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Despite the Ongoing War, Israel Must Build Up Its Natural Strengths

An Israeli flag flies at a past Israel Day Parade.

Since October 2023, the State of Israel’s main strategic vector has been a campaign against enemies in the region centered around Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Iran. This campaign is nearing its end. In the coming months, the open challenges will be decided. Whether by force, agreement, or a combination of the two, the issues of the hostages and Hamas’s full disarmament and removal in Gaza as well as the nuclear project in Iran will reach decisions.

The other challenges are undergoing processes of change that are mostly positive from Israel’s perspective. In Lebanon, a new order is taking shape, influenced by the weakening of Hezbollah. In Syria, a new order – not without risks – is being built without the presence of Iran and its proxies. In Judea and Samaria, the system is converging around the question of the day after Abbas; and the Trump administration is pushing for the promotion and expansion of the Abraham Accords and the integration of Israel into the region.

In this situation – even if the military operation in Gaza continues for several more months or an Israeli or Israeli-American campaign is conducted against Iran – it is clear that within six months to a year at most, Israel will emerge from the war into a reality of the continuous use of force.

It is appropriate to return to the basics of David Ben-Gurion’s national security strategy and realign the national focus from the security level “Strike Force” to the national level “Prime Force,” as Ben-Gurion did after the War of Independence. One of the basic conventions of his strategy is that Israel should strive as much as possible for long periods of national capability-building and reduce as much as possible the time it takes to transform into a “Strike Force” for the purpose of defeating enemies.

The ongoing mobilization and activation of the “Strike Force” since October 2023, along with the clear victory already achieved and its expected completion in the coming months, gives even greater validity to this principle. Unlike in the days of Ben-Gurion, the “Strike Force” will remain in the form of increased regular and permanent service and in the periodic but significantly reduced mobilization of the reserves. This will make it possible to maintain ongoing security efforts across the various arenas.

A significant acceleration of “Prime Force” national efforts – in terms of security, the economy, and society – is needed to place Israel on a path of renewed strength. I will not touch on the regional and international political aspects, though extensive action must also be promoted in these areas. One, for example, is the effort to enlarge Israel’s “Competitive Identity.”

The Israeli government’s work plans for 2025 show noteworthy efforts to accelerate the development of national strengths. The main challenge is the national need to make a substantial leap forward in the arrangement, inclusion, and implementation of core components of the next national strength. To this end, it is important to focus execution on core issues, consolidate existing plans and their completion, allocate executive attention (ministerial committees, teams of Directors General), abolish execution barriers, and move forward vigorously and quickly to execute clear planning goals.

Israel should define a limited number of national efforts, the implementation of which would be led by the executive branch. Without ignoring other important efforts, the focus should be on those that can provide a public and business growth engine for other issues as well. Some, like the housing issue, are already being addressed.

The following are what I consider the top five national projects:

  1. National public transportation network: Israel needs to accelerate construction of an integrated network of public transportation solutions that will provide a comprehensive, relevant, and available door-to-door response to the population’s residential, employment and service needs. This network includes the deployment of several international airports, including one additional major airport parallel to Ben-Gurion Airport; a passenger and cargo rail network; (electric) buses; and improvements in maritime access to Israel. This network must connect the periphery to the center in order to expand the connection between housing and employment solutions. In terms of cost, it should be accessible to all segments of the public. Metropolitan transportation authorities will be needed to best adapt the plans. Reducing the scope of vehicle use will also require providing a respectful response to transportation needs on Shabbat.
  2. National computer network: Israel must complete both a leap forward in physical communications infrastructure (cellular and fiber optics) in a way that allows for bandwidth tailored to future needs and the full digitization (applications, cloud infrastructure) of national and local services and supporting infrastructure for businesses.
  3. Advanced computing infrastructures: Israel must significantly accelerate the establishment of the computing infrastructure required for artificial intelligence needs, the promotion of a national response to the challenge of quantum computing, and the supporting frameworks that enable the implementation of these capabilities. The implementation of national plans for AI is currently too slow to keep pace with developments in the field.
  4. Health and welfare response to population growth: The expected growth requires a significant expansion of the pace and scope of construction of response infrastructure. There is already a National Strategic Outline Plan at the Ministry of Health and the Planning Directorate for Health Institutions. There are plans to expand the response to the challenge of an aging population, but the necessary increases in infrastructure and manpower must be accelerated.
  5. A relevant and strong security solution over time: Security capabilities are a key component of the “Prime Force,” and in the current period also a significant engine of technologies and exports. During the war, the defense establishment received – and will continue to receive – increased resources to create a robust response after the revelation of insufficiencies in October 2023 and thereafter. The historical phenomenon of waves of increases and decreases in the IDF’s response capacity must be stopped. This time, lessons must be learned and a response built that will create a strong and relevant army and security system while avoiding excessive reductions in investment during periods of apparent calm. The goal is to ensure that the investment is carried out not as a concentrated effort but as an ongoing process over decades. This will require close examination and control by elements within and outside the IDF.

