This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Middle East/Israel Morning Brief
New York Times refuses to publish American Quaker ad accusing Israel of genocide
The American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker group that has regularly advocated against the Jewish state, has condemned the New York Times for declining to publish its ad alleging genocide in Gaza.
"The refusal of the New York Times to run paid digital ads that call for an end to Israel's genocide in Gaza is an outrageous attempt to sidestep the truth," AFSC General Secretary Joyce Ajlouny said on Monday, according to the Jewish News Syndicate.
According to the AFSC, the text of its ad read, "Tell Congress to stop arming Israel's genocide in Gaza now! As a Quaker organization, we work for peace. Join us. Tell the President and Congress to stop the killing and starvation in Gaza."
AFSC said that a member of the newspaper's advertising team requested the group use "war" instead of "genocide."
After rejecting this change, AFSC said it received an email stating that "various international bodies, human rights organizations, and governments have differing views on the situation. In line with our commitment to factual accuracy and adherence to legal standards, we must ensure that all advertising content complies with these widely applied definitions."
Iran drills on shielding nuclear facilities from potential Israeli attack
Iran is preparing for the strong possibility that Israel – with or without the United States – will attack its nuclear development plants sometime this year, reported the Jewish Press.
The Iranian Army and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps aerial defense forces have been conducting a joint war game since January 7 – but on Sunday morning, the drill was shifted to Iran's northern and western sectors.
The air defense units drilled on a plan to protect the Fordow nuclear site in Qom province, and the Arak nuclear facility in Khondab, part of Markazi province, according to the IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency.
Last week, the IRGC Aerospace Force employed point-defense tactics to protect a nuclear site in Natanz against aerial threats and possible electronic warfare, the news outlet reported.
Israel's late October attack on Iran is thought to have largely put out of use a secret nuclear facility as well as knocking out most – if not all – of the Russian-supplied S-300 and S-400 surface-to-air missile defense systems.
Trump to press Netanyahu for concessions on Saudi peace
"President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House will inevitably lead to significant shifts in U.S. policy, both internationally and regionally, due to his contrasting worldview and leadership style compared to Biden," according to U.S. policy expert and senior researcher at the Institute for Policy and Strategy at Reichman University, Dr. Shay Har-Zvi.
Har-Zvi outlined three main objectives for Trump: ending the war in Gaza and ensuring the return of hostages, brokering a normalization agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
On Jan. 15, 1929, Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of a Baptist minister. Most students are taught that.
Most are also taught about King's nonviolent civil disobedience and protests to fight racism.
What most students aren't taught was that King believed in Americans' right to bear arms, as outlined in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. King even once possessed "an arsenal," posted armed guards in front of his home and applied for a concealed weapons permit.
Before admitting to King bearing arms, a lot of people love to throw out the disclaimer that his gun possession was before he was committed to the principle of passive nonviolent resistance. But that's not exactly true. Let me explain.
In the mid-1950s, King applied for a firearm permit and amassed guns and guards in order to protect himself and his family. He rejected violence but also understood the realities of self-defense. He believed in self-defense as a moral and legal right, but he also believed in nonviolence as a means for social change.
In 1959, King wrote that the principle of self-defense "has never been condemned, even by Gandhi," indicating that even Mahatma Gandhi, a staunch advocate for nonviolence, recognized the legitimacy of self-defense in certain situations.
Back in 1955, several Montgomery, Alabama, churches were bombed and set ablaze. Rosa Parks was arrested for violating laws that mandated racial segregation on buses. And in neighboring Mississippi, the Rev. George Lee was fatally shot after attempting to register to vote, and voting rights activist Lamar Smith was also murdered.
On Jan. 30, 1956, in retaliation for the success of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Martin Luther King's house was bombed by segregationists. King was at a meeting, but his wife and 7-week-old daughter were at home though uninjured.
King came home to 300 angry people outside his home, many of whom were his congregants, ready to avenge him.
