Middle East and Terrorism

Thursday, October 30, 2025

Palestinians Still Prefer Hamas and 'Armed Struggle' Against Israel - Khaled Abu Toameh

by Khaled Abu Toameh

A majority of Palestinians, the poll showed, are extremely supportive of Iran, Hezbollah, Qatar and the Houthi militia in Yemen, a terror group that fired dozens of missiles and suicide drones at Israel during the war.

These [Palestinian poll] findings contradict claims by some Western media outlets that a growing number of Palestinians were disillusioned with Hamas because of the death and destruction it has brought on its people as a result of its October 7 attack.
"The conclusion from these [Palestinian] numbers is that the past two years have led to greater support for Hamas rather than the opposite," according to the poll.
Asked if Hamas had committed the atrocities seen in the videos shown by international media displaying atrocities committed by Hamas members against Israeli civilians, 86% said the terror group did not commit such atrocities. Only 10% said Hamas did commit them.
A majority of Palestinians, the poll showed, are extremely supportive of Iran, Hezbollah, Qatar and the Houthi militia in Yemen, a terror group that fired dozens of missiles and suicide drones at Israel during the war.
If elections for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority (PA) were held today, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal would win 63% of the votes, as opposed to 27% for incumbent PA President Mahmoud Abbas.
According to the poll, dissatisfaction with Abbas stands at 75%, while 80% want him to resign.
If parliamentary elections were held today, 44% of the Palestinians say they will vote for Hamas, 30% for Fatah, and 10% for third parties.
Also unexpected is the ongoing Palestinian support for the "armed struggle" (terrorism) against Israel.
The results of the poll also show the challenges facing the implementation of the Trump plan, especially disarming Hamas and deradicalizing Palestinian society. Most Palestinians are openly opposed to disarming Hamas – a situation that will make it effectively impossible for any Arab or foreign party to confiscate the terror group's weapons by force.
Any Palestinian or Arab leader who sees that most Palestinians oppose the disarmament of Hamas will think twice before he undertakes such a mission: he would not want to act against the wishes of the Arab street -- such a move would be regarded as treason.
As for deradicalization, it is clear from the poll that Palestinians are moving in the opposite direction.
Many Palestinians are afraid to speak out for fear of being labeled as traitors or collaborators with Israel. We have seen how Palestinians who challenged Hamas were tortured and executed in public squares in the Gaza Strip as soon as the ceasefire went into effect.
Radical change in Palestinian society will come only when Palestinians rise up against destructive leaders who, over the past few decades, have been dragging them from one disaster to another.

A recent poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research shows that more than half of Palestinians continue to support the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israelis and foreign nationals on October 7, 2023, and a majority of Palestinians support Iran, Hezbollah, Qatar and Yemen's Houthis. Pictured: Palestinians rally in support of Hamas on December 15, 2023 in Nablus. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Those who thought that Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and the ensuing war in the Gaza Strip have made Palestinians change their minds about the terror group are in for a rude awakening.

More than half of Palestinians continue to support the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israelis and foreign nationals on October 7. Moreover, the terror group remains popular among a large number of Palestinians. Support for Hamas means support for the destruction of Israel through Jihad (holy war).

A poll published on October 28 by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research showed that 53% of the Palestinians think that Hamas's decision to launch the October 7 attack was "correct." A majority of 54% of Palestinians blame Israel for the current suffering of Gazans, while 24% blame the US. Only 14% blame Hamas.

These findings contradict claims by some Western media outlets that a growing number of Palestinians were disillusioned with Hamas because of the death and destruction it has brought on its people as a result of its October 7 attack.

Asked about their perception of Hamas two years after the Gaza war began, 18% of the Palestinians said their support for Hamas was big and it has not changed, while 19% said their support for the terror group increased a lot. Another 17% said their support for Hamas increased a little. By contrast, 16% said they did not support Hamas before the war and that their opposition to the terror group has not changed; 12% said their support decreased a little, and 10% said their support for Hamas has decreased a lot.

"The conclusion from these numbers is that the past two years have led to greater support for Hamas rather than the opposite," according to the poll.

The poll showed that a vast majority of the Palestinians are still in denial over the crimes committed by Hamas on October 7. Asked if Hamas had committed the atrocities seen in the videos shown by international media displaying atrocities committed by Hamas members against Israeli civilians, 86% said the terror group did not commit such atrocities. Only 10% said Hamas did commit them.

As for the disarmament of Hamas, as stipulated in the second phase of US President Donald Trump's plan for peace to end the Gaza war, the poll found that an overwhelming majority of 69% oppose the idea. Only 29% said they support disarming Hamas.

Regarding public satisfaction with the role played by various Palestinian actors during the Gaza war, the poll showed that satisfaction with Hamas's performance has risen from 57% (in May 2025) to 60%.

A majority of Palestinians, the poll showed, are extremely supportive of Iran, Hezbollah, Qatar and the Houthi militia in Yemen, a terror group that fired dozens of missiles and suicide drones at Israel during the war. The highest satisfaction rate went to the Houthis (74%), followed by Hamas's main sponsor Qatar (52%), Hezbollah (50%), and Iran (44%).

If elections for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority (PA) were held today, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal would win 63% of the votes, as opposed to 27% for incumbent PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

The 89-year-old Abbas, who is in the 20th year of his four-year term in office, remains as unpopular as ever among his own people, who view him and his PA as incompetent and corrupt.

According to the poll, dissatisfaction with Abbas stands at 75%, while 80% want him to resign.

Asked which political party they support, the largest percentage (35%) said they prefer Hamas, followed by Abbas's ruling Fatah faction (24%). Nine percent selected third parties, and 32% said they do not support any of them or do not know. Five months ago, 32% said they supported Hamas and 21% said they supported Fatah.

"These results mean that support for Hamas over the past five months has increased by three percentage points," the poll noted.

Another inconvenient finding: If parliamentary elections were held today, 44% of the Palestinians say they will vote for Hamas, 30% for Fatah, and 10% for third parties. The remaining respondents said they have not yet decided for whom to vote.

The number of Palestinians who believe that Hamas most deserves to represent and lead the Palestinians has risen from 40% five months ago to 41%.

