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Denying Jewish Sovereignty of Israel is Antisemitic
A general view shows the plaza of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, amid the coronavirus pandemic, May 6, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Ronen Zvulun.
JNS.org – In just a few weeks, the Jewish people will celebrate Chanukah, commemorating the end of the Greek occupation of Jerusalem and the restoration of Jewish sovereignty to Jerusalem. The Maccabees lit a menorah, and as we know, though there was only enough oil for one night, the menorah stayed lit for seven more nights nights.
That menorah was located on the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, below which stands the Western Wall. Those who claim that Judaism has nothing to do with Zionism or claim that the Jewish people are not the indigenous people of Israel epitomize antisemitic rejection of documented Jewish history in Israel and the Jewish celebration of Chanukah.
The Palestinian Liberation Organization, which decades later would become the Palestinian Authority, was formed in 1964—three years before Israel’s victory in the Six-Day War and the start of the so-called Israeli “occupation” of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. Article 24 of the PLO’s original “National Covenant” states: “This organization does not exercise any regional sovereignty over the West Bank in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, on the Gaza Strip or the Himmah Area. Its activities will be on the national popular level in the liberation, organizational, political and financial fields.”
In other words, the PLO, at its inception, gave up any claims to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, as well as Gaza, because Jordan controlled eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and Egypt controlled Gaza. All the PLO cared about was destroying the small Jewish State of Israel in its 1949 borders.
The Jewish people’s claim to Israel is based upon the fact that God gave the land to the Jews, as the Torah makes clear when God spoke to Abraham and told him to travel to Israel, and again when God told Moses and the Jewish people after leaving Egyptian slavery to journey to Israel. A famous biblical commentator, the Chizkuni, wrote hundreds of years ago that Noah owned the world at the end of the flood, and he gave the land of Israel to his son Shem, who then gave it to his descendant, the forefather of the Jewish people, Abraham. Another famous commentator, the Maharal of Prague, said that the seven nations in the land when the Jews left Egypt were all invaders and had no right to the land of Israel. The Bible even records the purchases of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem by King David, the Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, Machpela in Hebron by Abraham and Joseph’s Tomb by Jacob in Shechem (modern-day Nablus).
The International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism makes it clear that those who oppose the existence of Israel are antisemitic. King David made Jerusalem the capital of Israel more than 3,000 years ago, and the two Jewish Temples were located on the Temple Mount, the last one having been destroyed by the Romans 2,000 years ago.
The Jews never gave up their rights to Israel. Even under Ottoman Turkish rule, when there was limited ability for Jews to return to their homeland, a 1906 Baedeker travel guide listed the population of Jerusalem as consisting of 40,000 Jews, 13,000 Christians and 7,000 Muslims. The international community agreed to the Jewish right to the Land of Israel and a right of return for Jews to Israel at San Remo in 1920, in a unanimous League of Nations Resolution in 1922 and in the Anglo-American Treaty that was ratified by the U.S. Senate and signed by President Calvin Coolidge in 1925. Article 80 in the U.N. Charter affirmed the binding nature of the League of Nations decisions.
Palestinian Arab rioting in Hebron in 1929 massacred 67 Jews, and the subsequent massacres of more than 500 Jews between 1936 and 1938 led to the British White Paper, which restricted Jewish immigration while allowing Arab immigration. A bipartisan majority of 15 members of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee at the time declared in a public letter that the British White Paper violated the Anglo-American Treaty. It also meant that the Jews of Europe had no place to go to escape Hitler. The result was six million Jewish deaths.
The Holocaust had nothing to do with the establishment of the State of Israel, if anything, there was greater world support for Israel before the Holocaust, when U.S. presidents Wilson, Teddy Roosevelt, Harding, Coolidge and Hoover were all counted among those who supported the establishment of a Jewish state. The United Nations reiterated their support for a Jewish state in U.N. Resolution 181 in November 1947, and the Arab world rejected a two-state solution of an Arab state alongside a Jewish state. Israel only came into existence in a fight for its survival without a single ally, as President Harry Truman would not provide arms to Israel, and only Czechoslovakia sold arms to Israel. The Jewish state had to smuggle arms from America. President Lyndon Johnson would not even assist Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War and only supplied Israel with military arms after Israel was successful in the war.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and the former head of the Israeli Shin Bet, Ami Ayalon, recently stated that if they had grown up as Palestinian Arabs they would have become terrorists. We actually know someone who grew up as a Palestinian Arab terrorist and who came to the belief that this was wrong—Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of a Hamas leader, Sheikh Hassan Yousef. Mosab Hassan Yousef is an eloquent defender of the Jewish right to Israel. He has shown that it does not matter what kind of family someone grows up in when there is a clear objective case of right and wrong. It is difficult to grow up among evil people as he has done and change one’s ways, yet he has done so. Barak and Ayalon, however, still fail to see the objective Jewish right to Israel.
