Feed aggregator

Meta’s company-funded oversight body ruled Wednesday that the social media giant shouldn’t automatically take down posts using the phrase “from the river to the sea,” a decades-old rallying cry for the destruction of the state of Israel that has reignited a national debate about the boundaries of acceptable speech.

Meta’s Oversight Board, an independent collection of academics, experts and lawyers who oversee thorny content decisions on the platform, said posts they examined using the phrase didn’t violate the company’s rules against hate speech, inciting violence or praising dangerous organizations.

“While [the phrase] can be understood by some as encouraging and legitimizing antisemitism and the violent elimination of Israel and its people, it is also often used as a political call for solidarity, equal rights and self-determination of the Palestinian people, and to end the war in Gaza,” the board said in its ruling.

Meta spokesman Corey Chambliss said in a statement that it welcomes the board’s review. “While all of our policies are developed with safety in mind, we know they come with global challenges and we regularly seek input from experts outside Meta, including the Oversight Board,” he said.

The political clash over the Israel-Gaza war has forced the company to closely examine the line between supporting free expression and suppressing dangerous hate speech online, and Wednesday’s ruling may fuel tensions.

Some Jewish groups have accused the social media giant of allowing antisemitism to surge on its networks in the wake of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel that ignited the war.

Meta has also been lambasted by digital rights activists and pro-Palestinian groups, who say it has stifled legitimate political critiques of the Israeli government and its armed forces during a war that has claimed more than 40,000 Palestinian lives, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, and displaced much of the region.

Activists and pro-Palestinian demonstrators have used the phrase “from the river to the sea” to express their support for Palestinians in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The slogan, which is often followed by the phrase “Palestine will be free,” refers to the territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea including the state of Israel. But others have interpreted the phrase as a call to eradicate Israel, with some Jewish American organizations arguing that the phrase amounts to antisemitism.

The board reviewed three cases where the phrase appeared on the platform, including a comment on a Facebook video that had a “FromTheRiverToTheSea” hashtag along with #DefundIsrael and heart emojis in the colors of the Palestinian flag. In another instance, a user posted an image of floating watermelon slices – a stand-in for the Palestinian flag – to form the phrase, alongside the comment, “Palestine will be free.

In all three cases, social media users appealed to Meta to remove the content but the company decided to leave the content up. Those users then appealed to the board.

According to the board, the posts don’t specifically attack Jewish or Israeli people “with calls for violence or exclusion,” putting them outside the company’s definition of hate speech. The board also said the cases didn’t break the company’s rules against inciting violence or praising dangerous organizations or individuals because they don’t glorify Hamas or its actions. Rather, the selected cases show that the phrase was being used in solidarity with Palestinians, the board argued.

The decisions the Oversight Board makes on specific cases are considered binding.

For nearly a year, Meta has faced scrutiny over how it has handled content about the Israel-Gaza war. Soon after the war broke out last year, throngs of Palestinian supporters complained that Meta suppressed their content commenting on or documenting the violence. In July, the company announced it would remove more speech targeting “Zionists” where the word seemed to be a stand-in for Jews and Israelis and included dehumanizing comparisons, calls for harm or denials of existence.

Meta also referred a bundle of cases in which the term Zionist appears to be being used as proxy along with comparisons to criminals, such as the phrase “Zionists are war criminals.” A ruling in those cases is pending.

Since the Oversight Board’s inception four years ago, it has faced criticism that it moves too slowly to make decisions, while others have questioned its price tag and political relevance. Earlier this year, the board notified staffers that it would have to lay off workers amid widespread cutbacks across the technology sector.

But in recent months, the Oversight Board has sought to bolster its influence by taking on more frequent and bigger cases. The board’s trust is also exploring setting up a separate center to handle an influx of user appeals for account restrictions that are required under Europe’s Digital Services Act.

(c) Washington Post

Elon Musk has deleted a tweet in which he praised Tucker Carlson’s interview with Darryl Cooper, a self-proclaimed historian who attempted to whitewash the Holocaust. The interview, published on Monday on The Tucker Carlson Show, featured Cooper making controversial claims, including calling Winston Churchill the “chief villain” of World War II and asserting that the millions of deaths during the Holocaust were an unintended consequence of Germany’s inability to handle prisoners of war. Musk had initially described the interview as “very interesting” and “worth watching,” but later removed the tweet from his timeline. It remains unclear why Musk deleted the post, though it may be related to growing criticism of Cooper’s views, including his tendency to side with Adolf Hitler on various issues. Following the release of the episode, Cooper defended his position in a Twitter thread, reiterating his belief that Churchill was the “chief villain” of the war and doubling down on his argument that Churchill was worse than Hitler. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

According to a Vox Media report, the U.S. Armed Services recruitment crisis has resulted in the smallest U.S. Army since 1940; Nacy and Air Force recruitment numbers are also suffering.

The Army has failed to meet its recruiting goals for the last two years and missed its 2023 target by 10,000 soldiers, a 20% shortfall, Vox reported.