Also unexpected is the ongoing Palestinian support for the "armed struggle" (terrorism) against Israel. The latest poll found that 41% of the Palestinians support the "armed struggle" as opposed to 36% who said they prefer negotiations.

The results of the poll demonstrate that a significant number of Palestinians continue to support the Jihadi group that murdered 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals and brought death and destruction on the two million residents of the Gaza Strip.

Those who are pushing for reforms and presidential and legislative elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip need to take into consideration that the future Palestinian government or state would be dominated by the same terrorists who brutally tortured and murdered hundreds of Israelis, including Arab citizens of Israel, on October 7, 2023.

The results of the poll also show the challenges facing the implementation of the Trump plan, especially disarming Hamas and deradicalizing Palestinian society. Most Palestinians are openly opposed to disarming Hamas – a situation that will make it effectively impossible for any Arab or foreign party to confiscate the terror group's weapons by force.

Any Palestinian or Arab leader who sees that most Palestinians oppose the disarmament of Hamas will think twice before he undertakes such a mission: he would not want to act against the wishes of the Arab street -- such a move would be regarded as treason.

As for deradicalization, it is clear from the poll that Palestinians are moving in the opposite direction. This is mainly due to continued incitement against Israel in the Palestinian and Arab media, mosques, social media platforms and the rhetoric of Palestinian leaders and officials. Deradicalization requires brave leaders who will stand up and speak out about the need to stop poisoning the hearts and minds of young Palestinians. Many Palestinians are afraid to speak out for fear of being labeled as traitors or collaborators with Israel. We have seen how Palestinians who challenged Hamas were tortured and executed in public squares in the Gaza Strip as soon as the ceasefire went into effect.

Radical change in Palestinian society will come only when Palestinians rise up against destructive leaders who, over the past few decades, have been dragging them from one disaster to another.

Follow Khaled Abu Toameh on X (formerly Twitter)

Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22027/palestinians-prefer-hamas-armed-struggle

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Will the Gaza Ceasefire Hold? - Jonathan Spyer

by Jonathan Spyer

The Path to Implementing the 20-Point Peace Plan Remains Strewn with Obstacles

For now at least, the framework brokered by the U.S. looks set to remain formally in place, despite the incidents of the last days. But the path to its implementation remains strewn with obstacles. Gaza City, March 4, 2024. Shutterstock

In the latest blow to the beleaguered Gaza ceasefire, Israeli aircraft this week struck targets in Gaza City after Hamas carried out an attack using rocket-propelled grenades and sniper fire on IDF soldiers in the Rafah area. One Israeli reserve soldier was killed in the Hamas attack. The exchanges of fire took place amid continued Hamas stalling on the issue of the return of the bodies of slain Israeli hostages.

There was widespread Israeli outrage this week after filmed evidence emerged showing Hamas fighters re-burying body parts of a murdered hostage whose corpse they claimed to have already returned.

There was widespread Israeli outrage this week after filmed evidence emerged showing Hamas fighters re-burying body parts of a murdered hostage whose corpse they claimed to have already returned. After burying the body parts of Ofer Tzarfati, 27, of Kibbutz Nir Oz, who was kidnapped and murdered at the kibbutz on 7 October 2023, Hamas invited Red Cross officials to the scene and tried to present the body parts as those of another of the murdered hostages.

The Gaza Islamists’ intention, presumably, was to reveal this deception later on, and by so doing retain an additional murdered hostage as “collateral” in the grisly trade in which it seeks to deter Israeli action against it by holding on to the bodies of those it has murdered.

These two incidents reflect the current troubled state of the ceasefire concluded in early October between the sides. They probably do not presage its imminent collapse, because neither side has an interest at the present time in a full return to hostilities. Hamas entered the ceasefire under the guidance of its allies in Turkey and Qatar, in order to prevent an IDF push into the Gaza City area which threatened the organization’s continued existence as a governing structure. It needs the continued support of these powerful states, who in turn want to stay on the right side of the Trump administration.

Israel, meanwhile, wants a period of rest and recuperation for its exhausted soldiers and similarly has an interest in staying on the right side of the Trump administration. The President, apparently, continues to believe strongly in his 20-point plan for what he called a “grand concord and lasting harmony” in the Middle East. Jerusalem has no desire to, and cannot afford to, appear to be the party responsible for consigning the plan to the memory hole.

So for now at least, the framework brokered by the US looks set to remain formally in place, despite the incidents of the last days. But the path to its implementation remains strewn with obstacles. Indeed, it is possible to discern an emergent reality quite at odds with the provisions of the plan, which looks set to constitute the true “post war” state between Israel and the Gaza Islamists. This emergent reality appears set to uneasily co-exist with the 20-point plan’s continued existence as an increasingly theoretical road map.

As may be discerned from the rapidity and brutality with which it reimposed its authority on the 47 percent of Gaza which it retains, Hamas is far from destroyed.

The problem with the 20-point plan is that while both sides had a clear interest in implementing its first phase, from there it gets complicated. The part that has been implemented involved Israeli forces withdrawing to an agreed upon line and the release of the then 20 remaining living hostages. Following this initial withdrawal, Israel now remains in control of 53 per cent of the Gaza area, with Hamas holding the remaining 47 per cent, along with the majority of Gaza’s population. Hamas, as seen in recent days, appears in no hurry to release the bodies of the remaining hostages. But this is not the main obstacle to the plan’s continued implementation. Article 13 of the 20-point plan contains the provision that: “Hamas and other factions agree to not have any role in the governance of Gaza, directly, indirectly, or in any form. All military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, including tunnels and weapon production facilities, will be destroyed and not rebuilt. There will be a process of demilitarization of Gaza under the supervision of independent monitors, which will include placing weapons permanently beyond use.”

This describes a situation in which Hamas agrees to its own dissolution as an armed factor in Gaza. Part of its wording suggests the influence of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. But this is in defiance of reality. Hamas has been massively damaged as a military force over the last two years of fighting. It no longer exists as the hybrid army of 24 battalions that entered the war after the massacres of 7 October 2023. But as may be discerned from the rapidity and brutality with which it reimposed its authority on the 47 per cent of Gaza which it retains, it is far from destroyed.

