiny didn't officially disclose his ties with Azerbaijan in meetings with top Adams aides

 

Ezra Poses With the Antisemite from Turkey 

A longtime political consultant attended a City Hall meeting last year with Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign minister and top officials in Mayor Eric Adams’ administration — but did not report it in federal filings.

Ezra Friedlander, who has worked as an agent for both Azerbaijan and Turkey, previewed the meeting on May 21, 2023, with a video posted on the X platform.

In the short clip, Adams’ international affairs commissioner, Edward Mermelstein, and mayoral staffer Rana Abbasova can be seen walking by City Hall with Friedlander and Elnur Mammadov, the deputy foreign minister for Azerbaijan, a country closely allied with Turkey.

“With Deputy Foreign Minister of @AzerbaijanMFA @ElnurIMammadov walking to a meeting at City Hall hosted by NYC Commissioner of International Affairs Edward Mermelstein and Senior Advisor to @NYCMayor @joeleisdorfer!” Friedlander tweeted at the time, including a mention of Abbasova.

The meeting, which hasn’t been previously reported, comes as Adams’ ties to Turkey have come under scrutiny.

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Biden's Dangerous Mistake Explained

 



 

Chareidie in Meah Shearim Wears Palestinian Flag Tie, but Someone Tricked him and stole it!

 


 

Kamala Harris is Hamas’ useful idiot

 

As the Biden Presidency continues to sink at a rapid pace, with nearly two thirds of Americans now believing the country is on the wrong track, Kamala Harris is unwittingly doing her best to speed its demise.

Her latest television interview, with ABC News, can only be described as a train wreck that cements her reputation as a calamitous vice president. The interview followed her recent gaffe-ridden visit to Puerto Rico, where Harris cluelessly applauded anti-American protesters singing a song in Spanish accusing her administration of war crimes.

Bleacher Collapses At Aminshover Rebbe’s Tisch In Bayit Vegan, 4 Injured

 

A bleacher packed with chassidim collapsed at the Amshinover Rebbe’s Neilas Chag tisch in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Jerusalem on Tuesday afternoon.

One person was moderately injured and three people were lightly injured.

Emergency services were called to the scene and evacuated three people to Shaarei Tzedek and Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospitals.

“When we arrived at the scene, we saw a large commotion and three injured people in various states at the scene after being injured as a result of a bleacher collapsing,” Hatzalah paramedics said.

“Together with MDA paramedics and a rescue team, we provided initial medical assistance to a 15-year-old suffering from head and stomach bruises in a mild-moderate condition, an 11-year-old boy suffering from mild limb bruises, and a 25-year-old man suffering from facial bruises. They were evacuated in an intensive care vehicle and MDA ambulances for further treatment in the trauma rooms at the Hadassah Ein Kerem and Shaare Tzedek hospitals in the city.”



Video Playe

Rosh Yeshivas Don't Want Their Students to Protect Other Jewish People “Bochurim Will Go To Jail:”


 So far they haven't explained how 45 Jews were killed in Meron if "Torah is Matzil" 

Torah isn't "matzil" if you do not care about your fellow Jew in our very own Jewish country! This "Torah is Matzil" mantra wasn't made by Moshe Rabbeinu, Yehoshua, Shaul, Duvid, Shlomeh Hamelech. BTW even Shevet Levi went to war in a Milchemes Mitzva a defensive war! Even a Chassan under the Chupa has to go to war! The Roshei Yeshiva, with all due respect to them are completely out of touch with the vast majority of the Jewish people and are clueless to what is going on. They should be busy preparing lists of bochrim that are roaming the streets and who have no shaychis to learning and get them quickly to put on uniforms. If the RYs are afraid that they will go off the derech, they should sit with government officials and work out plans for separate units. But this is not sustainable! 

?האחיכם יבאו למלחמה ואתם תשבו פה 

Rosh Yeshivas Porat Yosef HaGaon HaRav Moshe Tzadka, one of the most senior Sefardi Roshei Yeshivos in Israel, spoke strongly against the new Chareidi draft law currently being drafted during the Purim seudah on Monday in Jerusalem, Kikar H’Shabbat reported.

“The Roshei Yeshivos should gather for a meeting and we’ll declare in one voice that our bochurim don’t recognize the law and they will all go to prison,” HaRav Tzadka said. “What should be done? This is the best option in my opinion. The Va’ad HaYeshivos should gather the Rabbanim and decide that all yeshivah bochurim will go to prison. What will they do? Take everyone to prison? So they’ll go.”

HaRav Tzadka instructed those who asked him about the issue to also speak to Rosh Yeshivas Chevron HaGaon HaRav Dovid Cohen in order to consult with him about what to do about the new law.

Kikar H’Shabbat published a recording of the conversation between HaRav Cohen and a Sefardi avreich.

Avreich: “I was sent by HaRav Tzadka to discuss the new recruitment bill.”

HaRav Cohen: “I haven’t seen the draft and I’m not well-versed on the matter but as I have expressed my opinion in the past, I and the Roshei Yeshivos are completely opposed to recruitment targets.”