However, King said to them, "If you have weapons, take them home; if you do not have them, please do not seek them. We cannot solve this problem through violence. We must meet violence with nonviolence. [Quoting Jesus, he said,] Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, [and] pray for them that despitefully use you."
Interestingly, at the very same time, King protected his own home and family not only with guns but also with armed guards.
Dr. Adam Winkler, a professor of Constitutional Law at UCLA and author of "Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America," explained, "Most people think King would be the last person to own a gun. Yet in the mid-1950s, as the civil rights movement heated up, King kept firearms for self-protection. In fact, he even applied for a permit to carry a concealed weapon. A recipient of constant death threats, King had armed supporters take turns guarding his home and family."
Dr. Winkler added, "William Worthy, a journalist who covered the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, reported that once, during a visit to King's parsonage, he went to sit down on an armchair in the living room and, to his surprise, almost sat on a loaded gun. Glenn Smiley, an adviser to King, described King's home as 'an arsenal.'"
Notice King balanced and drew a distinction between what he knew would bring success to his civil rights movement (non-violent resistance and love) and what would protect him and his home (violent resistance and guns). He was more concerned as a family man than a civil leader, and carried out the success and protection of each differently.
That is why Dr. Winkler gleaned, "One lesson the gun advocates took from the early King and his more aggressive followers: If the police can't (or won't) protect you, a gun may be your last line of defense."
King did not acquire his concealed carry permit because it was rejected for prejudicial reasons, but that didn't stop him from trying and applying.
While Rosa Parks was pushing the bounds of buses, King was pushing the borders of bullets by requesting state authorities grant him a firearm permit because his life was threatened daily, clearly meeting the law's requirements.
(Interestingly to note, in addition to the First Amendment's "right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances," the Second Amendment also provided what, in 1787, framer of the U.S. Constitution Luther Martin [unrelated to King] described as the "last coup de grace" that would enable states "to thwart and oppose the general government," if run awry. That aligns with the tough language in the latter part of Jefferson's Declaration of Independence.)
After the assassinations of King, JFK and RFK, the first major federal gun control since the 1930s, the Gun Control Act of 1968, was passed. From that point onward, progressives have used civil rights sentiment as a weapon to dismantle rather than justify Americans' Second Amendment rights.
Again, while people love to show how King altered some of his self-defense views later in life, the facts are what they are.
When it came to self-defense, as a man of the cloth in the 1950s, King, so to speak, held the Bible in one hand and a gun in the other.
Even Jesus, while encouraging followers to refrain from personal retaliation, still believed in self-defense as he told his disciples: "Whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one" (Luke 22:36).
So, maybe the answer isn't "either or" but "both and," when it comes to balancing faith and self-defense.
As the Good Book also prescribes: "But we prayed to our God and because of [our enemies] we set up a guard against them day and night" (Nehemiah 4:9).
It is not a coincidence that our Founders erected the First and Second Amendments in the chief positions they are: the freedom of religion and the right to bear arms, side by side, protecting each other.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Vice President-elect JD Vance told "Fox News Sunday" what his interpretation of President-elect Donald Trump's threat there would be "hell to pay" for Hamas if the terrorist group did not release the remaining 99 hostages – both dead and alive – before his Jan. 20 inauguration.
In a wide-ranging interview with Shannon Bream on Sunday, which included talk about the release of peaceful Jan. 6, 2021 protesters, Vance outlined what Trump meant when he threatened Gaza's Islamist rulers if the remaining hostages in Hamas captivity were not returned in short order.
"If you talk to world leaders, it's very clear that President Trump threatening Hamas, and making it clear there is going to be hell to pay, is part of the reason why we've made progress on getting some hostages out," he said.
"We're hopeful there's gonna be a deal struck toward the very end of [President Joe] Biden's administration – maybe the last day or two – but regardless of when that deal is struck it will be because people are terrified that there are going to be consequences for Hamas."