 

The active-duty Army currently has 445,000 soldiers, 41,000 fewer than in 2021 — and the smallest since 1940.

From Vox Media:

Three of America’s four major military services failed to recruit enough servicemembers in 2023. The Army has failed to meet its manpower goalsfor the last two years and missed its 2023 target by 10,000 soldiers, a 20 percent shortfall. Today, the active-duty Army stands at 445,000 soldiers, 41,000 fewer than in 2021 and the smallest it has been since 1940.

The Navy and Air Force missed their recruiting goals, too, the Navy failing across the board. The Marine Corps was the only service to achieve its targets (not counting the tiny Space Force). But the Marines’ success is partially attributable to significant force structure cuts as part of its Force Design 2030 overhaul. As a result, Marine recruiters have nearly 19,000 fewer active duty and selected reserve slots to fill today than they did as recently as 2020.

A decrease in the size of the active force might be less worrying if a large reserve pool could be mobilized in the event of a major war or national emergency. But recruiting challenges have impacted the reserve components even more severely than the active duty force. The National Guard and Reserves have been shrinking since 2020. Last year, the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve each missed their recruiting targets by 30 percent. The Army Reserve had just 9,319 enlistees after aiming to recruit 14,650 new soldiers. Numbers for the Navy Reserve were just as bad — the service missed its enlisted and officer targets by 35 and 40 percent, respectively.

Donald Trump is promising to fix the recruitment crisis and rebuild America’s military.

“It’s time to create the arsenal of the 21st Century,” Trump said in the Piedmont community of Asheboro last month. “We need a very dramatic increase in development and, in so doing, we will create countless American jobs.”

“Thanks to Comrade Kamala and Joe Biden, morale in our military is now so low that almost every single branch is suffering a major recruitment and retention crisis,” Trump said. “Upon taking office, I will begin the largest peacetime recruitment drive in the history of the armed forces. We have to fill our armed forces with great people … the sense of spirit, pride, and prestige will soon come roaring back.”

More over at Vox Media:

 

Former Republican Rep. Liz Cheney on Wednesday said she would support Kamala Harris for president, ending weeks of speculation about how fully the member of a GOP dynasty-turned-Trump critic would embrace the Democratic ticket. Cheney, who co-chaired the House investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack, became a fierce Trump critic and was ousted in her 2022 Republican primary in Wyoming as a result, made her announcement at an event at Duke University. In a video posted on the social media network X, she finished by talking about the “danger” she believed Trump still poses to the country. “I don’t believe that we have the luxury of writing in candidates’ names, particularly in swing states,” she said. “As a conservative, as someone who believes in and cares about the Constitution, I have thought deeply about this. Because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.” The daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney has been perhaps Trump’s highest-profile Republican critic. She joins other Republicans like her former Jan. 6 committee member, former Rep. Adam Kinzinger and former Rep. Denver Riggleman, as backers of Harris. More than 200 alumni of the Bush administration and former Republican presidential campaigns of the late Sen. John McCain and Sen. Mitt Romney also announced their endorsement of Harris last week. Cheney was in House Republican leadership at the time of the Jan. 6 attack but broke with most of her caucus over Trump’s responsibility. She lost her leadership post and was one of the few Republicans willing to serve on the Jan. 6 committee, which was appointed by Democrats who controlled the House at the time. Now watch Cheney’s comments from 2020 about Kamala Harris below. (AP)

A Rembrandt discovered in an attic sold for $1.4 million. The 17th century painting, “Portrait of a Girl,” by Dutch artist Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn was discovered by art appraiser and auctioneer Kaja Veilleux in an attic in an estate in Camden, Maine. A label on the back of the frame noted that it was loaned to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for an exhibition in 1970. “On house calls, we often go in blind, not knowing what we’ll find,” he said in a statement. “The home was filled with wonderful pieces but it was in the attic, among stacks of art, that we found this remarkable portrait.” Rembrandt, born in 1606, was a prolific artist who focused on a variety of subjects, from portraits to landscapes to historical and biblical scenes. “Portrait of a Girl” was painted on an oak panel and mounted in a hand-carved gold Dutch frame, said Veilleux. An auction by Thomaston Place Auction Galleries yielded a fierce competition on Aug. 24, he said. In the end, a European collector paid $1.41 million for the painting. (AP)

The general strike that shut down Israel’s economy for several hours on Monday was a brief but long-awaited achievement for the country’s anti-government protest movement, whose activists had pressured the Histadrut labor union for months to join their cause.

However, the decision by Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David to acquiesce and finally declare a strike encountered legal pushback that some say has turned the achievement into a pyrrhic victory for the anti-government movement.

As at least 150,000 people protested across Israel over the government’s handling of the war in Gaza and in favor of a ceasefire with Hamas, a labor court on Monday ordered the Histadrut to end the strike. In declaring it, Bar-David said the strike was to protest the murder of six Israeli hostages by Hamas. Politics outside the Histadrut’s purview and mandate motivated the strike, the court determined.

