ISRAEL / (IINO)
Blinken’s stunning confession Caroline Glick
Whenever there has been public daylight between the U.S. and Israel, Hamas has pulled back from a ceasefire and release of hostages, the secretary said. And he said much more. Op-ed.
Jan 6, 2025, 4:49 AM (GMT+2) Israel National News – (JNS) Liri Albag, one of five female IDF soldiers still being held hostage in Gaza, was the subject of Hamas’s most recently released video. The video of Liri alive was filmed on Jan. 1. Available online on pro-Hamas websites, it shows the 19-year-old in emotional distress, shaking at times, as she begged for her life.
The hostages have been held in Gaza for 457 days. And the question of why they are still there, why has Israel been unable to bring them home, gets asked with increased frustration and alarm every day from all quarters.
On Saturday, we received an answer to that question. Shortly after news broke of the release of the video of Liri Albag, The New York Times published an interview with outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken. Blinken said that Hamas has refused to agree to release the hostages in exchange for a ceasefire for two reasons.
In his words, “There have been two major impediments, and they both go to what drives Hamas. One has been whenever there has been public daylight between the United States and Israel and the perception that pressure was growing on Israel, we’ve seen it: Hamas has pulled back from agreeing to a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
“The other thing that got Hamas to pull back was their belief, their hope that there would be a wider conflict, that Hezbollah would attack Israel, that Iran would attack Israel, that other actors would attack Israel, and that Israel would have its hands full and Hamas could continue what it was doing.”
Under harsh questioning from the Times’ anti-Israel reporter Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Blinken revealed that U.S. pressure on Israel began immediately after Oct. 7, 2023, and became a central feature of U.S. policy in relation to the war from its very earliest days. From the outset, the provision of unlimited supplies to Gaza—euphemistically referred to as humanitarian aid—has been the constant focus of U.S. pressure on Israel.
Almost immediately after the Oct. 7 invasion, then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a siege of Gaza. The move was self-explanatory. The Gazans had taken 256 Israelis hostage to Gaza. So long as they weren’t released, Gaza would remain under siege. Siege warfare has long been considered one of the most humane, least destructive forms of warfare, and it is legal under the laws of war.
The Biden administration would have none of it. Blinken described how he compelled Israel to resupply Hamas from day one of the war.
“We’ve said from Day 1 that how Israel does that matters. And throughout, starting on Day 1, we tried to ensure that people had what they needed to get by. The very first trip that I made to Israel five days after Oct. 7, I spent with my team nine hours in the IDF’s headquarters in Tel Aviv, six stories underground with the Israeli government, including the prime minister, including arguing for hours on end about the basic proposition that the humanitarian assistance needed to get to Palestinian Arabs in Gaza.
“And that was an argument that took place, because you had in Israel in the days after Oct. 7 a totally traumatized society. This wasn’t just the prime minister or a given leader in Israel. This was an entire society that didn’t want any assistance getting to a single Palestinian Arab in Gaza. I argued that for nine hours.
“President Biden was planning to come to Israel a few days later. And in the course of that argument, when I was getting resistance to the proposition of humanitarian assistance getting in, I told the prime minister, I’m going to call the president and tell him not to come if you don’t allow this assistance to start flowing. And I called the president to make sure that he agreed with that, and he fully did. We got the agreement to begin assistance through Rafah, which we expanded to Kerem Shalom and many other places.”
So, to fend off an assault from an anti-Israel reporter, Blinken explained that President Joe Biden wouldn’t visit Israel until Israel capitulated to Blinken’s demand that it feed and water the people of Gaza who supported Hamas’s decision to take 256 Israeli children, babies, women and men hostage.
Blinken also admitted that the reason that the 100 hostages are still in Gaza is that Hamas perceives the administration as pressuring Israel to capitulate to Hamas.
Blinken could have added that by demanding that Israel feed the people of Gaza, he and Biden removed any fear Hamas leaders might have had that the people would overthrow them. Unconcerned with that prospect, Hamas felt no pressure to release the hostages.