Armed struggle as part of a long war intended to end in the dissolution of Israel is in the core DNA of this movement. Its officials, indeed, have made perfectly clear that they have no intention of carrying out those provisions of the plan which call on it to disarm. On 11 October, a Hamas official told Agence France-Presse plainly that “the proposed weapons handover is out of the question and not negotiable.”

Given the current U.S. commitment to the 20-point plan, for the period ahead it looks likely that two de facto entities of governance will exist in Gaza and that intermittent hostilities between them will continue.

With Hamas making its intention not to disarm clear, those countries which had considered signing up for the “international stabilization force” envisaged by the plan are now having second thoughts. No external third party wants to put its manpower in harm’s way challenging a jihadi armed force determined to prevent its own dissolution. And for as long as Hamas remains in control of part of Gaza, there is an additional reluctance on the part of outside actors to commit resources to the reconstruction of the Strip, given the possibility that any such investment might be destroyed once again when Hamas chooses to reignite the war that forms its raison d’etre.

From the Israeli point of view, the current situation in which an Islamist-ruled pile of rubble is surrounded by an area of Israeli control is by no means unmanageable. Israel succeeded in recent months in establishing a number of clan-based allied militias within Gaza. These appear set to remain in existence in the Israeli-controlled zone. Article 17 of the 20-point plan, meanwhile, allows for the possibility that “in the event Hamas delays or rejects this proposal… the scaled-up aid operation, will proceed in the terror-free areas handed over from the IDF to the ISF.”

Such a situation is unlikely to hold in the longer term, of course. Israel remains determined to secure the complete dissolution of the Hamas entity in Gaza, if not by agreement, then by force. But given the current US commitment to the 20-point plan, for the period ahead it looks likely that two de facto entities of governance will exist in Gaza and that intermittent hostilities between them will continue. This is a far cry from “grand concord and lasting harmony,” of course. But then in the Middle East, reality’s victory over illusion, at least, tends to be swift and decisive.

Jonathan Spyer oversees the Forum’s content and is editor of the Middle East Quarterly. Mr. Spyer, a journalist, reports for Janes Intelligence Review, writes a column for the Jerusalem Post, and is a contributor to the Wall Street Journal and The Australian. He frequently reports from Syria and Iraq. He has a B.A. from the London School of Economics, an M.A. from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, and a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics. He is the author of two books: The Transforming Fire: The Rise of the Israel-Islamist Conflict (2010) and Days of the Fall: A Reporter’s Journey in the Syria and Iraq Wars (2017).

Source: https://www.meforum.org/mef-online/will-the-gaza-ceasefire-hold

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Is Tucker Carlson normalizing antisemitism on the right? - Jonathan S. Tobin

by Jonathan S. Tobin

If the White House and conservative thought leaders don’t condemn the former “Fox News” host’s platforming of Jew-hatred, a tipping point may soon be reached.

Conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson speaks during the memorial service for Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA who was shot and killed while speaking at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., on Sept. 21, 2025. Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images.

Extremists always pose a dilemma for mainstream politicians and journalists. Ideally, the best way of dealing with them is to ignore them. Hate-mongers thrive when they are able to seize the spotlight and hold onto it. Deprived of attention, they wither on the vine when they are confined to the fever swamps of the far right or left, where most people don’t seem to notice or care about them.

However, if their audiences are sufficiently large and they are treated by people who matter, whether national figures or opinion leaders, as falling within the proverbial Overton Window of acceptable discourse, ignoring them isn’t really an option.

And that is the problem with Tucker Carlson.

The former Fox News host turned podcaster doesn’t just have a massive audience of viewers of his program and followers on social media. He’s also still treated as someone who not only matters but is acceptable company to keep for the president and vice president of the United States, as well as lesser figures in the conservative ecosphere of politicians, pundits, podcasters and journalists.

That is how the ideas he promotes—whether in his own voice or by platforming them on his podcast—are, by extension, also treated as something that normal people should consider as worth debating, if not acceptable in their own right.

Platforming hate

So, when Carlson hosts an open antisemite like Nick Fuentes, who speaks of his desire to drive “Zionist Jews” out of American public life, in the course of what can only be described as a friendly conversation in which they debate how far to go in their opposition to Israel and its Jewish supporters, it’s not only deplorable. It’s an obvious sign of how antisemitism on the right is not a problem that can be dismissed as unimportant or uncommon. Rather, it’s a moment when a tipping point may be about to be reached, when it will no longer be possible to describe conservative Jew-hatred as insignificant.

That’s long been the position of most Jewish conservatives, and they weren’t wrong to think that way. In recent decades, antisemitism has been mainstreamed on the political left while remaining marginal on the right.

The intersectional left-wing base of the Democratic Party has largely adopted the mindset of fashionable academic ideology that conceives of Israel and Jews as “white” oppressors of people of color. They falsely view Israel as a product of “settler-colonialism,” instead of an expression of self-determination of the Jewish people in their ancient homeland, where they are indigenous.

That is the basis for the willingness of so many on the political left to accept the blood libels about the Jewish state committing “genocide” in the Gaza Strip that have flooded the liberal media since the Hamas-led Palestinian Arab attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. And it’s why Democrats are now overwhelmingly an anti-Israel party, as polls now show and as has been demonstrated in congressional votes, where most of the members of their caucuses have supported banning weapons sales to Israel. Even those Democrats who long claimed to be strong backers of the Jewish state, like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), have started to largely abandon it.

Extremists are going mainstream

The most prominent manifestation of the rising tide of Jew-hatred that has swept the globe in the last two years has emanated from the red-green alliance of Marxists and Islamists. The best American example of this is the way that New York state assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, a veteran Israel-hater and member of the Democratic Socialists of America, is on the verge of becoming the next mayor of New York City with support from mainstream Democrats.

This has stood in strong contrast to Republicans, who have become largely a lockstep pro-Israel party in the last few decades. Conservative Christians and others on the right have been ardent supporters of Israel, even eclipsing most Jewish groups in their willingness to stick with it in the face of the vilification that has rained down on it since the terrorist atrocities of Oct. 7. While the left and its leading publications have continued to mainstream and normalized antisemitism as well as the demonization of Israel, the right has stood firm with few exceptions, backing President Donald Trump’s historic pro-Israel policies.

