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Bernie Sanders and AOC Mark October 7 Anniversary with False Accusations Against Israel

US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are seen before a press conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on March 21, 2024. Photo: Craig Hudson/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

One year to the day after Hamas slaughtered 1,200 men, women, and children — including 46 Americans — in southern Israel, Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) lashed out with false accusations at the Israeli government.

Sanders’ and AOC’s claims were hardly original — yet coming from two large voices on the left, they deserve a thorough dissection.

To their credit, both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez began their statements by condemning the October 7 massacre as an instance of terrorism — a word that American journalists increasingly refuse to use.

Unfortunately, both quickly pivoted to condemnations of Israel, and specifically its prime minister. According to Sanders, “Benjamin Netanyahu’s extremist government” has not just targeted Hamas, but “waged total war against the Palestinian people.”

Yet it is Sanders who apparently can’t distinguish Hamas from the general population of Gaza.

The Vermont senator says that the war (which was started by Hamas) has claimed 41,000 Palestinian lives — a figure produced by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health, although Sanders does not mention the source.

Hamas’ reliance on data from unidentified sources is a serious problem, but the more salient point is that its roster of the dead includes thousands upon thousands of Hamas gunmen and soldiers — a point the Hamas ministry does not dispute.

The Israelis estimate there have been 17,000 enemy fighters killed in action. Yet Sanders draws no distinction. It would be like equating dead Al-Qaeda operatives with Afghan civilians during the war that was started by the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.

Unlike Hamas, Israel is honest about what’s happening in Gaza.

Israel does not pretend that the war claims no civilian lives. Prime Minister Netanyahu said in May that 16,000 people had perished. When Hamas operates out of hospitals, schools, mosques, and UN buildings, it ensures that civilians will suffer. Yet Sanders remains quiet on this point, too.

A word is also in order about Sanders’ characterization of the Israeli government as “extremist.”

Five days after the events of October 7, Netanyahu and opposition leader Benny Gantz formed a national unity government that specifically excluded the most right-wing ministers from the “security cabinet” that would run the war. Yet acknowledging this would make it much harder for Sanders to portray the Israeli government as beyond the pale.

Ocasio-Cortez relies on the same rhetorical sleight-of-hand as her colleague from Vermont.

She claims that Netanyahu is not pursuing Hamas, but “mass revenge.”

She cites the Hamas health ministry’s death toll without attribution while failing to acknowledge it includes thousands upon thousands of enemy fighters killed in action. Then she moves to the claim that Israel is blocking humanitarian aid, “pushing Gaza to the brink of famine.” Sanders emphasized the same point, expressing concern that “many thousands of children facing malnutrition and starvation.”

A generous assessment of these assertions would conclude they are seriously out of date.

Six months ago, conventional wisdom held that famine in Gaza was “imminent.” The source of this forecast was the awkwardly-named but highly influential Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC, a UN-backed association of experts. It not only warned that famine would set in by the end of May, but that scores of children would begin dying of hunger each week. It insisted that only a ceasefire could enable the delivery of sufficient aid to prevent a catastrophe.

Israel was determined to prove this wrong.

UN figures showed that 2,874 truckloads of goods entered Gaza in February, or fewer than 100 per day. The number then rose to 4,993 in March and 5,671 in April. The UN has not been able to publish comprehensive figures since the beginning of May, but the Israeli government began to make its own data publicly available. Its online dashboard shows that 6,277 truckloads arrived in May, with the number decreasing gradually in subsequent months. All told, more than 54,000 trucks delivered their cargo to Gaza during the first year of the war.

In late June, the IPC published a revised assessment of the situation in Gaza. The percentage of residents facing the most severe food shortages had fallen from 30 to 15 percent, defying the IPC forecast that the number would rise to 50 percent. There were similar improvements in other categories, and no more talk of imminent famine. A typical headline, however, still read, “Famine will loom over Gaza as long as conflict rages.”

Neither the IPC nor journalists gave Israel much credit, but their fearful predictions never came to pass.

The final charge that Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez level at Netanyahu is that he has “sabotaged” or “undermin[ed]” ceasefire negotiations.

The lawmakers may want to pass this information to the White House, where the National Security Council’s spokesman described Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as “the big obstacle” to a ceasefire, “no questions about it.”

Five years ago, Ocasio-Cortez vented her frustration with those who care more about being “factually and semantically correct” than being “morally right.” Perhaps she and Senator Sanders should consider the possibility that knowing the facts is what leads to being morally right.

