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In implied rebuke to Trump, Republican Party denounces Kanye West and Nick Fuentes
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Republican Party unanimously condemned as antisemitic Kanye West and Nick Fuentes, saying their beliefs have no place in “any political discourse.”
The official resolution passed on Friday at the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting represents an implied rebuke to former President Donald Trump, who recently dined and consulted with the men, but does not mention him.
The resolution opposes “all forms of antisemitism, antisemitic statements and any antisemitic elements that seek to infiltrate the Republican Party.” It names West, the rapper and designer now known as Ye, saying he “has repeatedly made statements that are antisemitic, shameful, wrong, offensive, bigoted, and contrary to American and Republican principles.” It also names Fuentes, noting that he is a white supremacist.
Trump dined with West and Fuentes in November, not long after West launched a barrage of antisemitic statements on social media and interviews. Fuentes has long been known as an antisemite and a Holocaust denier.
“Resolved, that the Republican National Committee affirms antisemitism has no place in our political party, American politics, or any political discourse,” the resolution said.
Trump did not apologize for the encounter, even though it drew rebukes from some of his closest Jewish associates. Trump said West was an old friend in crisis, and that West brought along Fuentes, whom Trump claimed not to know and whose antisemitism he condemned.
Politico, which first reported planning for the resolution, said it was conceived by Shawn Steel, a national committeeman for the RNC. “I want to create a standard for all political parties in America, that we don’t tolerate bigotry, and in this particular case, antisemitism,” he told Politico.
The resolution also targeted a number of Democrats that Republicans see as antisemitic, in part because of their harsh criticism of Israel and in at least three cases, their endorsement of the boycott Israel movement.
The resolution reflects the party’s growing ambiguity about the former president. Trump was seen as the party leader until November, when the GOP performed poorly in midterm elections it was expected to sweep. The party blamed losses on Trump’s obsession with the false claim that he won the 2020 election, and on the poor performances of candidates, a number of them eccentric, whom Trump had endorsed.
Trump is still seen as a force to reckon with; he is the sole declared Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election. But there is greater willingness to move on from his legacy. A number of candidates once close to Trump are signaling they will soon announced their own presidential runs, including three with deep support among Jewish conservatives: former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley.
The RNC confab reelected Ronna McDaniel as its chairwoman, although it has underperformed since she first assumed the role in 2017. McDaniel is seen as close to Trump, a factor that helped her fend off challenges, and a signal of his continuing influence. Lee Zeldin, a Jewish Republican who served in Congress and just lost an unexpectedly close race for New York governor, briefly considered challenging McDaniel.
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NATO Should Launch Operation to Boost Security in Arctic, Belgian Minister says
Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken speaks to journalists as he arrives to an informal meeting of European Union defence ministers in Copenhagen, Denmark, August 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Tom Little
NATO should launch an operation in the Arctic to address US security concerns, Belgium’s defense minister told Reuters on Sunday, urging transatlantic unity amid growing European unease about US President Donald Trump’s push to take control of Greenland.
“We have to collaborate, work together and show strength and unity,” Theo Francken said in a phone interview, adding that there is a need for “a NATO operation in the high north.”
Trump said on Friday that the US needs to own Greenland to prevent Russia or China from occupying it in the future.
European officials have been discussing ways to ease US concerns about security around Greenland, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Francken suggested NATO’s Baltic Sentry and Eastern Sentry operations, which combine forces from different countries with drones, sensors and other technology to monitor land and sea, as possible models for an “Arctic Sentry.”
He acknowledged Greenland‘s strategic importance but said “I think that we need to sort this out like friends and allies, like we always do.”
A NATO spokesperson said on Friday that alliance chief Mark Rutte spoke with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the importance of the Arctic for shared security and how NATO is working to enhance its capabilities in the high north.
Denmark and Greenland‘s leaders have said that the Arctic island could not be annexed and international security did not justify such a move.