The ruling may have eliminated large workers’ strikes from the protest movement’s arsenal, at least in the context of the war. It also underlined the limitations of the Histadrut as a political player. Yet Monday’s events also demonstrated the growing impatience and frustration of many Israelis over the slow-rolling war, which is nearing the one-year mark with Hamas still in existence and using hostages as leverage.

“The strike that the anti-government movement had sought so badly was a defeat on the legal front,” Shai Glick, the CEO of the B’Tsalmo, a Zionist, pro-Jewish human rights group, told JNS. However, Glick added, “The turnout for protests on Monday was major, reflecting a growing unease in society, not only among leftists, about the war’s progress.”

Bar-David, the Histadrut chairman, declared the strike hours after news broke that Hamas terrorists had murdered six hostages and left their bodies in a tunnel in Rafah, possibly for fear that they would be freed by nearby Israeli troops.

In a statement, Bar-David tied the strike to how “we must reach a deal [with Hamas] above all else.” He added: “We’re in a tailspin and we keep getting body bags. Only a strike will be shocking [enough] so I’ve decided to declare a general strike.”

Israel and Hamas are engaged in indirect talks for the release of dozens of Israeli hostages presumed to be held in Gaza. Hamas is demanding the release of many Palestinian prisoners and a ceasefire, as well as an Israeli pullout from Gaza. A main issue preventing a deal is Israel’s refusal to leave the Philadelphi Corridor—a move that could restore Hamas’s access to the border with Egypt.

Hamas is believed to have smuggled into Gaza countless tons of arms through the Philadelphi Corridor. The weapons were used to mount the murderous onslaught of Oct. 7, in which Hamas terrorists murdered some 1,200 Israelis and abducted another 251, in addition to launching thousands of rockets across the border. The onslaught triggered an Israeli ground offensive in Gaza amid exchanges of fire with Hezbollah in the north and rocket attacks from Yemen.

Bar-David also acknowledged the pressure on him by anti-government activists to declare a strike to pressure the government into accepting a deal with Hamas.

“I have demonstrated much responsibility so far, and it wasn’t easy,” he wrote in his statement announcing the strike.

The decision to declare a strike, whose cost to the economy has been estimated at 1.5 billion shekels ($407 million), may have satisfied some on the left but exposed Bar-David to harsh criticism from the right.

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said during a Cabinet meeting Monday that “Bar-David is strengthening [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar with this strike. It’s like telling him: ‘Go on, murder along, we’re with you’.” Activists, including from NGO Im Tirtzu, protested outside Bar-David’s home over the strike, which the chairman had said would last 24 hours before the court canceled it.

Even before the court’s ruling, multiple municipalities and a major teacher’s union represented by the Histadrut said they would not strike.

“It was a failure, it was widely perceived as partisan and it undermined the Histadrut’s status as a true representative of the hundreds of thousands of employees it says that it represents,” Mordechai Tzivin, a prominent lawyer, told JNS.

But the truncated strike wasn’t necessarily a defeat for Bar-David, according to Glick of B’Tsalmo.

“Bar-David has been cautious in deploying the Histadrut in the service of the anti-government movement. It’s a risky move for him because it introduces unnecessary divisions into the Histadrut, potentially weakening it. By declaring a strike that the court is sure to end, Bar-David gets the anti-government pressure groups off his case,” Glick said.

Some supporters of the anti-government movement condemned the court’s ruling and lionized Bar-David for declaring the strike.

“The State of Israel is in a situation where there’s no longer any significance to the question of what lies within the mandate of any one official,” a senior financial analyst for the left-leaning TheMarker newspaper wrote. “When civilians are abandoned in captivity and hundreds of soldiers risk getting killed because of the government’s inability to end the war, anyone with leverage should use it, regardless of official position,” wrote analyst Hagai Amit.

Michael Kleiner, a former senior lawmaker in Netanyahu’s Likud Party, noted how Bar-David had already aligned the Histadrut with the anti-government movement in the past, when he declared a one-day strike in July 2023 against the Netanyahu government’s judicial reform legislation. That controversial strike also had partial participation, with only 2,000 out of 36,000 state employees participating.

Bar-David had been hard-pressed to explain why that strike was nonpartisan, Kleiner wrote in an op-ed in Ma’ariv. “He thought that he didn’t need to offer such explanations this time around because he had the support of the protest movement, relatives of hostages, and the friendly mainstream media,” Kleiner wrote.

However, Bar-David “did not take into account that the rules of the game have changed. Israelis have wised up and out of the [pre-Oct. 7] conception and the generals’ assurances that ceding land to the enemy is reversible,” Kleiner wrote. “Israelis will no longer obey the wacky whims of politically driven organizations that hitch a ride on the backs of the hostages’ relatives to attack the wartime economy.”

Monday’s partial strike did bring out many thousands to protest, Tzivin said. But following the strike, “that option, of shutting down the economy to strongarm the government, seems less likely to make a reappearance,” he added. “We may see some private corporations staging brief solidarity strikes, but major union shutdowns appear to be off the table.”