In this way, critics of the left could argue that while antisemitism remained alive on the far right, it was marginal and contradicted by the stands of anyone who counted in the Republican Party and mainstream conservative thought.

But the tsunami of post-Oct. 7 Jew-hatred, driven by animus for Israel, has also made itself felt on the right.

Various figures who might have been characterized as part of the lunatic fringe have in recent years been gaining a toehold in the public square. Fuentes and Daryl Cooper are two such examples. And the person who is giving them a leg up is Carlson, who had them on his podcast.

Cooper is the amateur historian, Holocaust denier and antisemite hosted by Carlson last fall. Carlson praised him as the “most important popular historian of our time” and allowed him to float his bizarre theories about Winston Churchill being the villain of the Second World War, as opposed to Adolf Hitler, and that the deaths of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust were the result of logistical problems caused by the war rather than a deliberate campaign of extermination by the Nazis and their collaborators.

He was widely criticized after that episode for platforming and endorsing lies about history. Though this was far from the first time that Carlson had made clear his animus for Israel and the Jews—something that had become a staple of his program since Oct. 7—he continued to be treated as a member of the Trump family inner circle and a friend of Vice President JD Vance, as well as embraced by most of the mainstream conservative pundits as a legitimate public figure.

Demonizing Jews

But his latest show with Fuentes, in which he plays the same “I’m just asking questions” role while giving a boost to a hate-monger, makes his comfort with open antisemitism even more obvious.

The 27-year-old Fuentes is a notorious white nationalist, antisemite and Holocaust denier who has a wide following on the far right. He and his supporters are known as groypers and, as is typical of such extremists, have long been more focused on opposing mainstream and even deeply conservative Republicans because they are supporters of Israel than in opposing the left.

His opinions are unvarnished neo-Nazism, replete with dark warnings about slaughtering Jewish “devil-worshippers” once he and his followers take power. He has said “I love Hitler” and attacked “Talmudic Jews” (i.e., Jews of all denominations who practice post-biblical Judaism) as a threat to the world. He blames the Jews for everything, even alleging that Israel was responsible for the fact that he accidentally live-streamed LGBTQ pornography on his website.

He was an avowed opponent of the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk because he was a Christian Zionist. Kirk, who has taken on the reputation of a secular saint since his assassination last month, went so far as to deride the hate-monger as “vermin” and vowed never to have anything to do with him. But in an odd twist, Fuentes has seemed to gain prominence since Kirk was murdered. And that was apparently the cue for Carlson to invite him onto his program, where the two engaged in an amicable exchange for more than two hours during the course of which Fuentes vented his hate for Jews.

It is true that at one point in the conversation, Carlson contrasted his own brand of hate with that of Fuentes, saying that he liked Jews who shared his opposition to Israel, like journalist Glenn Greenwald. He claimed that his Christian beliefs led him not to seek to target Jews per se, though he regarded Israel and its supporters as a threat to America and claimed that he hated Christian Zionists like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, “more than anybody” because they are practitioners of “Christian heresy.”

That’s an astonishing confession for someone who was allowed to speak at the Kirk memorial service, where he engaged in traditional tropes of antisemitism without rebuke from the organizers or other speakers.

That is also a position that he often mentions in his newsletter, claiming that Israel and AIPAC control U.S. foreign policy while defending Qatar’s far more extensive information and influencing buying operations as exemplary—something that has fed suspicions that his efforts are being financed, either directly or indirectly, by Doha.

By treating Fuentes as a legitimate figure whose opinions ought to be known, Carlson did exactly what he attempted to do with Cooper. In platforming Fuente’s rants, replete with standard antisemitic tropes about Jews being a “stateless people and unassimilable,” as well as a unique threat to the United States that must be ended, Carlson was going beyond his previous dalliances with Jew-hatred that were mostly focused on bashing the State of Israel.

The far left and far right agree

Listen closely to their exchanges, and it becomes clear that there is little difference between that and the positions of Mamdani. While the New York mayoral candidate’s opposition to Israel and the Jews is dressed up in different language, Fuentes, Carlson and Mamdani all believe that Israel is at the center of a conspiracy against their vision of justice.

Jew-hatred isn’t just being unkind to Jews or prejudiced against them. It’s an idea rooted in politics which alleges that the Jews are the obstacle to all that is good, in much the same way that some religions depict Satan.

For Mamdani and others among the intersectional left, Israel is the lynchpin of international settler-colonialism and racism, such as when—in the course of supporting the defunding of police in 2023—he said “that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it’s been laced by the IDF.”

For Carlson and Fuentes, Israel is the obstacle to a true “America First,” or rather, “America only” foreign policy in which the United States will achieve freedom from the foreign influences that they think are dragging it under and suborning white Christian dominance.

Whether you lean left or right, if your guiding principle is that all of the evil in the world always leads back to Jews and/or Israel, then you are a textbook example of antisemitism.

Barring a turnabout in the next few days, Mamdani is about to become mayor of New York, and his allies are entrenched as the leaders of the Democratic Party with a real chance of attaining power in the coming years, while Carlson, Fuentes and fellow antisemite Candace Owens are merely prattling away on podcasts.

But that is no reason for conservatives to dismiss Carlson as insignificant.

Just as the intersectional left slowly gained traction during the “progressives” long march through educational, cultural and political institutions, so, too, could right-wing antisemites do the same—or at least make major inroads among conservatives if left unchecked.

A line must be drawn

More to the point, so long as Carlson is welcome at the White House and other conservative pundits like Megyn Kelly not only won’t condemn him, but take umbrage at the suggestion that they are morally obligated to do so, his attitude toward antisemitism will become normalized on the right.

Trump blundered back in 2022 when he publicly dined with rapper/antisemite Kanye West and Fuentes at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. He subsequently disavowed the former’s hate and said he had no idea who Fuentes was. And he characteristically refused to apologize.

Since then, he’s stayed away from that pair, but he also set an example by which others on the right have been able to continue associating with people like Carlson. In opposing calls to isolate or condemn him, some conservatives have said that they are supporting free speech and don’t want to mimic the left’s attempts to “cancel” people whose views they don’t like.