It was at this point Vance expanded what there being "hell to pay" would practically look like, rather than a theoretical notion: "Number one, it means enabling the Israelis to knock out the final couple battalions of Hamas and their leadership. It means very aggressive sanctions, financial penalties on those supporting terrorist organizations in the Middle East. It means actually doing the job of American leadership, which Donald Trump did very well for four years."
Vance did not elaborate on the kind of financial sanctions which might be considered, although the Biden administration has imposed sanctions against the terrorist group and issued arrest warrants for many of its leaders – albeit that most of the main ones, certainly those with knowledge of the planning of Oct. 7 have now been eliminated by the IDF.
Given both Turkey and Qatar are significant sponsors of terrorism in the Middle East, and cannot be seen as honest brokers, despite Doha's role in the hostage release negotiations, does this imply a change of emphasis in the Trump White House? It seems unlikely; Turkey, in spite of the machinations under its increasingly Islamist and dictatorial president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is still a NATO member, and Qatar is a major non-NATO ally given an almost unprecedented position due to its hosting of a large U.S. military base.
In January of last year, the U.S. extended its presence in the desert kingdom for another 10 years. Indeed, if the Trump administration is set on being taken seriously about countering these two nefarious actors in the region, it must look closely at the relationship it has with them and change the current direction of travel.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
Two teen girls in Louisiana have been charged with a felony for trying to "frame a male high school teacher for sending inappropriate messages to a student."
Details about the case have been released by Craig Webre, the sheriff for Lafourche Parish.
On Jan. 6, 2025, each girl was charged with one count of false swearing for the purpose of violating public health or safety, a felony, cyberstalking, and online impersonation, the law enforcement report said.
They were placed on electronic monitoring and released to the custody of their parents.
Webre said, "Our juvenile detectives are diligent and take claims of inappropriate behavior very seriously. They are, however, equally serious about false claims. Someone's life can be instantly ruined by a false allegation, and I am proud that our investigators were able to get to the bottom of this.
"Technology has made it very easy for people to try to manipulate the truth, but technology also makes it easy for investigators to ultimately find the truth," he said.
Local school Supt. Jarod Martin said, "We are shocked and appalled to learn of the actions of two of our students. The allegations against one of our teachers were false and malicious, and we appreciate the efficiency of investigators in uncovering the source of these messages.
"Such attacks on a teacher's credibility and reputation are concerning and can inhibit their ability to effectively educate our children. We are committed to investigating all allegations of misconduct in order to provide a safe environment conducive to learning and working for all of our students and staff."
The investigation into the case was opened only a week before Christmas when there was a report from "a concerned party" that a teacher was "sending inappropriate messages to a 16-year-old female student."
The sheriff explained, "Detectives learned she and a 15-year-old friend were allegedly engaged in conversations involving inappropriate messages from the teacher via an online instant messaging platform."
The investigation included interviews with those involved, search warrants being issued for the contents of phones and various messaging accounts, and more.
"The investigation revealed that the two teenage girls had fabricated messages, created fake accounts, and shared screenshots with friends in an effort to frame the teacher for sending inappropriate messages," the sheriff's office said.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A federal judge has approved the release of part of Jack Smith's "political hit job" on President-elect Donald Trump, but has restricted access, including congressional access, to a second chapter.
What is being released is prosecutor Jack Smith's opinions in which he claims that Trump tried to interfere in the 2020 presidential election through the events of Jan. 6, 2021, even though Trump had called for his supporters to protest peacefully before a few hundred rioted and trespassed and caused vandalism.
Evidence later confirmed that then-Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi admitted her party was largely at fault for not having enough troops on hand to quell any disturbances, a solution that Trump has suggested, but was rejected.
"The report is nothing less than another attempted political hit job whose sole purpose is to disrupt the presidential transition and undermine President Trump's exercise of executive power," the incoming president's lawyers had described.
"The Final Report goes into more detail about the alleged crimes President Trump and others supposedly committed and involves evidence that was never released to the public–indeed, evidence that could not be released, such as those involving official acts," they wrote.