(JNS)

Hatzolah is at the scene of a pedestrian that was struck by a vehicle at 4th and Monmouth. Avoid the area. VIA LAKEWOOD ALERTS

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, a Harvard alumnus who has been active in the fight against antisemitism in US universities and elsewhere following October 7, spoke out this week against Israeli leftists protesting against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Israeli government. “With the benefit of perspective from a distance, I think the protesters in Israel are making a grave mistake,” he wrote on X. “By protesting Israel’s leadership one day after Hamas executed an American and five Israelis in cold blood, the protesters are rewarding Hamas for their barbaric acts and blaming their leadership for the loss. This is a very bad message to send to terrorists. I fear it will only embolden the enemy to execute more heinous acts.” “I understand that a large number of Israelis don’t like and/or trust Netanyahu but it is difficult if not impossible to defeat one’s enemies if the people don’t support their leadership during the war. “Israel has enough enemies abroad before being distracted by internecine battles within. First, win the war and do everything to get the hostages back, and then Israel can once again focus on politics. “Advice from a friend.” A former Labor MK said earlier this week that left-wing Israelis may have contributed to the launch of the October 7 assault by putting their hatred of Netanyahu ahead of any other goal and refusing to sit in a government with him. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

A tragic accident on Wednesday morning at the entrance to the Korean War Veterans Parkway in Annadale resulted in the death of 29-year-old Edan Darmoni z”l, a resident of Staten Island. According to police, Darmoni, who worked as a personal injury attorney, was approaching the merge from Drumgoole Road West onto the New Jersey-bound parkway when his Ferrari was involved in a single-vehicle collision. The car struck a tree and burst into flames, with debris scattered around the area. EMS responded to the 9:51 a.m. call and transported Darmoni to Staten Island University Hospital, where he was sadly pronounced dead. The investigation into the fatal crash is ongoing, with the NYPD working to determine the cause of the accident. Chesed Shel Emes worked with the NYPD as well as the Medical Examiner to ensure proper Kavod hames. Additional information will be published when it becomes available to YWN. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. discusses his decision to step aside and support former President Trump on ‘The Story.’

WATCH:

House Republicans have issued a subpoena demanding testimony from Secretary of State Antony Blinken as they wrap up a sprawling yearslong investigation into the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021. Rep. Michael McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sent a subpoena letter late Tuesday ordering Blinken to appear before the committee by Sept. 19 or face a contempt of Congress charge. “You served as the final decision maker for the department on the withdrawal and evacuation,” McCaul wrote. He added that three years later, Blinken is “in a position to inform the Committee’s consideration of potential legislation aimed at helping prevent the catastrophic mistakes of the withdrawal, including potential reforms to the Department’s legislative authorization.” Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, said Blinken is unable to testify on the dates proposed by the committee as he will be traveling for diplomatic work the majority of September. He claimed the committee denied “reasonable alternatives” to the subpoena date. “The Secretary has testified before the Congress on Afghanistan more than 14 times — more than any other Cabinet-level official,” Miller said, adding that four of those times were directly before the Foreign Affairs committee at the request of McCaul. “It is disappointing that instead of continuing to engage with the Department in good faith, the Committee instead has issued yet another unnecessary subpoena.” The subpoena for Blinken’s testimony is the latest in a series of moves by McCaul and other House Republicans over the last 18 months to hold the Biden administration accountable for what they have called a “stunning failure of leadership” after Taliban forces seized the Afghan capital of Kabul, far more rapidly than U.S. intelligence had foreseen as American forces pulled out. The committee is expected to summarize its work in an investigative report to be released Monday, amid the contentious presidential election where Republican nominee Donald Trump has tried to elevate the withdrawal from Afghanistan as a campaign issue. While the GOP report is expected to place blame on President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now the Democratic nominee for president, independent watchdog reports over the last three years have documented a much more nuanced and bipartisan case for which administration was at fault. A 2022 report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, concluded it was decisions made by both President Donald Trump and Biden to pull all U.S. troops out of Afghanistan that were key factors in the collapse of that nation’s military. That report mirrors assertions made by senior Pentagon and military leaders in the aftermath of the withdrawal. Military leaders have made clear that their recommendation was to leave about 2,500 U.S. troops in the country, but that plan was not approved. (AP)