During a time of war Chareidim Are Ready to topple Government Because they refuse to Serve in our own Jewish Country


Chaim Yankel said it best on a news site:

חיים יענקל פון וויליאמסבורג
 

The חילול השם that is being done by “Charedim” is horrific. They are okay demanding money for their institutions but they also want their students not to serve in any capacity. Shame on them. This is brech worthy. Nauseating.


In the latest twist in the Charedi draft saga, the United Torah Judaism party (UTJ) is threatening to quit Netanyahu’s government if a Draft Law is passed that includes sanctions and quotas.


According to sources involved in the negotiations, Charedi political leaders on Tuesday evening raised the threat of abandoning the coalition, and demanded the removal of economic sanctions against yeshivas and draft quotas for Charedim. In addition, a Knesset meeting that was scheduled for Tuesday was postponed indefinitely amid opposition from Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, Finance Ministry officials, coalition members, and Agudas Yisrael representatives.

The deadline to submit an outline for the new law is Wednesday, which was set by the High Court.

The heads of the Chareidi parties met with Netanyahu on Monday to discuss the newly drafted recruitment law, which dropped a controversial clause raising the exemption age for lomdei Torah to 35. However, it still regulates the status of Torah learners, establishes recruitment targets for Chareidim who aren’t learning full-time, and outlines financial sanctions on yeshivos that fail to meet recruitment targets.

Some sources claim that Netanyahu is expected to ask the High Court for an extension of several more days, in order to reach a government agreement.

HYPOCRISY: Biden YM"S ‘disappointed’ Israel cancels delegation to D.C. after throwing Israel under bus

 

John Kirby, the White House national security communications advisor, told reporters on Monday that the Biden administration is “disappointed” that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called off a high-level delegation to Washington to discuss a potential Israeli ground operation in Rafah.

Israel decided to cancel the ministerial visit after Washington abstained on, rather than vetoing, a ceasefire resolution at the U.N. Security Council on Monday.

“We’re very disappointed that they won’t be coming to Washington, D.C., to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to going in on the ground in Rafah,” Kirby told reporters.

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi had been scheduled to arrive in Washington on Tuesday for meetings with U.S. counterparts to discuss Israel’s plans for a military operation in southern Gaza. Kirby said the officials would discuss proposals for “viable options and alternatives to a major ground offensive.”

Following Monday’s vote, Jerusalem announced that “in light of the change in the American position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided that the delegation will not depart.”

Kirby denied a shift in U.S. policy in abstaining from the nonbinding ceasefire resolution. There is no reason for there to be an escalation of tensions between America and Israel, he said.

“Nothing has changed about our policy—nothing,” Kirby said. “We still want to see a ceasefire, and we still want to get hostages out—all of them. And we would still want to see more humanitarian assistance get in to the people of Gaza. The reason we abstained is because this resolution text did not condemn Hamas.”

Kirby also denied that there has been a change in the way the Biden administration talks about the potential Israeli military operation in Rafah, from asking to see a “credible plan” to rejecting the operation outright.

“We said weeks ago that we believe a major ground operation in Rafah would be a disaster, absent any proper accounting for the safety and security of the refugees that are still there,” Kirby said. “We still believe the same thing.”

“I don’t see any change in the rhetoric,” he said. “We don’t support a ground operation into Rafah.”

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Mother of 12-Year-Old Accused of Stabbing 56-Year-Old Woman: ‘He’s Just a Boy, We Learn from Our Mistakes’

 


The mother of a 12-year-old Harris County, Texas, boy who allegedly stabbed a 59-year-old says she is sorry but her son is “just a boy” and “we learn from our mistakes.”

Click2Houston reported the boy allegedly stabbed the “59-year-old woman outside of her April Valley Court home on Saturday afternoon,” following an argument with the woman.

Investigators said the boy and his 7-year-old brother were on bikes, and they rode off after the argument only to return. It was upon returning that the 12-year-old allegedly stabbed the woman.

When the mother of the 12-year-old spoke to reporters about the incident she said, in part, that she is “remorseful.”

She also said her son is “just a boy” and “we learn from our mistakes.”

FOX 26 noted the 12-year-old is still in police custody and has now been charged with “aggravated assault.”

Newsweek: Hamas Hails Biden's 'Clear Changes' on Israel Policy

 


A senior Hamas official has told Newsweek that the Palestinian movement has identified shift in the United States' position toward Israel after Washington declined to back its ally's stance at the United Nations, a change the group believes is due to pressure being felt by President Joe Biden from at home and abroad.

After using its permanent member status to issue several vetoes against U.N. Security Council calls for a ceasefire since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war nearly six months ago, the U.S. abstained on Monday from the latest draft resolution demanding a cessation of hostilities throughout the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The move drew condemnation from Israel, which canceled a high-level delegation set to visit Washington for talks this week.

