LLX News

By: David R. Parsons, ICEJ Vice President & Senior Spokesman – Int’l Christian Embassy Jerusalem; icej.org

“You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; But you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; For the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you; And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.” (Isaiah 62:4-5)

The news out of Israel these days is filled with negative stories about the IDF’s painful, protracted fight against Hamas in Gaza. There is overall progress being made, but most headlines tell of more dead Israeli soldiers, of hostages still suffering in dark tunnels, of rising dissent inside Israel, and of even greater threats looming on other fronts.

In such times of crisis, we long for any positive news about Israel. Well, even though this war with Hamas has triggered waves of antisemitism worldwide, it also is generating a surge of interest in Aliyah. Reports indicate that Jewish applications to immigrate to Israel have risen sharply in some countries, including by 500% in France.

It also was encouraging to see the swift return of tens of thousands of Israelis living abroad when war erupted last October. Inbound flights were packed as Israeli airlines added extra seats to fit everyone on board. Many returnees were IDF reservists, including some who had not been called up for duty but reported anyway.

cont’d…

Prominent antisemitism researcher Charles Asher Small tells JNS that a war is being waged against the Jewish state, not only physically but also intellectually and philosophically.

By: Amelie Botbol – Jerusalem News Syndicate; jns.org

According to Charles Asher Small, the demonization of the State of Israel is a dangerous form of Jew-hatred that affects Jews worldwide.

In a wide-ranging interview with JNS, Small, the founding executive director of the New York-based Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) and a former chairperson of the African National Congress solidarity committee, shared his thoughts on South Africa’s decision to bring Israel to the International Court of Justice on allegations of genocide. He also revealed his recent research findings exposing unregulated Qatari funding of Texas A&M University.

Interview transcript with Charles Asher Small follows:

https://www.jns.org/demonization-of-israel-is-an-international-catastrophe/

By: Brody Carter – CBN News; cbn.com

Experts warn a significant drop in support for Israel among young U.S. evangelicals marks a potential turning point in the longstanding relationship between these allied groups.  

A series of polls show support for Israel among American evangelicals under 30, fell more than 35% in just three years. There’s added concern that negative messages across social media regarding the war in Gaza could lead to a greater drop. 

Dr. Kirill Bumin, associate dean of Metropolitan College helped compile the three-year study. 

“The reason why I think younger evangelicals might remain very skeptical, and not particularly supportive of Israel is because they’re being bombarded with, I don’t want to say anti-Israel messages, but not particularly favorable messages toward Israel, at the time when they’re forming their foreign policy beliefs,” said Bumin. 

Three surveys led by Bumin and Dr. Motti Inbari at UNC-Pembroke from 2018 to 2021, indicate this change came during a pivotal turn in Israel-Palestine relations. 

“And what we found in that survey, was that attitudes became more negative towards Israel,” Bumin said. 

cont’d…

https://www2.cbn.com/news/us/support-israel-drops-future-jewish-state-depends-next-generation-us-evangelicals

Dor Shachar grew up in Gaza, suffered a horrific childhood, and had personal experiences in a Palestinian jail before moving to Israel and converting to Judaism. He sits with PragerU CEO Marissa Streit to share his powerful testimony, which gives just a glimpse into the reality of what life is like for people in Gaza.

Continue to video:

https://www.israel365news.com/video/arab-palestinian-warns-the-world-about-hamas/?vgo_ee=JhIeus5jHd0N4h1LyL/5PFU8963sUlUdpFupJMXj6UbJ:v0KxSI2fs4pzq4o7twUyj49jPFyXHZ/A

By: Israel Today Staff; israeltoday.co.il

Yitzhak Goldknopf instructed the Israel Lands Authority “to immediately end all agreements” with the “nefarious” organization over its ties to Hamas.

Israeli Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf has instructed the Israel Land Authority (ILA) to immediately cancel all lease agreements with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and evict it from its main headquarters in eastern Jerusalem.

UNRWA “acted in the service of Hamas and even took part in the brutal massacre on Oct. 7, and mounting evidence shows that the organization has been supporting, assisting and educating [Palestinians] to harm Israel,” Goldknopf wrote in a letter made public on Monday night.

The minister instructed ILA head Yanki Quint “to immediately end all agreements of the Israel Land Authority with the nefarious UNRWA organization and remove them from the territories leased to them and from all the territories that the organization uses in the State of Israel.”

UNRWA maintains extensive facilities in Jerusalem, including a large compound on Shlomo Zalman Shragai Street in Maalot Dafna and structures in the capital’s northeastern Kafr Aqab neighborhood.

cont’d…

By: Jonathan S. Tobin – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

Just like the international aid that built their tunnels, funds for Gaza civilians promoted by celebrities like Doug Emhoff’s daughter are helping terrorists.