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman It is well-known that the world of Brisk is one of meticulous observance of Mitzvos.  It is also well known that Rav Refoel Soloveitchik was the right-hand man of his saintly father, the Brisker Rav. A story is told by Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Brim (1922-2002) about Rav Refoel Soloveitchik (1924-1996), the son of the Brisker Rav.  One Erev Sukkos, Rabbi Brim was a bit desperate.  He had not found a suitable set of Arba Minim (the four kinds – a Lulav, an Esrog, Hadassim and Aravos) yet.  He asked Rav Refoel Soloveitchik that if he finds a better one than the one that he had obtained, if the Rav could sell him the lesser quality one and that he, Rav Chaim Brim, would purchase it at any price. Rav Soloveitchik answered, “Actually, I do not have a Sukkos set of Arba Minim yet, and I am not as concerned because if I do not find one, I can always use someone else’s.  I am concerned now and dealing with a different set of Arba Minim.  What Arba Minim do I mean? Hashem’s Arba Minim – the Levi, the Ger, the Yasom and the Almanah.  It is Erev Sukkos and many of the Yasomim and the Almanos do not have where to eat, where to stay, and what to do with themselves.  I need to worry about their accommodations and looking out for them.  The Arba Minim that you are seeking – I can always borrow.” The story is quite poignant because not only does it emphasize our Torah obligations to yesomim and almanos and Geirim, but it also alludes to the fact that they are not on everyone’s radar. The treatment of the Almanah is one that differentiates Klal Yisroel from the nations of the world.  If we look around, we do not see too many organizations that are geared toward helping Almanos.  Not so the true Torah way of life.  The emphasis on the Almanah is found throughout numerous Mitzvos and halachos. It is well-known that Rav Chaim Pinchos Scheinberg zt”l did not say any extraneous words on Shabbos.  He made one exception.  If there was any situation wherein an Almanah needed something, he picked himself up and attended to it, not measuring his words in any form of silence at all.  When matters were settled, he went back to his general silence. Rav Yaakov Chalofsky was very close to Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l and his saintly wife – Rebbitzen Bas Sheva.  Once, Rebbitzen Bas Sheva asked Rabbi Chalofsky to deliver some borsht she had made to a poor Almanah in the neighborhood.  He did so.  After he gave her the borsht she tearfully told him:  “I wait for this every day.  You have no idea, what this means to me – it give me chizuk – it strengthens me.  It shows that people do care.” Rebbitzen Rishel Kotler a”h was the wife of Rav Shneur Kotler and the mother of many of Lakewood’s Roshei Yeshiva (and mother-in-law).  Her practice was to call an almanah daily and speak to her on a regular basis and listen to her, so that she would have someone to talk with. It is not just Gedolei Torah who can do this Mitzvah – we can all do it and […]

It’s sad but unsurprising that antisemitic incidents have surged in London to the point that the government has launched a new bus route to help Jews “feel safe” when they travel. The new 310 route will run every 20 minutes between Stamford Hill and Golders Green, eliminating the need to change buses in the high-crime area of Finsbury Park. “I was struck by the conversations I’ve had in recent months with the Jewish community,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan told BBC London. “They were frightened because of a massive increase of antisemitism since Oct. 7 of last year. I was told stories by families who, when they changed buses from Stamford Hill to Golders Green at Finsbury Park, were frightened about the abuse they had received. We’ve heard stories about Jewish Londoners not leaving their homes because they’re worried about their safety. I don’t want any Londoner to be scared to leave their home because they’re worried about public transport.” “I think we’ve got to recognize the fear that Londoners feel who are Jewish; we’ve got to recognize the tremors of hate that are felt by Jewish people across the country. We’ve got to be good allies to our Jewish friends and neighbors.” The number of antisemitic incidents in the UK in 2023 was the highest in history since the data has been recorded, according to a report by the Community Security Trust. And most of the incidents took place before the advent of the new Labour government, which just made an outrageous decision to suspend 30 arms export licenses to Israel on the day that the levayos of six hostages murdered in cold blood by Hamas were taking place. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Israel’s decisive defeat of Hamas in Gaza will facilitate regional peace with Saudi Arabia, whereas failure to achieve such a result is thwarting a deal, according to former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman.

Friedman, who served under former President Donald Trump when the Abraham Accords were signed four years ago, told JNS that U.S. pressure on Israel regarding the war was making the chances of regional peace more remote.

“Being a strong regional superpower that can manage its borders is what is admired in the Arab world,” he said in an interview with JNS. “The Saudis want to see a strong Israel defeating [the two countries’] common enemies.”

The Biden administration thought, he continued, “that by limiting Israel’s ability to prosecute the war they were preserving the opportunity for peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia; just the opposite. What makes the Arab world pay attention to Israel is Israel’s strength against the enemies their countries face as well. If you reduce that strength, you reduce the prospect of normalization.”

Motivated by hatred with or without the Saudis

The former ambassador, who conceded that no one could have imagined that the war against Hamas would drag on for nearly a year, downplayed assessments that terrorists carried out the Oct. 7 massacre to thwart an emerging deal with Saudi Arabia.

“They did it because they could,” he said. “Their motivation was hatred, with or without the Saudi initiative, and they did it because Israel let its guard down.”

Friedman voiced pessimism regarding a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, despite recent remarks by U.S. President Joe Biden and top administration officials that a deal was close.

“I am not optimistic that they will ever make a deal,” he said.

A second term?

Friedman, who is based in the United States but travels to Israel several times a year for his “spiritual health,” said the Oct. 7 attacks have made him want his old job back, should Trump be re-elected in November.

“There is unfinished business, and course correction after four years of the Biden administration,” he said.