It bears noting that when Blinken arrived on Oct. 12, 2023, Israel still didn’t know how many of its citizens had been taken hostage. It still didn’t have a clear assessment of how many people were dead. Hundreds of victims had yet to be identified due to Hamas’s mutilation and destruction of their bodies. Just last week, Israelis learned that half of the 1,200 Israelis butchered that day were beheaded.
What was most notable about Blinken’s admission is that he didn’t appear to believe that there was anything wrong with the policies he imposed on Israel. Many military leaders have argued persuasively that had Blinken and Biden left Israel to pursue its siege strategy, combined with airstrikes, Israel could have fomented Hamas’s capitulation, or at least its surrender of the hostages, by the end of 2024. While Blinken’s statements indicated that he is at least in partial agreement with that assessment, he gave no indication that he felt remorse for the devastating impact his policies have had on the hostages or for the fact that those policies are a primary reason that the war is still ongoing.
The question is whether his assessment will impact his actions in his last two weeks in office.
Last week, Michael Doran, senior fellow and director at the Hudson Institute and a former member of the U.S. National Security Council, told Dr. Gadi Taub on their Israeli Update podcast that the Biden administration intends to use its allegation that Israel is not providing sufficient supplies to Gaza to permanently undermine Israel’s international position. Doran explained that the administration intends to use Section 620(i) of the Foreign Assistance Act, which asserts “that any country that is blocking U.S. humanitarian aid will have its military assistance cut off,” against Israel.
Seemingly backing up Doran, in his interview with the New York Times, Blinken alluded to a letter that he and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin sent their Israeli interlocutors in early October alleging that Israel was in violation of Section 620(i).
Doran said, “The January surprise is that there will be an official finding by the State Department that Israel is in violation of 620(i). It’s blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza, and then what will happen is that the president will waive the penalties for blocking of the humanitarian aid, but there will have been an official American finding.”
That finding, Doran explained, will be used as the basis of a U.N. Security Council resolution put forward by Algeria or Slovenia. It will also be used by the International Criminal Court, the European Union and other bodies to strike out at Israel.
Later last week, Channel 14 reported that the administration is enabling a resolution to be put forward at the U.N. Security Council that would require Israel to withdraw from Gaza, and perhaps from Lebanon and Syria. The idea is that other Security Council members would put forward the resolution and the U.S. will permit it to pass by abstaining, as the Obama administration abstained from Resolution 2234, which passed in the Security Council in December 2016, after President-elect Donald Trump was elected to his first term in office. That resolution declared all Israeli communities in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria illegal.
Doran shared that there are two camps in the administration regarding the planned move. Many senior officials support moving forward. But several senior officials oppose the move. He said that the ultimate decision will be made by Blinken.
Towards the end of his interview with the Times, Blinken lashed out at the international forces that have not held Hamas responsible for the suffering it has caused and continues to cause.
In his words, “One of the things that I found a little astounding throughout is that for all of the understandable criticism of the way Israel has conducted itself in Gaza, you hear virtually nothing from anyone since Oct. 7 about Hamas. Why there hasn’t been a unanimous chorus around the world for Hamas to put down its weapons, to give up the hostages, to surrender—I don’t know what the answer is to that. Israel, on various occasions, has offered safe passage to Hamas’s leadership and fighters out of Gaza. Where is the world? Where is the world, saying, ‘Yeah, do that! End this! Stop the suffering of people that you brought on!’”
The obvious answer is because Blinken himself has devoted most of his energies to pressuring and castigating Israel.
Perhaps Blinken’s interview was a signal that he will not go forward with the plan that his subordinates have developed to subject Israel to a Security Council resolution and to further criminalization it at The Hague. Perhaps it was nothing more than an effort to rebuild his ties to the anti-Israel camp as he leaves office. Time will tell.
In the meantime, and not knowing how Blinken will act, the only way to avoid what Doran referred to as a “January surprise,” and facilitate the speedy release of Liri Albag and the other 99 hostages, is for the incoming Trump administration to apply massive pressure on Britain and France to veto any such resolution in the Security Council and to threaten Slovenia and Algeria with sanction if they advance the resolution in question.
Liri Albag’s video, like others that Hamas has released in recent weeks, is a reminder (if one was necessary) of why Hamas must be eradicated.