Alongside the five “national projects” will be some “national challenges.” The legislative branch (the Knesset) should lead the handling of these challenges as a basis for strengthening its position (see below), and because they require dialogue, agreements, legislation and control of implementation processes. I have tried to define what I consider the five “national challenges” on which to focus (though this is of course open to discussion):

  1. Rebalancing the three branches of government: Defining the relationship between the three branches and returning powers and capabilities to the legislative branch. The executive branch should focus on the efficient execution of processes. One way to do this is to significantly reduce the number of ministers and stop viewing the Knesset as an “employment solution” for legislators. Small ministries should be consolidated into “super-ministries.” A limited number of ministers should serve as horizontal projectors (by, for example, leading the integration of “national projects”). All others should return to essential key roles in the legislative branch. At the same time, the process of transforming the judiciary – mainly the High Court – into a legislative branch (“legislators in judges’ robes”) should be stopped. The determination of norms and principles should be returned to legislators. Judges should focus on examining compliance with the law.
  2. Integrating the ultra-orthodox into the economy and sharing the civic burden: The Israeli economy will have difficulty functioning if the growing ultra-orthodox population does not share in the national security effort and the economic burden. A fundamental change in the current situation will require agreements that address the unique needs of this population.
  3. Eliminating crime in Arab society: Organized crime is a source of chaos at the national level and hinders the normal development of Arab society. Significant efforts are being made to deal with it, but close monitoring of the effectiveness of these efforts as well as legislation are required.
  4. Lowering the cost of living by increasing competitiveness: The cost of living in Israel is a national problem that requires serious solutions. The many efforts in this area do not sufficiently address the main problem: the concentration of power in key industries in the hands of a few corporations and the lack of competitiveness. A legislative and practical leap is needed to increase competitiveness and reduce the control of these corporations.
  5. Reconstruction of the South and the North: Considerable efforts are being made on this issue as well, but the depth of national commitment to the issue and the need to assist and develop the population will require dialogue, in-depth monitoring, and legislation.

The next strategic vector of the State of Israel, after stabilizing a desirable security environment and perhaps even a political one for the country in the coming year, is a significant acceleration of national strengths. To this end, Israel should begin a strategic process of defining a limited number of “national projects” and responding to “national challenges” to strengthen its capabilities with a forward-looking vision.

Col. (res.) Shay Shabtai is a senior researcher at the BESA Center and an expert in national security, strategic planning, and strategic communication. He is a cyber security strategist and a consultant to leading companies in Israel. A version of this article was originally published by The BESA Center.

The post Despite the Ongoing War, Israel Must Build Up Its Natural Strengths first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Anti-Zionists Are Excluding LGBTQ+ Jews From Pride Spaces, New Report Says

Jews of Pride members are seen marching in the Pride parade 2025, part of LGBTQ+ community’s Midsumma Festival. Photo: Alexander Bogatyrev / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect.

Anti-Israel activists in the LGBTQ+ community are subjecting Zionist Jews to extreme levels of discrimination, including expulsions from major progressive groups and even physical assault, according to a new report by the nonprofit A Wider Bridge.

