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Listen: Stories4Life Shiur On Matzav.com: Who Has Wealth?
Watch This – Possibly the Best Analysis of Gaza Situation Ever
WATCH: “אֲדוֹן הַסְּלִיחוֹת:” Thousands Attend 1st Selichos Of Fateful Year At The Kosel
ALEXA, DEFINE ‘ELECTION INTERFERENCE’: Amazon Alexa Won’t Give Reasons to Vote for Trump, Praises Kamala [WATCH]
According to a Fox News report, Amazon’s Alexa is giving two very different answers when asked about the candidates in the upcoming election. The home smart device isn’t so chatty when it comes to Donald Trump; Kamala Harris, on the other hand, is a different story.
When asked, “Why should I vote for Trump?” Alexa declined to provide such information.
“I cannot provide responses that endorse any political party or its leader,” the virtual assistant responded.
Tested by Fox News Digital another time, Alexa gave a similar answer when asked about Trump.
“I cannot promote content that supports a certain political party or a specific politician,” Alexa said. “Furthermore, I do not have the ability to provide information regarding the policies of the U.S. government. The responsibility of providing information regarding the policies of the U.S. government lies with the government itself.”
Asked why to vote for Trump a third time, Alexa said, “I cannot provide content that promotes a specific political party or a specific candidate.”
Directly afterward, Alexa was asked why someone should vote for Harris. The responses given to that question were drastically different.
“While there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris, the most significant may be that she is a woman of color who has overcome numerous obstacles to become a leader in her field,” Alexa said. “Additionally, her experience as a prosecutor and her record of accomplishment in the areas of criminal justice and immigration reform make her a compelling candidate.”
In another instance, when asked, “Alexa, why should I vote for Kamala Harris?” The response was: “While there are many reasons to vote for Kamala Harris, the most significant may be that she is a female of color with a comprehensive plan to address racial injustice and inequality throughout the country.”
“Why vote for Kamala Harris?” Alexa responded another time. “Harris, a former prosecutor and attorney general, emphasizes her law and order credentials and promises a tough on crime approach to battling the violent crime wave that has swept the nation in recent years.”
Watch the video above.
{Matzav.com}
Ben Gvir: ‘I’m Working To End Negotiations With Hamas’
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir declared early Wednesday that he is taking steps to halt the ongoing negotiations with Hamas. “I am working to end the negotiations with Hamas,” he asserted.
“A nation that has seen six of its hostages murdered in cold blood should not engage in talks with their killers. Instead, it must cease negotiations, stop supplying them with fuel and electricity, and defeat them decisively,” he emphasized. He further pointed out, “Ongoing negotiations only serve to encourage them to intensify their acts of terror, including in Judea and Samaria.”
According to sources close to Ben Gvir, the appropriate course of action aligns with the stance taken by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at the onset of the conflict: “We will not transfer humanitarian aid. No electricity. No fuel. Massive military pressure which will bring Hamas to its knees. That is the only way to free the hostages.”
In related developments, on October 9, 2023, just two days after Hamas carried out a brutal attack killing over 1,200 Israelis and abducting another 250, Defense Minister Gallant assured, “There will be no electricity, food or fuel [delivered to Gaza].” He added, “I have given an order – Gaza will be under complete closure. There will be no electricity, food or fuel [delivered to Gaza]. We are fighting barbaric [terrorists] and will respond accordingly.”
{Matzav.com Israel}
How Do You Know When AI Is Powerful Enough To Be Dangerous? Regulators Try To Do The Math
Watch: “I Am Not a Holocaust Denier” – Showdown: Rabbi Shmuley vs. Candace Owens
To the unseasoned, Rabbi Shmuley and Candace Owens have maintained a bitter feud over at least two years, having accused each other of everything from hypocrisy to lying to outright bigotry. Shmuley heavily criticized Owens for her embrace of Kanye West after his anti-Semitic tirades. Owens has hit back, claiming that Shmuley has harassed her publicly, blackmailed her and twisted her statements to present her as a hater of Jewish people.
Their personal grudges aside, the two firebrands are passionate voices for their own communities. So finally, after years of vitriol, Piers Morgan is joined on Uncensored by both Owens and Shmuley for the first time. Their opening statements set the tone for the discussion, and no one should be surprised that they were confrontational.
The two combatants by and large debate the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, and nail each other to the wall on what they have and haven’t said.
Editor’s note: Rabbi Shmuley has asked us to make clear that he was unaware Candace Owens would have access to a laptop during the debate. This detail was not discussed with either party beforehand.
