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Netanyahu: Trump and I See Eye-to-Eye on the Iranian Threat

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US President Donald Trump during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, Sept. 15, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Tom Brenner

JNS.orgDonald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu “see eye-to-eye on the Iranian threat in all its aspects,” the Israeli premier said on Sunday following phone calls with the American.

“In recent days, I have spoken three times with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump,” Netanyahu revealed in written remarks published by the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday afternoon.

The “very good and important talks” were meant to “further enhance the steadfast bond” with Washington, Netanyahu said.

“We see eye-to-eye on the Iranian threat in all its aspects and on the dangers they reflect,” he said. “We also see the great opportunities facing Israel, in the area of peace and its expansion, and in other areas.”

Over the weekend, sources briefed on Trump’s early plans told The Wall Street Journal that he plans to renew his “maximum pressure” policy on Iran when he returns to the White House on Jan. 20, including issuing punishing sanctions and targeting the Islamic Republic’s oil income.

The American sources said that the harsh measures against the regime will be part of an aggressive strategy to weaken Tehran’s support for its regional terrorist proxies and significantly harm its nuclear ambitions.

Former Trump administration officials said that his approach will likely be influenced by Iran’s attempts to assassinate him. The Department of Justice charged three men on Friday for their involvement in the plot.

During his 2017-2021 term, Trump imposed sanctions on Iran for its pursuit of nukes and took the U.S. out of an agreement in 2018 with Tehran forged three years earlier by his predecessor, Barack Obama.

At a Nov. 5 election rally, Trump said that he wants Iran “to be a very successful country,” but that the regime “can’t have nuclear weapons.”

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer—a close adviser to the prime minister—was scheduled to travel to the United States on Sunday night for talks with Biden administration officials. Dermer will also visit Mar-a-Lago in Florida for a meeting with Trump, a senior Israeli official told Axios.

Meanwhile, Israeli President Isaac Herzog will meet with U.S. President Biden at the White House on Tuesday to discuss the ongoing wars in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, American and Israeli officials told the outlet.

The post Netanyahu: Trump and I See Eye-to-Eye on the Iranian Threat first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Treasure Trove reflects on presidential inaugurations, past and present

The 60th inauguration ceremony for the president of the United States will take place on Jan. 20. Under the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1933, the inauguration takes place on that date—unless Jan. 20 is a Sunday, in which case the public inauguration takes place the next day, following a private swearing-in ceremony.

The inauguration of George Washington as the first president of the United States took place in New York City in 1789. 

This drawing of Washington with his name in Yiddish (note ‘George’ in Yiddish is eight letters) and his title as the first “Amerikanisher President” is from a fold-out New Year’s booklet published in the late 1890s in New York by Katzenelenbogen Music Publishers. Judah Katzenelenbogen was a co-founder of the American Hebrew Publishing Company and a publisher of sheet music for Yiddish songs.

In 1790, Washington wrote a letter to the Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island, and stated that life in the new nation would be different. People would be free to practice their religion and not simply be tolerated, and the government would not interfere with individuals’ beliefs.

“For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support,” Washington wrote.

“May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants: while everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.”

The reference that “none shall be afraid while sitting under their vine and fig tree,” is from Micah 4:4 and was used by Washington in his writings almost 50 times.

As a new American presidency begins, let us hope that Washington’s wish for Jewish Americans is fulfilled not just for them but for all, regardless of where they may be sitting.

The post Treasure Trove reflects on presidential inaugurations, past and present appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.

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Iran Holding War Games as It Faces Israel Tensions, Trump’s Return

Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner

Iran was holding air defense exercises on Saturday, state media reported, as the country braces for more friction with arch-enemy Israel and the United States under incoming US president Donald Trump.

The war games take place as Iranian leaders face the risk that Trump could empower Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attack Iran’s nuclear sites, while further tightening US sanctions on its oil industry through his “maximum pressure” policy.

“In these exercises, … defense systems will practice the fight against air, missile and electronic warfare threats in real battlefield conditions… to protect the country’s skies and sensitive and vital areas,” Iranian state television said.

Saturday’s drills are part of two-months-long exercises launched on Jan. 4 which have already included war games in which the elite Revolutionary Guards defended key nuclear installations in Natanz against mock attacks by missiles and drones, state media said.

Iran’s military has said it was using new drones and missiles in the exercises and released footage of a new underground “missile city” being visited by Guards Commander-in-Chief Major General Hossein Salami.

Iran has recently suffered setbacks in Lebanon after Israeli attacks against Iranian-backed Hezbollah and the toppling of Tehran’s ally President Bashar Al-Assad in Syria last month.

But Salami warned, in a speech carried by state TV about a “false sense of delight” among Iran’s enemies, saying Iran and particularly its missile forces were stronger than ever.

While Iranian officials have downplayed Iran’s setbacks, an Iranian general, Behrouz Esbati, who was reportedly based in Syria, said in a speech circulated on social media that Iran had “badly lost” in Syria. Reuters could not verify the recording.

Trump in 2018 withdrew from a deal struck by his predecessor Barack Obama in 2015 in which Iran agreed to curb uranium enrichment, which can yield material for nuclear weapons, in return for the relaxation of US and U.N. economic sanctions.

The post Iran Holding War Games as It Faces Israel Tensions, Trump’s Return first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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IDF Targets Hezbollah Terrorists as Lebanese Army Deploys

US special envoy Amos Hochstein speaks to the media after meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in Beirut, Lebanon, Nov. 19, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

JNS.orgIsraeli Air Force craft on Saturday targeted terrorists exiting a “military” building in Southern Lebanon that belonged to Hezbollah, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.

After their detection, the IAF acted to “remove the threat,” the statement continued.

“The IDF continues to be committed to the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon, is deployed in the Southern Lebanon region and will act to remove any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens,” the military added.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese Armed Forces said in a statement on X that its troops were completing their deployment in eight towns near the Israeli border, as well as in the coastal area between Naqoura and Tyre, ahead of the projected withdrawal of the IDF by the end of the month.

The Lebanese Armed Forces said it was cooperating with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the five-member committee supervising the truce in implementing the deployment.

The LAF called on civilians not to approach the area as it was conducting engineering work to remove unexploded ordnance and to clear rubble off the roads.

According to the Beirut-based, Hezbollah-affiliated Al Akhbar newspaper, US envoy Amos Hochstein has assured Lebanese officials that Israel will fully withdraw its forces from Southern Lebanon as outlined in the 60-day ceasefire agreement that took effect on Nov. 27.

Hochstein met with senior Lebanese officials this past week, among them former army chief Joseph Aoun, whom parliament on Thursday elected president of the country.

According to the report, the US envoy obtained a detailed schedule from Israel with regard to its exit from Lebanon, citing Jan. 26 as the deadline for Israeli forces to withdraw.

Hochstein reportedly asked Beirut to strengthen its army units and raise its level of preparedness, in order to guarantee that the weapons and ammunition belonging to Hezbollah south of the Litani River will be handed over to the Lebanese Armed Forces.

Lebanese army officials told the American diplomat that an agreement with Hezbollah was struck and that the LAF will soon announce the removal of all private weapons and all “militant” groups in Southern Lebanon that are not officially under the Lebanese government’s orders.

The post IDF Targets Hezbollah Terrorists as Lebanese Army Deploys first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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