WarSclerotic

15 Adar II 5779 – March 21, 2019

Trump Declares It Is Time to Recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights

PM Netanyahu & US Secy. of State Pompeo. March 21, 2019, Photo Credit: : Kobi Gideon

US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday, via his Twitter account: “After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!”

After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel’s Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 21, 2019

Prime Minister Netanyahu phoned President Trump to thank him, also telling him, “You made history.”

Speaking with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is currently visiting in Israel, and following Us President Donald Trump’s declaration, Netanyahu said:

“Secretary Pompeo, Mike, Susan, Ambassador David Friedman, I’m so excited. We’re so excited, Sara and I, to have you here, but especially on this evening. This is the eve of Purim, and we have a miracle of Purim; we call it Nes Purim.

President Trump has just made history. I called him. I thanked him on behalf of the people of Israel.

He did it again.

First, he recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the US embassy here. Then, he pulled out of the disastrous Iran treaty and re-imposed sanctions. But now he did something of equal historic importance – he recognized Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and he did so at a time when Iran is trying to use Syria as a platform to attack and destroy Israel. And the message that President Trump has given the world is that America stands by Israel.

We’re celebrating Purim, when 2,500 years ago, other Persians, led by Haman, tried to destroy the Jewish people. They failed then; and today, 2,500 years later, again Persians led by Khamenei, are trying to destroy the Jewish people and the Jewish state. They’re going to fail again.

We are deeply grateful for the US support. We’re deeply grateful for the unbelievable and unmatchable support for our security and our right to defend ourselves, and everything that you do on behalf of Israel and for the State of Israel in so many forms. So, it is a distinct pleasure to welcome you and Susan to our home at any time, but especially today.

Now, let me add another word about that. We had a moving visit today to the Wall. I can’t resist repeating this, but I’m going to. I said to the Secretary that the last time a Pompeo visited Jerusalem, it didn’t end that well. But this is a different time. Roman Jerusalem clashed over values, with a great tragedy for the Jewish people. But the new Rome, the United States, views itself as a new Jerusalem. We visited the original City on the Hill. We visited the hill.

There is no greater friendship than the one between Israel and the United States, and no one represents it better than Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. You and Ambassador Friedman and your delegation are exceptional champions of our alliance. I’ve called you so many times, on so many things that this evening I just want to say one word—two actually: thank you. Thank you, Mike Pompeo. Thank you, President Trump. And thank you, America.

To the people of Israel, I say:

[Translated from Hebrew]

“We have a Purim miracle here. President Trump has made history. He recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, at a time when Iran is trying to use the Golan Heights as a platform to destroy Israel.

We are marking the miracle of Purim – 2,500 years ago the Jewish people defeated those who tried to destroy it, other Persians, and today just as they failed then, they will fail this time as well thanks, inter alia, to the strong support of the US and its President. We have had no greater friend in our history.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara are now hosting US Secy. of State Pompeo and his wife Susan, together with US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, for dinner at the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem.

The Israel Defense Forces is preparing for tens of thousands of Palestinians to gather along the Israel-Gaza border next weekend, as they join a Hamas “million man march” to mark the one year anniversary of the “March of Return” protests held regularly at the frontier.

 

The IDF will deploy hundreds of snipers along the Gaza border in anticipation of the march, set to take place on March 29.

According to IDF assessments, Hamas will not only try to re-enact the earlier Friday marches attended by thousands of Gazans, but will in fact seek to surpass them by transporting more than 50,000 people to the main protest points along the border fence.

Troops on Gaza border (Photo: Yoav Zitun)

The IDF is preparing for the disturbances by doubling the amount of troops that will be deployed along the Gaza border in order to thwart any infiltration attempts by hostile Palestinians into Israel and prevent attacks at the border town communities.

The army believes that Hamas will make an effort to channel the frustrations of the Gaza population — which has been protesting the harsh economic reality under Hamas rule— away from themselves and toward Israel, near the fence. Therefore, Israel is anticipating an unusual amount of violence and for events to spiral out of control.

