Pompeo says Iranian 'regime's end is in reach' under Trump, urges him to embrace 'the resistance' - Nicholas Ballasy

 

by Nicholas Ballasy

"You, the resistance. You are on the right path," he says

 

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday that the Ayatollah's days are numbered and urged President-elect Trump to embrace the MEK "resistance" to fast-track the Iranian regime’s fall.

"The United States and the pressure campaign will return, making the regime even more fragile," Pompeo said during a speech at a conference in Paris, referencing Trump's second term. 

"You, the resistance. You are on the right path," he added.

The MEK’s leader Maryam Rajavi attended the event with Pompeo and offered similar remarks.

Pompeo said the resistance movement in Iran has "shown the incredible capacity and resilience to end the regime's brutality."

"And you've exposed much of the regime's nuclear sites, details of Iran's nuclear weapons and missile program and the world owes great debt for all of this hard work," he said. "The resistance has been willing to pay a very real and serious price. It has a platform that we can all support. And now has garnered a massive international support as well."

Pompeo continued, saying, "New U.S. policy, as the new administration comes in, needs to create even more space for the Iranian resistance to be vigilant on the ground."

He noted that Trump often "talked in detail about bringing back the maximum pressure campaign that had proved so successful."

"We can feel that the regime's end is in reach," he said.

He said the rapid fall of the Iranian-backed Assad regime in Syria exposes the weakness of the ruling mullah in Iran, including the Ayatollah Khomeini.

“I think that the fact that it fell so quickly, that it was such a paper tiger and I think that's told the world that the Ayatollah is finished, that his time is complete,” Pompeo said.

Nicholas Ballasy

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/pompeo-urges-trump-embrace-resistance-iran-says-regimes-end-reach

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Trump's 'Crazy' Ideas Not So Crazy After All - Lawrence Kadish

 

by Lawrence Kadish

 Trump's "Golden Age for America" seems to have begun already -- and he is not even president yet.

 

Pictured: President-elect Donald J. Trump speaks at a press conference in the Mar-a-Lago Club on January 7, 2025 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Why is it that people are always calling for someone to think "outside the box," then when someone does, say, "Aaaak! He thought outside the box!"

In that view, President-elect Donald J. Trump has already committed (at least) three heresies: Buy Greenland, stop China from controlling the Panama Canal and deepen America's affiliation with Canada.

All three ideas are neither crazy nor even new.

President Harry S. Truman looked at acquiring Greenland in 1946. Thomas Jefferson, after the Louisiana Purchase, proposed buying Cuba – just think how the Cubans would be prospering now, politically and economically, if that deal had gone through. Those acquisitions didn't take place but in 1917, the US did acquire Denmark's Virgin Islands for $25 million. As historian Stephen Press writes,

"As secretary of state, John Quincy Adams arranged debt relief for Spain in exchange for Florida. Secretary of State William Seward acquired Alaska. What Mr. Trump proposes is consistent with this American tradition—and with our current borders. Sovereignty purchases are responsible for more than 40% of U.S. land...

"History suggests the benefits of being open-minded about this. Inhabitants of Alaska wouldn't be better off under Russian sovereignty. Bringing Greenlanders into closer affiliation with the U.S., and sweetening the deal with economic subsidies, could conceivably prove beneficial to all parties"

As for the Panama Canal, President Jimmy Carter handed it to Panama for $1, but on the condition that it permanently remain a neutral zone – not one controlled at both ends by China. "We gave the Panama Canal to Panama," Trump has pointed out. "We didn't give it to China. They've abused that gift."

The US built the Panama Canal in the first place to be able to avoid having commercial and military sea traffic avoid the long journey around South America's southernmost sea route, the Strait of Magellan – where the Chinese Communist Party also located a base.

