Free Republic

Amidst visits to Jerusalem and Riyadh, Jason Greenblatt tells me that if anyone can make it happen, he thinks it’s Netanyahu ABU DHABI – In the coming days, I’ll begin reporting on my meetings with senior government officials here in the United Arab Emirates. It’s been fascinating getting updates on how the UAE leadership views the new right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the progress that is being made in developing and deepening diplomatic and cultural ties after the signing of the Abraham Accords, the exciting growth of trade between the UAE and Israel. Today, however, I want...

Preparing for any potential war against Iran, the Biden administration has formally elevated Israel in military planning.... ...For the Pentagon, Israel is the most prized military and intelligence partner in the Middle East, with its vast combat experience and advanced technologies. With the end of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, and with the brokering of the Abraham Accords by the Trump administration, Washington sees an opportunity to incorporate Israel into a new regional alliance. ... ..."CENTCOM will now work to implement the U.S. Government commitment to a holistic approach to regional security and cooperation with our partners," the Tampa-based command...

For then I will make the peoples pure of speech, So that they all invoke Hashem by name And serve Him with one accord. ZEPHANIAH 3:9 (THE ISRAEL BIBLE) World leaders, ambassadors, diplomats, entrepreneurs, lawmakers, academics, and clergy from over thirty countries converged on Rome this week for the First Annual Abraham Accords Global Leadership Summit, an exclusive invitation-only event focused on new ways to increase peace and tolerance in the spirit of the Abraham Accords. Attendees included Houda Nonoo, Former Bahraini Ambassador to the United States, Danny Danon, Israel’s former UN Ambassador, Imam Mohammad Tawhidi, Vice President of The...

Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdul Latef Al Zayani said on Sunday that Manama was “truly looking forward” to working with Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu and his prospective government. Both Zayani and Netanyahu are signatories to the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Bahrain and Israel in September 2020. Zayani noted that Manama was seeking “to continue working on the successful achievements” with Israel, and emphasized his conviction that Netanyahu believes in peace, according to Israeli media. President Isaac Herzog on Sunday became the first Israeli head of state to make an official visit to Bahrain, beginning a two-day trip that...

Israel’s amb. to UN launches first exhibit showing Jewish expulsion from Iran, Arab countriesBy Halwy Cohen, The Jerusalem Post, November 30, 2022.https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-7236831947-1948 - Forced transfer or mass escape?Ha’aretz claims that 800,000 Arabs were expelled from the country by the Jews during the War of Independence. The purpose of this lie is to hide the shameful truth: the great majority were not deported but fled on their own initiativeHanan Amior, Presspectiva, 29.11.22https://presspectiva-org-il.translate.goog/1947-1948-%d7%98%d7%a8%d7%a0%d7%a1%d7%a4%d7%a8-%d7%9b%d7%a4%d7%95%d7%99-%d7%90%d7%95-%d7%91%d7%a8%d7%99%d7%97%d7%94-%d7%94%d7%9e%d7%95%d7%a0%d7%99%d7%aa/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=enThe fate of the Jews in Arab countriesConrad Myrland, Miff.no, June 28, 2022.https://miff.no/jodenes-skjebne-i-arabiske-landhttps://miff-no.translate.goog/jodenes-skjebne-i-arabiske-land?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=enFrom Hitler to Putin: Palestinian habit of always backing ‘wrong side’Opinion: In 1940s, then-Palestinian leader Mufti Hajj Amim...

Huldai says city will reject efforts to let homophobe MK dictate education policy despite right's election win; 'In all the fascist states, the leaders were chosen by the people' Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai on Friday warned that Israel was heading toward becoming a fascist theocracy, as the incoming government moves to put extremists in charge of key education programs and neuter the Supreme Court. "Israel is being transformed from a democracy to a theocracy," Huldai told Channel 12 news in an interview. "The majority cannot (be allowed to) impose its views on the minority." Huldai spoke as he and...

Israeli author and university professor Yuval Noah Harari said that most Israelis have moved on from the two-state solution in an interview with CNN on Wednesday. Harari, who is best known for his best-selling books Sapiens, Homo Deus and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, said that "a lot of the Israeli public has gradually switched from the belief in the two-state-solution to an implicit belief in the 'three-classes-solution.'" Harari also lectures at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and has given interviews with media outlets abroad and on American late-night talk shows, largely due to the worldwide success and appeal...

This video analyzes some of the current conflicts in the middle east today, especially Syria and Iran attacking the Kurds in Iraq. Many people may be surprised because much of this is not being covered by the news media. The video is 43 minutes and I think it is worth the time to watch. For those interested, the link to the youtube channel for all of these geopolitical analysis videos is below. Youtube channel for George W McMillan III (GWM3) Analysis w/ Matt Bracken

In 1986, the International Olympic Committee voted to split the Winter and Summer Olympics so they would alternate every two years instead of occurring together every four years. The new tradition began in 1994 with the Lillehammer Winter Olympics, site of the infamous showdown between figure skaters Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding. The IOC initiated the split schedule in part to bring greater attention to the winter events, and while this move did bring them out from the shadow of the more popular summer games, it also locked the Winter Olympics into permanent competition with an even bigger quadrennial athletic...