The release of the report — titled “Unsafe Spaces: Addressing Antisemitism Against LGBTQ+ Jews and Ensuring Pride Safety” — comes as LGBTQ community members across the Western world observe Pride Month, a period of festivities which celebrate the expansion of social and legal rights that have allowed gays to live more freely and authentically than ever in human history. For pro-Israel Jews, however, Pride Month 2025 is a challenging moment, as anti-Zionism has creeped into and crowded out many queer spaces which once welcomed them with open arms.

From online forums to the streets, the maltreatment and “erasure” of Jewish queer identity is severe, the report explains. Eighty-two percent of LGBTQ Jews have reported being expelled from social media channels or harassed on them, A Wider Bridge noted.

Earlier this year, NYC Dyke March, a public demonstration held by members of the lesbian community in New York City, banned self-proclaimed “Zionists” from its annual event, citing a desire to stand against the so-called “genocide” occurring in Gaza. Last year, the NYC Dyke March came under scrutiny after organizers settled on “genocide” as the theme of its 2024 event. In a statement, decrying “ethnic cleansing, violence, and dehumanization,” the organization compared the ongoing war in Gaza, to mass killings occurring in Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Sudan.

Also in 2024, the Dyke March Committee formally barred “Zionists” from participating in the Pride March, and during the event Jews were attacked and heckled after being seen wearing the Star of David on their clothing. That same year, an LGBTQ-friendly bar in the Brooklyn borough of New York City refused to hold a screening party for the Eurovision talent competition due to the participation of an Israeli contestant.

Forced, mass exiles are taking place in response to this new reality, the report added. Forty-three percent of queer Jews say they are leaving online forums; 40 percent abstain from participating in LGBTQ social events; and 30 percent said their decision was driven by precipitous deterioration of the manner in which they are treated. The only conclusion to draw, the report said, is that the Pride movement is “no longer universally safe or inclusive.”

“What we have found since Oct. 7 and what the report points to is that the explosion of antisemitism that the whole Jewish community has experienced has in some ways grown even more exponentially in the LGBTQ community,” Rabbi Denise Eger, interim executive director of A Wider Bridge and former president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, told The Algemeiner during an interview on Friday. “What we’re seeing around now as Pride marches and organizations put on their celebration s is institutional discrimination and outright boycotts.”

Eger went on to note that antisemitism in LGBTQ communities is all the more distressing due to the outsized contributions, legal and political, which Jewish gays and lesbians have made towards fostering a society that is more inclusive of non-heteronormative identities and relationships.

“Look at who were the early leaders of the LGBTQ civil rights movement — Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay elected officials in the US, was a Jewish man. Edith Windsor, who brought one of the first marriage equality cases that we won at the Supreme Court, and her attorney, Roberta Kaplan, who won it — these are LGBTQ heroes, not just LGBTQ ‘Jewish’ heroes and heroines,” Eger continued. “So, for LGBTQ Jews to be continually shut out of these spaces is paralyzing, shocking, and horrifying, and LGBTQ Jews are asking where is their home.”

She added, “These are difficult times, but together, the whole Jewish community, including the LGBTQ part of the Jewish community, can stand strong and be resilient in the face of all this, just as the Jewish people have done throughout our history. We have the tools within our tradition to keep us strong and to help us educate. And yes, I believe so much, as a rabbi, that we can and must help change the world for the better. That’s what we are called to do as the Jewish people.”

As previously reported by The Algemeiner, recorded incidents of antisemitism in the US continue to increase year over year, breaking all previous annual records.

In 2024, as reported by the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) annual audit, there were 9,354 antisemitic incidents — an average of 25.6 a day — across the US, creating an atmosphere of hate not experienced in the nearly thirty years since the ADL began tracking such data in 1979. Incidents of harassment, vandalism, and assault all increased by double digits, and for the first time ever a majority of outrages — 58 percent — were related to the existence of Israel as the world’s only Jewish state.