The images from the war Hamas launched against Israel on Oct. 7 have tugged at the heartstrings of Americans. By that, I don’t refer to the charred ruins of Israeli communities in southern Israel that were devastated by the Hamas pogroms. Nor do I refer to the horrifying evidence of that terrorist rampage of murder, rape, torture and kidnapping that is too graphic for most people to bear. As far as the international media is concerned, those victims were quickly forgotten almost as soon as the murder spree happened and then erased from the collective memories of the West. The pictures and videos of the Palestinians of Gaza, however, who have suffered as a result of the war started by the organization that most of them supported have been a staple of the corporate media’s coverage.

The suffering of the people of Gaza is real. Regardless of Hamas’s popularity or the widespread support of its people and other Palestinians for its genocidal goals, the destruction of the Strip and deaths of many of its civilians (even if the claims of the Hamas health ministry that are frequently cited by the mainstream press are completely unreliable) is a tragedy, as well as a completely avoidable situation. The ceasefire that Hamas apologists, their fellow travelers and other useful idiots are calling for existed on Oct. 6 and need never have been broken. And it wouldn’t have been had the Islamist group not decided that carrying out the largest mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust—and creating the circumstances under which their own people would be exposed to the hazards of war as Hamas’s human shields—was in their interest.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/gullible-americans-are-funding-hamas-not-starving-children/

A class action lawsuit against the DNA-testing company claims it didn’t notify customers that their personal information had made it onto the dark web.

Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

For five months last year, hackers penetrated the security of the DNA-sequencing company 23andMe, resulting in customer data appearing for sale in “curated” lists that focused on Chinese customers and Ashkenazi Jews.

A new class action suit filed in San Francisco on Jan. 26 seeks to hold 23andMe responsible for not protecting users’ private information and not notifying them of the breach. The company apparently didn’t learn about the crime until a hacker posted on Reddit revealing some of the stolen information.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/23andme-data-breach-targeted-jews/

By: Micah Lakin Avni – The Jerusalem Post; jpost.com

The UN has deviated from its vision and betrayed its founding principles. It has become a stage for dictators and despots who want to expand their power and influence

After Hamas terrorists brutally murdered my father eight years ago, I spoke at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on the dangers of Palestinian incitement to terror. What I witnessed there was shocking and appalling. 

I heard dozens of countries attacking Israel with baseless accusations and hateful rhetoric. The blatant antisemitism was horrifying, pure evil. I felt like I was in a nightmare. As I left the United Nations, I was invited to speak at a pro-Israel rally. The first words that came out of my mouth were “We survived Auschwitz as a people, and in there, they are laying the ideological train tracks to put us back in, that’s what’s going on, and that’s what’s been going on for years and years.” 

Israel’s “trial” at the International Court of Justice is another painful reminder of this.

cont’d…

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-783258

(Don’t eat at Pizza Hut? Why the chain is facing a worldwide boycott)

By: Endia Fontanez – Yahoo! Finance; finance.yahoo.com

Pizza Hut is facing consumer boycotts after the chain reportedly provided free meals to soldiers on Israeli military bases.

On Jan. 19, Pizza Hut Israel reposted an Instagram story from user @alex_shults that depicted two smiling soldiers holding stacks of Pizza Hut pizza boxes, implying the chain had provided the meals to soldiers for free. The story expired after 24 hours and can no longer be viewed on Instagram.

Palestinian news agencies including the Quds News Network began resharing screenshots of the posts on Instagram and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, sparking supporters of Palestinian rights to boycott the chain’s products.

cont’d…

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dont-eat-pizza-hut-why-202426646.html

By: David Isaac – Jewish News Syndicate; jns.org

The Islamist group’s about-face is in part driven by fear of destruction as the IDF closes in, says one expert on the Arab world.

Hamas on Sunday released a statement denying its members committed atrocities on Oct. 7.

The denial is a complete reversal for the terrorist group and a total disavowal of its own footage, after it supplied GoPro cameras to its operatives so that they could capture for posterity their horrific deeds on that day.

“Avoiding harm to civilians, especially children, women and elderly people, is a religious and moral commitment by all the Al-Qassam Brigades’ fighters,” Hamas stated in the 16-page document, claiming it only targeted Israeli military sites. (The Al-Qassam Brigades is Hamas’s so-called military wing.)

“We reiterate that the Palestinian resistance was fully disciplined and committed to the Islamic values during the operation and that the Palestinian fighters only targeted the occupation soldiers and those who carried weapons against our people,” it added, saying that its members were “keen to avoid harming civilians” and that any such targeting was by accident.

The claim is astonishing given the hours of footage taken by the organization’s members in which they’re seen shooting innocent Israelis throughout Oct. 7.

cont’d…

https://www.jns.org/hamas-denies-it-slaughtered-civilians-on-oct-7/