The Islamic Republic could be faced with global snapback sanctions which would apply even to Russia and China. Iran is trying to maintain an uncompromising stance in every area, but is up against the wall more than it has been in prior years both regarding the IAEA nuclear standoff and in confronting domestic protests. Normally, when the Islamic Republic tries to govern its foreign and internal problems using an iron hand, those it is up against retreat or back down. What is unique now is that Tehran has pulled out the stops against both the IAEA and domestic protesters, and...

After the revolt of Bar Kokhba against the Roman Empire (132-135 C.E.), the Judea province was renamed Syria Palaestina by the Roman Emperor Hadrian to detach the Judean province from Jewish identity. In recent history, the area called Palestine includes the territories of the present-day Israel and Jordan (see the map). From 1517 to 1917 most of this area remained under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. During World War I, in 1917, the British army occupied Jerusalem. On November 2, 1917, the British foreign secretary Arthur James Balfour issued the Balfour Declaration for "the establishment in Palestine of a...

Israel is growingly concerned by the “dangerous closeness” between Russia and Iran over the supply of drones manufactured in the Islamic Republic to attack Ukraine and is, as a result, holding daily assessments to review its position on the conflict, Prime Minister Yair Lapid told The Jerusalem Post. “Part of the work we’re doing has to do with the very dangerous closeness that is being created between Russia and Iran,” he told the Post in an interview on Sunday. “It’s not something we are going to ignore or do nothing about… so what we need to do is reassess on...

A member of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle of advisors threatened this week that Moscow is ready to sever diplomatic ties with Israel. The threat came via former Russian President Dmitri Medvedev who publicly warned that any Israeli effort to supply arms to Ukraine will “destroy all diplomatic relations between our countries.” “Israel appears to be getting ready to supply weapons to the Kyiv regime,” Medvedev wrote Tuesday on Telegram, the social media platform. “A very reckless move,” he wrote. “It would destroy all bilateral relations between our countries.” Medvedev is currently the deputy head of the Russian Security...

A letter on Hunter Biden’s infamous abandoned laptop shows the Biden family pursuing a deal with Qatar, undermining the Trump Administration and appearing like an effort at a shadow foreign policy. The letter — retrieved from the “Laptop from Hell” by Congressman Darrell Issa’s (R-CA) office after being in a previously unreadable format — shows James Biden, President Biden’s brother, making an overture to an associate of Qatari Sheikh Abdulla Bin Mohammed Al Thani. They say, “my family could provide a wealth of introductions and business opportunities at the highest levels,” despite unfavorable policies of the “fractured” and “beleaguered” then-Trump...

Forty-nine percent of all Israelis, and 55% of those who are Jewish, strongly or somewhat agree that Israel should attack Iranian nuclear sites even without U.S. support, according to a survey by the Israel Democracy Institute. The study also found that less than a third of Jewish Israelis (31%) want the next government in Jerusalem to advance the two-state solution as a means of resolving the conflict with the Palestinians. A full 36% of Israelis, including 58% of Jews, do not want this paradigm to be promoted following the Jewish state’s Nov. 1 elections (11% of Jewish Israelis said they...

The United States will not be able to stop Israel from retaliating against Lebanon if Hezbollah decides to attack it over the Karish gas field, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reportedly told the Lebanese prime minister in a recent meeting. According to Saudi media reports, Blinken told Prime Minister Najib Mikati that even if Hezbollah only demonstrates a small show of force, Washington will not be able to stop Israel. Earlier this month, the Lebanese Al-Akhbar newspaper claimed that Washington had increased its pressure on Israel to finalize a maritime deal following intelligence according to which Hezbollah has c

As is well-known, the city of Hebron is often the center of clashes between Israelis and Palestinians. Now a Palestinian kindergarten teacher has shed light on the nature of one of the “difficulties” faced by Palestinians in the city. During an interview about Palestinian children in Hebron, a kindergarten teacher noted that one “difficulty” for the children is that “the settlers or Israelis sometimes call to them and give them a carton of chocolate milk or milk.” This is in addition to the children being afraid to cross a particularly busy street.

This week’s stunning turn of events in the war in Ukraine was head-spinning, reflected in dramatic headlines in the media around the world. “Ukraine is turning the tide against Russia,” declared one. “Ukrainian victory shatters Russia’s reputation as a military superpower,” shouted a second. “Russia withdraws more forces from northeast Ukraine as Kyiv presses advance,” read a third. Seven months after the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the tide seemed to turn in the war, as Ukrainian forces registered victories in the northeast. In a symbolic action that seemed unimaginable a few months ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited...

Something has changed in the Mossad. And that something means the impending Iran nuclear deal will not likely end Israeli covert operations against Tehran. If at some point in the past, it was content to take orders from prime ministers and be included around the table next to the juggernaut IDF, the spy agency is now taking center stage more often and helping to shape policymakers’ views much more deeply. There was a brief moment when Yossi Cohen stepped down in June 2021 and was replaced by David Barnea, who would supposedly lower the clandestine agency’s profile, when some predicted...

According to the report, the purpose of the operation - conducted with the US - was to simulate an aerial and maritime strike on Iran in the Red Sea. Israeli Air Force F-35 advanced fifth-generation fighter jets penetrated Iranian airspace multiple times over the last two months, according to the Saudi media outlet Elaph. Both Iranian and Russian radars failed to locate them, according to the report. According to the news site, Israel and the US have conducted large-scale exercises over the Red Sea in order to simulate an aerial and maritime strike on Iran and the seizure of Iranian...