David Adesnik is a senior fellow and director of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

The post Bernie Sanders and AOC Mark October 7 Anniversary with False Accusations Against Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Washington Warns UK, France Against Recognizing Palestinian Statehood

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy leaves Downing Street, following the results of the election, in London, Britain, July 5, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Toby Melville

i24 NewsThe United States has warned the UK and France not to unilaterally recognize a Palestinian state at a UN conference scheduled for June 17 in New York, the Middle East Eye reported Tuesday.

France and Saudi Arabia will co-host this conference on the two-state solution, with Paris reportedly preparing to unilaterally recognize Palestine. France is also pressuring London to follow this path, according to sources from the British Foreign Office.

French media reports indicate that French authorities believe they have the agreement of the British government. Meanwhile, Arab states are encouraging this move, measuring the success of the conference by the recognitions obtained.

This initiative deeply divides Western allies. If France and the UK were to carry out this recognition, they would become the first G7 nations to take this step, causing a “political earthquake” according to observers, given their historical ties with Israel. The Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer threatened last week to annex parts of the West Bank if this recognition took place, according to a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

In the United Kingdom, Foreign Secretary David Lammy publicly opposes unilateral recognition, stating that London would only recognize a Palestinian state when we know that it is going to happen and that it is in view.

However, pressure is mounting within the Labour Party. MP Uma Kumaran, member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, said that the government was elected on a platform that promised to recognize Palestine as a step towards a just and lasting peace. Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, believes that there is no legitimate reason for the United States to interfere in a sovereign decision of recognition, while highlighting the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump on this issue.

The post Washington Warns UK, France Against Recognizing Palestinian Statehood first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Police, Shin Bet Thwart Suspected Iranian Attempt Perpetrate Terror Attack

A small number of Jewish worshipers pray during the priestly blessing, a traditional prayer which usually attracts thousands of worshipers at the Western Wall on the holiday of Passover during 2020, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 12, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Ronen Zvulun.

i24 NewsThe Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police thwarted another Iranian attempt to recruit Israelis, according to a statement on Tuesday, arresting a resident of East Jerusalem for allegedly carrying out missions for the Islamic Republic.

Iranian agents recruited the suspect, who in turn recruited members of his family. He is a resident of the Isawiya neighborhood in his 30s, and is accused of maintaining contact with a hostile foreign entity to harm the state by carrying out a terrorist attack against Jews.

The suspect had already begun perpetrating acts of sabotage and espionage, including collecting intelligence about areas in Jerusalem, including the Western Wall and Mahane Yehuda Market. He also hung signs, burned Israeli army uniforms, and more in exchange for payment totaling thousands of shekels.

He was also charged with planning a terror attack in central Israel, including setting fire to a forest, and was told to transfer weapons to terrorist elements in the West Bank.

The suspect’s sought the help of family members, including his mother. A search at his home revealed sums of cash, a spray can used in some of his activities, airsoft guns, suspected illegal drugs, and more.

His indictment is expected to be filed by the Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office.

The statement said that the case is yet another example of Iranian efforts to recruit Israelis. “We will continue to coordinate efforts to thwart terrorism and terrorist elements, including those operating outside Israel, while attempting to mobilize local elements in order to protect the citizens of the State of Israel,” the Shin Bet and Police said.

The post Police, Shin Bet Thwart Suspected Iranian Attempt Perpetrate Terror Attack first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Pro-Russian, Anti-Israeli Hackers Pose Biggest Cybercrime Threats in Germany

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt holds a chart showing the development of antisemitic crime, during a press conference on Figures for Politically Motivated Crime in the Country, in Berlin, Germany, May 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

Cybercrime in Germany rose to a record level last year, driven by hacker attacks from pro-Russian and anti-Israeli groups, the BKA Federal Crime Office reported on Tuesday as the government said it would boost countermeasures to combat it.

“Cybercrime is an increasing threat to our security,” said Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt. “It is getting more aggressive but our counter-strategies are also becoming more professional,” he said.

Some 131,391 cases of cybercrime took place in Germany last year and a further 201,877 cases were committed from abroad or an unknown location, a BKA report said.

The actors behind the hacker attacks on German targets were primarily either pro-Russian or anti-Israeli, said the BKA, adding targets were mostly public and federal institutions.

Ransomware, when criminals copy and encrypt data, is one of the main threats, said the BKA, with 950 companies and institutes reporting cases in 2024.

German digital association Bitkom said damage caused by cyberattacks here totaled 178.6 billion euros ($203.87 billion) last year, some 30.4 billion euros more than in the previous year.

Dobrindt said the government planned to extend the legal capabilities authorities could use to combat cybercrime and set higher security standards for companies.

The post Pro-Russian, Anti-Israeli Hackers Pose Biggest Cybercrime Threats in Germany first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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