RSS
Will Hamas Meet the Same Fate that Pharaoh Did?
Palestinian terrorists and members of the Red Cross gather near vehicles on the day Hamas hands over deceased hostages Oded Lifschitz, Shiri Bibas, and her two children Kfir and Ariel Bibas, seized during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack, to the Red Cross, as part of a ceasefire and hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Feb. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
In his 1878 work Human, All Too Human, the provocative existential philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche coined the aphorism: “Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal.”
His words cut deep into one of the significant anomalies of the human condition — our tendency to confuse movement with progress and defiance with purpose. How often do we see people, caught up in the emotions of the moment, throw away their long-term best interests simply because they can’t bear to admit that the path they chose was the wrong one?
Just this week, Hamas once again rejected a ceasefire proposal that could have brought much-needed relief to the people of Gaza. The deal, shaped through ongoing talks in Cairo and backed by the United States, offered a 45-day truce, the phased release of Israeli hostages, and a significant increase in humanitarian aid. It was, by any reasonable standard, a serious offer. Hamas was also asked to agree to a phased disarmament — the most basic requirement for any long-term stability in Gaza and in the region.
But instead of engaging and looking out for the long-term best interests of the people they purport to represent, they walked away. For Hamas, even the faintest whiff of concession is anathema. They would rather watch Gaza burn than admit they’ve lost the war.
Senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Al Jazeera Arabic that while the group was “open to all offers that alleviate the suffering of our people,” the latest Israeli proposal amounted to a “surrender.” He added: “Netanyahu is setting impossible conditions to sabotage the ceasefire agreement.”
This is classic Hamas messaging: an ever-shifting blame game that refuses to acknowledge any agency on their part. Every proposal is rigged. Every mediator is biased. Every path forward is dismissed as a trap. And meanwhile, a whole generation of Palestinians is being traumatized in real time — not just by the war, but by the insistence of their self-appointed guardians that war and suffering are the only way forward.
This isn’t a one-off. It’s a pattern that goes back years. After Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 — evacuating every last settlement and removing every last soldier — the strip could have become a model for Palestinian autonomy.
Billions of dollars in aid poured in from around the world. The opportunity was there, and Hamas squandered it. They staged a violent coup against Fatah, turned Gaza into an armed enclave, and immediately got to work importing weapons, building tunnels, and exporting terror. Schools weren’t built. Jobs weren’t created. Infrastructure wasn’t developed.
Instead, the money was funneled into rocket launchers, explosives, and propaganda. Every truckload of cement was a chance to dig deeper — literally — expanding the tunnel network rather than building homes and civilian infrastructure. Every dollar of foreign aid simply became another line item in their war budget.
And now, nearly two decades later, the consequences are there for all to see. Tens of thousands of Gazans are dead — mostly combatants, but many civilians. Entire neighborhoods lie in ruins. The leadership of Hamas is either hiding underground or already dead. And the people of Gaza are trapped in a grinding, endless catastrophe.
What has Hamas achieved? Nothing. No political gains. No liberation. Not even regional sympathy. Arab leaders who once championed the Palestinian cause are losing patience. Egypt is now openly furious. The UAE and Bahrain — key signatories of the Abraham Accords — have little tolerance left for Hamas’s tired rejectionist rhetoric.
And Qatar, Hamas’s main financial patron, is finally being exposed not as a helpful intermediary but as a willing enabler of extremism, prolonging suffering under the pretense of support.
And still, Hamas refuses to budge. They posture. They release provocative videos. They demand total Israeli withdrawal and total immunity — all while holding hostages and offering nothing in return. This isn’t strength. It’s the delusion of strength. It’s the fantasy of resistance masquerading as victory, when in reality it’s a slow, agonizing suicide — not just for Hamas, but for every Palestinian they claim to fight for.
Truthfully, this kind of destructive defiance isn’t new. We’ve seen it before — in the Torah, of all places. Back in the day, Pharaoh was the most powerful man on earth. He ruled the only superpower of the ancient world, commanded the mightiest army, and had the unquestioned loyalty of a devoted empire.
So when Moses showed up — backed by God, no less — demanding he let the Israelite slaves go, Pharaoh had a choice. He could have made the smart move. He could have cut his losses and preserved Egypt’s dominance. But no. Pharaoh, drunk on his own Kool-Aid and unable to stomach the idea of yielding to reality, chose to resist.
