US better be aware of Putin's Evil Empire

US better watch out. This might be the ideal time, with political  chaos, and a slipping, fractured, foreign western support abroad, for the "Alliance of Evil" - Russia, N.Korea, Iran, Cuba, and other potential supporters, to attack the USA.

Hamas- Israel war: Three musketiers ? Hamas, iran, Russia

There was only one real winner last Saturday when war broke out in Israel — Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin’s enabling of his “Arsenals of Evil” ally, Iran, resulted in the opening of a new front in Gaza in his war against the West.  

Read more at: https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4250708-putins-fingerprints-are-on-hamas/

Israel: Protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government plans to overhaul the legal system and weaken the Supreme Court

 Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered in central Tel Aviv on Saturday night to protest plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new government to overhaul the legal system and weaken the Supreme Court   — a step that critics say will destroy the country's democratic system of checks and balances.

The protest presented an early challenge to Netanyahu and his ultranationalist national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has ordered police to take tough action if protesters block roads or display Palestinian flags.

Read more at: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-thousands-of-israelis-protest-against-netanyahus-legal-reforms-2/

US mid-term election; Why pro-Israel lobby group Aipac is backing election deniers and extremist Republicans

US’s largest pro-Israel lobby group is backing dozens of racists, homophobes and election deniers running for Congress next month because they have pledged to defend Israel against stiffening criticism of its oppression of the Palestinians.

The powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) has justified endorsing Republicans with extremist views, including members of Congress with ties to white supremacist groups and representatives who attempted to block Joe Biden’s election victory, on the grounds that the singular issue of support for Israel trumps other considerations.

But Aipac’s support for rightwing politicians has privately embarrassed some Democrats also endorsed by the powerful group and drawn accusations from more moderate pro-Israel organisations that it is attempting to stifle legitimate criticism of hardline Israeli policies.

Read more at: https://www.jheguardian.com

U.S. Diplomatic Push for Ukraine Falters in a Middle East Influenced by Russia -

Washington’s regional partners including Israel have so far rebuffed U.S. calls to come out against Moscow.

Read more at: U.S. Diplomatic Push for Ukraine Falters in a Middle East Influenced by Russia - WSJ

Israeli-UAE relations: Israeli PM Bennett makes first official visit to UAE

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, marking the first official visit by an Israeli premier, after they established diplomatic ties last year.

Read more at: Israeli PM Bennett makes first official visit to UAE | News | DW | 12.12.2021

Iran nuclear programme: Threat of Israeli strike grows - by Yolande Knell

In the turquoise waters of the Red Sea, Israeli, Emirati and Bahraini naval forces for the first time just days ago rehearsed joint security operations with a US warship.

It followed a war-game at a desert airbase just north of the Israeli port city of Eilat last month, which sent fighter planes from Israel and seven other countries roaring into the skies.

Such drills aim to send a strong warning to Iran, which has recently been holding its own large military exercises, and stress strategic alliances.

Read more at: Iran nuclear programme: Threat of Israeli strike grows - BBC News

The Netherlands: Aldi to test frictionless checkout tech in the Netherlands

German supermarket operator Aldi Nord plans to test frictionless checkout technology from Israel-based computer vision startup Trigo at a new grocery store in Utrecht, the Netherlands, during a pilot set to begin in early 2022, the companies announced Friday.

ead more at: Aldi to test frictionless checkout tech in the Netherlands | Grocery Dive

Corona Pandemic: Israel was down to a handful of daily COVID cases. Now it's around 11,000. What happened?

Just months ago, Israel was a world leader in vaccinating its population and appeared to be putting a stranglehold on the virus that causes COVID-19, wrestling down its daily case count to double digits — and at times, near zero.

But any potential celebration was short-lived, as the more contagious delta variant gained traction and spread quickly, to the point where Israel's most recent daily case count was around 11,000 — a level not seen since January.

Read more at: Israel was down to a handful of daily COVID cases. Now it's around 11,000. What happened? | CBC News

EU removes US from safe travel list as COVID infections rise

The European Union has recommended that the US, along with four other countries, be removed from its list of countries exempt from restrictions on non-essential travel.

"Israel, Kosovo, Lebanon, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia and the United States of America were removed from the list," a statement from the European Council said.

Read more at: EU removes US from safe travel list as COVID infections rise | News | DW | 30.08.2021

IRAN: U.S. Stresses Diplomacy Is 'Best Path' on Iran After Israelis Threaten Military Action

The State Department has urged American allies to rely on diplomacy, not military action or threats, to stop Iran's nuclear program, following last week's belligerent remarks from Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

Read more at: U.S. Stresses Diplomacy Is 'Best Path' on Iran After Israelis Threaten Military Action

Israel 'Ready to Attack Iran' after Iran drone attack on Israeli tanker, as Defense Minister Says 'We Need to Take Military Action'

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said his country is ready to attack Iran and that there must be a global response to the threat the Islamic Republic poses.

Read more at: Israel 'Ready to Attack Iran' as Defense Minister Says 'We Need to Take Military Action'

Israel: Civil marriage unlikely, Kotel deal for sure: What new Israeli gov’t means for religious status

If the new rotation government headed by Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett ultimately gets sworn in (still a big if), it would be the first time since 2015 that the ultra-Orthodox parties were not part of the ruling coalition. It would be the first time Israel has a prime minister who wears a yarmulke (though in the tradition of a certain type of Orthodox Jew, Bennett’s is very small).