The Algemeiner parsed the ADL’s data, finding dramatic rises in incidents on college campuses, which saw the largest growth in 2024. The 1,694 incidents tallied by the ADL amounted to an 84 percent increase over the previous year. Additionally, antisemites were emboldened to commit more offenses in public in 2024 than they did in 2023, perpetrating 19 percent more attacks on Jewish people, pro-Israel demonstrators, and businesses perceived as being Jewish-owned or affiliated with Jews.

“Hatred toward Israel was a driving force behind antisemitism across the US, with more than half of all antisemitic incidents referencing Israel or Zionism,” said Oren Segal, ADL senior vice president for counter-extremism and intelligence. “These incidents, along with all those documented in the audit, serve as a clear reminder that silence is not an option. Good people must stand up, push back, and confront antisemitism wherever it appears. And that starts with understanding what fuels it and learning to recognize it in all its forms.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

The post Anti-Zionists Are Excluding LGBTQ+ Jews From Pride Spaces, New Report Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Two UK Men Convicted, Jailed Following November Antisemitic Harassment

Illustrative: A pro-Hamas march in London, United Kingdom, Feb. 17, 2024. Photo: Chrissa Giannakoudi via Reuters Connect

A court in the United Kingdom on Thursday sentenced Hussein Altamimi, 22, and Ali Alanzi, 30, to prison sentences of eight months and seven months respectively, for charges stemming from an incident at London’s Western Marble Arch Synagogue in November 2024, according to British media.

The two men received convictions for yelling at four Jewish worshipers such phrases as “Jews aren’t welcome here,” “you don’t belong here,” and “f—king Jew.” They also repeatedly screamed “free Palestine.”

The incident grew violent when Altamimi hit one victim’s arm to try and prevent her from filming the abuse. Alanzi also hurled liquid from an alcoholic drink toward one person. When police arrived to arrest the pair, he assaulted one of the officers.

The court convicted both men of four counts of religiously aggravated public order offenses and religiously aggravated assault. Alanzi also received a conviction for attacking the officer and will endure an additional 12 weeks’ incarceration due to a previous suspended sentence.

On Friday, the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) described its reaction to the hate crime prosecutions on X in one word: “Vindicated.”

Altamimi also faced additional charges and guilty verdicts related to a July 2023 incident which included racial abuse and striking a police officer.

“The CPS is working closely with the police to tackle hate crime, making sure that perpetrators who target victims because of their religion, race, sexuality, gender identity, or disability are brought to justice,” Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) lawyer Anna Hindmarsh said following the trial. “We know that hate crimes have a significant impact on victims and the wider community, and we will continue to support victims and witnesses who come forward to report any examples of hate crime they have experienced.”

The convictions against Altamimi and Alanzi are part of a historic surge in antisemitic acts in the United Kingdom.

The UK experienced its second-worst year for antisemitism in 2024, despite recording an 18 percent drop in antisemitic incidents from the previous year’s all-time high, according to a report released in February.

The Community Security Trust (CST), a nonprofit charity that advises Britain’s Jewish community on security matters, released data showing it recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents for 2024, a drop of 18 percent from the 4,296 in 2023. These numbers compare to 1,662 antisemitic incidents in 2022, 2,261 in 2021, and 1,684 in 2020.

In the 12 months following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, CST counted 5,583 antisemitic incidents in the UK, an increase from 204 percent from the same period the previous year.

Many of the incidents involved violence targeting the Jewish community.

Last month, On May 26, a group of six or seven men attacked three Jewish boys at the Hampstead Underground Station in North London, requiring hospitalization for one. CAA said that “this report is yet another stark reminder of the growing threat facing Jewish communities, including children.”

Another antisemitic assault occurred in Manchester in February, when an unidentified individual hit a Jewish man with what was believed to be a bottle, shattering the victim’s glasses.

The heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Stamford Hill in Hackney saw an antisemitic act last week when vandals targeted a Jewish-owned investment firm, smashing its windows and splashing red paint. The group Palestine Action claimed responsibility for the crime, as it had done previously for similar acts at the University of Cambridge’s endowment fund headquarters and the BBC’s New Broadcasting House.

