Free Republic

Six members of the Washington Post's foreign desk previously wrote for Al Jazeera.. The Washington Post is in turmoil—old editor out, new editor in, and a new publisher under siege from a hostile and beleaguered staff. One of the criticisms the paper has weathered as it has bled money and subscribers is that, since Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, its coverage of the war in the Middle East has been shoddy, inaccurate, and implacably hostile to Israel. Days after the Israel Defence Forces rescued four hostages from a Palestinian refugee camp, for example, a Post headline blared: "More...

Wikipedia’s editors have voted to declare the Anti-Defamation League “generally unreliable” on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, adding it to a list of banned and partially banned sources. An overwhelming majority of editors involved in the debate about the ADL also voted to deem the organization unreliable on the topic of antisemitism, its core focus. A formal declaration on that count is expected next. The decision about Israel-related citations, made last week, means that one of the most prominent and longstanding Jewish advocacy groups in the United States — and one historically seen as the leading US authority on antisemitism — is...

New York Times reports said structure could be taken down in early July, weeks earlier than planned and after only 10 days of actual operation, due to unexpected weather conditions The aid pier built on the Gaza coast by the United States for some $200 million may be dismantled earlier than planned, according to a Tuesday media report, having so far completed a total of 10 days of actual operations. The New York Times reported that US officials had told aid organizations in Gaza that the structure could be taken apart early in July, having done little to alleviate goods...

The White House has pushed back against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's claims that the US is "withholding" weapons and ammunition from Israel, hours after he lashed out at the Biden administration. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed an ongoing pause remained on one particular shipment of bombs, echoing comments from Secretary of State Antony Blinken hours beforehand, but she insisted no other weapons were being withheld. "We genuinely do not know what he's talking about," Ms Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday.

Suspects alleged to have attacked victim and beat her while hurling antisemitic insults before gang-raping her in park near her home French prosecutors have opened an investigation into three teenage boys suspected of raping a 12-year-old girl in an attack motivated by antisemitism, French media reported Tuesday. An investigation was opened on Saturday night after the girl and her parents filed a police complaint in Courbevoie, near Paris, alleging that she had been attacked in a park near her home by three teenagers, who hurled antisemitic insults at her before dragging her to a shed and gang-raping her, Le Monde...

New York Times columnist Thomas L. “Tom” Friedman, a close associate of President Joe Biden, writes in his latest column that the U.S should force Israel to give up the war against Hamas in Gaza and let the terror group claim “victory.” Friedman is a “conduit” for messages from the White House about Middle East policy, according to Politico, and therefore his column can be interpreted as a threat to Israel — an “ultimatum,” as Friedman puts it, on the war. The columnist, once respected for his reporting during the First Lebanon War, has become a Democratic Party mouthpiece, and...

A prominent Hollywood marketing and branding guru has raised eyebrows by telling staffers that they should refrain from working with anyone who is “posting against Israel.” Ashlee Margolis, founder of the Beverly Hills firm The A List, wrote an email to her staff about a new mandate to hit “pause on working with any celebrity or influencer or tastemaker posting against Israel.” The company, which is a fixture on red carpets and is at the forefront of brand integration with celebrities, works with such companies as CAA, UTA, Lede Company and Wolf Kasteler Public Relations. In the email, Margolis stressed...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu published a video statement Tuesday urging the U.S. to stop withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel. In May, the Biden administration confirmed that it was withholding heavy precision bombs from Israel in protest against Israel’s decision to enter the southern Gaza town of Rafah to fight the last remaining Hamas battalions. As a result, Israel was forced to send troops into potentially booby-trapped buildings rather than bombing them. The White House said it was concerned about Palestinian civilian casualties, but a million civilians left Rafah.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on June 17 that it has dismantled about half of Hamas’ forces in Rafah. The IDF 162nd Division advanced into Rafah on May 7 and the IDF said that it now controls approximately 60 to 70 percent of the governorate, including the Egypt-Gaza Strip border. The IDF assesses that it has almost completely “dismantled” two of four battalions in Hamas’ Rafah Brigade and that IDF units have “somewhat degraded” the other two battalions. An Israeli media correspondent estimated that Israel will take “several more weeks” to completely “dismantle” Hamas’ Rafah Brigade. Israeli forces have...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticised plans announced by the military on Sunday to hold daily tactical pauses in fighting along one of the main roads into Gaza to facilitate aid delivery into the Palestinian enclave.The military had announced the daily pauses from 8am local time (3pm AEST) until 7pm in the area from the Kerem Shalom Crossing to the Salah al-Din Road and then northwards."When the prime minister heard the reports of an 11-hour humanitarian pause in the morning, he turned to his military secretary and made it clear that this was unacceptable to him," an Israeli official...

