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Israel, prominent in first GOP presidential debate, gets no mention in second
(JTA) — Israel, which featured large in the first Republican debate, got nary a mention in its sequel on Wednesday night, as the candidates on stage in California instead devoted much of their focus to Donald Trump, who opted to skip the proceedings.
Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and ambassador to the United Nations, once again tangled with Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman, but it was not over his proposal to wind down defense assistance to Israel, as it was in August at the first debate.
Instead, they fought over TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media platform which Ramaswamy has embraced as a means of reaching young voters and which Haley decries as an instrument of Chinese influence.
“Honestly, every time I hear you, I feel a little dumber,” she told Ramaswamy in one of the debate’s moments that set social media on fire.
The debate, often raucous, was broadcast by Fox News’ business channel, and Univision, a Spanish language network. Trump, the former president who is leading in the primary polls by a huge margin, gave a competing speech in Michigan at the same time. He loomed over the proceedings, with a number of candidates taking shots at him for ducking the debate.
Iran, Israel’s deadliest enemy, scored a number of mentions for its role in backing and supplying Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. One of the most substantive splits among the seven candidates was whether to continue funding Ukraine’s defense, with Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie embracing U.S. support for Ukraine, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Ramaswamny arguing that aid to Ukraine should end.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum was the sole candidate on the stage at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, who mentioned that Iran could soon pose a threat as a nuclear armed nation, an issue that Israel and its allies here believe should be front and center of U.S. foreign policy.
Burgum attacked the Biden administration for its recent prisoner exchange with Iran, which included the release of $6 billion in money South Korea owes to Iran for oil sales, which the Biden administration insists will only be used for humanitarian purposes.
“Six billion dollars, they traded for five people,” Burgum said, calling the Biden administration’s Iran policy “appeasement.” “They just now set a price on anyone’s head who is a tourist from America, who’s a student from America, for kidnapping — if you want more kidnapping, put a price on it. And they’re also helping Iran get to have, get more closer to a nuclear weapon.”
Ramaswamy attacked Ukraine’s Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelensky, noting that he had saluted a former Nazi in the Canadian parliament last week. “This is a country whose president just last week was hailing a Nazi,” he said.
There is no evidence that Zelensky knew that the man, who was invited by the Canadian Parliament speaker, had a Nazi background. The speaker said he had not known the man’s background and resigned as a result of the ensuing scandal.
DeSantis once again invoked George Soros, the Jewish progressive megadonor who is a frequent target of the right and of antisemitic conspiracy theories. Soros has funded election campaigns for progressive prosecutors. DeSantis has sacked two elected prosecutors in his state for being too liberal, and he said he would take the same fight to the White House.
“I will use the Justice Department to bring civil rights cases against all of those left-wing Soros-funded prosecutors,” DeSantis said. “We’re not going to let them get away with it anymore.”
Also missing from the debate was any discussion of antisemitism, which Jewish organizations say has spiked in recent years and which is the focus of a major strategy rolled out this summer by the Biden administration. The moderators also did not raise the four criminal indictments Trump is facing, including charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
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The post Israel, prominent in first GOP presidential debate, gets no mention in second appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy
Thomas Barrack at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., November 4, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo
i24 News – Lebanon’s daunting social, economic and political issues would not get resolved unless the state persists in the efforts to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian proxy behind so much of the unrest and destruction, special US envoy Tom Barrack told The National.
“You have Israel on one side, you have Iran on the other, and now you have Syria manifesting itself so quickly that if Lebanon doesn’t move, it’s going to be Bilad Al Sham again,” he said, using the historical Arabic name for the region sometimes known as “larger Syria.”
The official stressed the need to follow through on promises to disarm the Iranian proxy, which suffered severe blows from Israel in the past year, including the elimination of its entire leadership, and is considered a weakened though still dangerous jihadist outfit.
“There are issues that we have to arm wrestle with each other over to come to a final conclusion. Remember, we have an agreement, it was a great agreement. The problem is, nobody followed it,” he told The National.
Barrack spoke on the heels of a trip to Beirut, where he proposed a diplomatic plan for the region involving the full disarmament of Hezbollah by the Lebanese state.
The post Lebanon Must Disarm Hezbollah to Have a Shot at Better Days, Says US Envoy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of a cultural forum dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the birth of the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fragi, in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Oct. 11, 2024. Photo: Sputnik/Alexander Scherbak/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Iranian leadership that he supports the idea of a nuclear deal in which Iran is unable to enrich uranium, the Axios website reported on Saturday. The Russian strongman also relayed the message to his American counterpart, President Donald Trump, the report said.
Iranian news agency Tasnim issued a denial, citing an “informed source” as saying Putin had not sent any message to Iran in this regard.
Also on Saturday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that “Any negotiated solution must respect Iran’s right to enrichment. No agreement without recognizing our right to enrichment. If negotiations occur, the only topic will be the nuclear program. No other issues, especially defense or military matters, will be on the agenda.”
The post Report: Putin Urges Iran to Accept ‘Zero Enrichment’ Nuclear Deal With US first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks during a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron after a meeting at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, May 7, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/Pool
i24 News – Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa is attending at least one meeting with Israeli officials in Azerbaijan today, despite sources in Damascus claiming he wasn’t attending, a Syrian source close to President Al-Sharaa tells i24NEWS.
The Syrian source stated that this is a series of two or three meetings between the sides, with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani also in attendance, along with Ahmed Al-Dalati, the Syrian government’s liaison for security meetings with Israel.
The high-level Israeli delegation includes a special envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as security and military figures.
The purpose of the meetings is to discuss further details of the security agreement to be signed between Israel and Syria, the Iranian threat in Syria and Lebanon, Hezbollah’s weapons, the weapons of Palestinian militias, the Palestinians camps in Lebanon, and the future of Palestinian refugees from Gaza in the region.
The possibility of opening an Israeli coordination office in Damascus, without diplomatic status, might also be discussed.
The source stated that the decision to hold the meetings in Azerbaijan, made by Israel and the US, is intended to send a message to Iran.
The post Syria’s Al-Sharaa Attending At Least One Meeting With Israeli Officials in Azerbaijan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.