A proponent of Israeli sovereignty over the biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria with local autonomy for Palestinians, Friedman said Israel needs to change the deeply entrenched international paradigm of a two-state solution, which he called “fitting a square peg in a round hole,” by first changing its own mindset.

There must be a serious national discussion and consensus on the issue in Israel, he said, noting that it has been relegated to the Israeli far right, who he said have no credibility on the issue and don’t speak for the mainstream public at large.

“There is a vacuum on this issue … and leadership is not in place to make this happen,” he said. JNS

{Matzav.com}

[COMMUNICATED]

🏃 Hurry! Limited-Time Offer:

Earn 120,000 Points with Chase Ink Business Preferred

Time is running out to take advantage of the best-ever offer on the

Chase Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card:

Apply now to earn an incredible 120,000 Ultimate Rewards points!

🚀 120,000 Points = $1,500+ in Travel or $1,200 in Cash!

Limited-Time Offer!!

This exclusive opportunity won’t last long. Seize the moment and secure the highest sign-up bonus ever offered on the Chase Ink Business Preferred Credit Card.

Learn more here!

Exclusive Benefits:

• 3 Points per Dollar: Earn triple points on travel, internet, cable, phone services, shipping purchases, and advertising on social media and search engines (up to $150,000 annually).

• Cell Phone Protection: Insure your cell phone against damage or theft when you pay your bill with the card.

• Travel and Purchase Protections: Enjoy primary rental car insurance, trip cancellation/interruption insurance, extended warranty, purchase protection, and more.

• No Foreign Transaction Fees: Use your card abroad without any additional charges.

Easy to Apply:

• Here are all the reasons why you should apply for this card today.

• There have never been better reasons to sign up for this card!

Read Dan’s full review here!

Dansdeals.com was voted the #1 miles and points blog by USA Today’s readers. He has personally earned over 100 million miles and points and is a recognized expert in the travel industry.

Over the past 18 years DansDeals readers have earned over 30 billion miles and points as well as saved over $5 billion on goods and travel deals. Join the 50 million+ readers who have taken advantage of DansDeals and start saving today!

Disclaimer: This email may contain links through which we are compensated when you click on or are approved for offers. The editorial content here is not provided by any of the companies mentioned, and has not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone.

Never miss a deal – Follow us @DansDeals

Known as a staunch defender of Israel on the international stage, Erdan will utilize his extensive experience to ensure Magen David Adom is fully prepared for the unprecedented challenges Israel faces

Senator Josh Hawley has revealed that whistleblowers informed him that the majority of agents assigned to protect Donald Trump during the attempted assassination at his Butler, Pennsylvania, rally in July were primarily personnel from Homeland Security, who had received limited training in protective duties.

Rather than being surrounded by a large contingent of Secret Service agents at the July 13 rally, Trump was largely safeguarded by Homeland Security agents who had only undergone online webinar training before the event, according to Hawley (R-Mo.), during an interview on “Jesse Watters Primetime” on Tuesday night.

“A two-hour, online webinar. And I’m told that half the time, the sounds to the webinar didn’t even work,” Hawley stated.

“Consider this: The former president of the US … is brought out on stage, with the majority of his protectors being undertrained and unqualified. They received only a webinar training, and even that was flawed,” he remarked with disbelief.

“This is absolutely outrageous.”

Hawley noted that the Homeland Security agents were reportedly diverted from child exploitation cases and other investigations to provide protection for Trump, a role they were not accustomed to.

He also criticized the Secret Service and FBI for their lack of transparency regarding the rally, where Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks.

“The only reason we have this information is because of whistleblowers,” he said during his conversation with Watters.

Representative Clay Higgins (R-La.) recently disclosed that a SWAT team from Butler was actually the first to fire shots that damaged Crooks’ rifle and stopped the shooting spree before the Secret Service intervened.

During a congressional testimony on July 31, acting Secret Service director Ronald Rowe Jr. did not mention the local SWAT team’s involvement, Watters pointed out.

