RSS
Will Biden’s Patience Run Out?
US President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address at the US Capitol, March 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
JNS.org – A U.S. president’s State of the Union address is always a festive event, but this year the speech was different. Along with the need to disabuse people of the growing claims that he was too old to serve another term as president, Joe Biden had to contend with the explosive issue of Gaza.
Even before the speech, pro-Palestinian protesters, who called him “Genocide Joe,” delayed his way to the Capitol building. Inside, the Palestinian-American lawmaker Rashida Tlaib came to the evening wrapped in a keffiyeh, while above her, in the visitors’ gallery, sat the released hostage Mia Schem, along with the families of Israelis still being held by Hamas.
The speech came after weeks in which the president and his senior staff had repeatedly accused Israel of indiscriminately bombing Gaza, treating its civilian population inhumanely, and causing the death of “too many Palestinians.”
Such accusations are blatantly unfounded and support those who accuse Israel of war crimes. They also helped convince Hamas chief in Gaza Yahya Sinwar that he just needs to hold out because ultimately the president will demand a ceasefire.
The president did not retract any of these accusations, but rather doubled down on them and referred to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza as “gut-wrenching.” Israel also has a fundamental responsibility to protect innocent civilians in Gaza,” he declared, earning the evening’s loudest applause.
He warned Israel not to use aid to Palestinian civilians as bargaining chips and said 30,000 have died—the figure quoted by Hamas. Therefore, Biden stressed, the administration was working relentlessly to achieve a ceasefire and ensure the release of the captives.
What are the key takeaways for Israel?
The U.S. military will build a “floating pier” to bring food and aid to Gaza by sea, but without deploying American troops on the ground. The question of how these shipments will reach the residents was left unanswered.
On the other hand, on the pro-Israel side, the president reiterated Hamas’s crimes and Israel’s right to defend itself. While Biden’s criticism of Israel satisfied the progressives in his party and Arab and Muslim Americans, it seems his statements supporting Israel helped assuage an equal number of Israel supporters.
What can be inferred from Biden’s speech? Despite the administration’s efforts to provide ammunition to the IDF and prevent the U.N. from imposing a ceasefire on Israel—gestures that have been politically costly to Biden—the administration’s patience with Israel is wearing thin.
The administration in Washington is not one person, it’s thousands who could lose their livelihoods due to the president’s support for Israel. It is quite possible that if the fighting expands to Rafah, the president will decide to significantly reduce military aid to Israel and even demand a ceasefire.
Therefore, Israel must continue to work to debunk the administration’s false claims and continue to explain to the world that the meaning of a ceasefire is a victory for terror and a death blow to Israel. Most important—the IDF must continue fighting until Hamas’s total defeat, even, if necessary, with stones and sticks.
Michael Oren is a former Israeli ambassador to the U.S.
Originally published by Israel Hayom.
The post Will Biden’s Patience Run Out? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
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.
RSS
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.
RSS
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.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login