“This should be treated as [an] antisemitic incident without any doubt. [The owners] are visibly Jewish people; the people who run the business and this business itself have nothing to do with Israel,” said Rabbi Herschel Gluck, president of Jewish security service Shomrim’s branch in Stamford Hill.

Days earlier, residents of Brighton in southeastern England discovered antisemitic vandalism at a memorial created to honor the victims of the Hamas-led Oct. 7 terror attacks.

“There have been over 40 attacks on the site including vandalism, theft, and graffiti. The abuse has been relentless,” Heidi Bachram, who volunteers to maintain the memorial, told The Jewish Chronicle at the time. “It’s shocking that grief for innocents is met with such violence. The hate won’t stop us, and every night, a different victim’s story will be told [at the memorial]. We will never let them be forgotten.”

In April, according to prosecutors, Abdullah Sabah Albadri, 33, attempted to climb a wall outside of the Israeli embassy in London while carrying a “martyrdom note.”

Prosecutor Kristel Pous said that Albadri told police that he wanted to “do something to send a message to the Israeli government to stop the war.”

The Israeli embassy stated in response to the foiled attack that “we thank the British security forces for their immediate response and ongoing efforts to secure the embassy.” It vowed that “the embassy of Israel will not be deterred by any terror threat and will continue to represent Israel with pride in the UK.”

The post Two UK Men Convicted, Jailed Following November Antisemitic Harassment first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Large Pro-Israel Event in Texas ‘Indefinitely Postponed’ Due to Threats of Terrorism

A protester holds a sign that reads, ”From the river to the sea Palestine will be free” during a pro-Palestinian emergency demonstration outside the Consulate General of Israel in Houston, Texas, on March 19, 2025. Photo: Reginald Mathalone via Reuters Connect

The 2025 Israel Summit in Dallas, Texas has been indefinitely postponed in response to what organizers described as intensifying threats of terrorism. 

Prior to the cancellation, the event was expecting over 1,000 attendees. The Israel Summit had already undergone a last-minute venue change due to mounting safety concerns. The gathering, scheduled for June 9–11, was set to feature prominent voices from both the Jewish and Christian pro-Israel communities.

Former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who had been scheduled to speak at the event, commented on the cancellation on social media: “This is what America looks like in 2025. A peaceful pro-Israel gathering with more than a thousand participants had to be scrapped because of threats from violent extremists.”

Ten days prior to this year’s event, local police and intelligence officials in Dallas alerted organizers that the gathering had been upgraded to a “high-threat event.” 

According to Josiah Hilton, host of the Israel Guys show, which was scheduled to co-host the event with HaYovel, the organizers had to produce “a mandatory security plan with a substantial budget estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

The organizers then moved the Israel Summit to a facility in an isolated area of Kenneth, Texas. However, the event was forced to cancel after the Palestinian Youth Movement Dallas and Jewish Voice for Peace, a pair of anti-Israel, pro-Hamas organizations, revealed its location to their followers. 

[T]he Genocide Summit had to change plans last minute in desperation due to them claiming to be ‘under attack.’ The reality is they understand DFW’s commitment to confronting the extremist ideology that is Zionism,” Palestinian Youth Movement Dallas wrote on Instagram. 

However, the organizers stated that they are going to hold the pro-Israel event “in the near future,” and vowed to “come back bigger and stronger, with more people.”

Hilton said that the cancellation reflects “the growing normalization of antisemitic threats and anti-Israel extremists, which are fueling intimidation and silencing voices of support for Israel across the United States.”

The cancellation of the Israel Summit also reflects growing concern regarding potential violence against supporters of the Jewish state. Last month, two Israeli embassy staffers, Yaron Lipschinsky and Sarah Milgrim, were murdered while exiting an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) at the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC. Then this past Sunday, an assailant firebombed a pro-Israel rally in Boulder, Colorado, injuring 15 people and a dog.

The post Large Pro-Israel Event in Texas ‘Indefinitely Postponed’ Due to Threats of Terrorism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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