Economic Protests in Gaza

So far, Hamas has managed to forcibly suppress the street protests against it, including assaulting journalists, human rights activists and the local Fatah leader in the Strip (a rival faction). The protests were organized by minor Palestinian parties in Gaza, mainly from the left, against Hamas and to a certain extent Islamic Jihad. Alongside the violence, some 600 people were arrested by Hamas authorities.

Those same organizations that protested Hamas — the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), the Popular Front (PFLP), the Communist Party, the Palestinian Democratic Union (FIDA), Fatah and the Arab Liberation Front — are also helping to organize the weekly protests along the border.

Israeli officials estimate that these organizations will stand alongside Hamas, just like on every Friday for the last year (except last week), for the planned “million man march.” However, the Hamas leadership is aware that although the Gaza street protests under the banner of “Let Us Live” may have been suppressed, the criticism against Hamas, both from the street and from the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, will continue. Until a solution is found that will improve the economic situation, the Gaza street could well rise up again.

 

IDF pounds Gaza targets

 

There are signs that this Friday’s protest, at which 10,000 protesters are expected, is a dress rehearsal for the big event next week. On the day after the “million man march,” Israeli Arabs will mark Land Day, a day expressing solidarity with the Palestinians in the territories.

In the meantime, there has been a return of the nightly harassment units, Gazans dispatched to make the lives of Israelis living on the other side of the border miserable. These units resumed their activities this week with loud noise and smoke, after a 10-day pause due to Egyptian-brokered negotiations, and the rate of these activities is increasing.

Israel is preparing for a worst case scenario, in which the protests get out of hand and there are dozens of casualties, as happened last May. Such a circumstance may set off another round of military conflict, which Israel has been trying to avoid.

Near Rafah

 

Furthermore, Land Day kicks off a two-month period consisting of several of noteworthy days, each of which may be used by Hamas as a focal point for violence. Following Land Day on March 30 is the Day of the Palestinian Prisoner on April 17; in May there is Nakba Day (commemorating the effects of Israeli independence on the Palestinians) and in June, Naksa Day (when the Palestinians mark the Arab defeat in the 1967 Six-Day War). In between is the Muslim holy fast month Ramadan and the agitation it can entail.

The only way to stave off this frightening scenario is to implement the partial understandings reached between Egypt, Israel and Hamas. Most of the subject matter was found to be acceptable by both sides. Israel agreed to allow Hamas to expand the Gaza fishing zone to 12 nautical miles from the Gaza coast and allow the UN to fund the employment of some 90,000 Gazans currently without work. Israel also agreed to provide Gaza with additional electricity capacity.

IDF troops on the Gaza border (Photo: Reuters)

 

Egypt proposed establishing two “purple zones,” at the Erez Crossing for example, where Israeli and Palestinian businessmen can meet and do business, and Israel expressed willingness to increase the number of permits given to Gaza businessmen allowed to enter these zones. Israel might also open the Karni Crossing and in the long term, establish industrial zones at these crossings.

Hamas for its part is being asked to reinstate the 300-meter security zone adjacent to the border, to guarantee that the protests keep their distance from Israeli territory.

In Israel, officials expect that if the sides manage to reach an agreement and the Qatari funds continue to flow at a rate of $30 million a month, Hamas will make an effort to prevent a deterioration since its financial situation is very dire. In the last fiscal year, the Hamas government has only managed to raise 30% of its annual budgetary needs.

Iran has also drastically cut its aid to Hamas, which has been forced to raise taxes on residents and businesses in Gaza. Cigarette prices jumped by 200% and pita bread by 40%. Such harsh economic realities brought Gazans out into the streets to protest. Therefore, it is crucial for Hamas to reach an agreement; at least until the summer, as Israel is asking.