It wasn’t just arrogance and pride, though they certainly played a role. It was also about ideological delusion. With each plague — blood, frogs, lice, hail, darkness, death — the evidence mounted that the God of Israel meant business.
But Pharaoh refused to see it. He doubled down. Hardened his heart. Clung to his narrative of dominance and refused to let go, even as his own people suffered and his country imploded. And in the end, it didn’t just cost him his pride.
It cost him his army, his empire, his firstborn, and Egypt’s standing in the world. The mighty civilization that built pyramids and monuments was brought to its knees — not by the Israelites, but by Pharaoh’s own refusal to act with humility and foresight.
Hamas, like Pharaoh, confuses stubbornness for strength. They believe that by refusing to compromise, by staring down the world and clinging to their maximalist demands, they’re showing courage. But they’re not. They’re marching their people into oblivion. Every offer rejected, every opportunity squandered, every tunnel dug — it’s one more step toward the total collapse not just of Hamas, but of whatever fragile future might still be possible for the people of Gaza.
And just like Pharaoh, they’re not doing it alone. They’re being cheered on by a chorus of enablers — activists, influencers, academics, and state sponsors — who assure them that “resistance” is heroic, even when it leads only to ruin.
The tragedy — and the irony — is that Hamas couldn’t have done this alone. Their intransigence isn’t powered by courage; it’s powered by cash, by cameras, and by do-gooders cheering them on. From the lavish villas of Doha to the ivory towers of Western academia, the friends of Hamas keep feeding the fantasy.
Qatar is the worst of all. They’ve poured billions into Gaza under the guise of humanitarian aid, all while knowingly bankrolling a terrorist regime. The supporters of Hamas might think they’re standing up for justice, but in reality, they’re giving Hamas the strength to do what Israel never could: destroy Palestinian hopes for a positive future — permanently.
Frankly, I don’t mind. Because just as Pharaoh’s demise was not only his downfall but the platform for the Israelites’ greatest triumph, so too, Hamas is playing the long game of annihilation — and losing. The only question left is how much devastation their delusion will leave in its wake, and how many will be dragged down with them.
In the end, it’s the tragedy Nietzsche warned us about: Hamas is stubborn in pursuit of the path they’ve chosen — but utterly blind to the goal their people so desperately need.
The author is a rabbi in Beverly Hills, California.
The post Will Hamas Meet the Same Fate that Pharaoh Did? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Iran Rejects US Nuclear Proposal, Says ‘Counteroffer’ Coming as Talks Stall Over Uranium Enrichment, Sanctions
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting in Tehran, Iran, May 20, 2025. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iran has denounced the latest nuclear proposal from the United States as “unprofessional and untechnical,” reaffirming the country’s right to enrich uranium and announcing plans to present a counteroffer in the coming days.
“After receiving the American proposal regarding the Iranian nuclear program, we are now preparing a counteroffer,” Ali Shamkhnai, political adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in an interview on Wednesday.
Shamkhani criticized the White House draft proposal as “not well thought out,” emphasizing its alleged failure to address sanction relief — a key demand for Tehran under any deal with Washington.
“There is no mention whatsoever of lifting sanctions in the latest American proposal, even though the issue of sanctions is a fundamental matter for Iran,” Shamkhnai said.
The Iranian official also warned that Tehran will not allow the US to dismantle its “peaceful nuclear program” or force uranium enrichment down to zero.
“Iran will never relinquish its natural rights,” Shamkhani said.
Washington’s draft proposal for a new nuclear deal was delivered by Omani officials — who have been mediating negotiations between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff — during last month’s talks in Rome.
On Wednesday, Khamenei dismissed such an offer, saying it “contradicts our nation’s belief in self-reliance” and runs counter to Iran’s key objectives.
“The proposal that the Americans have presented is 100 percent against our interests,” the Iranian leader said during a televised speech.
“The rude and arrogant leaders of America repeatedly demand that we should not have a nuclear program. Who are you to decide whether Iran should have enrichment?” Khamenei continued.
After five rounds of talks, diplomatic efforts have yet to yield results as both adversaries clash over Iran’s demand to maintain its domestic uranium enrichment program — a condition the White House has firmly rejected.
