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Netanyahu Hits Back After Biden Claims He’s Not Doing Enough to Secure Hostage Deal With Hamas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz (not pictured) in the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv , Israel , 28 October 2023. Photo: ABIR SULTAN POOL/Pool via REUTERS
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit back at US President Joe Biden after the American leader claimed he has not worked hard enough to secure a ceasefire and hostage deal between the Jewish state and the Hamas terrorist group.
Netanyahu spoke to reporters on Monday, insisting that he has worked tirelessly to achieve an end to the war in Gaza and free the remaining hostages from the clutches of Hamas, which kidnapped the captives during the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 onslaught across southern Israel.
“I want to set the record straight,” Netanyahu said. “On April 27, [US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken] said that Israel has made an extraordinarily generous offer for a hostage deal. On May 31, Israel agreed to a US-backed proposal. Hamas refused. On Aug. 16, Israel agreed to what the US defined as a final bridging proposal. Hamas refused again. On Aug. 19, Secretary Blinken said, ‘Israel accepted the US proposal; now Hamas must do the same.’ On Aug. 28 — that’s five days ago, five days ago — [Deputy CIA Director David Cohen] said that ‘Israel shows seriousness in the negotiations. Now Hamas must show the same seriousness.’”
Netanyahu’s comments came after the bodies of six Israeli hostages kidnapped by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists on Oct. 7 were found over the weekend in a tunnel in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Hamas terrorists had executed them prior to a raid by Israeli forces. One of the murdered hostages, Hersh Goldberg-Polin, was an American-Israeli dual citizen.
The Israeli prime minister urged world leaders to maintain maximum pressure on Hamas or risk emboldening the terrorist group to continue fighting and committing atrocities.
“I want to ask you something: What has changed in the last five days? What has changed?” Netanyahu asked. “One thing: These murderers executed six of our hostages. They shot them in the back of the head. That’s what’s changed. And now? After seeing this, we’re asked to show seriousness? We’re asked to make concessions? What message does this send to Hamas? It says: Kill more hostages, murder more hostages, you’ll get more concessions.”
Netanyahu argued that the international community should direct its outrage at Hamas and that anyone “serious about achieving peace” should grant Israel maximum support to help diminish the terrorist group’s leverage.
“The pressure internationally must be directed at those killers. At Hamas, not at Israel. We say yes; they say no all the time,” Netanyahu added. “But they also murdered these people, and now we need maximum pressure on Hamas. I don’t believe that either President Biden or anyone serious about achieving peace, achieving the release [of hostages], would seriously ask Israel, Israel to make these concessions. We’ve already made them. Hamas has to make the concessions.”
The Israeli prime minister has been under immense pressure to finalize a ceasefire with Hamas to end the fighting in Gaza and secure the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza — about one-third of whom have already been declared dead. The pressure mounted after the six hostages were murdered, which led large crowds of Israelis to flood the streets in outrage and protest in support of a deal to secure the release of the hostages.
Netanyahu’s comments appeared to be a direct response to Biden claiming earlier in the day that the Israeli premier was not doing enough to try and reach a ceasefire. Biden was taking questions from the press on the South Lawn of the White House when a reporter asked, “Mr. President, do you think it’s time for Prime Minister Netanyahu to do more on this issue? Do you think he is doing enough?”
Biden responded flatly, “No.”
However, Biden insisted that “we’re very close” to achieving a final agreement, adding that he will continue “to push” for the release of the remaining American hostages in Gaza.
“Yes. I have spoken to the American hostage … I spoke to his mom and dad, and we are not giving up. We are going to continue to push as hard as we can. Thank you,” Biden told reporters on Monday.
In November, more than 100 hostages were released as part of a week-long truce between Israel and Hamas. Since then, the US, Egypt, and Qatar have attempted to broker a more enduring ceasefire. Hamas has repeatedly rejected proposals accepted by Israel.
Israeli officials have said they believe 101 hostages remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the Israeli military.