Egypt proposed establishing two “purple zones,” at the Erez Crossing for example, where Israeli and Palestinian businessmen can meet and do business, and Israel expressed willingness to increase the number of permits given to Gaza businessmen allowed to enter these zones. Israel might also open the Karni Crossing and in the long term, establish industrial zones at these crossings.

Hamas for its part is being asked to reinstate the 300-meter security zone adjacent to the border, to guarantee that the protests keep their distance from Israeli territory.

In Israel, officials expect that if the sides manage to reach an agreement and the Qatari funds continue to flow at a rate of $30 million a month, Hamas will make an effort to prevent a deterioration since its financial situation is very dire. In the last fiscal year, the Hamas government has only managed to raise 30% of its annual budgetary needs.

Iran has also drastically cut its aid to Hamas, which has been forced to raise taxes on residents and businesses in Gaza. Cigarette prices jumped by 200% and pita bread by 40%. Such harsh economic realities brought Gazans out into the streets to protest. Therefore, it is crucial for Hamas to reach an agreement; at least until the summer, as Israel is asking.

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Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry told Breitbart News that attorneys general across America — both Democrat and Republican — are considering “all actions,” including the use of existing antitrust law, to curb the growing power held by technology firms such as Google, Facebook, and Twitter.

https://www.breitbart.com/radio/2019/03/19/jeff-landry-all-options-are-on-the-table-to-break-big-tech-monopolies/

Jose Luis Magana/AP

Landry offered his remarks in a Tuesday interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Daily with host Alex Marlow.

“We have seen a tremendous amount of consolidation in regard to social platforms and the tech industry over the last decade, and the result of that has become a handful of companies that have amassed a tremendous amount of data and power over the U.S. and world economy,” said Landry.

LISTEN:

Landry added, “Just the fact that they can censor any type of speech is problematic, on top of the fact that the monetization of people’s personal data is enriching these companies at the expense of the consumer.”

A bipartisan consensus among America’s attorneys general is arising with respect to the increasing concentration of power among several technology firms, remarked Landry.

“When you talk to attorneys general around the country — irrespective of whether they’re Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative — there is an instinct that something is going on, there is this instinctive feeling that something must be done with these companies, that they have become too big,” Landry claimed.

Marlow asked, “This is an issue where it seems like right and left, all of a sudden, are unified in their skepticism over the way these big tech giants [became] so rich and powerful. They’re the biggest lobbyists in Washington, D.C. They operate completely opaquely [with] almost no transparency. So you probably have found some — maybe unexpected — camaraderie with some of your Democrat colleagues in this regard?”

Landry replied, “What makes America great is that no one is bigger than the people, right? No one is truly bigger than the government which, of course, is a government of the people. Historically, when corporations in this country, in our free market economy, have amassed monopolistic power — power to basically control the economy — the people have stood up and said, ‘Enough is enough. Something must be done.’ There’s been a lot of positive that has come out of government taking action in this type of matter.”

“All action is on top of the table,” continued Landry. “In a couple of weeks — in fact, I think it’s next week on the 25th — there’s a roundtable being conducted by attorneys general in front of the FEC to discuss this, to discuss the harm that it’s placing on consumers, whether or not it will lead to antitrust action against the companies, or whether or not we should be looking more carefully on any mergers or consolidations or buyouts by these tech companies.”

Increasing concentration of power within Silicon Valley undermines free markets and human freedom, remarked Landry.

“When you look at the amount of data, the amount of processing power that these companies have at their disposal, they know more about you than you know about yourself,” said Landry. “We’ve seen them make comments like, ‘We can basically bend the consumer in the direction we want him to go rather than what he wants.’ That’s not independence. That’s not liberty. That’s not a free market.”