Nevertheless, unless a line in the sand is drawn between the Trump administration and other leading conservatives and such open antisemites, it isn’t going to be possible to go on pretending that there is a tangible difference between the attitudes of the right and the left when it comes to antisemitism. Anyone who isn’t willing to do that, no matter where they are on the political spectrum, must stand accused of complicity in the normalization of Jew-hatred.

Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of the Jewish News Syndicate, a senior contributor for The Federalist, a columnist for Newsweek and a contributor to many other publications. He covers the American political scene, foreign policy, the U.S.-Israel relationship, Middle East diplomacy, the Jewish world and the arts. He hosts the JNS “Think Twice” podcast, both the weekly video program and the “Jonathan Tobin Daily” program, which are available on all major audio platforms and YouTube. Previously, he was executive editor, then senior online editor and chief political blogger, for Commentary magazine. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of The Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia and editor of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. He has won more than 60 awards for commentary, art criticism and other writing. He appears regularly on television, commenting on politics and foreign policy. Born in New York City, he studied history at Columbia University.

Source: https://www.jns.org/is-tucker-carlson-normalizing-antisemitism-on-the-right/

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Arkansas Rep. Mindy McAlindon: ‘To deny biblical heartland is to deny history and heritage’ - David Isaac

by David Isaac

She reflected on her delegation’s visit to certain sites, calling it an “unforgettable journey through history” that made scripture come alive.

Arkansas State Rep. Mindy McAlindon speaks at “The Future of Judea and Samaria” conference at the Inbal Hotel in Jerusalem, Oct. 29, 2025. Photo by Matt Kaminsky/JNS.

Speaking on “The Future of Judea and Samaria” at the Inbal Hotel in Jerusalem on Wednesday, Mindy McAlindon, a Republican state representative of Arkansas, emphasized the spiritual and moral bonds linking the United States and Israel. The conference was sponsored by American Friends of Judea & Samaria (AFJS) and the Jewish News Syndicate.

She described the U.S.-Israel relationship as founded not only on policy but on “faith, on trust and on friendship.” McAlindon said both nations share a belief that “light can overcome darkness and faith can outlast fear,” a conviction rooted in the Bible and tested over centuries.

The legislator was in Israel as part of an AFJS-sponsored delegation of lawmakers from five states. The group toured the country and met with Israelis during a roughly one-week trip.

She reflected on her delegation’s visit to biblical sites, calling it an “unforgettable journey through history” that made scripture come alive.

“We walked where the prophets and the kings lived. We retraced the stories of the scripture. We followed in the footsteps of Jesus and made history come alive in a way that no textbook ever could,” she told the audience.

McAlindon shared with JNS that seeing Shiloh was the most memorable part of the trip. “It was amazing to see the walls where the Temple stood. We visited so many other sites, and they’d say, ‘This could be, or this probably is,’ but when you got to Shiloh, that was it. You could see it from the measurements.”

She praised Israelis’ determination to defend their land, pointing to the courage of farmers, soldiers and families who continue to build and protect their homeland.

For Christians, McAlindon said Israel’s story is “isn’t foreign, it’s family. … This is this land where our faith took root,” and where “Abraham walked, David ruled, and Jesus lived, died and rose again.”

“It’s about recognizing old truths—the truth that these are not disputed territory. Judea and Samaria are the historical and spiritual heartland of the Jewish people. To call them anything else is to deny both history and heritage,” she told the audience.

She also spotlighted the recent law she introduced together with Arkansas Republican Sen. Jim Dotson, which passed in April. It obligates state government agencies to refer to the area commonly known as the “West Bank” as “Judea and Samaria.”

“When America stands with Israel, we are not just making a political statement. We are honoring a covenant,” she said.

While Arkansas has proven to be a standout state in terms of its pro-Israel support, McAlindon acknowledged to JNS she harbored “some concern” regarding the rest of the United States, given disturbing trends nationwide.

She noted that there is room to improve messaging, both by Israel and its supporters in America. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, have started speaking of an “eighth front,” referring to the need to fight the information war, she said.

On an optimistic note, McAlindon pointed out that state legislators across the country feel as she does. Laws opposing antisemitism have been passed in many states. She said the “Judea-Samaria Act” has already been filed in Florida and published as a model policy by the American Legislative Exchange Council and the National Association of Christian legislators.

“So I think as we are looking at trying to stop antisemitism and show support for Israel, that message is getting out through the state legislatures,” McAlindon said.

“You can’t legislate morality. You can’t change people’s hearts. But you can at least put laws in place that help set up guardrails,” she added.

David Isaac

Source: https://www.jns.org/arkansas-rep-mindy-mcalindon-to-deny-biblical-heartland-is-to-deny-history-and-heritage/

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‘Judea and Samaria must be part of Jewish future,’ Arab Zionist declares - David Isaac

by David Isaac

"If Jews have the right to live in Tel Aviv, they definitely have the right to live in Judea and Samaria,” said self-described Arab Zionist Rawan Osman.

Rawan Osman speaks at "The Future of Judea and Samaria" conference at the Inbal Hotel in Jerusalem on Oct. 29, 2025. Photo by Matt Kaminsky/JNS.

Speaking at “The Future of Judea and Samaria” conference at the Inbal Hotel in Jerusalem on Wednesday, Rawan Osman, who has described herself as an Arab Zionist, said that despite breaking away from her antisemitic upbringing, there was one question she “avoided like the plague.” And that was what she thought about “West Bank” settlements.

“I used to say: ‘I am not a journalist, not a politician, not Israeli—don’t ask me,’ ” Osman said.

“Until I was invited for a tour in Judea and Samaria. I sat down near a water spring and a pomegranate tree, looking at the Jordan Valley, and I thought for a long time, and concluded—if Jews have the right to live in Tel Aviv, they definitely have the right to live in Judea and Samaria,” she said.

“It is part of their story, of their past, and it must be part of their future.”

Osman, born in Damascus to Muslim parents, grew up marinated in antisemitic attitudes. “Growing up in Lebanon, I was fond of Hezbollah. I belonged to the masses of useful idiots. And I hated Israel—and the Jews.”

“Whatever we were told about the Jews and the Israelis, we believed it—especially because there were no Jews left to contest what was said about them,” she said.