If there were to be a conflict with Communist China, it would be easy enough for them to block the Canal to U.S. use. As China expert Gordon G. Chang has pointed out:

"China's port facilities are at both ends of the canal. And when Gen. Laura Richardson took a helicopter ride over the Canal Zone, this was the middle of 2022; she said she 'looked down and saw all of these dual-use facilities.' ... at a time of war, they could make the canal totally useless.... They say that we have a two-ocean Navy. Well, we would have two separate navies. It'd be very difficult to get ships from the Atlantic to the Pacific, or vice versa."

Closer ties with Canada, as Trump appears to see them, would make a united-in-some-way North America a formidable landmass to any would-be adversary. "You get rid of that artificially drawn line," Trump stated, "and you take a look at what that looks like, and it would also be much better for national security. Don't forget, we protect Canada."

Trump seems to have been merely responding to the opening provided him by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, days before the latter announced that he would be resigning. According to Trump:

"I said what would happen if we didn't do it. He said Canada would dissolve. Canada wouldn't be able to function, if we didn't take their 20% of our car market... So, I said to him, well, why are we doing it? He said, I don't really know. He was unable to answer the question, but I can answer it. We're doing it because of habit, and we're doing it because we like our neighbors ,and we've been good neighbors. But we can't do it forever and it's a tremendous amount of money. And why should we have a $200 billion deficit and add on to that many, many other things that we give them in terms of subsidy?"

Trump has also announced a "Made in America," tax break incentive for investment in the US, and a "Golden Age of America."

It seems to have begun already -- and he is not even president yet.

Lawrence Kadish serves on the Board of Governors of Gatestone Institute.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21298/trump-crazy-ideas

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Who is Joseph Aoun, the Lebanese army commander elected president? - Reuters

 

by Reuters

Aoun's media appearances are extremely rare, and he has not stated a view on Hezbollah's arsenal.

 

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Lebanon's army chief Joseph Aoun stand after Aoun is elected as the country's President at the parliament building in Beirut, Lebanon, January 9, 2025.

(photo credit: REUTERS/MOHAMED AZAKIR)

General Joseph Aoun, the Lebanese army commander who was elected president on Thursday, kept his military on the sidelines of a recent war between Israel and Hezbollah, ordering it to prioritize civil peace even as troops were killed.

Aoun, a 60-year-old career soldier, became the fifth Lebanese army commander to be elected as president in Lebanon's history, ending a more than two-year vacuum in the post.

Since taking over the army command in 2017, he steered the institution through a national financial crisis that demolished the currency and with it the value of his soldiers' salaries, shaking an institution that has underpinned internal stability since the 1975-90 civil war.

He also kept it out of a more than year-long war between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group that had long expressed reservations about Aoun's candidacy. More than 40 Lebanese troops were killed in Israeli strikes over that period but the army did not clash with Israel directly.

Hezbollah has emerged bruised from the conflict, with Israeli strikes killing most of its top commanders and wreaking devastation on the group's bastions.

An illustrative image of a Hezbollah flag in the backdrop of an individual holding a weapon. (credit: SHUTTERSTOCK)

Aoun's media appearances are extremely rare, and he has not stated a view on Hezbollah's arsenal, widely considered to be more powerful than the Lebanese army's.

Aoun has a key role in shoring up a 60-day ceasefire brokered by Washington and Paris in November. The terms require the Lebanese military to deploy into south Lebanon as Israeli troops and Hezbollah withdraw forces.

In meetings with lawmakers in the lead-up to Thursday's election, US and Gulf officials expressed approval of him as the new president, without expressly endorsing him, parliamentarians in attendance told Reuters.

In a rare interview with pro-Hezbollah Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar in 2017, Aoun said he would "limit political interference" in the army.

He did not speak about his candidacy for the presidency in any public forum and did not make the rounds to Lebanon's divided political factions to shore up support, like other candidates typically do before an election.

Rare political statements

Aoun was born in Sin el-Fil near Beirut and enrolled in the army in 1983 during Lebanon's civil war. His first assignment was as a platoon commander in the army rangers in 1985 and his training included two infantry officer courses in the United States.

