Free Republic

White House spokesman John Kirby defended Israel amid international outrage after an airstrike reportedly killed dozens of civilians in the Gaza Strip — saying the US military “did the same thing.” “We have conducted airstrikes in places like Iraq and Afghanistan where, tragically, we caused civilian casualties,” he said — adding that the US responded the same way as Israel in the aftermath. “We owned up to it, we investigated it, and we tried to learn from it to make changes,” Kirby said at Tuesday’s regular White House briefing. He noted that Israel said it used precision bombs and that...

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) is set to receive Yeshiva University’s highest honor for his service and global leadership, with the university proclaiming him as the “Hero of Israel.” Fetterman, a staunch supporter of Israel in its war against militant group Hamas, will be awarded the school’s “Presidential Medallion” during the institution’s 93rd annual commencement ceremony Wednesday, the school said in the news release. “Senator Fetterman is one of the true heroes of our time for his unwavering and courageous commitment to moral clarity, which has fortified our community and been a clarion call for our country,” Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman,...

A U.S. military-built pier off Gaza’s coast is being temporarily removed after a part of the structure broke off, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, in the latest blow to efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians. The pier was announced by U.S. President Joe Biden in March and involved the military assembling the floating structure off the coast. Estimated to cost $320 million for the first 90 days and involve about 1,000 U.S. service members, it went into operation two weeks ago.

Breaking with the stance of other Western countries, Israel decided on Monday not to express an official opinion on the issue of Catalan independence in the meantime, NRG reported. According to the report, Spain asked Israel over the weekend to publicly declare that it does not support Catalan independence, as part of Spain’s efforts to garner international consensus on the matter. Israel’s ambivalence is a departure from the opposition to Catalan independence declared by the EU and US. On Friday, US State Dept. spokeswoman Heather Nauert said in a statement that “Catalonia is an integral part of Spain, and the...

An unusual exchange of fire occured this morning (Monday) between IDF forces and soldiers of the Egyptian army in the Rafah Crossing area. During the incident, an Egyptian soldier was killed and several others were injured. There were no casualties among the IDF forces. Israeli officials stated that the incident began when an Egyptian soldier opened fire at IDF troops, who then returned fire. The IDF Spokesperson's Unit stated, "A few hours ago (Monday), a shooting incident occurred on the Egyptian border. The incident is under review and discussions are being held with the Egyptians." .....

group of Princeton University graduates stood up and turned their backs on the Ivy League school’s president while he spoke at commencement Tuesday amid ongoing tensions on campus over Israel-Hamas war protests. More than 30 members of the university’s Class of 2024 — including many wearing keffiyehs, the traditional Middle Eastern headdress often worn by pro-Palestinian protesters — turned their backs to Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber as he closed out commencement with his address. About ten students sitting near the front row of the graduation ceremony also quietly walked out midway through Eisgruber’s speech in a pro-Palestinian demonstration similar...

BERLIN—The Biden administration is pressing European allies to back off plans to rebuke Iran for advances in its nuclear program as it seeks to keep tensions with Tehran from escalating before the autumn’s U.S. presidential election, according to diplomats involved in discussions. The U.S. is arguing against an effort by Britain and France to censure Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s member state board in early June, the diplomats said. The U.S. has pressed a number of other countries to abstain in a censure vote, saying that is what Washington will do, they said. U.S. officials deny lobbying against...

Remember that catchy NYC tourism campaign, “I loooove New Yoork!” I can almost picture President Biden croaking out the catchy tune, but with one word changed: “I loooove Iraaan!”Iran is the number one state sponsor of worldwide terrorism. They call America the ”Great Satan,” and their stated goal is to wipe Israel off the map. But don’t tell that to Joe Biden, who doesn’t want to upset the Mullahs in case it might hurt his increasingly remote reelection chances. The befuddled octogenarian president actually is demanding that European countries concerned about the Islamic Republic’s nuclear weapons program stand down and...

“Numerous commentators have identified the broader context of Israeli occupation as a cause of the [Israel-Hamas] war. The Associated Press wrote that Palestinians are ‘in despair over a never-ending occupation in the West Bank and suffocating blockade of Gaza.’ Several human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, B’Tselem and Human Rights Watch have likened the Israeli occupation to apartheid, although supporters of Israel dispute this characterization.” This quote, which seems to have an anti-Israel slant, is actually from the “Israeli policy” part of the background section on the main Wikipedia page documenting the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. One editor who has run...

Israeli lawmakers on Monday advanced a government proposal to designate June 1 as a day to commemorate the Farhud, the 1941 pogrom in Iraq coordinated by Palestinian leader Haj Amin al-Hussein. The Commemoration Day for the Farhud Events Bill, sponsored by Likud Party lawmaker Ofir Katz, was approved for first reading and will be discussed by the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee ahead of future votes. Katz’s bill calls for the pogrom to be commemorated in educational institutions across the Jewish state in order to preserve the memory of the events and the victims and pass it on to...