Only after moving to France in her 20s and encountering Jews was she able to free herself from the indoctrination of her upbringing. She studied, researched and eventually became a Zionist. In fact, she is in the midst of converting to Judaism, a process she described to JNS as “coming home.”

JNS asked Osman if she thought Israel could have done anything differently in waging its war against Hamas, given her insight into Arab and Muslim culture. She said that Hamas officials at the start of the conflict vowed to empty Israel’s jails of their terrorist prisoners.

“They wanted every prisoner back. If I were an Israeli official at the time, I would have given them everybody back, taken my hostages in return, and then waged a war against them,” she said.

That Hamas immediately broke the ceasefire deal came as no surprise, she said. The group isn’t interested in a durable peace.

Palestinians believe they have gained from the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Activists are “promoting the idea that they were victorious, that they won thanks to Oct. 7, and now that they have momentum, they should not lose it,” Osman said.

Mustafa Barghouti, a Palestinian politician considered among the “most moderate voices,” is advocating that position, she said. He is pushing for mass demonstrations in Western cities to “free Palestine.” The protesters are “professional antisemites.” They want to exert large-scale pressure on Israel.

“They are going to escalate. They will continue to provoke because they’ve never had such momentum. They will not stop until they see tens of thousands of Israelis packing and leaving. They want this country gone,” Osman said.

As to whether it’s possible to deradicalize the Palestinian population, given their level of hatred, Osman said that it’s possible; it worked with Nazi Germany. “If there’s a German embassy in Israel and an Israeli embassy in Germany, everything is possible,” she said. Though she noted that Germany was first smashed by the Allied powers.

Osman said moderate Arab countries must help enforce mandatory deradicalization programs for Palestinians, tying participation to the receipt of humanitarian aid. Financial assistance would only be given in exchange for engagement in such programs, which would promote an “alternative vision” and acceptance that a Palestinian state will never exist.

“The Palestinian cause was liquidated on Oct. 7,” she said. “We’re going to stop infantilizing the Palestinian people and tell them that their entire ideology was invented with the help of the KGB. Even Palestine isn’t an Arabic word. In 1964, [Palestine Liberation Organization leader] Arafat introduced this project, and it’s a losing project. It caused enough damage already,” Osman said.

David Isaac

Source: https://www.jns.org/judea-and-samaria-must-be-part-of-jewish-future-arab-zionist-declares/

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Murderer of 37 still PA role model for women, says top Palestinian Authority official - Nan Jacques Zilberdik

by Nan Jacques Zilberdik

On Palestinian National Women's Day, PA District Governor of Ramallah Laila Ghannam chose to single out terrorist murderer Dalal Mughrabi who led the murder of 37 Israeli civilians as a role model for Palestinian women.

Ramallah District Governor on terrorist murderer Mughrabi: She "paved the path to freedom with her blood"
PA Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa blames Israel for lack of gender equality internally in the PA: "Israel is the main obstacle to empowering the Palestinian women"
Media figure equates women terrorists with women teachers and doctors

On Palestinian National Women's Day, PA District Governor of Ramallah Laila Ghannam chose to single out terrorist murderer Dalal Mughrabi who led the murder of 37 Israeli civilians as a role model for Palestinian women.

When murderer Mughrabi led a group of terrorists in a terror attack in 1978 in which they murdered 25 Israeli adult civilians and 12 children, she "paved the path to freedom with her blood," Ghannam stated:

Posted text: "On Palestinian National Women's Day we salute with pride and respect every Palestinian woman whoever she is, as she faces the cruelty of the occupation (i.e., Israel) with unbreakable willpower and determination that knows no defeat... On this day, we remember our female prisoners (i.e., terrorists) who face the chains and prison guards with patience and resilience. We pray for the souls of the female Martyrs and leaders who paved the path to freedom with their blood, from Dalal Mughrabi to Samiha Khalil (i.e., politician connected to DFLP terror organization), [former PA Minister of Women's Affairs] Rabiha Dhiab, and other prominent figures of our national struggle."
[Ramallah and El-Bireh District Governor Laila Ghannam, Facebook page, Oct. 26, 2025]

PA Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa chose to accuse Israel of the PA's own shortcomings. Instead of mentioning progress in gender equality – of which there is none in the PA – he used a common PA strategy for explaining away internal societal problems. He blamed Israel, calling it "the main obstacle to empowering the Palestinian women":

"In a speech written for Palestinian National Women's Day, [PA] Prime Minister Muhammad Mustafa said: 'Today we honor the women of Palestine, who throughout history have served as the most wonderful example of resolve, willpower, and giving. We honor authentic partners in the national struggle…' Mustafa stressed that the Israeli occupation remains the main obstacle to empowering the Palestinian women, as it deprives them of their basic human rights and doubles their daily suffering through policies of murder, arrests, demolitions, and siege."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 27, 2025]

Palestinian media figure Marwah Al-Bakri equated female terrorists with teachers and doctors, stressing the Palestinian woman's significance in producing Palestinians "for the struggle" against Israel:

"The Palestinian woman... continues to be a symbol of resolve and giving, because she is the mother who raised the generations of the struggle, the wife who stood resolutely in the face of life's challenges and the cruelty of the occupation (i.e., Israel), the prisoner, the Martyr, the teacher… the doctor, and the fighter."
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 26, 2025]

Nan Jacques Zilberdik

Source: https://palwatch.org/page/41648

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Are Americans Better or Worse Off Since January? - Victor Davis Hanson

by Victor Davis Hanson

While the media fixates on Trump’s tweets, the numbers tell a different story—closed borders, lower inflation, revived energy, and restored U.S. strength at home and abroad.

The left wing and media rage hysterically from one Trump psychodrama to the next, while Trump trolls both on social media.

But all that is verbiage. What matters is the data and facts of Trump’s first nine months since January 20, 2025, in comparison to either Biden’s prior year or the averages of his four years in office.

Take the border. No one knows how many illegal aliens entered—or stayed in—the U.S. during Biden’s four years of open borders. What is clear is that he set a presidential record of well over seven million illegal entrants.