In April, Tehran and Washington held their first official nuclear negotiation since the US withdrew from a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal that had imposed temporary limits on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanction relief.
Since taking office, US President Donald Trump has sought to curtail Tehran’s potential to develop a nuclear weapon that could spark a regional arms race and pose a threat to Israel.
Meanwhile, Iran seeks to have Western sanctions on its oil-dependent economy lifted, while maintaining its nuclear enrichment program — which the country insists is solely for civilian purposes.
As part of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran — which aims to cut the country’s crude exports to zero and prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon — Washington has been targeting Tehran’s oil industry with mounting sanctions.
Amid the ongoing diplomatic deadlock, Israel has declared it will never allow the Islamist regime to acquire nuclear weapons, as the country views Iran’s nuclear program as an existential threat.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to uphold any agreement that prevents Tehran from enriching uranium.
“But in any case, Israel maintains the right to defend itself from a regime that is threatening to annihilate it,” Netanyahu said in a press conference last month, following reports that Jerusalem could strike Iranian nuclear sites if ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran fail.
The post Iran Rejects US Nuclear Proposal, Says ‘Counteroffer’ Coming as Talks Stall Over Uranium Enrichment, Sanctions first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Day After Colorado Attack, Founder of Anti-Israel Group Chides Activists Who Are Insufficiently ‘Pro-Resistance’
Nerdeen Kiswani, founder of WithinOurLifetime (WOL), leading a pro-Hamas demonstration in New York City on Aug. 14, 2024. Photo: Michael Nigro via Reuters Connect
Nerdeen Kiswani, the founder of the radical anti-Israel organization Within Our Lifetime, chastised those within the pro-Palestinian movement who only support “resistance” in the abstract but not in practice following Sunday’s antisemitic attack in Boulder, Colorado.
“A lot of people who call themselves anti-Zionist or pro-resistance don’t actually understand what resistance is,” Kiswani posted on X/Twitter on Monday. “They support it in theory, but when it shows up in practice, they hesitate, distance themselves, or shift the conversation entirely.”
She continued, “And it makes it even harder for those of us who are principled to take public stances. We’re already marginalized, already painted as extreme or dangerous and that isolation only deepens when others in the movement won’t stand firm when it counts.”
Kiswani’s comments came the day after a man threw Molotov cocktails at a Boulder gathering where participants were rallying in support of the Israeli hostages who remain in captivity in Gaza — which resulted in 15 injuries, including some critically, in what US authorities called a targeted terrorist attack. Her tweets also came less than two weeks after a gunman murdered two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, DC, while they were leaving an at the Capital Jewish Museum hosted by the American Jewish Committee. In both attacks, the perpetrator yelled “Free Palestine” as they targeted innocent civilians, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
After Kiswani’s social media posts sparked some backlash among pro-Israel users on X, she provided limited pushback on the idea that it was an expression of support for the prior day’s attack in Colorado.
“Zionists are freaking out in the QTs about this, insisting it’s about Colorado,” she wrote. “Newsflash: the world doesn’t revolve around you. Resistance hasn’t stopped in Gaza, look at what just happened in Jabalia [where three IDF soldiers were killed] for instance. The perpetual victimhood is getting old.”
However, Kiswani did not say her comment had no connection to the attack in Colorado, and she did not say that she opposed the firebombing.
Kiswani and her group, Within Our Lifetime (WOL), have been at the forefront of anti-Israel and pro-Hamas activism since Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists killed 1,200 people and abducted 251 hostages during their invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, a massacre that started the war in Gaza.
On Oct. 8, 2023, one day after the biggest single-day slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust, WOL organized a protest to celebrate the prior day’s attack, which it described as an effort to “defend the heroic Palestinian resistance.” Kiswani notably refused to condemn Hamas and the Oct. 7 massacre following the atrocities.
Then, in Apil 2024, Kiswani refused to condemn the chant “Death to America” and organized a mass demonstration to block the “arteries of capitalism” by staging a blockade of commercial shipping ports across the world in protest of Western support for the Jewish state. That same month, she was banned from Columbia University’s campus in New York City after leading chants calling for an “intifada,” or violent uprising.