The Israeli military says it will hold daily tactical pauses in military activity in parts of southern Gaza to allow more aid to flow into the area, where international aid organisations have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis among Palestinian civilians.The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the pause would begin in the Rafah area at 8am local time (3pm AEST) and remain in effect until 7pm. It said similar pauses would take place every day until further notice.The pause is aimed at allowing aid trucks inside Gaza to reach the nearby Israel-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing ...

Micha Shtiebel wasn’t expecting to be called back to duty so soon. Nor did he expect the army to deploy his brigade — normally stationed along the border with Lebanon — to Gaza, where they would experience a type of dense urban combat they weren’t used to. But in late May, the time had come to relieve another brigade fighting in Gaza and the army had reportedly neglected to line up a replacement. That blunder meant that Shtiebel’s Alexandroni Brigade, made up of thousands of reserve troops, didn’t have the months it normally gets to prepare for a new assignment....

A document put together within the IDF’s Gaza Division less than three weeks before October 7 warned that Hamas was training for a large-scale invasion of Israel during which hostages would be taken en masse, according to an Israeli television report Monday. The document by Military Intelligence’s Unit 8200 was circulated on September 19 and was reportedly brought to the attention of at least some senior intelligence officials, but ignored. It estimated the target number of hostages at 200-250, according to the Kan public broadcaster, citing unnamed security sources. During the actual October 7 massacre, 251 hostages were taken and...

Shortly after Oct. 7, the president of the Ford Foundation, Darren Walker, issued a statement on the foundation’s behalf. Walker, who has been lauded by Laurene Powell Jobs as an "optimist," a "realist," and a "prophet who speaks truth to our world’s most troubling demons," announced that the Ford Foundation would bankroll "immediate humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza and the Middle East." "Administered by our colleagues in the Middle East and North Africa regional office," Walker said, "the resources will go to partners in the region to provide life-saving support and other essential needs to the affected Palestinian civilians in...

An official from Netanyahu's office said the war cabinet was no longer relevant after the emergency unity government ended. "The cabinet was in the coalition agreement with Gantz at his request," Netanyahu, reportedly said. "As soon as Gantz left, there was no need for a cabinet anymore." In its place, a spokesperson for Netanyahu's office said his security cabinet will now meet more frequently and hold ad-hoc "security consultations" with Defense Minister Gallant when needed.

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld roasted a heckler who was ejected while shouting anti-Israel slogans during a performance on Sunday in Sydney, Australia. “We have a genius, ladies and gentlemen! He’s solved the Middle East! He’s solved it! It’s the Jewish comedians, that’s who we have to get,” Seinfeld said in a mocking voice. “They’re the ones doing everything!” The man shouted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” as he left, repeating a genocidal call for the destruction of Israel. “So, you’re really influencing everyone. We’re all on your side now, because you’ve made your point so well,...

Can you guess what they were replaced by? Just as protesters screaming “From the river to the sea/Palestine will be free” want Israel to disappear, in order to be replaced by a 23rd Arab state, so some people in a New Jersey town wanted to make Jews disappear from this year’s high school yearbook. More on that sinister removal of a photograph of a Jewish group, and its replacement by a Muslim group in the yearbook, can be found here: “‘Blatant Antisemitic Act’: High School Yearbook Erases Jewish Students’ Names, Replaces Photo With Muslim Students,” by Jack Elbaum, Algemeiner, June...

The Palestinian Authority could collapse in the coming months, Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said on Monday, citing a lack of funding, continuing violence and the fact that half a million Palestinians are not allowed to work in Israel. "The Palestinian Authority, with whom we work closely, are warning us that they might be collapsing this summer," Barth Eide told Reuters. Norway chairs the international donor group to the Palestinians...

Whom do the Iranians see as the real source of their problems? The Islamic Republic’s proxy war against Israel is well-known. Yet, less understood is the strong support for Israel among the Iranian people in its conflict with Palestinian terrorist groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and Lebanese Hezbollah. This paradoxical stance, puzzling to many observers, reveals a complex interplay of social and political factors. At its core, this support highlights a significant public sentiment against the Islamic Republic’s regional policies and proxy wars with Israel.On October 7, 2023, Hamas and PIJ terrorists carried out a brutal attack...

Joe Biden has logged yet another foreign policy disaster under his belt after the Pentagon announced the "Gaza pier" will be dismantled due to damage. Some press reports describe the move as "temporary," though it's questionable whether the project will ever resume after being completely torn down and towed away. This marks the latest in a string of logistical issues involving the president's prized pier. For context, the pier has been in place for less than a month, and it's already suffered multiple shutdowns related to moderate seas overtaking it. Here's the full timeline illustrating just how absurd this idea...