May we incorporate in our Chanukah celebrations the acknowledgment of the miracle of the restoration, after 2,000 years, of Jewish sovereignty once again over Jerusalem.
The post Denying Jewish Sovereignty of Israel is Antisemitic first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli Foreign Minister Says ‘No Place’ for Macron Visit if France Continues With Palestinian State Recognition
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar attends a press conference with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (not pictured) in Berlin, Germany, June 5, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on Thursday urged his French counterpart to drop France’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state, saying that French President Emmanuel Macron is not welcome to visit the Jewish state if Paris “persists in its initiative and in efforts that harm Israel’s interests.”
According to a statement from his office, Saar spoke with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, calling on him to reconsider France’s initiative to recognize a Palestinian state.
He warned that such a move would “undermine stability in the Middle East and harm Israel’s national and security interests.”
As long as France proceeds with its planned unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state this month, Saar said that there would be “no place” for Macron to visit Israel.
“Israel seeks good relations with France, but France must respect Israel’s position when it comes to matters essential to its security and future,” the top Israeli diplomat said during their conversation.
Macron plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly this month as part of its “commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East,” even though nearly 80 percent of French citizens reject the move.
Israeli officials have condemned the initiative, calling it a “reward for terrorism” and warning that it would undermine future diplomatic talks.
Saar has criticized France’s recent actions, accusing it of consistently undermining Israel on the international stage.
More recently, tensions escalated after his French counterpart asserted the Palestinian Authority (PA) had ended its “pay-for-slay” program — a claim the Israeli diplomat firmly rejects as false.
The PA, which has long been riddled with accusations of corruption, has also maintained for years a so-called “pay-for-slay” program, which rewards terrorists and their families for carrying out attacks against Israelis.
Under the policy, the Palestinian Authority Martyr’s Fund makes official payments to Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, the families of “martyrs” killed in attacks on Israelis, and injured Palestinian terrorists. Reports estimate that approximately 8 percent of the PA’s budget is allocated to paying stipends to convicted terrorists and their families.
Abbas had announced plans to reform the system earlier this year, but the PA has continued to issue payments, with top officials saying they will not deduct any of the funds.
“You speak of the war, but your moves against the State of Israel not only undermine stability and will not bring peace — they prolong the war. And it is no coincidence that Hamas praised them,” Saar said in a post on X, responding to Barrot in a heated public exchange.
“The rest is empty words and illusions. Back in Paris and at conferences, you may believe and promote these illusions. Here, we will not buy them,” the Israeli diplomat continued.
Dear Jean Noël,
I was astonished to read your claim that the Palestinian Authority allegedly “ended” the pay-for-slay payments. The facts on this matter are clear and unequivocal (and I am sure they are also known to French intelligence): The PA simply replaced the old system… https://t.co/r1sxS9nf55
— Gideon Sa’ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) September 3, 2025
During his conversation with Barrot, Saar also argued that PA President Mahmoud Abbas has avoided holding elections for nearly 20 years due to his limited support among Palestinians, making him an unreliable interlocutor.
Western powers have been negotiating with the PA on conditions for Gaza governance after Hamas is removed from power, while the PA continues to pledge reforms — a strategy experts say is unlikely to succeed given its lack of credibility and ongoing support for terrorism against Israel.
According to a poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR), if an agreement is reached to end the war in Gaza, only 40 percent of Palestinians “support the return of the PA to managing the affairs of the Gaza Strip,” while 56 percent oppose it.
US officials have also condemned France’s initiative to recognize a Palestinian state, arguing that the move would do little to advance peace.
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington has warned other countries that recognizing a Palestinian state would only create more problems.
“We told all these countries, we told them all, we said if you guys do this recognition stuff it’s all fake, it’s not even real, if you do it you’re going to create problems,” Rubio said during a press conference in Ecuador.
“There’s going to be a response, it’s going to make it harder to get a ceasefire and it may even trigger these sorts of actions that you’ve seen, or at least these attempts at these actions,” the US official continued, referring to Israel’s plans to consider annexation in the West Bank.
Dear @jnbarrot,
Listen to @SecRubio words.
You know it’s true.
Don’t whitewash “pay for slay”.