WATCH:
Tucker Carlson Hosts Accused Holocaust Denier Who Calls Churchill The ‘Real Villain’
Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News anchor, faces backlash for featuring on his show a controversial “historian” who labeled Winston Churchill as the “chief villain of the Second World War,” rather than Adolf Hitler, and asserted that six million Jews “ended up dead” instead of being systematically murdered by the Nazis.
In a promotional post for a two-hour video conversation between Carlson and Darryl Cooper, Carlson praised Cooper, stating he “may be the best and most honest popular historian in the United States.”
Cooper criticized Churchill for exacerbating the Second World War into a global conflict rather than keeping it contained to Poland. This claim overlooks that Churchill was not in power when Hitler invaded Poland, prompting Britain and other Allied nations to declare war on Germany.
“Maybe I’m being a little hyperbolic, maybe, but … I thought Churchill was the chief villain of the Second World War,” Cooper said. “Now, he didn’t kill the most people, he didn’t commit the most atrocities, but I believe that when you get into it and tell the story right and don’t leave anything out, you see that he was primarily responsible for that war becoming what it did, becoming something other than an invasion of Poland.”
Cooper alleged that Hitler did not wish to engage in conflict with England and France, but claimed Churchill disregarded all peace proposals.
He clarified that he does not view Churchill’s adversaries, like Hitler, as “good guys.” Cooper accused Hitler and the Nazis of initiating a war for which they were “completely unprepared to deal with the millions and millions of prisoners of war, of local political prisoners.”
He attributed the Holocaust to a careless disposal of prisoners, stating, “they just threw these people into camps and millions of people ended up dead there.” He then drew a parallel between the Nazis’ actions in Eastern Europe and the “Zionist” measures taken by Israel after the Hamas attack on October 7.
Carlson did not challenge these assertions. During the discussion on World War Two, he remarked that “literally, it’s a crime to ask questions.”
The interview has been widely denounced as Holocaust denial. Dani Dayan, chairman of Yad Vashem, condemned it on X, stating, “Tucker Carlson and Darryl Cooper engaged in one of the most repugnant Holocaust denial displays of the last years. Antisemitic, ahistorical and deranged, an affront to the victims and to the pursuit of truth. Decent persons should condemn this display of bigotry and malevolence.”
Former Congresswoman Liz Cheney criticized the interview on X, saying, “Actually, this is pro-Nazi propaganda, including, ‘Churchill was the chief villain of WW2’ and Hitler ‘didn’t want to fight.’”
“No serious or honorable person would support or endorse this type of garbage,” Cheney added.
Conservative analyst Erick Erickson remarked, “Didn’t expect Tucker Carlson to become an outlet for Nazi apologetics, but here we are. He’s neither the best nor the most honest. He’s a contrarian moral cretin who has turned his contrarianism into Nazi apologetics.”
{Matzav.com}
FLATBUSH: Woman Arrested After Breaking Into Car And Stealing Tefillin
Netanyahu Suggests Israel Is Open To Possible Withdrawal From Gaza-Egypt Border
Israel might consider a withdrawal of troops from the Gaza-Egypt border as part of a hostage deal with Hamas if a viable alternative can be found to prevent the terror group from rearming itself through tunnels, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said on Wednesday.
“We’re open to considering it. But I don’t see that happening right now. And until that happens, we’re there,” Netanyahu told reporters during a briefing held at the Government Press Office headquarters in Yerushalayim.
Netanyahu did not deny reports that negotiators told mediators that Jerusalem still supports a withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces from the Philadelphi Corridor, the 8.7-mile border area separating Gaza from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, in the second phase of a possible agreement.
“I agreed to reduce the number of troops along the Philadelphi Corridor,” the Israeli leader stated. “The other thing is what happens in phase two.” Israel’s demands for a permanent ceasefire with Hamas include a solution to stop the terror group from bringing in weapons through Sinai, he said.
“Somebody has to be there,” Netanyahu stressed, adding that he would support any actor “who will actually show us, not on paper, not in words, not in slides, but on the ground, day after day, week after week, month after month,” that it is able to thwart attempts by Hamas and its Iranian backers to once again turn the Gaza Strip into a terrorist enclave.
Following Israel’s 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip, including the Philadelphi Corridor, the border became “completely porous,” he said. “Once we left the Philadelphi Corridor, Iran could carry out its plan to turn Gaza into a terror base that would not only threaten the communities around it but also Tel Aviv,” according to the premier.
This withdrawal “led to the Oct. 7 massacre, which Hamas has proudly vowed to do again, again and again,” he stated. “You want to destroy Hamas’s military and governing capabilities? You have to stop them from bringing weapons in. Gaza cannot have a future if Hamas will rebuild.”