Blinken’s interview was proof that the Biden administration has been the single greatest obstacle to the hostages’ release and to Hamas’s eradication.
Caroline B. Glick is the senior contributing editor of Jewish News Syndicate and host of the “Caroline Glick Show” on JNS TV. Glick is the diplomatic commentator for Israel’s Channel 14, as well as a columnist for Newsweek. Glick is the senior fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs at the Center for Security Policy in Washington and a lecturer at Israel’s College of Statesmanship. She appears regularly on U.S., British, Australian and Indian television networks, including Fox, Newsmax and CBN. She appears, as well, on the BBC, Sky News Britain and Sky News Australia, and on India’s WION News Network.
High Court Rules Israel Can Hold Terrorist Bodies for Hostage Negotiations
January 5, 2025 Jewish Breaking News – Israel’s highest court delivered a blow to the family of terrorist Walid Daqqa, who died in April while serving a 38-year sentence for killing an IDF soldier.
Despite Daqqa holding Israeli citizenship, Israel’s High Court overwhelmingly ruled on Sunday that the state can withhold the bodies of terrorists, regardless of citizenship, to be used as bargaining chips in hostage negotiations with Hamas.
Leaning heavily on precedent, the court cited a September decision that had already extended the military’s authority under a 1945 regulation to withhold terrorists’ bodies. The court argued that judicial intervention is reserved for only the most extreme circumstances and the policy is subject to regular review.
Arab rights organizations wasted no time attacking the ruling. Adalah, fresh from defending Daqqa and six other dual-citizen terrorists in court, condemned what it labeled Israel’s “brutal policy” torwards the dead.
“The Israeli Supreme Court has sanctioned the government’s brutal policy of withholding the bodies of Palestinians, including citizens of Israel, purely based on security assessments of their potential value to be exploited as bargaining chips in negotiations for Jewish Israeli hostages.”
However, their arguments about dignity rang hollow for the judges after Daqqa had shown no mercy when he planned the kidnapping and execution of 19-year-old Israeli soldier Moshe Tamam on August 6, 1984.
Tamam was heading home after visiting his girlfriend in Tiberias on that fateful day, but after getting off a Tel Aviv-bound bus at the Beit Lid station, he disappeared without a trace. His body was found four days later on August 10, bearing signs of brutal head trauma.
“The way he was murdered was so brutal and inhumane,” Ortal, the niece of Moshe Tamam, recalled to CNN. “We fought hard to keep him in prison, and every moment of struggle paid off.”
[Ed.: Well, thank you very much ‘High Court’ for your permission! Otherwise, our legal teams wouldn’t know what to make of it!]
⚠️HOUTHI MISSILE THREAT CHATTER – LIKELY OVERNIGHT
January 5, 2025 ISRAEL REALTIME
⚠️HOUTHIS – Once again, our analyst sees an up-tick in Houthi threat chatter AND BELIEVES the HOUTHIS will fire another BALLISTIC MISSILE at ISRAEL overnight. Based on public threats and previous attack patterns – the most likely time window remains 2:00 AM – 4:40 AM – with an increased chance of targeting CENTRAL ISRAEL from the threat chatter to maximize alert impact.
( Yes, waking us up is now their official strategy. )
.. Yemeni leader sends message to Israel on social media: “You won’t go to sleep tonight.”
❗️PRO-GAZA PROTEST AT IDF HQ.. at the HQ Begin Gate: a demonstration today of 20-30 pro-Gaza protesters, WHO ARE FILMING SOLDIERS entering the HQ – and shouting at them that they are child murderers.
The protesters stand with genocide signs and chant slogans against the IDF while those soldiers are going to fight for the protestors safety.
♦️SYRIA – According to Sputnik Russian news, an IDF jet penetrated Syrian airspace from the Golan Heights and fired several missiles, which targeted one of the military bases in the Al-Kiswa area and also the “Jabal Al-Mana” area in the suburbs of Damascus.
🔹IRAN – Israel is monitoring Iran’s preparations to carry out a large and widespread attack on it, and the Chief of Staff has ordered the army to prepare for all scenarios and increase its readiness.