The border under Trump is now tightly closed. Prior to his administration, it was common for 10,000 people to cross illegally in a single day. In just nine months, approximately two million illegal aliens have been deported or self-deported. The rate of border crossings is now the lowest it’s ever been since 1970.

How about energy? For Trump’s first nine months, gas prices have averaged $3.19 versus Biden’s 2024 average of $3.30 a gallon. Over Biden’s four years, gas averaged $3.46 a gallon.

During the Biden years, oil production averaged 12.3 million barrels per day, compared to 13.5 million barrels during Trump’s first nine months. Biden removed 200 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, leaving office with only 394 million barrels in the SPR.

The reserve has already inched upward under Trump’s initial months to 406 million barrels. Releases have been cancelled. Purchases of replacement oil have been scheduled.

Regarding the economy, Biden’s four years averaged 2.9 percent GDP growth per annum.

Trump’s GDP rose 3.8 percent in the second quarter, with final estimates for 2025 ranging around 3 percent.

Inflation under Trump so far averages about 3 percent. Under Biden’s tenure, inflation increased by 21.4 percent over four years, or on average about 5.3 percent a year.

How about U.S. deterrence and defense?

Under Biden, the military fell short by approximately 15,000 recruits per year, crashing to a shortfall of 41,000 in 2023.

Following Trump’s election and throughout the first nine months of 2025, all branches of the military met or exceeded their recruitment goals.

The number of NATO nations meeting their promise to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense rose from 23 in 2024 to a likely total of 31 in 2025, with several pledging to spend as much as 5 percent.

Trump left office in 2021 with no major ongoing wars. His first administration had nearly bankrupted Iran, destroyed ISIS, decimated the Russian Wagner group in Syria, and birthed the Abraham Accords.

Under Biden, the Middle East exploded into a four-front war against Israel.

Iran boasted that it was within months of developing nuclear weapons after the Biden administration lifted prior Trump sanctions and courted Tehran to return to the so-called “Iran Deal.”

Over the last decade and a half, Vladimir Putin had only kept within his borders during Trump’s first term, invading neighboring countries during the Bush, Obama, and Biden presidencies.

In 2022, Putin attacked Kyiv during Biden’s second year in office—leading to a full-scale Ukrainian-Russian war, incurring the greatest combat losses in Europe since the Second World War.

In August 2021, in one of the greatest military humiliations in U.S. history, Biden ordered the abrupt flight of all U.S. personnel from Kabul, Afghanistan. The skedaddle resulted in utter chaos, the deaths of 13 Marines, and destroyed U.S. deterrence.

Thousands of U.S. contractors and employees were left behind, and the administration abandoned billions of dollars of new weapons and military equipment to the terrorist Taliban.

In contrast, there is now a tentative calm across the Middle East. After Trump’s bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities, the theocracy is not expected to be able to acquire a nuclear weapon for years.

Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis are decimated and increasingly impotent.

No wars broke out during Trump’s current year. Tentative Trump-inspired ceasefires helped stop violence between India and Pakistan, Cambodia and Thailand, Egypt and Ethiopia, Serbia and Kosovo, and Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Trump’s tariffs so far have not caused, as critics predicted, a recession or stock collapse. Instead, the stock market has reached all-time highs.

Trillions of dollars in promised foreign investments in the U.S. have set a record. And China, for the first time in 50 years, is facing an American-led global pushback against its exploitative, mercantilist trade policies.

The left is outraged about many of Trump’s executive orders.

But the public largely supports destroying the cartels’ seaborne drug shipments bound for the U.S. Polls show majorities favor banning transgender males from female sports, ending DEI racialist fixations, and enacting long-overdue higher education reforms.

Yet the daily news is about politicians’ f-bombs, government shutdowns, Trump’s social media trolling, and street violence. But the facts tell a different story of national recovery from the self-inflicted disasters of the recent past.

Victor Davis Hanson

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2025/10/30/are-americans-better-or-worse-off-since-january/

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Lebanon demands Israeli strikes stop, but does not address Hezbollah disarmament - analysis - Seth J. Frantzman

by Seth J. Frantzman

The ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon should mean that there are no Israeli strikes against Hezbollah, but that would only stop when the Lebanese Gov't starts disarming them.

Smoke billows from Nabatieh district, following Israeli strikes, according to two Lebanese security sources, as seen from Marjayoun, in southern Lebanon, May 8, 2025.

(photo credit: REUTERS/KARAMALLAH DAHER)

Lebanon wants Israel’s continued airstrikes to stop. Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire last November, after Israel dealt serious blows to Hezbollah. The ceasefire is ostensibly between Israel and Lebanon, and this covers Hezbollah because it should mean that Israel’s airstrikes stop.

However, Israel has asserted that it has a right to continue striking Hezbollah. Now tensions are growing. According to Reuters, " Lebanese President Joseph Aoun instructed the army on Thursday to confront any Israeli incursion into southern Lebanon after Israeli forces crossed the border overnight and killed a municipal employee, despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire.”

The main reason that the airstrikes continue is to prevent Hezbollah from re-growing its tentacles in Lebanon. The airstrikes likely also can pressure Lebanon to finally rein in Hezbollah and disarm it. There was optimism in the spring of 2025 that Lebanon would do the right thing. The new president, Joseph Aoun, and the new Prime Minister, Nawaf Salam, have appeared to want to disarm Hezbollah. They talk a good game. They also have regional support to disarm the group. The Arab states, such as Saudi Arabia, would like to see Hezbollah reduced in its power.

However, the problem with Aoun and Salam is that they have been involved in Lebanese politics and affairs for decades. They are creatures of the state. This means that, even though they may want to do the right thing, they aren’t yet able to think outside the box. In essence, they grew up with Hezbollah having an illegal terrorist army controlling part of Lebanon as the norm, and they can’t see a way forward.

How are they going to use the army to disarm Hezbollah when Aoun and Salam didn’t do it in the past in previous roles? Aoun is from the army. Salam has long experience in diplomacy. However, they never achieved much for Lebanon, and they have yet to achieve again.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun attends a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, March 28, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/Pool)

The difference is now that Iran and Hezbollah are greatly weakened. The Assad regime is also gone. This isolates Hezbollah. Lebanon had tried to pave the way for disarming Hezbollah by first disarming some Palestinian groups. They were successful in disarming Palestinian groups linked to Fatah, the leading group in the Palestinian Authority.