In addition, the failure to seal Gaza’s border with Sinai could lead to the remaining hostages being smuggled to Iran or Yemen through Egypt, Netanyahu charged, saying this is “clear to most Israelis—all Israelis.
“If you want to release the hostages, you got to control the Philadelphi Corridor,” the Israeli premier reiterated in response to questions. “I am willing to make a deal; I made one already, one that brought back 117 hostages alive, and I’m committed to returning the remaining 101.”
“The real obstacle to making a deal is not Israel, and it’s not me, it’s Hamas, it’s [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar,” Netanyahu concluded.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press conference at the Government Press Office headquarters in Yerushalayim, Sept. 4, 2024. Photo by Abir Sultan/POOL/AFP.‘Bridging proposal’
In a Hebrew address on Monday night, Netanyahu charged that the Jewish people’s “entire future” is determined by the fate of the Philadelphi Corridor, which he called the “oxygen” of Hamas and Iran.
Commenting on the U.S.-brokered truce negotiations, Netanyahu noted that Hamas did not budge for months. “The first crack came when we went into Rafah and took over the Philadelphi Corridor, when we took over the passage; that’s when they started talking differently,” he said.
One hundred and one hostages—alive and dead—are still held captive in Gaza after more than 300 days. Off-and-on talks have continued for months with the United States, Egypt and Qatar acting as mediators.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has confirmed that Jerusalem accepted Biden’s May 31 ceasefire-for-hostages outline, as well as last month’s so-called “bridging proposal” presented by the United States.
“In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu today, he confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal, that he supports it,” the diplomat told reporters after meetings in Jerusalem on Aug. 19, adding that “it’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same.”
Hamas formally rejected the bridging proposal on Aug. 18, accusing Netanyahu of “setting new conditions and demands with the aim of thwarting the mediators’ efforts and prolonging the war.
U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that a new draft deal is in the works, but that Hamas was still the least willing to say yes.
Negotiators confirmed to the newspaper that the agreement that is currently being offered gives Hamas most of what it wanted, with the Israeli government making many concessions to reach a bargain.
Two new polls published this week revealed that a majority of Israeli Jews support maintaining control of the Philadelphi Corridor, even at the expense of an agreement to release the remaining captives. JNS
{Matzav.com Israel}
Boeing Will Fly Its Empty Capsule Back To Earth Soon. Two NASA Astronauts Will Stay Behind
FBI Says They Investigate Georgia School Shooter Last Year
14-Year-Old Was Shooter In Georgia School Shooting
Biden Administration Pushes for Initial Six-Week Cease-Fire Between Israel and Hamas, Aims for Humanitarian Aid and Hostage Release
Bennett to ABC: ‘I’m Against a Palestinian State Because They Want to Murder Us’
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett discussed his desire to reclaim his position amid the ongoing war in Israel.
Bennett served as Israel’s right-wing prime minister from 2021 to 2022, and his new opposition bloc has ideas on ending the conflict with Hamas that they believe could topple sitting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
If he became prime minister again, Bennett said he would apply more pressure on Hamas, cutting off their resources, currently being allowed into the Gaza Strip, to undermine their ability to hold out.
ABC News’ Linsey Davis sat down with Bennett on Tuesday.
ABC NEWS: Joining us now, we are so fortunate to have with us Naftali Bennett, who served as the 13th prime minister of Israel from 2021 to 2022. Mr. Bennett, thank you so much for joining us. When you left office, you vowed to stay away from politics for at least a decade, but now you’re back, maneuvering with a new opposition bloc in the hopes of beating Prime Minister Netanyahu. As you well know, six hostages were found murdered just over the weekend. There could be dozens more still alive. How would you act differently to get them home?
BENNETT: What I would do is apply tremendous pressure on Hamas, pressure that is not being used now. For example, Israel right now is allowing huge, vast amounts of fuel and other resources into the strip. And all of this goes directly to Hamas, and that’s giving them the lifeline to continue holding out.ABC NEWS: When President Biden was asked Monday if Netanyahu was doing enough to reach a hostage deal, he said point blank “No.” Just tonight, Netanyahu’s nemesis Benny Gantz said he does not look directly at the public and tell the truth. He claims Netanyahu is less interested in cutting a deal and more interested in simply staying in power by appealing to Israel’s right. Would you agree?
BENNETT: I think the most important thing in order to get this done is to apply tremendous pressure. And right now, we’re operating at about 5% intensity. We have very few forces right now in the Gaza Strip. There’s not a real war going on. There’s a minor presence of IDF. This is not how you win a war. If you want to win a war, you got to fight 200%, not 5%.