❓TERRORISTS TREATED.. Dozens of Hamas terrorists who were captured in a raid on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip were hospitalized and treated in hospitals in Israel. About 60 terrorists out of the 240 who were arrested, including some who participated in the massacre on October 7.
🎗️HOSTAGE DEAL NEWS.. Reuters: Hamas claims it agreed to Israel’s list of 34 hostages to be released but still insists on ‘permanent ceasefire’.
Israel denies the Reuters report, says they have not received a list or confirmation, NOR CONFIRMATION THAT 34 hostages are still alive.
No list has been approved by Hamas that clarifies which of the hostages are alive, and which are not.
.. In the usual Israeli FAKE NEWS, a Hamas source: “There is no talk of a partial agreement, or of removing Hamas leaders from Gaza.” Hamas still demands victory.
.. A senior Hamas source told the Saudi-run Al-Sharq TV channel that the organization has agreed to release 34 Israeli hostages, but did not say which of them are alive or dead. According to the source, the terrorist organizations in Gaza need about a week to determine this.
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DRAMA IN BRAZIL: IDF Soldier Flees Country As ‘War Crimes’ Probe Launched Against Him
January 5, 2025 Yeshiva World News – An IDF soldier who is also a survivor of the October 7 Nova massacre, was forced to flee Brazil after the Brazilian federal court launched a “war crimes” probe against him, Brazilian media outlets reported overnight Motzei Shabbos.
The soldier, who served in Gaza, was on vacation in the South American country when the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), an antisemitic international organization, submitted a claim against the soldier for “participating in massive demolitions of civilian homes in Gaza during a systematic campaign of destruction.”
The Belgium-based organization submitted a 500-page report to the court, claiming that it has evidence from open sources, presumably from social media, of the soldier’s “war crimes.”
The anti-Israel organization noted that the lawsuit “marks the first case of a state that is a signatory to the Rome Statute directly enforcing its provisions without relying on the International Criminal Court (ICC),” and added that it constitutes “a powerful precedent.”
Following the submission of the complaint, the Brazilian federal court ordered the police to launch an investigation against the soldier.
Kan News reported that after hours of fear and uncertainty, the soldier managed to escape Brazil before the authorities detained him. His family told Ynet that he and his friends left the country before legal action could be taken.
Sadly and ironically, this is the second time the soldier had to escape anti-Israeli and antisemitic terror elements, the first time from armed terrorists and the second time from “terrorists in suits.” In a video that appeared online two weeks after October 7 and went viral, the soldier described his dramatic escape from the Nova massacre, as he ran many kilometers over many hours, narrowly escaping gunfire.
This is not the foundation’s first attempt to have an IDF soldier arrested abroad for “war crimes.” Earlier this year, an IDF reservist fled Cyprus after Israeli security officials warned him that the organization issued a “war crimes” complaint against him. Another soldier fled Sri Lanka for the same reason.
Following the report, Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Yuli Edelstein on Sunday morning announced he scheduled an urgent classified meeting to take place on Monday to discuss the persecution of IDF soldiers abroad.
“For months, the members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, including myself, have warned time and time again, that the judicial persecution under false accusations of war crimes would not stop with the prime minister and the defense minister but would inevitably also target IDF soldiers,” Edelstein said. “I am embarrassed for Brazil and its government for capitulating to pro-Palestinian legal terrorism. I expect to hear from IDF and Foreign Ministry representatives about their plan of action to defend our soldiers from these malicious sanctions and criminal persecution.”
Eyeless in Gaza Jonathan Pollard
In spite of everything we’ve done to eliminate it, Hamas continues to be a threat to our security. So, what exactly does this mean? Opinion.
Jan 5, 2025, 1:11 AM (GMT+2) Israel National News – Unbelievably, we’ve been suffering consecutive days of rocket fire from Gaza. It has also been reported that Hamas has begun the process of rebuilding its depleted ranks. The organization has managed to do this by virtue of all the hijacked humanitarian aid it can use to pay their new recruits and the inexcusable vacuum left in certain parts of Gaza by withdrawn Israeli soldiers.