Landry said technology companies’ power is beginning to usurp government in terms of “shaping social policy”:

That’s what the Sherman Antitrust Act in the late 1800s was written exactly for. The definition, the reasoning behind it, was exactly what you just explained [about viewpoint discrimination and corporate censorship], because in our free form of government, under our democracy, we believe that no one entity should be more powerful than the government in shaping social policy.That’s something that’s best left to elected officials and to the people as a whole. That’s one of the reasons I stood up here in Louisiana and led an effort to throw Bank of America and Citigroup out of representing the state of Louisiana in some transportation bond transactions, because they had taken a position on the Second Amendment. That’s not their job. Their job is to lend money, and as long as the activity is legal, then they should be engaging in that process. We shouldn’t have these boardrooms shaping social policy. That’s best left to the government.

Technology companies’ biases are not exclusively political, warned Landry, noting how search engine users can be deceived by Google’s ad practices.

“We’ll be looking at whether Google’s ad practices hurt the consumer, [and] whether or not there’s an expectation by the consumer [for unbiased search results],” said Landry. “Because one of the things that I think Americans and mostly people around the world have come to appreciate when they utilize the internet and when they go into that search bar is that there’s an expectation that what they’re searching for is not tainted — there’s no bias attached to that — and what we’re finding is that there are.”

Landry concluded, “When we’re talking about bias, let’s not even talk about it in the political space. Let’s talk about bias in the product space. There’s an expectation, in my opinion, that when you go in there and you search for shoes or you search for a type of shoe, that you’re not looking only for the best price but also for quality in that best price. But what we’re finding and what we’re hearing from the consumers out there is that is not the case.”

Breitbart News Daily broadcasts live on SiriusXM Patriot 125 weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Eastern.

Follow Robert Kraychik on Twitter @rkraychik.

The U.N. Human Rights Council literally silenced a speaker for calling out the Jew-hatred that drives the body’s unabated anti-Israel agenda.

https://unitedwithisrael.org/

ironically titled U.N. agency literally silenced her rather than face the truth.

Meanwhile, the body’s decades-old anti-Israel agenda steamrolls forward, with a litany of new resolutions proposed by some of the world’s worst human rights abusers falsely accusing Israel of crimes against humanity.

A cure for cancer? Israeli scientists say they think they found one

“We believe we will offer in a year’s time a complete cure for cancer.”

A small team of Israeli scientists think they might have found the first complete cure for cancer.

“We believe we will offer in a year’s time a complete cure for cancer,” said Dan Aridor, of a new treatment being developed by his company, Accelerated Evolution Biotechnologies Ltd. (AEBi), which was founded in 2000 in the ITEK incubator in the Weizmann Science Park. AEBi developed the SoAP platform, which provides functional leads to very difficult targets.

“Our cancer cure will be effective from day one, will last a duration of a few weeks and will have no or minimal side-effects at a much lower cost than most other treatments on the market,” Aridor said. “Our solution will be both generic and personal.”

Dr. Ilan Moran (Courtesy)

It sounds fantastical, especially considering that an estimated 18.1 million new cancer cases are diagnosed worldwide each year, according to reports by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Further, every sixth death in the world is due to cancer, making it the second leading cause of death (second only to cardiovascular disease).

Aridor, chairman of the board of AEBi and CEO Dr. Ilan Morad, say their treatment, which they call MuTaTo (multi-target toxin) is essentially on the scale of a cancer antibiotic – a disruption technology of the highest order.

The potentially game-changing anti-cancer drug is based on SoAP technology, which belongs to the phage display group of technologies. It involves the introduction of DNA coding for a protein, such as an antibody, into a bacteriophage – a virus that infects bacteria. That protein is then displayed on the surface of the phage. Researchers can use these protein-displaying phages to screen for interactions with other proteins, DNA sequences and small molecules.

In 2018, a team of scientists won the Nobel Prize for their work on phage display in the directed evolution of new proteins – in particular, for the production of antibody therapeutics.

AEBi is doing something similar but with peptides, compounds of two or more amino acids linked in a chain. According to Morad, peptides have several advantages over antibodies, including that they are smaller, cheaper, and easier to produce and regulate.

When the company first started, Morad said, “We were doing what everyone else was doing, trying to discover individual novel peptides for specific cancers.” But shortly thereafter, Morad and his colleague, Dr. Hanan Itzhaki, decided they wanted to do something bigger.