Fox News reported the information from Smith, who earlier was ruled by a federal court to have been appointed to the "special counsel" post improperly, was approved for release by Judge Aileen Cannon.
Her order allows the eventual release of one volume of Smith's opinions about Trump. It prevents the release, even to Congress, of another volume concerning Smith's claims about government documents.
Both cases against Trump now are dead, anyway, as Smith dropped them when Trump was re-elected to the White House, and Smith now has quit his federally paid job.
Cannon had temporarily blocked release of Smith's work last week.
At issue were requests from two of Trump's co-defendants in the documents case who said release of the details would harm their still-pending cases.
The report explained, "It is customary for special counsels to release a final report, detailing the findings of their investigation and explaining any prosecution or declination decisions they reached. In Smith's case, the prosecution decision is immaterial, given Trump's status as president-elect and long-standing Justice Department policy against bringing criminal charges against a sitting president."
Cannon, in her order, did warn the DOJ that its representatives to her must be accurate.
According to the Gateway Pundit, Merrick Garland, Joe Biden's attorney general, fought with court submissions all weekend to have the claims from Smith released so they can be publicized.
The report said, "The Justice Department over the weekend said the January 6 volume of Jack Smith's report does NOT include information about the classified documents case. However, this is not true. In a motion filed over the weekend, the Justice Department admitted the January 6 volume of the report (DC case with Judge Chutkan) references the classified documents case (Florida case with Judge Cannon)."
Analysts have explained that Smith's claims now being publicized may not have been anything that could have been brought to court. Further, the release in this way deprives Trump of a formal response procedure that he would have had if they had been presented in a judicial setting.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – The United States House of Representatives recently overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan bill to sanction the International Criminal Court, primarily for the issuance of arrest warrants for Israel's current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
Lawmakers voted 243 to 140 in favor of the "Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act," which would urge sanctions on any ICC official or entities backing The Hague who advance "any effort to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies."
Reps. Brian Mast, R-Fla., and Chip Roy, R-Texas led the bill, which is a top priority for Republicans. It is expected to come up for a vote in the Senate in the near future.
The sanctions include blocking or revoking visas and prohibiting U.S. property transactions.
Officially the ICC based in The Hague has no jurisdiction over either Israel or the United States for that matter, as neither is a signatory of the Rome Statute, which established the court. It is likely for reasons precisely such as these neither country did so. However, the waters have been significantly muddied by the court asserting jurisdiction after it accepted "the State of Palestine" as a signatory in 2015, despite there being no such state recognized under international law.
The bill passed easily, with 198 House Republicans voting in favor and zero against; Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., was the only one to not support the bill, merely voting "present." Forty-five Democrats supported the bill; which produced very similar numbers to another one sanctioning the ICC, which was passed in the house last year.
This earlier vote failed to advance in the Senate. Although newly appointed Republican majority leader John Thume has promised swift consideration of the act so President-elect Donald Trump can sign it into law shortly after taking office, it is not at all clear whether this year's proposed bill will have an easier time of passing than the 2024 failed version.
The U.N. agency with responsibility for all the other refugees in the world – other than the Palestinians – published an article on its website, which suggested U.N. experts – including Francesca Albanese, the disgraced special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestinian Territories occupied since 1967 [sic] – urged the U.S. Senate to oppose the bill. "It is shocking to see a country that considers itself a champion of the rule of law trying to stymie the actions of an independent and impartial tribunal set up by the international community, to thwart accountability," the experts said.
"Threats against the ICC promote a culture of impunity. They make a mockery of the decades-long quest to place law above force and atrocity," the experts added.
"I don't care if you are a terrorist in a cave or a lawyer at The Hague, if you get in the way of bringing American hostages home, then you will be given no quarter and you damn well shouldn't expect to be welcomed on American soil with open arms," Mast, the new chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement.