Many of us were not surprised by these ominous developments. Indeed, we’ve been trying to warn the public that the security situation in Gaza is deteriorating and that unless and until we radically change our military policy there, we may very well face the prospect of a revitalized Hamas in the not too distant future.
In response to our concerns, the IDF’s High Command has been trying to reassure the Israeli public that the situation in Gaza is completely “under control” and that Hamas’ military forces have been reduced to the point where they can’t regenerate. However, the near daily loss of soldiers, the periodic enemy rocket fire and the continuing use of our hostages as tools to sow discord within our society, clearly demonstrate the fact that Hamas is still very much alive. In spite of everything we’ve done to eliminate it, Hamas continues to be a threat to our security. So, what exactly does this mean?
First, it means that the High Command has been straight out lying to us about the actual situation in Gaza. Although this shouldn’t come as any surprise, what’s absolutely unacceptable is the fact that nobody has taken any steps to correct this intolerable situation. It’s really unbelievable when you think about it. Our army leadership has refused to act upon the age old principle of total victory. Indeed, the High Command seems to be criminally unaware of this cardinal military concept. “Managing the enemy” and pushing a final decisive outcome down the road for future generations to achieve appear to be the only military doctrines our generals seem to comprehend.
Second, the refusal of the government to embrace a viable “day after” scenario involving the elimination of Hamas and our annexation of Gaza shows that our so-called “leaders” are apparently comfortable with subjecting our soldiers and civilians to an endless war of attrition in Gaza. But here’s the simple truth: no other power is going to police Gaza if Hamas still exists. And the use of the PA to do this unenviable task is a total non starter. Clear orders should therefore be issued to the army: destroy Hamas’ food warehouses, cut off all water supplies to Gaza, corral Hamas’ civilian auxiliaries in one location, then completely level the Strip. The government should also make it abundantly clear that this policy will be implemented no matter the consequences to the hostages. The only concession we should offer to Hamas involves allowing surrendering terrorists to survive on condition they bring in a living hostage. Other than that, no Hamas prisoners should be taken. None! They’re going to be shot on sight whether they surrender or not. After what they did to our people on October 7, the G-d of vengeance will now walk the battlefield. And Hamas will learn the hard lessons of Jewish retribution.
[Ed.: This guy must be reading too much Daily Shmutz!]
Report: Hamas Recruitment Booms Despite Heavy Losses
January 4, 2025 Jewish Breaking News – After nearly 15 months, many in Israel fear they’ve entered an unwinnable war with Hamas, which has shown an alarming ability to keep recruiting terrorists.
New intelligence estimates first reported by Channel 12 news reveal Hamas has successfully recruited between 12,000 and 23,000 new terrorists. Combined with Palestinian Islamic Jihad forces, terrorist groups in Gaza are now estimated to command between 20,000 and 23,000. If correct, this is a dramatic increase from a separate estimate recently reported by the Jerusalem Post of 12,000.
Both reports cite inside Israeli military sources.
Meanwhile, the IDF bravely continues to conduct operations against Hamas cells. On Saturday, troops destroyed a compound in the “Officers’ Neighborhood” in northern Gaza that served as a terrorist command hub. The complex, taken out by Kfir Special Operations Command and Yahalom Unit forces under Division 162, contained anti-tank missile positions, booby traps, tunnels, explosives, and rocket launchers targeting Israeli territory.
Hamas is also reportedly struggling to maintain positions in Jabalya, Beit Lahia, and Beit Hanoun due to aggressive IDF operations in these areas. Most terrorists are now attempting to flee from Jabalya and northern Gaza toward Gaza City. While the IDF reports striking hundreds of terrorists over the past week, Hamas has been rigging traps in nearly every remaining structure, complicating military efforts to dismantle the terror organization.
[Ed.: This is completely absurd! The Gaza war is only “unwinnable” because of our military leadership, our Judiciary, and our system of government. I guess all those innocent Gaza civilians enlistees were concerned that Israel wouldn’t get wiped out in the end. We should have followed Hashem’s instructions every time we went to war throughout our history in the first days of this absurd “war”. This is what we were instructed to do, and what we did, in every war in our Torah. But noooo! Instead, we have our heads up our “State of Israel” ass.]