The post Netanyahu Hits Back After Biden Claims He’s Not Doing Enough to Secure Hostage Deal With Hamas first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Treasure Trove remembers the entertaining Jan and Lillian Bart, top fundraisers for Israel Bonds
Jan Bart (1919-1971) began his career as a cantor, but became a popular entertainer and Yiddish recording artist who dedicated his career to raising funds for Israel.
Bart was born in Poland and immigrated to the United States in 1930. He had a long-running radio program in the New York area, appeared on the Milton Berle television show and starred in the Yiddish film Catskill Honeymoon. One of Bart’s best-selling records was Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish.
When the State of Israel was proclaimed in 1948, Bart dedicated his life and talents to raising funds for the new country. He started by pleading into a megaphone from the back of an open station wagon that the existence of Israel was central to the survival of the Jewish people, and that funds were desperately needed.
When the Israel Bonds program was initiated in 1951, he was asked to sing at the first meeting in Miami. He combined songs and stories with his gift as a fundraiser resulting in events that regularly raised double and sometimes triple the expected return. Over a 20-year period, he appeared at more than 2,200 Israel Bond events in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia and raised more money for Israel than any other entertainer.
Bart toured with his wife Lillian, who was also an accomplished singer. In November 1965, the Barts toured Toronto with Israel Bonds which arranged a performance at almost every synagogue and organization in the city.
During a 22-day visit, they gave 30 performances for multiple Bnai Brith lodges and synagogues, including Shaarei Shomayim, Beth Emeth-Bais Yehuda, Beth Sholom, Clanton Park, Shaarei Tefillah and Beth Tzedec, as well as for groups like Pioneer Women, Hadassah and Mizrachi and several mutual benefit societies.
At the end of the tour, the Barts received a scrapbook of newspaper clippings and letters “in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the 1965 State of Israel Bond Campaign in Toronto through their magnificent interpretation of the lyrics from Fiddler on the Roof and their heart-warming message conveyed to every organization and synagogue in the Jewish community of Toronto.”
The way that the Toronto Jewish community united 60 years ago is an example for us today.
The scrapbook has recently been donated to the Ontario Jewish Archives by the Barts’ daughter, Judy Bart Kancigor, a California-based food journalist and the author of Cooking Jewish: 532 Recipes from the Rabinowitz Family.
The post Treasure Trove remembers the entertaining Jan and Lillian Bart, top fundraisers for Israel Bonds appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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PA Security Forces End Standoff with Jenin Battalion, Enter West Bank Camp
Illustrative. Palestinian demonstrators call for an end to clashes between Palestinian security forces and terrorists in Jenin, in the West Bank, Dec. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta
i24 News – The Palestinian Authority on Friday reached an agreement with the jihadists of the Jenin Battalion, ending a six-week standoff in the northern West Bank terror hotbed.
The Jenin Battalion is a local jihadist militia affiliated with Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.
The PA’s engineering and civil defense crews will begin dismantling explosives planted across Jenin, Palestinian media reported.
A Palestinian security source told i24NEWS that not a single weapon has been handed over by the Jenin Battalion to PA security forces.
The post PA Security Forces End Standoff with Jenin Battalion, Enter West Bank Camp first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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With Hamas Yet to Name 3 First Hostages to Be Released, Netanyahu Slams Violation of Agreement
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Hamas violated the terms of its agreement with Israel even before the ceasefire went into effect, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed out on Saturday.
The jihadist group failed to submit to Israel the names of the three hostages slated to be freed on Sunday, in contravention to the terms of the ceasefire stipulating that this information be communicated 24 hours in advance.
“We will not move forward with the outline until we receive the list of hostages to be released, as agreed. Israel will not tolerate violations of the agreement,” Netanyahu said some three hours after the names should have been submitted. “The sole responsibility lies with Hamas.”
The post With Hamas Yet to Name 3 First Hostages to Be Released, Netanyahu Slams Violation of Agreement first appeared on Algemeiner.com.