Don’t whitewash PA crimes! pic.twitter.com/EMJeGDZivE— Gideon Sa’ar | גדעון סער (@gidonsaar) September 4, 2025
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Sen. Tom Cotton Urges FBI to Investigate Palestinian Youth Movement Leader Who Called for Targeting F-35 Program
US Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) speaks during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, March 11, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Julia Nikhinson
US Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) has called on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate a pro-Hamas activist who urged supporters to sabotage the US supply chain for the F-35 fighter jet, one of America’s most advanced military assets and a critical component of Israel’s defense.
In a letter sent to FBI Director Kash Patel on Wednesday, Cotton warned that Aisha Nizar, a leader and organizer of the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), “directly endangered US national security” when she addressed a Palestinian conference in Detroit last week. Durin the event, Nizar told attendees that targeting “nodes” in the F-35 production process could have “a huge impact” on the program.
“We need to be surgical. We need to be strategic … Because there are many different points of these supply chains of death that we can intervene in and we must intervene in,” Nizar said at the People’s Conference for Palestine.
The F-35 program is widely regarded as a cornerstone of US and allied air power, and Israel is the only country in the Middle East authorized to operate the jets. Cotton argued that calls to undermine the program represent not just anti-Israel activism, but also a direct assault on American workers and defense readiness.
“Nizar’s statements constitute direct incitement of violence against US national security interests by advocating for actions against the men and women who build the F-35,” Cotton wrote. He urged the FBI to “immediately examine Nizar’s actions and take any necessary actions to mitigate the threat.”
PYM has emerged as one of the most radical anti-Israel, pro-Hamas groups in the US since the war in Gaza started, organizing raucous protests targeting Jewish and pro-Israel events across the country.
Nizar has previously faced legal trouble over her role in disruptive protests amid the Israel-Hamas war, including a demonstration that shut down the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Cotton, an outspoken supporter of the US-Israel strategic alliance, said her ties to PYM, which he has accused of harboring antisemitic views and benefiting from questionable tax-exempt donations, warrant closer scrutiny.
“The defense supply chain is a key to our military’s ability to fight and win wars. We must protect that supply chain from all enemies, foreign and domestic,” he concluded in his letter.
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Israeli Military Says It Controls 40% of Gaza City, Plans to Expand Operation in Coming Days
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a tent, outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Sept. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khamis Al-Rifi
Israel controls 40 percent of Gaza City, a military spokesperson said on Thursday, as thousands of residents defied Israeli orders to leave in order for soldiers to target Hamas terrorists without civilians in harm’s way.
In Gaza City, Israeli forces have advanced through the outer suburbs and are now a few kilometers (miles) from the city center.
“We continue to damage Hamas’s infrastructure. Today we hold 40 percent of the territory of Gaza City,” Israeli military spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin told a news conference, naming the Zeitoun and Sheikh Radwan neighborhoods. “The operation will continue to expand and intensify in the coming days.”
“We will continue to pursue Hamas everywhere,” he said, adding that the mission will only end when Israel‘s remaining hostages are returned and Hamas’s rule ends.
Defrin confirmed that army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir told cabinet ministers that without a day-after plan, they would have to impose military rule in Gaza. Far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have been pushing for Israel to impose military rule in Gaza and establish settlements there, which Netanyahu has so far ruled out.
Israel launched the offensive in Gaza City on Aug. 10, in what Netanyahu says is a plan to defeat Hamas terrorists in the part of Gaza where Israeli troops fought most heavily in the war’s initial phase.
The campaign has prompted international criticism because of the humanitarian crisis in the area and has provoked unusual levels of concern within Israel, including accounts of tension over strategy between some military commanders and political leaders.
The Israeli military has said it is operating on the outskirts of Gaza City to dismantle terrorists’ tunnels and locate weapons.
Much of Gaza City was laid to waste in the war’s initial weeks in October-November 2023. About a million people lived there before the war, and hundreds of thousands are believed to have returned to live among the ruins, especially since Israel ordered people out of other areas and launched offensives elsewhere.
Israel, which has now told civilians to leave Gaza City again for their safety, says 70,000 have done so, heading south. Palestinian officials say less than half that number have left and many thousands still lie in the path of Israel‘s advance.
The war began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Palestinian terrorists led by Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 251 hostages into Gaza.
Israel responded with a military campaign aimed at freeing the hostages and dismantling Hamas’s military capabilities and political rule in neighboring Gaza.
Prospects for a ceasefire and a deal to release the remaining 48 hostages, 20 of whom are thought to still be alive, appear dim.