Shortly after his appointment as commander, the army waged an offensive to clear Islamic State terrorists from an enclave at the Syrian border, drawing praise from the US ambassador at the time, who said the military had done an "excellent job."

In becoming president, a post reserved for a Maronite Christian in Lebanon's sectarian system, he will follow in the footsteps of other former army commanders who have assumed the post, including the last head of state, Michel Aoun, who is no relation.

In an unusually political statement for an army commander, Aoun criticized ruling politicians over Lebanon's financial collapse in 2021, saying soldiers were going hungry along with the rest of the population and asking politicians "what do you intend to do?"

The United States, which has funneled more than $2.5 billion in support to the LAF since 2006, stepped in with additional aid, including helping salary support for soldiers.

Aoun described the support of friendly states, including Qatar, as "a strong support during this phase."

On Aoun's watch, US aid has continued to flow to the army, part of a US policy focused on supporting state institutions to curb the influence of Hezbollah, which Washington deems a terrorist group.

Aoun is married with two children.

Reuters

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-836828

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America and Europe Can Hang Together—Or Hang Separately - Victor Davis Hanson

 

by Victor Davis Hanson

Europe may soon quietly rejoice that Biden is gone, Trump is back, and they have a strong, loyal, and rowdy friend rather than a simpering enabler.

 

Consider these European and American binaries.

On December 20, 2024, a terrorist, Taleb Al-Abdul Mohsen, rammed his SUV into a Christmas crowd in Magdeburg, Germany. He killed 6 pedestrians and injured 299 others.

Eleven days later, on New Year’s Eve in New Orleans, Louisiana, Shamsud-Din Bahar Jabbar smashed his pickup into a festive crowd. He murdered fifteen and hurt over 35.

Germany’s fertility rate is scarcely above 1.4—about average for a shrinking European Union. About 20 percent of the country is now foreign-born, a record high.

American fertility has precipitously dived to 1.6. The foreign-born now represent 15 percent of the American resident population, the highest in both actual numbers (50 million) and percentages in history.

The German military is a shell of its former self, with fewer than 200,000 soldiers and a shortage of almost all types of weapons.

The U.S. military, after being humiliated in Afghanistan, is currently down some 40,000-plus recruits. It faces shortages of anti-tank weapons, artillery shells, ships, and logistical support.

Germany may finally manage to spend 2% of its GDP on defense; the United States is heading downward below 3%—the lowest in over 80 years since the Great Depression.

Last year, the German economy shrank; this year, it will scarcely grow, in part because of shortages of affordable fossil fuels.

Germans pay four times what Americans on average do for electricity. Yet the Trump administration has promised an oil and natural gas renaissance, hoping to expand both production and exports with envisioned new pipelines and liquefied natural gas terminals.

In sum, the U.S. is beginning to mimic the pathologies of Europe—and yet in the next four years, renewal could help slow the decline of both.

Both face shrinking and aging populations. Both either cannot or will not control their borders, despite popular protests. Both suffer from woke political correctness and are pushing back.

The proverbial people of both nations want smaller government—and more freedom of expression and less woke. They insist on less and legal-only immigration and secure borders.

They vote for cheaper energy and fewer regulations.

Europeans and Americans alike want more meritocracy and fewer fixations on race and gender.

In the chaos of the postmodern 21st century, Europe and the U.S. nevertheless are still likely to share the same enemies and friends.

Both resent the asymmetrical Chinese approach to global commerce, based on a mercantilism that would never allow Europe and the United States to treat China as it does both.

The Europeans and the Americans are both worried about a vastly expanding conventional and nuclear Chinese military.

Neither wants Iran to develop nuclear-tipped missiles with ranges to hit the capitals of both. They do not want Vladimir Putin to recreate the former Soviet Union’s borders.

Europe, as a rule, loves Democrats as kindred quasi-socialists. But privately many Europeans assume their own security and prosperity do better when America is governed by conservatives.

In the past, Europe has not been a fan of Donald Trump, both as president and as a pre- and post-presidency candidate.