Hamas, usually deeply critical of the extensive political and military support the U.S. has extended to Israel, praised the passing of the resolution. The group believes Washington may be forced to make other tough decisions as pressure builds to find a solution to the deadliest-ever flare-up in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Regarding the American administration, there is no doubt that there are clear changes in its policy towards Israel," Hamas senior official and spokesperson Ghazi Hamad told Newsweek, "and this is perhaps due to the stupid and foolish policy of the occupying state, which commits genocide, killing civilians, and starvation."

"America has found that Israel is putting it in an awkward position before the world, and it cannot justify its retaliatory actions against civilians," he added. "America also feels that Israel is floundering and is not achieving any of the goals it has set for itself."

Left-wing activist who hired one of Farrakhan's 'top soldiers' has visited Biden White House 7 times

 

 A prominent social justice and environmental activist group with high-level access in the Biden administration employs one of the so-called "top soldiers" of the Nation of Islam, a Black nationalist religious organization with a long track record of antisemitism and racism.

Terence Muhammad, the lead events and field coordinator for the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Hip Hop Caucus, has repeatedly praised the Nation of Islam and its current leader, Louis Farrakhan, according to a Fox News Digital review of social media posts. The Hip Hop Caucus, whose stated mission is to fight injustice and enact change, has been involved in key Biden administration policy decisions.

And according to the White House visitor logs, Hip Hop Caucus President and CEO Lennox Yearwood has visited at least seven times since Biden took office, with six of those visits happening in 2023. In the most recent example, Yearwood and two other Hip Hop Caucus officials, Tanya House and Cynthia Swann, were hosted in the West Wing for a private meeting with White House Domestic Policy Council adviser Sofia Carratala.

"Bless Minister [Louis Farrakhan] allowing one of his top soldiers [Terence Muhammad] 2 be w/ me for #MOW50. Much LOVE to the [Nation of Islam]," Yearwood wrote in a 2013 post during an event commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington.

In April 2015, during an event protesting police brutality, Muhammad posted a picture of Yearwood "with Malik Farrakhan and the brothers of the F.O.I." The acronym "F.O.I." appears to be a reference to the Fruits of Islam, the paramilitary wing of the Nation of Islam. 

Prepare for a Biden-Netanyahu showdown: Israel sees UN resolution as a real threat

 

There has been no shortage of hints when it comes to the White House's efforts to convey the message that Israel should refrain from taking action in Rafah, find a path to a ceasefire, and increase aid to Gaza. The vice president turned this subtlety into explicitly policy when she threatened Israel that there could be consequences to an operation in the city. On Monday, the rhetoric turned into action at the UN.

Israelis by and large will likely brush off the Security Council resolution as yet "another example of a delusional UN," but high-ranking Israeli officials see it as a real threat to Israel's freedom of action, as a deliberate undermining of Western legitimacy to act against Hamas terrorists, and a a potential weapon that will be seized by Israel-haters around the world to demand an end to the war even before the return of the captives and the toppling of Hamas.  

The doom and gloom that had until Monday been dismissed as paranoia became a potential reality in the hours following the resolution, which calls for a halt to the war in Gaza for the entire month of Ramadan and the release of the captives passed without condemning Hamas.

The text was hailed by the murderous terror organization, and Palestinian representative to the UN also demanded that the international community actively force Israel to implement the decision with the tools at its disposal (and there are such tools). The sponsor of the resolutions even went on to contradict the US by saying they viewed the decision as binding. 

So is this just American naivete or an attempt by Washington to use tools at its disposal to show the Israeli government that it is serious in its intentions against the operation in Rafah? Senior Israeli officials who held talks with the White House in the hours leading up to the resolution in tried to have the wording changed or have it vetoed –  as was the case with previous similar statements – but they were told that "Very senior officials at the White House are opposed to a veto this time."

The Biden administration had felt compelled to show a tougher hand on Israel for electoral purposes, but Israel sees this move as a way to appease progressive voters on the backs of the captives and Israelis living in border communities.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reaction – scrapping the talks that had been planned in Washington – at first glance, appears measured. The rationale is that if the White House is not interested in supporting Israel's efforts on the battlefield, there is no reason for a senior Israeli delegation to travel to Washington to hear alternatives to the operation in Rafah.

But this is not going to be the end of Israel's response. The American decision caused consternation from within the Democratic Party and even more intensely among Republicans – who may now do what they did in 2015 all over again. Back then it was President Barack Obama who came out against Netanyahu, which resulted in the latter being invited for a fiery speech in Congress in which he lashed out at the administration This time it's Biden who is president, and the current Speaker of the House has already said he would invite Netanyahu. 

There are those who think that these actions will ultimately push Biden to express unequivocal support for the continuation of Israel's offensive operations in Gaza until Hamas is defeated.

The pressure exerted from Israel and internally from Republicans and within the Democratic Party is supposed to silence the rising tones from the progressives, or at least create a counterweight that will force Biden not only to quietly support Israel by arming it, but also publicly. This may also be what Israel needs most at this stage, when the legitimacy of its actions is dwindling at an alarming rate. It needs American backing on the world stage that would push back against the pressure exerted by European countries that have already begun taken action to stop the war.