{Matzav.com}

America’s employers posted fewer job openings in July than they had the previous month, a sign that hiring could further cool in the coming months. The Labor Department reported Wednesday that there were 7.7 million open jobs in July, down from 7.9 million in June and the fewest since January 2021. Openings have fallen steadily this year, from nearly 8.8 million in January. Layoffs rose from 1.56 million to 1.76 million, the most since March 2023, though that level of job cuts is roughly consistent with pre-pandemic levels, when the unemployment rate was historically low. Layoffs have been unusually low since the economy’s rapid recovery from the pandemic recession, with many employers intent on holding onto their workers. Overall, Wednesday’s report painted a mixed picture of the job market. On the positive side, total hiring rose in July, to 5.5 million, after it had fallen to a four-year low of 5.2 million in June. And the number of people who quit their jobs ticked up slightly, to about 3.3 million. The number of quits is seen as a measure of the job market’s health: Workers typically quit when they already have a new job or when they’re confident they can find one. Still, quits remain far below the peak of 4.5 million reached in 2022, when many workers shifted jobs as the economy accelerated out of the pandemic recession. The spike in quits at that time helped drive up wage gains as companies jacked up pay to try to find or keep employees. The current lower level of quits suggests that wage increases will likely remain modest, which should help further cool inflation. Stephen Stanley, an economist at Santander, noted that July’s job openings are still about 7% above 2019 levels, when hiring was healthy. “Labor demand is still solid, albeit moderating,” he said. Wednesday’s figures indicate that fewer companies are seeking to add workers despite recent data showing that consumer spending is still growing. Last week, the government estimated that the economy expanded at a healthy 3% annual rate in the April-June quarter. In July, job openings fell sharply in health care and state and local government and also dropped in warehousing and transportation. Openings rose in manufacturing and professional and business services, a category that includes legal services and engineering and accounting. Even as openings have fallen for the past two years, there are still roughly 1.1 job openings for every unemployed person, Wednesday’s report showed. That reflects the economy’s continuing need for workers and marks a reversal from before the pandemic, when there were always more unemployed people than available jobs. The July report on job openings is the first of several measures this week of the labor market’s health that the Federal Reserve will be watching closely. If clear evidence emerges that hiring is faltering, the Fed might decide at its next meeting Sept. 17-18 to start cutting its benchmark interest rate by a relatively aggressive half-percentage point. If hiring remains mostly solid, however, a more typical quarter-point rate cut would be likelier. On Thursday, the government will report how many laid-off workers sought unemployment benefits last week. So far, most employers are largely holding onto their workers, rather than imposing layoffs, even though they have been slower to add jobs than they were earlier this […]

An overwhelming majority of Israelis support Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s negotiation positions regarding a hostage deal with Hamas and oppose anti-government demonstrations in Tel Aviv demanding an immediate deal at any price, according to a new, in-depth JNS poll.

Netanyahu’s positions are supported not only by coalition-party voters, but also by approximately one third of voters for opposition parties, the survey found.

Direct Polls conducted the survey on Monday evening both before and after the prime minister’s press conference, finding a significant disparity in Netanyahu’s favor in the latter sampling.

At the press conference, Netanyahu set out the rationale for his refusal to remove Israel Defense Forces troops from the border zone between Gaza and Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, its code name on IDF maps.

JNS asked respondents: “Do you believe Israel should support or oppose a deal that conditions the receipt of between 18-30 hostages on an IDF withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor for six weeks, during which Hamas will be able to rearm and smuggle hostages out of Gaza?”

Thirty-five percent of respondents overall said that Israel should agree to such a deal, while 62% opposed it. Three percent had no opinion.

Among coalition-party voters, 7% supported withdrawing from the Gaza-Egypt border, compared to 62% of opposition voters. Ninety-two percent of coalition voters opposed the withdrawal and 33% of opposition voters opposed withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor.

Notably, 65% of opposition voters polled before the press conference supported withdrawing from the Philadelphi Corridor, and only 57% of opposition voters polled afterwards supported that position. Support for the withdrawal among coalition voters decreased from 8% to 5%.

The disparity between the way opposition party voters polled before and after Netanyahu’s press conference viewed mass anti-government protests on behalf of a hostage deal was even more apparent. Fifty-two percent of opposition party voters surveyed before Netanyahu’s press conference thought that the demonstrations advanced the goal of getting the hostages home. Thirty-two percent said that the demonstrations had no impact on whether or not a deal would be achieved that would get the hostages home. Sixteen percent said that the demonstrations decreased the chance of getting a hostage deal with Hamas.

After Netanyahu’s press conference, only 42% of opposition voters believed that the demonstrations increased the prospects for getting the hostages home. Thirty-nine percent said that the demonstrations didn’t affect their plight, and 19% said that the demonstrations decreased prospects for bringing them home.

Sixty-one percent of Israelis agreed with the sentence, “Only military pressure on Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and planned military actions including hostage rescue operations can lead to the release of the hostages.” Thirty-three percent agreed that “Continuing IDF operations in the Gaza tunnels endangers the hostages’ lives.”

Israelis are sharply split over whether Netanyahu bears responsibility for the execution of the hostages. Opposition voters support the claim 69% to 28%, while coalition voters oppose it 94%-6%.

The hostage deal Netanyahu has accepted involves three phases. In the first phase Israel would agree to free hundreds of Hamas terrorists from prison and significantly draw back its forces from Gaza while accepting a six-week ceasefire. Hamas in exchange would free 18-30 hostages. In two later phases of the deal, Hamas would release the rest of the hostages—alive and dead—in exchange for the further release of terrorists from prison and continuation of the ceasefire.

JNS asked Israelis if they believed Hamas would be willing to release additional hostages in later phases of the deal or would refuse to release them. Sixty-nine percent of Israelis (88% of coalition voters and 50% of opposition voters) believe Hamas will not release additional hostages. Only 24% of Israelis (10% of coalition voters and 38% of opposition voters) said that Hamas will be willing to advance along the deal and release additional hostages.