They fear that he is an isolationist, insufficiently diplomatic, not fully supportive of NATO, or too tariff-happy for their tastes—and are scared of his art-of-the-deal trolling to prompt wake-up calls.

But 2025 is certainly not 2017 or even 2020. And a “reset” in thinking on both sides is urgently now needed more than ever.

The Biden administration was no model partner for Europe. It quite outrageously forced cancellations of a joint Cypriot, Greek, and Israeli EastMed pipeline to bring much-needed natural gas to Europe.

It talked a great game about strengthening NATO. But the alliance’s bulwark, the U.S. military, saw its real budget cut, its Pentagon politicized, and recruitment short more than 40,000 enlistees.

The humiliating 2021 skedaddle from Afghanistan not only eroded American credibility but undermined all Western deterrence as well.

Biden opposed building new liquefied natural gas export terminals in the U.S. designed to help energy-starved Europe find a reliable and honest supplier and decouple from Russia.

Trump, in contrast, promises to “drill, drill, drill,” in part to ensure needed income by exporting huge amounts of LNG to fuel-starved Europe.

Europe was angry that a bantering Trump once bullied them to meet their promises to increase their defense spending.

But after the invasion of Ukraine, they are happy that some countries did just that.

Europeans likely want—and need—Trump to restore a more deterrent U.S. military, not a woke one.

Europe and America are both in crisis and need radical new thinking.

So, who knows—Europe may soon quietly rejoice that Biden is gone, Trump is back, and they have a strong, loyal, and rowdy friend rather than a simpering enabler.

Victor Davis Hanson

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2025/01/09/america-and-europe-can-hang-together-or-hang-separately/

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Sa’ar, Levin reach deal to change makeup of Judicial Selection panel - JNS Staff

 

by JNS Staff

The main change: Two seats on the committee will be filled by Knesset-appointed attorneys.

 

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar (left) and Justice Minister Yariv Levin. Photo by Michael Dimenstein/GPO.

Seeking broad consensus for a change to the Judicial Selection Committee, the nine-member panel that chooses judges in Israel, Justice Minister Yariv Levin struck a deal with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, the outline of which was revealed on Thursday.

It also establishes rules regarding Basic Laws, which are viewed as having greater force than regular laws. The changes will limit such laws to certain topics, such as the identity of the state and human rights. It will also restrict judicial review of Basic Laws.

The agreement will presumably end the Supreme Court’s control over candidates by removing two positions previously held by members of the Israel Bar Association and replacing them with two attorneys who will be appointed by Knesset members.

One of the attorneys will be picked by the ruling coalition and one by the opposition. The compromise strips the Supreme Court of its de facto veto over appointments, yet gives a degree of control to the opposition.

A majority of at least five will be required for a selection, so long as one is a coalition member and one from the opposition.

In the current framework, the Judicial Selection Committee is made up of three Supreme Court judges, two government ministers, two Knesset members, and two lawyers from the Israel Bar Association.

As seven of the nine members are needed to approve a candidate, and the three judges vote as a bloc, they have veto power over nominees.

Given that the Bar Association lawyers typically vote with the judges (in large part because they don’t want to anger the judges who will hear their cases, critics say), the judges also end up with a majority.

Supporters of judicial reform have argued that the judges’ majority leads to homogeneity—judges who think alike.

With Sa’ar’s agreement, support for the reform will include all coalition members. Sa’ar, who formed the New Hope Party after leaving the Likud, joined the government in September, increasing the coalition’s majority from 64 to 68 in the 120-member Knesset.

The reform, far narrower than the judicial reform package envisioned by Levin when he first announced it in January 2023, may also attract some opposition members.

MK Matan Kahana, a member of Benny Gantz’s National Unity Party, has already declared that he would support the agreement.

“If this is the deal, it does seem like a good proposal around which a broad consensus can be formed,” Kahana said. “All this on the condition that the minister of justice upholds the High Court’s ruling and appoints a permanent president before next Thursday.”

