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Middle East

U.S. Strikes Against The Houthis Expand The Israel-Hamas War

Since the eruption of the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip more than three months ago, the United States, Israel’s chief ally, has struggled to prevent it from spreading to the rest of the Middle East. To deter Iran and its proxies in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen from intervening in the war Israel is […]

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Middle East

Creating Post-October 7 “Facts On The Ground” In The West Bank

Jewish settlers in the West Bank have been quietly establishing “facts on the ground” since Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel on October 7 and murdered 1,200 people in an unprecedented rampage which triggered the fifth war in the Gaza Strip in 15 years. Israel, meanwhile, has been conducting a counter-terrorism campaign in the West Bank […]

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Commentary

Peace Now’s Unrealistic Demand For A Ceasefire

Americans For Peace Now, a dovish pro-Israel organization affiliated with the Peace Now movement in Israel, issued an unrealistic and naive statement on January 8 that unintentionally plays into the hands of Hamas. Calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Israel-Hamas war, it urged the Biden administration “to push” Israel to adopt and implement a […]

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Film

A Life Apart

They are a minority-within-a-minority. Regardless of where they live, Hasidic Jews dwell on the periphery of societies, hewing to changeless values and norms and uncompromisingly refusing to blend into their surroundings. Hasidim are the subject of A Life Apart, an intriguing documentary by Menachem Daum and Oren Rudavsky now available on the ChaiFlicks streaming platform. […]

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Television

Filip: A Polish Jew In Nazi Germany

Leopold Tyrmand (1920-1985), the scion of an assimilated Polish Jewish family, escaped into Germany, the lion’s den, as the Nazis carried out the mass murder of Jews in Poland during the Holocaust. After the war, he went back home and earned a living as a journalist. Stymied by the totalitarian nature of the postwar communist […]

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Commentary

Israeli Ministers Are Out Of Touch With Reality

To put it plainly, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is out of touch with reality. In recent days, he has called for the emigration of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents and the rebuilding of Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip, from which Israel withdrew unilaterally in 2005. Smotrich’s foolhardy recommendations have been seconded by his sidekick, […]

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Middle East

Israel Exacts Vengeance For The October 7 Massacre

From the moment that Israel was brutally attacked by Hamas terrorists on October 7, Hamas leaders and field commanders in the Gaza Strip and elsewhere were on notice that their days were numbered. The assassination of Hamas’ deputy leader, Saleh al-Arouri, on January 2 lends credence to this assessment. Arouri, 57, and several of his […]

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Middle East

Hezbollah Complicates Israel’s Border Dispute With Lebanon

Hezbollah, the pro-Iranian Lebanese militia, has been embroiled in a low-intensity war with Israel in support of Hamas since October 8, the day after some 3,000 Hamas terrorists broke through Israel’s fortified border fence and ransacked communities in southern Israel, killing 1,200 Israelis and foreigners and kidnapping 240 civilians and soldiers. Its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, […]

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Commentary

Mexico Poised To Elect Its First Jewish President

With Mexico poised to elect its first Jewish president, Vincente Fox has shamelessly exploited his position as its former president to sow antisemitism. The target of his vile attacks, Claudia Sheinbaum, is the 61-year-old former mayor of Mexico City — the first Jewish woman to hold this post. Sheinbaum, a member of the left-of-center National […]

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Commentary

South Africa’s Baseless Accusation

The International Court of Justice in The Hague should categorically reject a baseless claim by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The South African government of President Cyril Ramaphosa submitted a case to the court on December 29, alleging that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza is “genocidal in character” […]