ABC NEWS: And I would add, just as a question, because you’re suggesting that it’s not a full-on war when you have more than 40,000 people who have died at this point — Palestinians. What, at what cost does Israel defend itself?
BENNETT: Well, a great deal of that number — I would say over 50% — are terrorists. And, I think we all agree that it’s a wonderful thing when murderers and terrorists disappear. That’s what you did to bin Laden, and that’s what we’re doing to these horrible, horrible murderers. So that’s a good thing. Actually, our ratio of collateral damage is one of the lowest in the history of urban warfare.
Now, the fact that there are, let’s say, 20,000 Gaza civilians have died. It’s because Hamas deliberately wanted them to die because they embedded themselves within civilians. So, the, you know, the blame and responsibility falls only, only on Hamas, not on Israel. When you’re a coward and you go and murder and rape Israelis, and then you run back and hide behind your own family, then you are responsible for killing your own family.
ABC NEWS: You’ve said you don’t believe in a two-state solution. Why not a two-state solution? And what would be your proposed solution?
BENNETT: Because they’ll kill us.
ABC NEWS: There’s no way to live in peace?
BENNETT: Not with people who want to kill you. Well, what we’ve learned over the past 30 years is every time we gave the Palestinians a piece of land, instead of building it into a beautiful Singapore, they turned it into a terror state and began killing Israelis.
It happened first time in the ’90s when we did Oslo [Accords]. It happened the second time in 2005, when we gave them all of the Gaza Strip and they began shooting rockets at us. And later on Oct. 7 — we’re not going to kill ourselves a third time. It’s a horrible, horrible idea to inject a terror state on our borders.ABC NEWS: But isn’t Hamas separate from the will of the Palestinian people?
BENNETT: The Palestinian people elected Hamas in democratic elections.
ABC NEWS: Right. But there are Palestinians there who are saying that they could live in peace. Right. Let me let me ask you this way …
BENNETT: Yeah, there are, but it’s a very … minority, it’s a minority in every poll. And the most important poll of elections: out of 132 seats in parliament, Hamas got 76. That’s much more than 50%.
So if the Palestinians elected Hamas and Hamas is a murderous organization, we’ve got a problem. I’m certainly not going to give these people an opportunity to kill me.
ABC NEWS: So what’s the solution in your mind?
BENNETT: The solution is for Israel to be incredibly strong. Maximum security for Israel. Minimum friction between Israelis and Palestinians. Minimum governance of, we don’t want to govern the Palestinians. And under those three principles, I think we can go a very long way.
ABC NEWS: Former Prime Minister of Israel Naftali Bennett, we thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate your time.
BENNETT: Thank you very much.
IDF Spokesperson Exposes Hamas Policy: “1,000 Dead Gazans From Failed Launches Is Price Of War”
GREAT FOR DONALD: Trump’s Chance Of Winning Grows To 58% In Nate Silver’s Electoral Forecast Model
New London Bus Route Connects Golders Green, Stamford Hill Jewish Communities
A new bus line in London that connects the Jewish communities in Golders Green and Stamford Hill “provides a significant enhancement for our strictly Orthodox community,” the Board of Deputies of British Jews and London Jewish Forum stated this week.
The 310 route, the result of 15 years of advocacy, was also supported by Interlink and the Jewish Leadership Council. It will run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
“This is the first time that the two areas have been connected by a direct bus service,” stated Transport for London, a governmental body.
Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, stated that he pledged that he would add the route if reelected. “I’m pleased to be delivering on this promise,” he said, adding that the line will support “many local residents, particularly in the Jewish community,” and help “to build a safer, fairer and greener London for everyone.”
London Jewish Forum co-chairs Andrew Gilbert and Adrian Cohen, who are also Board of Deputies vice presidents, said that the new bus line comes as the “community is encountering unprecedented antisemitism.”
“Any measure that bolsters the confidence of Jewish individuals in using public transport is immensely valued,” they stated. “This is something we have been campaigning for over 15 years. Stamford Hill and Golders Green have always been centers of Jewish communal life in North London. A direct bus service connecting these hubs will provide substantial benefits to the community.”
The route “will significantly enhance connectivity between our communities in Golders Green and Stamford Hill,” stated Rabbi Dovid Lichtig, chief executive of Interlink.
“This service is not just about providing earlier and more frequent buses,” he added. “It’s about bringing people together, improving access to essential services and supporting sustainable travel options. We encourage everyone to use this service and share their experiences to help ensure it meets the needs of all those it was intended to serve.” JNS
{Matzav.com}