Kahana referred to the court’s Sept. 8 ruling that Levin must convene the Judicial Selection Committee so that it can choose a Supreme Court president, among other appointments.

Justice Isaac Amit, who has been acting president of the court since Oct. 1, is slated to become the next Supreme Court president. Levin has adamantly opposed Amit’s appointment, but as part of the compromise deal has agreed to withdraw his opposition.

JNS Staff

Source: https://www.jns.org/saar-levin-reach-deal-to-change-makeup-of-judicial-selection-panel/

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Trump asks Supreme Court to block release of entire Jack Smith report - Ben Whedon

 

by Ben Whedon

“Garland cannot issue the Final Report because Smith is invalidly appointed,” Trump's team argued.

 

President-elect Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to block the release of special counsel Jack Smith's entire report after Attorney General Merrick Garland said he would release only the portion addressing the D.C. election case.

“Garland cannot issue the Final Report because Smith is invalidly appointed,” Trump's team argued, according to The Hill. “There is, therefore, no authority for Smith to do anything that he did.”

U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon previously dismissed Smith's Mar-a-Lago case against Trump, asserting that he was improperly appointed. Smith had brought a separate case in D.C. over his election challenges, though that case was stalled due to court decisions on presidential immunity and Trump's election rendered it defunct.

Trump's team further argued that the sections addressing each case reference one another and that the DOJ's plans to share the report with members of Congress would make it possible for staffers to leak the entire report.

The matter is separate from Trump's request that the Supreme Court block his Friday sentencing in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's hush money case. Trump was convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with a 2016 payment his then-attorney, Michael Cohen, made to Stormy Daniels. He has denied wrongdoing and contended that both prosecutions were politically motivated.

Ben Whedon

Source: https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/all-things-trump/trump-asks-supreme-court-block-release-entire-smith-report

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Federal judge rejects Biden administration's Title IX rules - Nicholas Ballasy

 

by Nicholas Ballasy

U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves ruled the Department of Education “exceeded its statutory authority.”

 

A federal judge in Kentucky on Thursday blocked the Biden administration’s Title IX rules that would define sex by individuals' gender identity.

The ruling was made in the Cardona v. Tennessee case in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Kentucky, Northern Division.

U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves ruled that the Department of Education “exceeded its statutory authority” with the Title IX regulations.

"The Biden administration’s radical attempt to redefine sex not only tossed fairness, safety, and privacy for female students out the window, it also threatened free speech and parental rights," said Alliance Defending Freedom CEO Kristen Waggoner, whose group represented a "15-year-old girl in West Virginia who was forced to compete against a male athlete on her middle school track-and-field team" in the case.

"This ruling provides enormous relief for students across the country, including our client who has already suffered harassment by a male student in the locker room and on her sports team," Waggoner said.

Nicholas Ballasy

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/federal-judge-rejects-biden-administrations-title-ix-rule

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Halevi: Hamas understands its position becoming ‘unbearable’ - JNS Staff

 

by JNS Staff

"We will bring them to the point where they understand that they must return all the hostages," said the IDF chief of staff • IAF targets Oct. 7 terrorists in Khan Yunis.

 

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi during a situational assessment in Jabalia, Gaza on Jan. 6, 2025. Credit: IDF.

Hamas understands that its position is becoming “unbearable,” Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said on Monday, adding, “and I’m telling you—we won’t stop.”

Speaking during a situation assessment on Monday night in the Jabalia area of the Gaza Strip, Halevi emphasized the ongoing military pressure on the terrorist group and vowed to maintain it.

הרמטכ״ל בג'באליה: ״נביא את חמאס לנקודה שהם יבינו שהם צריכים להביא את כל החטופים חזרה״ pic.twitter.com/PUwbfmzW3G

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) January 7, 2025

“We will bring them to the point where they understand that they must return all the hostages. Otherwise, the highly professional work you are doing will continue and continue—taking more prisoners and killing more operatives. And I know you are doing everything possible to minimize casualties on our side,” he said.

