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Hamas Pogrom Has Taken Away Israelis ‘Faith’ in Peace, Absorption Minister Says
Israel’s Immigration and Absorption Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata. Photo: Screenshot
Hamas has “taken away the faith” of Israelis in the possibility of peace with the Palestinians, Israel’s minister of immigrant absorption said in a hard-hitting interview published on Friday.
“Before [the Hamas pogrom of] Oct. 7 had many people hope for peace,” Pnina Tamano-Shata told the Swiss news outlet NZZ. “Now it is more despair at which path the Palestinians have chosen.”
In a wide-ranging conversation on the sidelines of annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos, over a takeaway meal delivered from a kosher restaurant in Zurich, Tamano-Shata discussed the rising wave of antisemitism globally, the perspectives of Israelis in the wake of the Hamas atrocities and her response, as a Black woman, to the accusation frequently advanced by supporters of Hamas that Israel is an “apartheid” state.
Tamano-Shata noted that at many of the kibbutzim near the Gaza border raided by Hamas terrorists, the residents “wanted to live in peace, they employed people from Gaza to give them a perspective.” Many of those Gazan employees spied for Hamas, she said, helping them to prepare the assault.
“Not only Hamas terrorists invaded Israel that day, [there were] civilians who stole everything, televisions, refrigerators, clothes,” she said. “When the terrorists came back with the hostages,with Israeli children and bleeding women, they cheered that. It is a shame. Now many people in Israel realize: They want to throw us into the sea. You want Tel Aviv. You want Jaffa. You want everything.”
Asked about the profusion of pro-Hamas demonstrations in cities around the world, Tamano-Shata was scathing.
“The David-and-Goliath story that Hamas defenders tell is bullshit,” she asserted. “There are 1.9 billion Muslims in the world, we Jews are only 16 million. Seven million Jews live in Israel. We are a small country, but we are strong. And we believe in our friends.”
Tamano-Shata came to Davos to highlight the ordeal of an as yet undetermined number of Israeli women who endured rape and sexual abuse at the hands of the Hamas terrorists.
“We want to show what really happened on that terrible day,” she said. “That women were tortured and raped and burned alive in front of their husbands’ eyes. That children had to watch their parents mutilated and killed. We are getting more and more evidence and testimony. Many come from the terrorists we arrested. Unfortunately, few victims can speak, many were brutally killed.” She roundly condemned the silence of many international women’s organizations over these atrocities, “especially in the United Nations.”
“As a woman, I have the feeling that #MeToo applies everywhere – unless you are Jewish,” she stated.
Tamano-Shata also spoke about her experience as an Ethiopian Jewish immigrant who arrived in Israel as a child.
“There are problems for Black people, like everywhere in the world, unfortunately,” she said. “I’ve fought racism and discrimination all my life. That’s why I went into politics. But in recent years there has been great progress, in education, in the army. And there is a significant difference between the Ethiopian minority in Israel and the African Americans: we have not been abducted, but returned to our homeland – after Jews had lived in Ethiopia for thousands of years. The army saved us.”
Asked about the accusation of apartheid, Tamano-Shata called it “one of the most cynical things I’ve ever heard.”
“Take me as an example,” she continued. “I was a migrant, a refugee child from Ethiopia. And do you know why I did it? Because I got a lot of support from the government and I wasn’t the only one. Minorities are promoted in Israel, including Arabs. They receive scholarships, they study at the university, they have equal rights, they are safe.”
The post Hamas Pogrom Has Taken Away Israelis ‘Faith’ in Peace, Absorption Minister Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Putin Speaks to Trump, Condemns Israel’s Strikes on Iran, Kremlin Says

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian meet in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to US President Donald Trump for 50 minutes on Saturday, condemning the Israeli military operation against Iran and expressing concern about the risks of escalation, the Kremlin said.
“Vladimir Putin condemned Israel’s military operation against Iran and expressed serious concern about a possible escalation of the conflict, which would have unpredictable consequences for the entire situation in the Middle East,” Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters.
Trump, for his part, described events in the Middle East as “very alarming,” according to Ushakov. But the two leaders said they do not rule out a return to the negotiating track on Iran’s nuclear program, Ushakov said.
On Ukraine, Putin told the US leader that Russia was ready to continue negotiations with the Ukrainians after June 22, according to state news agency RIA.
Trump reiterated his interest in a speedy resolution to the conflict, the Kremlin aide said.
Putin also congratulated Trump on his 79th birthday.
The post Putin Speaks to Trump, Condemns Israel’s Strikes on Iran, Kremlin Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Sunday’s US-Iran Nuclear Talks Cancelled, Oman Says

FILE PHOTO: Oman’s Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamood Albusaidi attends a meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia July 11, 2023. Photo: Natalia Kolesnikova/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
The latest round of US-Iran nuclear talks scheduled for Sunday in Muscat will not take place, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on X on Saturday. Oman has been mediating the talks.
Albusaidi’s statement came a day after Israel launched a sweeping air offensive against Iran, killing commanders and scientists and bombing nuclear sites in a stated bid to stop it building an atomic weapon.
A senior official of US President Donald Trump’s administration, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed Sunday’s talks had been cancelled.
Washington, however, remained committed to the negotiations and hoped “the Iranians will come to the table soon,” the official said.
The post Sunday’s US-Iran Nuclear Talks Cancelled, Oman Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Says Talks with US ‘Meaningless’ After Israel Attack, But Yet to Decide on Attending

USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, Sept. 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
Iran said the dialogue with the US over Tehran’s nuclear program is “meaningless” after Israel’s biggest-ever military strike against its longstanding enemy, but said it is yet to decide on whether to attend planned talks on Sunday.
“The other side (the US) acted in a way that makes dialogue meaningless. You cannot claim to negotiate and at the same time divide work by allowing the Zionist regime (Israel) to target Iran’s territory,” state media on Saturday quoted foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying.
“It is still unclear what decision we will make on Sunday in this regard,” Baghaei was quoted as saying.
He said Israel “succeeded in influencing” the diplomatic process and the Israeli attack would not have happened without Washington’s permission, accusing Washington of supporting the attack.
Iran earlier accused the US of being complicit in Israel’s attacks, but Washington denied the allegation and told Tehran at the United Nations Security Council that it would be “wise” to negotiate over its nuclear program.
The sixth round of US-Iran nuclear talks was set to be held on Sunday in Muscat, but it was unclear whether it would go ahead after the Israeli strikes.
Iran denies that its uranium enrichment program is for anything other than civilian purposes, rejecting Israeli allegations that it is secretly developing nuclear weapons.
US President Donald Trump told Reuters that he and his team had known the Israeli attacks were coming but they still saw room for an accord.
The post Iran Says Talks with US ‘Meaningless’ After Israel Attack, But Yet to Decide on Attending first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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