May. 26, 2021
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar threatened on Wednesday that his organization would react if Israel continued its aggression toward Al-Aqsa, less than a week after a cease-fire ended 11-days of cross-border violence between Israel and the Gaza Strip. The enemy needs to know that everything that has happened so far was a small military drill compared to what will happen if the aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex continues, Sinwar said during a press conference, his first speech in Gaza since the fighting between Israel and Hamas this month. In the occupied territories [Israel and the West Bank] there will be more than 10,000 martyrs if Israel attempts to harm the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
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One congressman who signed the letter, Dean Phillips of Minnesota, was chastising a fellow Democrat, Ilhan Omar, in a neighboring district, though Phillips did not use her name.
“Elected officials have used reckless, irresponsible antisemitic rhetoric,” said the letter sent Tuesday.
Along with Phillips, the other signers are Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Elaine Luria of Virginia and Kathy Manning of North Carolina. They do not name their targets but include direct quotes of their controversial comments.
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Rep. Dean Phillips in March Credit: Ken Cedeno / Pool / Reuters
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May. 25, 2021 5:59 AM
Although the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas is being carefully observed, the calm in the Gaza Strip is far from stable. The agreement, reached with American backing and Egyptian mediation, gave hardly any details on further arrangements, sufficing at the first stage with a promise of quiet in exchange for quiet.
But we’re left with potential detonators that could trigger a new conflagration, even if this wouldn’t seem in the immediate interest of Israel or Hamas. These potential sparks concern how Israel might react to future hostile acts from the Strip, the closure of the Gaza crossings and the tensions in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
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May. 25, 2021 8:46 PM
Former Labor Party chairman Isaac Herzog, who is now the leading candidate as Israel s next president, in effect dictated a headline to Ilan Yeshua, the CEO of the Walla news website at the time, who is now a key prosecution witness in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bribery trial. Herzog s request for a headline came after Herzog won an internal party battle at the 2013 Labor Party convention.
Under cross-examination of Yeshua Tuesday in Jerusalem District Court, lawyers for Shaul Elovitch and his wife, Iris, produced a 2013 message from Herzog to Yeshua: “I’d be happy if the headline is ‘Crushing victory for Herzog in spite of the attacks on him,’” the Labor leader wrote. “I need to demonstrate control and exclusion of the bitch,” referring to former Labor Party leader and MK Shelly Yacimovich.