The following month, Kiswani led a demonstration in Brooklyn, New York in which she lambasted the local police department, claimed then-US President Joe Biden will soon die, and called for the destruction of Israel.
That proceeded the activist saying she does not want Zionists “anywhere” in the world while speaking in defense of a person who called for “Zionists” to leave a crowded subway car in New York City.
WOL, which planned a protest last year to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre, was also behind demonstrations at the Nova Music Festival exhibit, which commemorated the more than 300 civilians slaughtered by Hamas while at a music festival.
The latter protest prompted widespread condemnation, including from Biden and even progressive members of the US Congress who are outspoken against Israel.
US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), for example, posted on social media that the “callousness, dehumanization, and targeting of Jews on display at last night’s protest outside the Nova Festival exhibit was atrocious antisemitism – plain and simple.”
The post Day After Colorado Attack, Founder of Anti-Israel Group Chides Activists Who Are Insufficiently ‘Pro-Resistance’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Israel’s Defense Exports Hit Record $15 Billion in 2024 Despite European Pressure, Calls for Arms Embargo
Israeli troops on the ground in Gaza. Photo: IDF via Reuters
Israel reached a new all-time high in defense exports in 2024, nearing $15 billion — the fourth consecutive year of record-breaking sales — despite mounting international criticism over the war in Gaza and growing pressure from European countries to suspend arms deals.
In a press release on Wednesday, Israel’s Defense Ministry announced that defense exports reached over $14.7 billion last year — a 13 percent increase from 2023 — with more than half of the deals valued at over $100 million.
According to the ministry, Israel’s military exports have more than doubled over the past five years, highlighting the industry’s rapid expansion and growing global demand.
“This tremendous achievement is a direct result of the successes of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] and defense industries against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, the Ayatollah regime in Iran, and in additional arenas where we operate against Israel’s enemies,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.
“The world sees Israeli strength and seeks to be a partner in it. We will continue strengthening the IDF and the Israeli economy through security innovation to ensure clear superiority against any threat – anywhere and anytime,” Katz continued.
In 2024, over half of the Jewish state’s defense contracts were with European countries — up from 35 percent the previous year — as many in the region have increased their defense spending following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Despite increasing pressure and widespread anti-Israel sentiment among European governments amid the current conflict in Gaza, this latest data seems to contradict recent calls by European leaders to impose an arms embargo on the Jewish state over its defensive campaign in Gaza against the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.
On Wednesday, Germany reversed its earlier threat to halt arms deliveries to Israel, reaffirming its commitment to continue cooperation and maintain defense contracts with Jerusalem.
“Germany will continue to support the State of Israel, including with arms deliveries,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told lawmakers in parliament.
Last week, Berlin warned it would take unspecified measures against Israel if it continued its military campaign in Gaza, citing concerns that exported weapons were being used in violation of humanitarian law.
“Our full support for the right to exist and the security of the State of Israel must not be instrumentalized for the conflict and the warfare currently being waged in the Gaza Strip,” Wadephul said in a statement.
Germany would be “examining whether what is happening in the Gaza Strip is compatible with international humanitarian law,” he continued. “Further arms deliveries will be authorized based on the outcome of that review.”
Spain and Ireland are among the countries in Europe that have threatened or taken steps to limit arms deals with Israel, while others such as France have threatened unspecified harsh measures against the Jewish state.
According to the Israeli defense ministry’s report, since the outbreak of war on Oct. 7, 2023, after the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, the operational successes and proven battlefield performance of Israeli systems have fueled strong international demand for Israel’s defense technology.
Last year, the export of missiles, rockets, and air defense systems reached a new high, making up 48 percent of the total deal volume — up from 36 percent in 2023.
Similarly, satellite and space systems exports surged, accounting for 8 percent of total deals in 2024 — quadrupling their share from 2 percent in 2023.
While Europe dominated Israel’s defense export market in 2024, significant portions also went to other regions. Asia and the Pacific made up 23 percent of total sales — slightly lower than in previous years, when the region approached 30 percent.
Exports to Abraham Accords countries fell to 12 percent, down from 23 percent in 2022, while North America remained stable at around 9 percent.
The post Israel’s Defense Exports Hit Record $15 Billion in 2024 Despite European Pressure, Calls for Arms Embargo first appeared on Algemeiner.com.