He was joined by senior commanders, including Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, commanding officer of the Southern Command; Brig Gen. Itzik Cohen, commanding officer of the 162nd Division; and several brigade commanders.

Israeli strikes target Hamas terrorists

In response to ongoing threats, an IDF helicopter gunship targeted a Hamas command center, hidden inside a school building in the Jabalia area, the army announced Wednesday afternoon.

“Hamas terrorists used the school as a base to plan and carry out attacks against IDF forces and Israel,” the military statement said.

The strike was executed following intelligence gathered by the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate, the army’s Southern Command and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), which had been carefully coordinated to minimize harm to civilians.

Before launching the strike, the military implemented several measures to ensure the safety of noncombatants, it said.

On Tuesday evening, the Israeli Air Force carried out targeted strikes against multiple terrorists in the Khan Yunis area in southern Gaza. These individuals were directly involved in Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre within Israeli territory, the IDF said.

The attacks were conducted based on intelligence from the IDF and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).

Extensive precautions were taken to minimize harm to civilians, according to the military, including the deployment of precision-guided munitions, aerial surveillance and detailed intelligence assessments.

“The Hamas terrorist organization systematically violates international law, while exploiting civilian infrastructure and the Gazan population as human shields for terrorist activity,” the IDF said, adding that it will continue to pursue the terrorists who took part in the Oct. 7 massacre.

JNS Staff

Source: https://www.jns.org/halevi-hamas-understands-its-position-becoming-unbearable/

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Trump envoy heads to Doha as hostage talks intensify - JNS

 

by JNS

The president-elect repeated his stark warning that "all hell will break loose in the Middle East" if the captives are not released before he takes office.

 

U.S. investor Steve Witkoff attends the last day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 18, 2024. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon/AFP Getty Images.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff was scheduled to be in Doha, Qatar, on Wednesday to advance multilateral negotiations aimed at securing the release of the hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza.

During a press conference on Tuesday at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, Witkoff, a Jewish businessman and longtime friend of the president-elect, expressed optimism about the ongoing discussions.

“I believe they’re doing an excellent job in Doha,” Witkoff stated. “I’m hopeful that by the [Jan. 20] inauguration, we’ll have positive news to share on behalf of the president. It’s really the president’s vision, his reputation, and his words that are driving these negotiations,” he added. “So, hopefully, everything will come together, and lives will be saved.”

When asked whether a deal could be reached before his inauguration, Trump said, “There better be.” He reiterated his stark warning about the potential fallout if the hostages are not released.

“All hell will break loose if those hostages aren’t returned. I don’t want to undermine the negotiations, but if they’re not back by the time I take office, the Middle East will face chaos like never before. It won’t be good for Hamas or anyone else,” said Trump. “They should have released them a long time ago. In fact, the Oct. 7 attack should never have happened.”

Praising Witkoff’s efforts, Trump remarked, “Steve has a big job ahead of him. He’s a great negotiator and a respected figure over there. That’s what we needed—someone who understands the complexities of the Middle East and can communicate effectively. Many so-called experts don’t have that ability.”

Hamas still holds 100 hostages in Gaza. Israel believes that more than 60 are alive.

JNS

Source: https://www.jns.org/trump-envoy-heads-to-doha-as-hostage-talks-intensify/

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Biblical map posted by MFA stirs diplomatic storm - Ohad Merlin

 

by Ohad Merlin

Jordanian, Palestinian outlets reject ‘fabrication of history’, denounce ‘allegations, illusions and vile aspirations’

 

Biblical map posted by MFA stirs diplomatic storm

(photo credit: SCREENSHOT/X)

A diplomatic tempest was created following a post published by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, which featured a biblical map, with many in the Arab world viewing it as a direct threat to the sovereignty of Arab countries.

The map, uploaded by the Arabic language account of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, showed the biblical boundaries of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judea, which extended according to Biblical accounts into different areas east of the Jordan river.