To get started, Morad said they had to identify why other cancer-killing drugs and treatments don’t work or eventually fail. Then, they found a way to counter that effect.

For starters, most anti-cancer drugs attack a specific target on or in the cancer cell, he explained. Inhibiting the target usually affects a physiological pathway that promotes cancer. Mutations in the targets – or downstream in their physiological pathways – could make the targets not relevant to the cancer nature of the cell, and hence the drug attacking it is rendered ineffective.

In contrast, MuTaTo is using a combination of several cancer-targeting peptides for each cancer cell at the same time, combined with a strong peptide toxin that would kill cancer cells specifically. By using at least three targeting peptides on the same structure with a strong toxin, Morad said, “we made sure that the treatment will not be affected by mutations; cancer cells can mutate in such a way that targeted receptors are dropped by the cancer.”

“The probability of having multiple mutations that would modify all targeted receptors simultaneously decreases dramatically with the number of targets used,” Morad continued. “Instead of attacking receptors one at a time, we attack receptors three at a time – not even cancer can mutate three receptors at the same time.”

Furthermore, many cancer cells activate detoxification mechanisms when in stress from drugs. The cells pump out the drugs or modify them to be non-functional. But Morad said detoxification takes time. When the toxin is strong, it has a high probability of killing the cancer cell before detoxification occurs, which is what he is banking on.

Many cytotoxic anticancer treatments aim at fast-growing cells. But cancer stem cells are not fast growing, and they can escape these treatments. Then, when the treatment is over, they can generate cancer again.

“If it does not completely annihilate the cancer, the remaining cells can start to get mutations again, and then the cancer comes back, but this time it is drug resistant,” Morad said.

He explained that because cancer cells are born out of mutations that occur in cancer stem cells, most of the overexpressed proteins which are targeted on the cancer cell exist in the cancer stem cells. MuTaTo’s multiple-target attack ensures that they will be destroyed as well.

Finally, some cancer tumors erect shields which create access problems to large molecules, such as antibodies. MuTaTo acts like an octopus or a piece of spaghetti and can sneak into places where other large molecules cannot reach. Morad said the peptide parts of MuTaTo are very small (12 amino acids long) and lack a rigid structure.

“This should make the whole molecule non-immunogenic in most cases and would enable repeated administration of the drug,” he said.

Morad said their discovery could also reduce the sickening side-effects of most cancer treatments, which stem from drug treatments interacting with the wrong or additional targets, or the correct targets but on non-cancerous cells. He said MuTaTo’s having a combination of several highly specific cancer-targeting peptides on one scaffold for each type of cancer cell would increase the specificity to the cancer cell due to the avidity effect. In addition, in most cases, the non-cancer cells that have a protein in common with the cancer cells do not overexpress it.

“This makes a great difference between the two kinds of cells and should decrease the side effects dramatically,” Morad said.

He equated the concept of MuTaTo to the triple drug cocktail that has helped change AIDS from being an automatic death sentence to a chronic – but often manageable – disease.

Today, AIDS patients take protease inhibitors in combination with two other drugs called reverse transcriptase inhibitors. The drug combination disrupts HIV at different stages in its replication, restrains an enzyme crucial to an early stage of HIV duplication and holds back another enzyme that functions near the end of the HIV replication process.

“We used to give AIDS patients several drugs, but we would administer them one at a time,” Morad explained. “During the course of treatment, the virus mutated, and the AIDS started attacking again. Only when patients started using a cocktail, were they able to stop the disease.”

Now, he said, people with AIDS are HIV carriers, but they are not sick anymore.

The MuTaTo cancer treatment will eventually be personalized. Each patient will provide a piece of his biopsy to the lab, which would then analyze it to know which receptors are overexpressed. The individual would then be administered exactly the molecule cocktail needed to cure his disease.
However, unlike in the case of AIDS, where patients must take the cocktail throughout their lives, in the case of MuTaTo, the cells would be killed, and the patient could likely stop treatment after only a few weeks.