The Israeli military suspects munitions or some other combustible substance it was unaware of caused a secondary explosion and a fire to spread in a complex housing displaced Gazans in southern Gaza’s Rafah, killing Palestinian civilians, following an airstrike on two top Hamas terrorists in the area. The military says it had been tracking Hamas commanders Yassin Rabia and Khaled Najjar ahead of the strike on a compound they were in on Sunday night, in the Tel Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah. According to the IDF’s intelligence, the area had been used for Hamas activity, with a rocket launcher just...

Israeli tanks advanced further into Rafah on Tuesday, according to witnesses, as the Israeli military said it was expanding operations in the southern Gaza city amid growing international condemnation. The tanks passed near the Al-Awda mosque, a central Rafah landmark, Palestinians in the city told The Wall Street Journal. The Israeli military didn’t comment on the specifics of its push into Rafah, but Israel’s Army Radio said the military had added a brigade to the five already operating in the city and troops were engaging in close-quarters combat with Hamas. Israel is trying to thread a needle by pursuing a...

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says that if elected in November he will deport anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protesters, according to a report in The Washington Post. “One thing I do is, any student that protests, I throw them out of the country. You know, there are a lot of foreign students. As soon as they hear that, they’re going to behave,” Trump is quoted as saying at a May 14 donor event. Referring to anti-Israel protests amid the ongoing war in Gaza that swept US college campuses in the last seven months, the former US president vowed to defeat the “radical...

Former presidential hopeful Nikki Haley consoled an Israeli community that had been ravaged by the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack, during a Memorial Day trip she made to the Israel-Gaza border. Haley, 52, assured citizens of the Middle East ally that the US remains committed to supporting Israel despite the spate of anti-Israel protests that have swept the country. “What I will tell all Israelis: America is with you. Americans are with you — 1,200 people were brutally murdered. Let’s not forget what happened on Oct. 7,” she said in a video posted on X by Danny Danon, a Likud...

Islamic pro-terror groups reacted to the Hamas terror attacks of Oct 7 not only with riots and public pressure campaigns aimed at politicians, but also by privately meeting with top federal and state law enforcement officials to demand that they lock up Jewish political opponents.The David Horowitz Freedom Center’s investigative arm exclusively reported last month that the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an Islamist group whose leader had celebrated Oct 7, had been meeting with attorney generals around the country trying to convince them to arrest journalists and activists who had been investigating and exposing Hamas supporters.Based on our past...

Jerry Seinfeld has used an interview to open up about his visit to Israel last year in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attack. In an exchange with journalist Bari Weiss he said the time there was a profound event and the “most powerful experience of my life.” When pushed for a further explanation, the actor just said, “well… you know” as to why it moved him so profoundly. Asked if he was thinking of anyone in particular, he shook his head but remained silent as he looked ready to cry. @JerrySeinfeld on visiting Israel after October 7: “The most...

Pressure is building between Israel and Egypt over Palestinian refugees as Israel prepares its offensive on Rafah, where Hamas is hiding out and using human shields. According to an Atlantic Council report:Relations between Egypt and Israel have soured in recent weeks as Israel prepares to launch a full-scale ground offensive into Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip—a move that Cairo has warned would put its peace treaty with Israel at risk and destabilize the region.Egypt fears a sweeping assault on Rafah—where more than one million displaced Palestinians have sought refuge from Israel’s incessant bombardment of the northern and central Gaza...

Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem (5/28/24)[Prayer]The Names and Titles of God (The Glory of the LORD) Isaiah 40:55 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.King James Version________________________God Bless America.ML/LTOS

A UN Security Council meeting tomorrow on the Memorial Day Weekend attack by Israel in the southern Gaza city... In Israel's largest city Tel Aviv tonight a clash between Eritreans who support and oppose the country's government... US Central Command says a drone launched from Yemen was destroyed... An alert over Israel's southern port city of Eilat tonight... Canada's Immigration Minister saying five thousand people from Gaza will be allowed to enter Canada... In the British election campaign the Conservative Party suspending MP Lucy Allan. Allan endorsed a Reform UK... In Amsterdam riot police stopping an effort by Pro-Palestinian demonstrators...

An Egyptian soldier was killed in a clash with Israeli soldiers near the Rafah Border Crossing in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, the countries’ militaries said, in an incident that threatened the already strained ties between the nations. The circumstances of the cross-border shooting were not immediately clear, and it was unknown which side opened fire first. There were no casualties among Israeli forces. The Israel Defense Forces described the incident as “a shooting incident” on the border. “There was a shooting incident on the Egyptian border; the [incident] is under investigation, [and] dialogue is taking place with the...