The US already has a military presence on the island under a 1951 agreement.
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IDF Strikes Hezbollah Weapons Sites in Lebanon After Army Denied Its Existence
Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah’s terror infrastructure. Photo: Via i23, Photo from social media used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law.
i24 News – The Israel Defense Forces carried out airstrikes on a site in southern Lebanon that the Lebanese Army had previously declared free of Hezbollah activity, Israeli officials said on Sunday, citing fresh intelligence that contradicted Beirut’s assessment.
According to Israeli sources, the targeted location in the Kfar Hatta area contained significant Hezbollah weapons infrastructure, despite earlier inspections by the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) that concluded no military installations were present.
Lebanese officials had conveyed those findings to international monitoring mechanisms, and similar claims were reported in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar.
Israeli intelligence assessments, however, determined that Hezbollah continued to operate from the site.
During a second wave of strikes carried out Sunday, the IDF attacked and destroyed the location.
Video footage released afterward showed secondary explosions, which Israeli officials said were consistent with stored weapons or munitions at the site.
The IDF stated that the strike was conducted in response to what it described as Hezbollah’s ongoing violations of ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon. Military officials said the targeted structure included underground facilities used for weapons storage.
According to the IDF, the same site had been struck roughly a week earlier after Israel alerted the Lebanese Army to what it described as active terrorist infrastructure in the area. While the LAF conducted an inspection following the warning, Israeli officials said the weapons facilities were not fully dismantled, prompting Sunday’s follow-up strike.
The IDF said it took measures ahead of the attack to reduce the risk to civilians, including issuing advance warnings to residents in the surrounding area.
“Hezbollah’s activity at these sites constitutes a clear violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and poses a direct threat to the State of Israel,” the military said in a statement.
Israeli officials emphasized that operations against Hezbollah infrastructure would continue as long as such threats persist, underscoring that Israel retains the right to act independently based on its own intelligence assessments.
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Some US Senators Skeptical About Military Options for Iran
Demonstrators and activists rally in support of nationwide protests in Iran, outside the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 10, 2026. REUTERS/Tom Brenner
Some US lawmakers in both major parties on Sunday questioned whether military action against Iran is the best approach for the United States as Iranian authorities face growing turmoil.
US President Donald Trump in recent days has left open the possibility of American intervention in Iran, where the biggest anti-government protests in years have led to the Revolutionary Guards blaming unrest on terrorists and vowing to safeguard the governing system.
But at least two US senators sounded notes of caution during interviews on TV networks’ Sunday morning programs.
“I don’t know that bombing Iran will have the effect that is intended,” Republican Senator Rand Paul said on ABC News’ “This Week” show.
Rather than undermining the regime, a military attack on Iran could rally the people against an outside enemy, Paul and Democratic Senator Mark Warner said.
Warner, appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” warned that a military strike against Iran could risk uniting Iranians against the United States “in a way that the regime has not been able to.” History shows the dangers of US intervention, said Warner, who argued that the US-backed 1953 overthrow of Iran’s government set in motion a chain of events that gradually led to the rise of the country’s Islamic regime in the late 1970s.
The Wall Street Journal on Sunday reported that US military and diplomatic officials will brief Trump on Tuesday about options for Iran, including cyberattacks and potential military action.
Iran has said it will target US military bases if the United States launches an attack. But Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who has often touted a muscular approach to foreign policy, said Trump “needs to embolden the protesters and scare the hell out of the [Iranian] regime.”
“If I were you, Mr. President, I would kill the leadership that are killing the people,” Graham said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” show. “You’ve got to end this.”
Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of the Iranian shah who was ousted in 1979, said on Sunday he is prepared to return to Iran to lead a shift to a democratic government.
“I’m already planning on that,” Pahlavi said on “Sunday Morning Futures.” “My job is to lead this transition to make sure that no stone is left unturned, that in full transparency, people have an opportunity to elect their leaders freely and to decide their own future.”