The company is now writing patents on specific peptides, which will be a large bank of targeting toxin peptides wholly owned and hard to break, said Aridor.

Morad said that so far, the company has concluded its first exploratory mice experiment, which inhibited human cancer cell growth and had no effect at all on healthy mice cells, in addition to several in-vitro trials. AEBi is on the cusp of beginning a round of clinical trials which could be completed within a few years and would make the treatment available in specific cases.
Aridor added: “Our results are consistent and repeatable.”

H/T PG

The Palestinians are celebrating the beginning of 2019 by promising Israel more violence, a “revolution until victory,” and another year of conflict and suffering. The messages that the Palestinians are sending to Israel offer anything but hope. On the contrary, they are making it clear that Israel should expect yet more bloodshed. Some are also reminding Israel that the Palestinians’ real goal is to “liberate all Palestine, from the [Jordan] river to the [Mediterranean] sea,” (meaning the annihilation of Israel).

Palestinian leaders and various political and military groups are not seizing the opportunity of the arrival of a new year to reach out to their Israeli neighbors with message of conciliation, peace and coexistence. Palestinian leaders are not offering their people a better life, prosperity, security and stability. Instead, the leaders and groups are promising Palestinians more suffering, violence and misery, and are pressing their people to continue the fight against Israel. They are urging Palestinians to continue hating Israel and the US. They are urging Arab countries not to make peace with Israel: they consider normalization with Israel an act of treason.

The largest Palestinian group, Fatah, headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, is celebrating these days the 54th anniversary of the launching of its first terrorist attack against Israel. Then, Fatah terrorists infiltrated into Israel from Jordan and attempted to sabotage the National Water Carrier. The event took place on January 1, 1965. The explosive device, which did not explode, was discovered by the Israeli army. For Fatah, a group that is often described by some Westerners as moderate and pragmatic, the attack carried out 54 years ago “ignited the Palestinian revolution” against Israel. The Fatah anniversary celebration coincided with the beginning of the new year.

The words and photos published by Fatah that refer to the 54th anniversary of the launching of its first terrorist attack against Israel serve as a reminder that this group continues to glorify terrorism and terrorists.

A cartoon published on Fatah’s official Facebook this week depicts “Palestine” as a single entity, the exact shape of Israel, while making no mention of the existence of Israel.

The Fatah flag features a grenade with crossed rifles superimposed on a map of Israel.

A poster appearing on Fatah’s Facebook page under the title, “Revolution Until Victory,” features a Palestinian in military uniform with a grenade in his hand. The accompanying caption reads: “Fatah will continue with the revolution, and will continue to carry the torch of armed struggle.”

Another Fatah poster praises members of the group’s armed wing, Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, who were responsible for a series of terror attacks that killed and wounded scores of Israelis during the Second Intifada.

Fatah is also celebrating the anniversary of its first terror attack by threatening that “millions will march on Jerusalem and die as martyrs.”

This threat is taken directly from the words of Yasser Arafat, who used to incite Palestinians in public speeches with his famous battle cry: “To Jerusalem we march, martyrs by the millions.”

Mahmoud Aloul, deputy chairman of Fatah who is seen by many Palestinians as a natural successor to Abbas, declared in a speech during a celebration of the anniversary of the first terror attack on Israel: “The Palestinian revolution has been continuing for 54 years. The revolution will continue until the aspirations of our people are fulfilled.” He went on to praise the terror attacks carried out by Fatah against Israel and described them as “achievements” and victories.” Aloul also hinted that the armed struggle against Israel will continue: “We have clearly stated that all forms of resistance are legitimate.”

Fatah has chosen to celebrate the anniversary of a terror attack with images and rhetoric that promote violence and bloodshed. Fatah has nothing to say about building hospitals or schools for its people. Its leaders also have nothing to say about improving the economy and the living conditions of Palestinians. The message Fatah is sending to Israel: “We do not recognize your existence and we will continue the armed struggle against you.”