Read more at Civil marriage unlikely, Kotel deal for sure: What new Israeli gov’t means for religious status quo - Israel Election 2021 - Haaretz.com

Middle East: In the Wake of the Ceasefire, Don't Forget: Israel Is the Aggressor - Opinion by: Ahmed Twaij

After nearly two weeks of violence between Israeli forces and Hamas militants in Gaza, a ceasefire agreement has finally been reached. But the duration of the ceasefire remains questionable, especially given that the grievances that led up to the most recent conflict persist, and without addressing them, it's only a matter of time before the next wave of violence begins. Indeed, less than a day after the ceasefire was announced, violent clashes began again between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli police at Al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem, reproducing the same conflagration that led to the armed conflict with Gaza.

Read more at: In the Wake of the Ceasefire, Don't Forget: Israel Is the Aggressor | Opinion

Middle East: Israel and Hamas agree cease-fire after 11-day conflict

Israel and Hamas announced a cease-fire on Thursday to halt an 11-day conflict that caused widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip and brought life in much of Israel to a standstill.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office on Thursday said his Security Cabinet unilaterally approved the Egyptian-mediated proposal.

Read more at Israel and Hamas agree cease-fire after 11-day conflict | Euronews

Israel-Hamas conflict: Gaza Doctors Say Hospitals Overwhelmed With Casualties From Israeli Airstrikes

Palestinian public-health authorities say doctors are struggling to treat hundreds of people injured in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza as medical supplies run short in hospitals on the verge of collapse.

Public hospitals have canceled nonemergency surgeries and transferred Covid-19 patients to private clinics to free up resources to treat trauma cases. Even so, at Al-Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza, patients often endure long waits for treatment or must share scarce beds, doctors said.

Read more at: Gaza Doctors Say Hospitals Overwhelmed With Casualties From Israeli Airstrikes - WSJ

Israel: Opinion - Bernie Sanders: The Approach the Israel-Palestine Conflict Needs - by Bernie Sanders

Let’s be clear. No one is arguing that Israel, or any government, does not have the right to self-defense or to protect its people. So why are these words repeated year after year, war after war? And why is the question almost never asked: “What are the rights of the Palestinian people?”

And why do we seem to take notice of the violence in Israel and Palestine only when rockets are falling on Israel?

In this moment of crisis, the United States should be urging an immediate cease-fire. We should also understand that, while Hamas firing rockets into Israeli communities is absolutely unacceptable, today’s conflict did not begin with those rockets.

Further, we have seen Benjamin Netanyahu’s government work to marginalize and demonize Palestinian citizens of Israel, pursue settlement policies designed to foreclose the possibility of a two-state solution and pass laws that entrench systemic inequality between Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Over more than a decade of his right-wing rule in Israel, Mr. Netanyahu has cultivated an increasingly intolerant and authoritarian type of racist nationalism. In his frantic effort to stay in power and avoid prosecution for corruption, Mr. Netanyahu has legitimized these forces, including Itamar Ben Gvir and his extremist Jewish Power party, by bringing them into the government. It is shocking and saddening that racist mobs that attack Palestinians on the streets of Jerusalem now have representation in its Knesset.

Read more at: Opinion | Bernie Sanders: The Approach the Israel-Palestine Conflict Needs - The New York Times

US distances itself from demands for Israel-Hamas cease-fire - by E. Knickmeyer, M. Lee and E. M. Lederer

The Biden administration distanced itself Monday from growing calls by Democrats and others for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers as fighting entered a second week, with more than 200 people dead, most of them Palestinians in Gaza.

The United States, Israel’s top ally, also blocked for the third time what would have been a unanimous statement by the 15-nation U.N. Security Council expressing “grave concern” over the intensifying Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the loss of civilian lives. The final U.S. rejection Monday killed the Security Council statement, at least for now.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki and national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States instead was focusing on “quiet, intensive diplomacy.” As missile and rocket exchanges between Israel and Hamas surged to their worst levels since 2014 and the international outcry grew, the Biden administration — determined to wrench U.S. foreign policy focus away from the Middle East and Afghanistan — has declined so far to criticize Israel’s part in the fighting, send a top-level envoy to the region or press Israel publicly to wind down its latest military operation in the thickly populated Gaza Strip, as some past U.S. administrations have done. Appeals by other countries so far show no sign of progress.

Read more at: US distances itself from demands for Israel-Hamas cease-fire

Israel-Hamas conflict: China calls for UN council action, slams US

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called on the U.N. Security Council to seek an early de-escalation of violence between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers. He also blamed the U.S. for the council’s lack of action so far.

“Regrettably, the council has so far failed to reach an agreement, with the United States standing on the opposite side of international justice,” the state-run Xinhua News Agency quoted Wang as saying in a phone conversation Saturday with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

He expressed support for a two-state solution, just like the EU recently did, and said China, which holds the Security Council presidency this month, expects all parties to speak with a unified voice when the council discusses the conflict later Sunday.

Read more at: The Latest: China calls for UN council action, slams US

Middle East-Gaza-Israel: 'The Scene Is Horrific:' Gazans Trapped as Israel Escalates Bombing, Killing Dozens in the Territory |

The death toll in Gaza has reached at least 83, including 17 children, and hundreds of people have been injured, as Israel’s aerial bombardment of the besieged territory continues. Israel is now sending troops to the Gaza border for a possible ground invasion as many Palestinians are celebrating Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. The Biden administration on Wednesday gave Israel a green light to continue its assault, and Israel has reportedly rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire, despite growing international condemnation.

Issam Adwan, Gaza project manager for We Are Not Numbers, a youth-led initiative to share Palestinian stories with the wider world, says many international observers make the mistake of viewing the latest violence in isolation. “They think this war is the only violation of human rights Israel is doing to the people of Gaza. Over the past 15 years, we have witnessed three brutal wars, and this is a fourth one,” says Adwan.

Read more at 'The Scene Is Horrific:' Gazans Trapped as Israel Escalates Bombing, Killing Dozens in the Territory | Link TV