“Did you know that the Kingdom of Israel was established 3000 years ago?” Read the first sentence of the post, which then proceeded to portray the biblical accounts of kings Saul, David, and Solomon, as well as the partition of the kingdom to the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judea, and their respective destruction and exile by the Assyrian and Babylonian empires.

The post concluded: “However, the Jewish people in the diaspora continued to look forward to the revival of their powers and capabilities and the rebuilding of their state, which was declared in the State of Israel in 1948 to become the only democracy in the Middle East.”

هل تعلم ان مملكة إسرائيل كانت قائمة منذ 3000 سنة؟

أول ملك حكمها لمدة 40 عاما كان الملك شاؤول (1050--1010) ق. م. ثم تلاه الملك داود الذي حكمها 40 عاما تقريبا (1010-970 ) ق.م. وعقبه الملك سليمان الذي حكم ايضا لمدة 40 عاما في الفترة (970-931) ق.م.

دام حكم الملوك الثلاثة… pic.twitter.com/xK7jjORdOK

— إسرائيل بالعربية (@IsraelArabic) January 6, 2025

‘Fabricating history’

However, not everyone saw this as a simple history or cultural lesson. The map was featured in outlets across the Middle East, including Saudi channel Al-Arabiya, Qatari outlet Al Jazeera, and others, with most channels overlooking the map’s educational purpose and connecting it to alleged Israeli plans and schemes.

Such was the case with the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, which starkly condemned the publications made by the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

“The ministry condemns in the strongest terms the maps of the region published by official Israeli accounts on social media platforms, claiming that they are historical for Israel, including parts of the occupied Palestinian territories, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria,” read the public statement, adding the publication comes “in conjunction with racist statements by the extremist Israeli Finance Minister calling for the annexation of the West Bank and the establishment of settlements in the Gaza Strip.”

The official spokesman for the ministry, Sufian Qudah, stressed the kingdom's “absolute rejection of these policies and provocative statements that aim to deny the Palestinians' right to establish their independent and sovereign state.”

Qudah also stressed that these “allegations and delusions adopted and promoted by extremists in the Israeli government… encourage the continuation of cycles of violence and conflict, constitute a blatant violation of international norms and laws.”

He also called on the Israeli government to “immediately stop these provocative actions, and to stop the provocative statements made by Israeli officials, which have no place except in the minds of extremists, and which contribute to fueling conflicts and constitute a threat to international peace and security.”

Likewise, the Jordanian speaker of Parliament Ahmad al-Safadi deemed claimed that the maps “express a criminal mentality and malicious ambitions that cannot be ignored or tolerated."

Palestinian commenters didn’t remain silent either, with the Palestinian Authority rejecting what it named “alleged maps of historical Israel that include Arab lands”.

In a formal statement, PA spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh denounced the “alleged map with a comment fabricating an Israeli history dating back thousands of years in line with the Hebrew allegations.” He added that "this behavior constitutes a flagrant violation of all international legitimacy resolutions and international law, claiming that “these extremist Israeli policies are what ignited the region and led to the wars we are currently witnessing.”

Likewise, Palestinian writer Yaseen Izeddeen claimed on his X account that the publication of the maps “is not the first time and it will not be the last, but it is part of their beliefs that drive the occupation government.” He also claimed that “The current rulers of Israel declare that Jordan is part of the Land of Israel, and these are old positions that go back more than a hundred years,” accusing that “Jordan is among their aspirations, but they leave it for the next stage” and criticizing the rulers of Jordan as having “no choice but to listen and obey their masters in Tel Aviv and Washington.

Despite this, not all voices were conspiratorial or rejecting. Luay al-Shareef, a peace activist from the Gulf, commented on the original post: “Sound words that are consistent with history, the Quran, the Bible, and archaeology. It is worth noting that millions of Muslims bear the name of the Israelite king and prophet David, son of Yishai, whose historical kingdom’s denial poses a dilemma in the Islamic faith for those who are fanatical about the Palestinian cause.”

The Israeli Foreign Ministry is yet to respond to The Jerusalem Post’s comment request.

Ohad Merlin

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-836612

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