Roy, in a House floor speech, blasted the ICC's "unprecedented action" and emphasized that it has no jurisdiction over U.S. or Israeli personnel, "yet is extending into the people of Israel's business in defending their interests against violent attack by Hamas, which we define as a terrorist entity."
The charges against the Israeli leaders allege they committed the war crimes of directing attacks against the civilian population of Gaza and of using starvation as a method of warfare by hindering the supply of international aid to Gaza.
Meanwhile, chief prosecutor Karim Khan also alleged they committed the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts as a result of the restrictions they allegedly placed on the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Israel has vociferously rejected the substance of the allegations, pointing to the fact millions of tons of aid has been delivered to the Strip. It has argued problems associated with distribution of that aid to the Palestinian civilian population are due to inefficiencies with the aid agencies on the ground, the ongoing conflict, as well as the widespread problem of Hamas looting and storing the aid as a way of controlling the supply.
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday "there should probably be conditions" on federal aid to California in the wake of catastrophic wildfires that have left at least 24 people dead in the Golden State.
"I think there should probably be conditions on that aid. That's my personal view," said Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana.
"We'll see what the consensus is. I haven't had a chance to socialize that with any of the members over the weekend because we've all been very busy, but it'll be part of the discussion, for sure."
"I think we've got to have a serious conversation about that," Johnson added.
"Obviously, there has been water resource management, forest-management mistakes, all sorts of problems, and it does come down to leadership, and it appears to us that state and local leaders were derelict in their duty, and in many respects. So, that's something that has to be factored in."
The Really American political organization called Johnson's comments "deplorable," saying on X: "REMINDER: There were ZERO conditions placed on aid that went to Florida or North Carolina after Hurricanes Helene and Milton. To suggest there should be for Californians is deplorable."
"The new Republican-led Congress is already off to a horrible start."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A longtime adviser to President-elect Donald Trump is blaming nonsensical, "radical" policies of the Green New Deal for this week's catastrophic fires across Southern California.
Former U.S. Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the former House Intelligence Committee chairman, appeared on "Sunday Morning Futures" on the Fox News Channel, where host Maria Bartiromo asked him point blank:
"So you're saying as a result of the Green New Deal, as a result of the climate change agenda of the Democrats and the Biden administration and the Gavin Newsom administration, they stopped logging? They stopped the farmers from allowing the animals to graze, and they stopped storing water because of the climate change agenda?"
Nunes responded: "Yeah. This radical idea. I mean, this green, new economy is really a red one. It's one that a brings on death and devastation. And these policies have been going on in California for a long time. So much so. think about this. California is in population decline right now. There's people in California who actually celebrate this. As if the people and this land should not be used, which is preposterous.
"This is the No. 1 agricultural state. It's a beautiful state, and it's one that deserves common sense policies. But in order to get those common sense policies, I think it's going to depend on finally somebody like President Trump who in 2016 came out, he owns properties in Los Angeles County. He came and visited the rest of the state where we've been experiencing this since I was a young child.
We've been experiencing this nonsense where you've taken land out of production. And I think the president looked at these, this massive water infrastructure, the greatest that's ever been built in the history of the planet and said, 'Now, why aren't we moving some of this water? Why is this water going out to the Pacific Ocean?'
"I don't think President Trump, at that time he was a candidate back in 2016. We were driving down the freeway, he's talked about this many times, ask and he would ask, 'Why is one side of the field dry, one is it green?'
"Then there were catastrophic fires during the Trump administration and what happened? Basically, Trump left office and now we're left with the same policies came back. And so hopefully, I think, you'll see the Trump administration who will not partake in this nonsense again. And there's going the to be really policy changes that come out of Sacramento.
Bartiromo concluded: "Before the money goes to Sacramento, is what you're saying. This is just extraordinary."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
PALM BEACH, Florida – President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday continued to scorch "incompetent" politicians in California for their handling of wildfires that have been devastating the Golden State since last week.
"The fires are still raging in L.A.," Trump posted on Truth Social.