Hamas did not disarm. Fatah agreed to disarm based on an agreement with Beirut. As such, this showed how the government could disarm a group so long as the group is willing to do so. The government has no experience taking guns when groups don’t want to hand them over.

This illustrates why Lebanon has a hard time facing Hezbollah and making the next move. However, there was a spotlight on Lebanon this week as US Envoy Morgan Ortagus was in there. She had been in Israel prior to going to Lebanon.

UN and US role in disarming Hezbollah

There is also a focus on the UN and international organizations, as well as the role of the US and others in working on a mechanism that is supposed to aid Lebanon in finding Hezbollah arms and destroying them. This has led to conflicting reports about Lebanon’s success. Lebanon claims it has blown up Hezbollah arms caches. One report even claimed that Lebanon’s army had run out of explosives because it had destroyed so many Hezbollah arms using existing explosives. This seems far-fetched.

However, it feeds into the excuse factory that helps Lebanon avoid responsibility. Meanwhile, another report said that the UN and France had condemned Israel for an incident involving a drone and the UNIFIL peacekeeping force.

At the same time, Turkey’s Anadolu News Agency said that “during a meeting with Army Commander General Rudolph Haykal at Baabda Palace in Beirut, Aoun said the attack was staged a day after a meeting by the ceasefire oversight committee, ‘which must not limit itself to recording incidents but act to end them by pressing Israel to respect the November ceasefire agreement and cease its violations of Lebanese sovereignty.’”

This entire sequence of events illustrates how Lebanon and Israel may be careening toward a new crisis. There had been a year of hope. However, it seems that Hezbollah will not disarm and, in fact, wants to not only resist but also return to control parts of Lebanon. This will take time.

Pro-Hezbollah outlets in Lebanon, such as Al-Akhbar, are writing with approval about Lebanon potentially confronting Israel over the airstrikes. This shows how Hezbollah is playing its cards and trying to wait out the strikes until Lebanon, or perhaps the US, tries to reduce the Israeli attacks.

Seth J. Frantzman

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-872223

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Senate votes to end Trump tariffs on Canada with bipartisan support - Misty Severi

by Misty Severi

The Senate passed the resolution in a 50-46 vote, which saw Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and former Senate Leader Mitch McConnell vote with Democrats.

The Senate on Wednesday night voted to end tariffs that President Donald Trump placed on Canada earlier this year, by ending the national emergency declaration that put the tariffs in place.

The Senate passed the Democratic-led resolution in a 50-46 vote, which saw Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine and former Senate Leader Mitch McConnell vote with Democrats.

The vote comes after Trump ended trade talks with Canada last week after Ontario ran a controversial ad that featured a recording of a speech by Republican former President Ronald Reagan criticizing tariffs on foreign goods.

The Senate also repealed tariffs on Brazil on Tuesday in a 52-48 split, by ending the emergency declaration that allowed them to be enacted in the first place.

Despite the Senate's votes, the same moves are not expected to pass the House, which would also need to repeal the declarations in order to end the tariffs and Trump would need to sign them, according to ABC News.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/congress/senate-votes-end-trump-tariffs-canada-bipartisan-support

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Road closures, canceled trains: Mass ultra-Orthodox protests shut down Jerusalem's public transport - Moshe Cohen

by Moshe Cohen

Road closures began at noon, and Israel Police and Netvei Israel have called on the public to avoid driving to the entrance area to Jerusalem throughout the day.

Protests against haredi draft begins in Jerusalem, October 30, 2025.

(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)

Heavy traffic and significant disruptions are expected across Jerusalem and the roads leading to the city from 12:00 p.m. on Thursday due to ultra-Orthodox mass protests against the haredi draft law.

Israel Police and Netivei Israel have announced that Route 1 will be closed in both directions, from the Latrun area to Ginot Sakharov, including the entrance to Jerusalem via Route 16 and the Sha'ar Hagai area, depending on developments during the protests.

Netivei Israel has called on the public to utilize alternative routes, including Routes 443, 44, 38, and 3.

The police issued a request to the public to avoid Highway 1 and recommended that they avoid driving to the Jerusalem entrance area throughout the day.

Exiting Jerusalem will be possible via the Arazim Tunnel and Route 16. However, the available routes will likely face heavy traffic, and the roads may be too narrow to accommodate the many vehicles that will not be able to enter and exit Jerusalem via Route 1.

Additionally, Israel Railways has announced that Jerusalem’s Yitzhak Navon train station will be closed at 12:30 until regular service is resumed at the end of the protest.

All train lines and stations except Yitzhak Navon will operate as usual.

The National Traffic Management Center of Netivei Israel will operate a dedicated traffic control unit to manage traffic on the routes in the area and to monitor vehicle traffic in real time, in cooperation with the police, the Transportation Ministry, and security officials.

Some 2,000 officers will be on duty for the event

As part of the preparations for the protest, approximately 2,000 police officers, volunteers and Border Guard soldiers will be on duty before and during the event.

The rally, coordinated in advance with the police, will take place at the entrances to the city of Jerusalem.

The entry to Jerusalem via Highway 1 will be limited to pre-organized buses, which will be directed by police to passenger drop-off areas through the Givat Shaul junction.

Residents and workers of Jerusalem’s surrounding communities, Shoresh, Beit Meir, Neve Ilan, Mevaseret Zion, Har Adar, Abu Ghosh, Ein Rafa, and Ein Nekuba will be permitted to pass through police checkpoints only after presenting an ID card or employee ID.

Additionally, major roads within Jerusalem will be closed to traffic, including Givat Shaul Street and a section of Yafo Street.

Givat Shaul-Ramot Interchange will be closed in all directions, Ben Zvi-Rabbi Shmuel Baruch Street will be closed towards the entrance to the city, Shazar Boulevard will be closed towards the Givat Shaul Interchange, Herzl Boulevard will be closed from the Bari intersection towards Gesher Mitamitarim, the Malki Yisrael-Shari Yisrael intersection will be closed towards Nordo Square and Yirmiyahu Street.

Moshe Cohen

Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-872128

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