In other words, 69% of Israelis believe that between 83 and 71 hostages would be left behind in Gaza indefinitely.

Hamas’s negotiating position is that Israel must remove all of its forces from Gaza, including from the 3 kilometer wide security perimeter within Gaza along the border with Israel, the Netzarim Corridor that separates central and southern Gaza from northern Gaza, and the Philadelphi Corridor.

Seventy-three percent of Israelis, (95% of coalition party voters and 51% of opposition party voters) oppose Hamas’s demands. Twenty-two percent of Israelis support it, (4% of coalition voters and 40% of opposition voters).

A majority of Israelis do not trust the Biden-Harris administration’s commitments to support Israel if Hamas breaches the ceasefire-for-hostages deal. In response to JNS’s question, “Do you believe that the Biden-Harris administration will permit or block Israel from reinstating hostilities and reconquering Gaza to defeat Hamas if Hamas breaches the agreement,” 38% of Israelis said the United States would permit Israel to renew military operations; 56% said the United States would block Israel from renewing its military operations in Gaza. Only 14% of coalition voters believed the Biden-Harris administration would support a renewal of operations, while 61% of opposition voters trusted the administration’s support. Eighty-one percent of coalition voters said the United States would prevent Israel from renewing its operations if Hamas breaches a ceasefire deal, compared to 31% of opposition party voters.

On Sunday, Arnon Bar-David, the chairman of Israel’s main labor union, the Histadrut, declared a general strike in order to force the government to accept a hostage deal at all costs. A Labor court ruled the strike illegal on Monday afternoon and ordered it stopped immediately. The damage to the economy from the lost work hours is assessed at 2 billion shekels ($541 million).

JNS asked the public whether they believed that the strike advanced a hostage deal, had no impact on prospects for a hostage deal or damaged prospects for a hostage deal. Eighteen percent said the strike increased the prospects for a deal, 32% said it had no impact and 50% said it harmed prospects for a deal.

The heads of the anti-government protest groups active since January 2023 and the Hostage Families Forum, which represents a few dozen hostage families, have been cooperating informally since Oct. 7. In December 2023, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, the unofficial leader of the anti-government political groups organizing the protests, called for the anti-government groups to work behind the hostages’ families. On Tuesday it was reported that Barak’s associates will begin officially cooperating with the Hostage Families Forum from now on, effectively merging the group representing a fraction of the hostages’ families with the anti-government protest movement.

JNS asked the public whether it believed that the anti-government protest groups have joined the hostages’ families groups in order mainly to help secure their release, mainly to overthrow the government or to advance both goals equally. Fifty-five percent of Israelis (90% of coalition voters and 20% of opposition voters) said that the anti-government groups are helping the Hostages’ Families Forum to overthrow the government.

Twenty percent of Israelis (3% of coalition voters and 37% of opposition voters) said the anti-government groups were supporting the Hostage Families Forum to secure the hostages’ release.

Twenty-four percent of Israelis (7% of coalition voters and 41% of opposition voters) believed they were helping the Hostage Families Forum to advance both goals equally.

In light of Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s open opposition to the Security Cabinet’s decision to oppose all withdrawals from the Philadelphi Corridor, JNS asked whether Israelis believe he should quit or be fired, or whether he should remain in his position. Fifty-one percent of Israelis said that Gallant should be fired or resign.

Thirty-three percent (53% of coalition voters and 14% of opposition voters) said Gallant should resign.

Eighteen percent of Israelis (32% of coalition voters and 4% of opposition voters) said that Netanyahu should fire Gallant.

Forty-five percent of Israelis (13% of coalition voters and 76% of opposition voters) said he should remain in his position.

Similarly, 48% of Israelis believe that IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Hertzi Halevy should either resign immediately or in the next four weeks and 41% believe that he should leave when the war is over. Only 7% believe he should remain in his position until the official conclusion of his term in 2025.

(JNS)

Former independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took aim at Vice President Kamala Harris during an interview with NewsNation, saying that she is not “worthy” of the presidency and questioning her ability to effectively communicate. Kennedy, who recently dropped out of the race and endorsed former President Donald Trump, suggested Harris would be unable to “put together an English sentence” or defend her policies in a debate. During his interview with host Chris Cuomo, Kennedy explained his decision to withdraw from the presidential race. “It became clear to me, Chris, that I was not gonna be allowed on the debating stage, which was really my only path to victory. I was already being boycotted by all of the mainstream media, the liberal media,” he said. Kennedy also cited polling data indicating that his continued candidacy would result in a victory for Harris in a hypothetical match-up against Trump. Kennedy voiced strong criticism of Harris, saying, “I don’t think that Vice President Harris is a worthy president of this country. I think we need to have a president who can give an interview, who can articulate a vision, who can put together an English sentence, who can articulate and defend her policies and her record, and who can engage in a debate.” “Vice President Harris’s speech at the convention made it very clear that she would continue the warfare state,” Kennedy concluded. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)