Imagine going to an aid station to buy your weekly supply of food. Your money is in your hand, but the person distributing the supplies refuses to take it. “It’s free,” he tells you. “This aid has always been free.” With your heavy box on your shoulder, you walk away stunned. For months, you’ve been paying exorbitant prices for meager supplies, but now you have a package that is at least twice as heavy and it was totally free. That’s the moment you realize that the previous people at the aid stations who said they were your friends were really your enemies, grifting enormous amounts of money from you and your people.
That is the experience that thousands of Gazans are currently having about Hamas. These people who said they were their only friends and protectors are actually the ones who are the authors and sustainers of their suffering. A growing percentage of ordinary civilians are fed up with it. This past week, a large number of southern Gaza Bedouin tribes and clans have declared, “Enough is enough.” They put out a manifesto holding Hamas fully responsible for the devastation in Gaza. Demanding an end to Hamas rule, they are calling for new leadership. While Hamas is doing their best to fight back against these dissenters from their tyranny, they no longer have the strength or numbers to keep their opponents down. As Operation Gideon’s Chariots continues to roll, it won’t be long before Hamas runs out of places to hide and people who will take them in.
Netanyahu Fighting for His Political Life
There is a soft coup that is being attempted in Israel. Liberal members of the Knesset are rejecting Prime Minister Netanyahu’s leadership, while the judiciary has him in court at least 12 hours a week, trying him on bogus corruption charges. This is the enemy at work, and he is trying to take the prime minister down before Hamas is fully destroyed.
All this is taking place while the Israeli economy is booming. Defense exports have once again hit an all-time high, reaching 52 billion shekels ($14.795 billion USD). This is despite some European nations, such as Spain, saying that they’ll no longer import arms from Israel. That’s okay – Germany will happily take whatever they can get. Meanwhile, you have the antisemitic French president pushing hard for a Palestinian state, even while Muslims burn his capital city following a football victory. Seriously? Europe is in the midst of a gradual Muslim invasion that is destroying the very culture of the once great continent. If the liberals in Israel have their way, the same will happen in my country. That’s because the Israeli judiciary, media, and liberal members of the Knesset hate Netanyahu and all he stands for more than they love their own country. It’s truly appalling.
Media’s Dangerous Slant
On May 19, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher told the BBC that due to Israel allegedly holding back five trucks of humanitarian aid, “there are 14,000 [Gazan] babies that will die in the next 48 hours.” People went crazy! The media ran with the horrific accusation! The next day, two staffers of the Israeli embassy were executed on a Washington, D.C. street. Too late for the murdered couple, the United Nations clarified the statement, saying that Fletcher meant 14,000 Gazan babies may suffer acute malnutrition in the next year if they don’t receive aid. Dead vs. malnourished. 48 hours vs. one year. But everyone is ready to believe the worst if it’s about Israel.
One more example: On Sunday, more than 30 people were killed near a U.S. aid site in Gaza. Hamas claimed that the IDF opened fire on innocent civilians, and the media all immediately jumped on the bandwagon. Everyone was up in arms, and that same day, a deluded Kuwaiti antisemite in Boulder, Colorado, threw Molotov cocktails and used a homemade flamethrower to seriously injure six elderly Jews who were part of a march to bring home the hostages held by Hamas. Retractions of this fallacious story were much slower in coming, and, when they did, most media made it sound like “well, they may not have done it this time, but this is certainly the kind of thing those Jews would do.” Sadly, most people get their news from the major media sites and, as a result, are firmly entombed in a virtually impenetrable web of lies.
Israel Holds New Syria Responsible
On Tuesday, rockets were fired from Syria toward Israel. Soon after, the Israel Defense Forces hit back hard, targeting seven locations in southern Syria. Despite it being evident that the Syrian military was not behind the rockets, some of the sites belonged to new president Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government. When the smoke cleared, Israel made it clear that it would hold Damascus responsible for activities that took place within Syria’s borders, even if they were carried out by rogue militias. Al-Sharaa’s people said they were investigating the origins of the rocket firing, denied knowing anything beforehand, and condemned Israel’s actions. Interestingly, in their statement, they included the phrase, “…firing at the Israeli side.” The rockets were aimed at the Golan Heights, and any reference in the past would have been to “the occupied Golan.” This is an hopeful development with this new government.
Iran says, “No Deal!”
The media will try to tell you that having centrifuges is normal for any country that wants to have nuclear power, but that is false. It is far cheaper to buy uranium enriched to the necessary 3.5% than it is to make it yourself. The only reason to have a vast array of centrifuges is if you want to enrich uranium all the way up to the 90% required for nuclear weapons. That is why both President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu say that Supreme Leader Khamenei is being disingenuous when he says that his centrifuges are simply for the power grid.
Currently, it appears that Trump and Netanyahu may have different views as to what to do about Iran’s centrifuges. Trump says he wants to make a deal. My belief is that he is willing to allow Iran to temporarily keep the centrifuges if they are closely monitored by a Middle Eastern watch team to ensure that they don’t enrich beyond 3.5%. The goal will be to bring Iran into what will ultimately become a Middle Eastern consortium of nations which will enrich its own power grade uranium in a location other than Iran. This uranium will be distributed within the consortium nations for their own power grids. Netanyahu, on the other hand, doesn’t trust Khamenei as far as he can throw the old Islamist. He feels more drastic measures are needed. However, this doesn’t constitute a break between Trump and Netanyahu. They agree on the final outcome; they just disagree on the methodology.
All of it is moot right now anyway, because Khamenei and many of his cronies have this week made it clear that their centrifuges will not be touched. This will only cause more problems for the failing nation. Their economy is crashing, and more sanctions will lead to even more financial insolvency. Since last year, their oil exports to China have dropped by 1.1 million barrels a day, which is a 20% decrease. Too much more and the economy could completely collapse.
Ukraine’s Secret Attack on Russia
A semi-truck pulled up near a Russian military base. Panels in the roof of the trailers opened and drones zoomed up into the air. The explosive-laden UAVs raced toward the airfields, then detonated as they hit plane after plane. Thirty aircraft at numerous sites were completely destroyed, including two command and control aircraft, two cargo aircraft, and 26 bombers. Many others were damaged. It took a year-and-a-half to prepare and place the 117 drones for Sunday’s Operation Spider Web, and the brilliant stealth attack caused more than $9 billion in losses for the Russian military.
What will the Russian reaction be? Many European countries are concerned that Moscow might actually go nuclear in their response. Those fears were heightened even more on Tuesday when Ukraine damaged with underwater explosives the foundations of the Kerch Bridge that connects Russia to the Crimean Peninsula. On Monday in Istanbul, peace talks between the two sides ended after only one hour. Following yesterday’s bridge attack, it would be surprising to see them talk at all any time soon.