"The incompetent pols have no idea how to put them out. Thousands of magnificent houses are gone, and many more will soon be lost.
"There is death all over the place. This is one of the worst catastrophes in the history of our Country.
"They just can't put out the fires. What's wrong with them?"
Sunday's comments come on the heels of Trump's blasting of California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Joe Biden last week.
"Governor Gavin Newscum refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California," Trump wrote.
"NO WATER IN THE FIRE HYDRANTS, NO MONEY IN FEMA. THIS IS WHAT JOE BIDEN IS LEAVING ME. THANKS JOE!"
Newsom responded to Trump's allegation, saying on X, "There is no such document as the water restoration declaration – that is pure fiction.
"The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics, and making sure firefighters have all the resources they need."
News agencies including Newsweek fact-checked the claim about the water restoration declaration, and indicated: "The notion that Newsom therefore turned down a 'declaration,' referring to federal action that Trump introduced anyway, is not accurate. However, it is clear that the governor has opposed Trump's actions on water policy, drawing a sharp response from Trump in turn."
This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
JERUSALEM – Middle East/Israel Morning Brief
U.S. residents of Judea and Samaria sue Biden over sanctions
A pair of Israeli-Americans recently filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration alleging that it had improperly imposed sanctions on them under an executive order intended to combat "extremist settler violence" in Judea and Samaria.
Matthew Mainen, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs on behalf of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, told JNS that the case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, raises basic questions about the rights of U.S. citizens to due process under the law.
American citizens have a right to be heard and to challenge the government before the government takes action against them or deprives them of some interest," Mainen said. "The Biden administration, with what appears to be zero due diligence, did just that."
In February, U.S. President Joe Biden Biden issued executive order 14115, "on imposing certain sanctions on persons undermining peace, security and stability in the West Bank," which was intended to combat "extremist settler violence" in Judea and Samaria that the Biden administration had determined to be undermining a path to a two-state solution.
The text of the order says that it could be applied to any "foreign person" that the Biden administration determines to be undermining peace and security in the "West Bank," but makes no provisions for U.S. nationals.
In first, U.S., U.K., Israel conduct joint strikes on Yemeni targets
Arab media outlets reported an unprecedented military operation Friday, marking the first coordinated strikes by U.S., U.K., and Israeli forces since the escalation of regional hostilities. According to international sources, the operation comprised three waves of strikes targeting critical infrastructure across Houthi-controlled territories, Israel Hayom reported.
The operation, totaling approximately 30 strikes, focused on several strategic locations: underground military installations in the Amran governorate, military complexes in Sanaa, a power generation facility south of the capital, and the strategic western ports of Al-Hudaydah and Ras Issa.
A mass pro-Hamas demonstration took place in Sanaa concurrent with the military operation. Participants rallied behind the Shia-Zaidi terrorist movement's ideological slogan, chanting "Death to America, Death to Israel, Curse upon the Jews, Victory for Islam." Eyewitness documentation captured smoke plumes rising from multiple strike locations across the capital.
Congress hits ICC officials in response to Netanyahu, Gallant war crimes arrest warrants
The U.S. House on Thursday approved H.R. 23, the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, a bill imposing sanctions on International Criminal Court officials in response to the court's issuance of an arrest warrant last year against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant, reported the Jewish Press.
The bipartisan vote, 243-140, demonstrated continued majority support in Congress for Israel's military response to the October 7, 2023, Hamas atrocities, even as most House Democrats opposed the measure. Forty-five Democrats supported the legislation. Last summer, 42 Democrats supported a similar bill.
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who authored the bill, issued a statement saying, "This bill is about protecting America and our allies' sovereignty from a rogue, globalist court. The ICC investigating and issuing arrest warrants for the sitting Prime Minister of Israel is a blatant assault on a critical ally's sovereignty amid an existential fight against Hamas. Make no mistake, if the ICC is allowed to target Israel unchecked, they will go after American service members and veterans again in the future."