Similar messages were made by other Palestinian groups as the world prepared to receive the year 2019. Take, for example, Hamas, the Palestinian terror group that has been ruling the Gaza Strip since 2007. The group is currently celebrating the 31st anniversary of its founding, and the only messages it has for Palestinians and Israelis are those of violence. Like its rivals in Fatah, Hamas is also using the occasion to launch scathing attacks on the US and call for thwarting any peace plan presented by US President Donald Trump.

“The Hamas project is to liberate Palestine from the river to the sea,” said Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official. “The Palestinian resistance won’t accept anything other than that.” Hamas, he added, is preparing “surprises” for Israel in the West Bank. When Hamas talks about “surprises,” it is referring to terror attacks against Israelis similar to the recent ones carried out by the group’s terrorists in the West Bank.

Another major Palestinian terror group, Islamic Jihad, sent the following message to Israel on the eve of New Year: “The armed resistance will remain the main priority of the Palestinians.”

What do we learn from the Palestinian messages on the eve of New Year? The Palestinians are determined to continue the fight against Israel. They are also determined to reject any peace plan presented by the US administration. They are determined to continue raising new generations on the glorification of violence and terrorists. They are determined to continue denying Israel’s right to exist. These messages demonstrate, with no room for doubt, that any talk about resuming a peace process between Israel and the Palestinians is one thing only: a colossal fraud. Palestinian leaders will never return to the negotiating table when they are pushing their people, day after day, to ensure that more Israeli blood runs in the street. The year 2019 will not be different from previous years: the Palestinians make it clear that their true intention is to carry a rifle and see Israel removed from the map.

Bassam Tawil, a Muslim Arab, is based in the Middle East.

BY: Andrew Kugle Follow @AndrewJKugle
December 18, 2018 2:33 pm

Republican Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.) and Ted Cruz (Texas) introduced a resolution on Tuesday encouraging the United States to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over Golan Heights.

The resolution’s aim is for the U.S. Senate to recognize Israel’s 51 years of control over the contested region. Israel took control of the region in 1967, during the Six Day War in which Israel defended itself from attacks from Syria and other Arab nations in the region. In 1981, Israel annexed the Golan Heights. Since then, the U.S. has refused to recognize the region as sovereign territory of Jewish state.

Cotton and Cruz released a statement telling their colleagues it is now time for the U.S. to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the region.

“Israel’s northern border is threatened by Iranian forces and their proxies in Lebanon and Syria, including Hezbollah’s 150,000 rockets, armed drones, newly discovered terror tunnels, and more. Meanwhile, with the Ayatollahs’ help, Bashar al Assad’s regime is on the verge of securing victory in Syria’s civil war. He may soon turn his attention back to threatening the Jewish state.” Cotton and Cruz said. “Israel gained possession over the Golan Heights in a defensive war over 50 years ago, and has responsibly controlled the area ever since. It’s past time for the United States to recognize reality by affirming Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.”

Earlier this year, the House of Representatives debated a similar resolution. Then-Rep. Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.) introduced a resolution that would have Congress recognize the Golan Heights as fully belonging to Israel. The measure was never adopted and was killed by House leadership.

If the resolution introduced by Cruz and Cotton is adopted, the Senate would recognize six points:

(1) the United States supports the sovereign right of the Government of Israel to defend its territory and its citizens from attacks against Israel, including by Iran or its proxies;

(2) Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights is critical to Israel’s national security;

(3) Israel’s security from attack from Syria and Lebanon cannot be assured without Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights;

(4) it is in the United States’ national security interest to ensure Israel’s security;

(5) it is in the United States’ national security interest to ensure that the Assad regime faces diplomatic and geopolitical consequences for the killing of civilians, the ethnic cleansing of Syrian Sunnis, and the use of weapons of mass destruction, including by ensuring that Israel retains control of the Golan Heights; and

(6) the United States should recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.