‘PATHOLOGICAL OBSESSION’: SENATOR CRUZ BLASTS BIDEN OVER CONDEMNATION OF ISRAEL: US Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations, blasted the Biden administration on Wednesday, January 4, after top administration officials condemned Israel and suggested that the government may be changing the “status quo” regarding the Temple Mount following National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir’s visit to the compound.
“The Biden administration’s pathological obsession with undermining Israel is endangering the national security of America and our allies,” said Cruz. “A visit by a minister from Israel’s government to a site inside Israel is not a change in any status quo arrangement, and it should not be controversial for a Jew to visit the holiest site in Judaism,” he clarified. “The statements from the Biden White House and State Department, which suggest otherwise, will further destabilize the Middle East and risk inciting terrorism. They convince Palestinian officials that compromise is unnecessary because Democrat administrations will coerce our Israeli allies into making dangerous concessions.” Cruz said that the Biden administration “has consistently sought to undermine Israel’s security and sovereignty over its territory. It prohibited even mentioning the ‘Abraham Accords,’ sought to open a Palestinian consulate in Israel’s capital Jerusalem, unleashed the FBI against the Israeli army, and publicly ostracized parts of Israel’s democratically elected government.” “Meanwhile, the administration is pouring over a billion dollars into Palestinian areas and bringing officials from the terrorist Palestine Liberation Organization to Washington, D.C. Now it is doubling down on these disastrous policies,” he concluded. (INN / VFI News)
TOP FATAH OFFICIAL: ISRAELIS CAN LEAVE PALESTINE BY SEA OR BY WADING INTO A SEA OF BLOOD: Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki said in a recent televised address that Israelis must choose between leaving Palestine by sea, or wading “into a sea of blood”.
He praised Palestinian Arab terrorists who have taken the initiative to carry out attacks and for causing Israel to “lose sleep”, and he said that the Palestinian Arabs have given “everything” for peace. He added that Israel’s settler “scum” should “think about leaving”. The comments aired on Palestine TV on January 2 and were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). “If the [Israelis] want to carry out what they proposed during the elections, then they will have to choose between two options: either they leave by way of the sea, or they wade in a sea of blood,” Zaki said. “We will not be afraid of the settlers. They should think about leaving. We gave peace every chance. The time has come to prepare for all the options that are open,” he added. Zaki, who is a member of the Fatah faction headed by Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, has lashed out at Israel on several occasions. In a speech in December of 2021, Zaki described Israel as a “ghoulish beast”. (INN / VFI News)
ISRAEL TO HALT PA CONSTRUCTION, WITHHOLD FUNDS IN RESPONSE TO UNGA VOTE: Israel plans to sanction the Palestinian Authority for its push to seek an advisory opinion against it from the world court by withholding tax frees, freezing building plans in Area C, penalizing Palestinian officials and taking steps against non-government groups it holds is involved in diplomatic warfare against the Jewish state.
The Prime Minister’s Office published information regarding the sanctions on Friday afternoon, January 6, after the security cabinet approved the measures Thursday during a closed-door meeting. “The current government will not sit idly by in the face of this war and will respond as necessary,” the Prime Minister’s Office said. Israel will transfer NIS 139 million from tax fees it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority to compensate the families of Palestinian terror victims. It will withhold PA tax fees to offset the monthly stipends the PA provides to the families of terrorists involved in killing Israelis. This will be retroactive to the start of 2022. Benefits will be denied to Palestinian VIPs “who are leading the political and legal war against Israel”, the PMO’s office said. The Security Cabinet said it would also continue to target non-governmental groups in the West Bank involved in terror activity or any hostile activity, “including political and legal action against Israel under the guise of humanitarian work.” (JPost / VFI News)
US, BRITAIN CONDEMN LATEST EXECUTIONS IN IRAN: State Department spokesperson Ned Price on Saturday, January 7, condemned the latest executions of protesters in Iran, after the Islamic Republic hanged two protesters who were found guilty over their alleged involvement in the death of a paramilitary officer.
“We condemn Iran’s sham trials & execution of Mohammad Mehdi Karami & Mohammad Hosseini in the strongest terms. These executions are a key component of the regime’s effort to suppress protests. We continue to work with partners to pursue accountability for Iran’s brutal crackdown,” tweeted Price. British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly also condemned the executions. “Iran must immediately end the violence against its own people. The execution of Mohammad Mahdi Karami and Seyed Mohammad Hosseini by the Iranian regime is abhorrent,” he tweeted. “The UK is strongly opposed to the death penalty in all circumstances,” added Cleverly. Previously, two men aged 23 were executed over the protests, and campaigners fear dozens more risk being hanged, as Iran uses capital punishment as an intimidation tactic in a bid to quell the protests. (INN / VFI News)
31 ISRAELI CIVILIANS MURDERED BY TERRORISTS IN 2022: 31 Israeli civilians were murdered and 734 injured in terrorist attacks in 2022, according to data released by the Rescuers Without Borders organization.
In total, 7,386 terrorist attacks were committed in the previous year, including 1,153 cases of stone throwing, 1,036 Molotov cocktails thrown, 559 cases of tires set on fire and 84 explosives thrown. 44 car bombs were set off during the year and Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria encountered 53 cases of stone barriers. 96 shooting attacks were recorded in the past year, as well as 9 stabbing attacks which resulted in casualties, 6 ramming attacks and one attack which included a combination of these methods. The organization noted that civilian murder victims in 2022 left 18 widows and widowers and 67 orphans and that 2 victims of attacks from previous years died from their wounds during the year. The organization further noted that its statistics do not include the hundreds of attacks on security forces during counterterror operations in the field. (INN / VFI News)
IRANIAN PLANNING CHEMICAL WEAPONS ATTACK ARRESTED IN GERMANY: An Iranian national suspected of planning a terrorist attack using chemical weapons was arrested in Castrop-Rauxel, northeast of Düsseldorf, Germany, early Sunday morning, January 8, according to the Düsseldorf public prosecutor, the Recklinghausen police and the Münster police.
According to local authorities, the Iranian citizen, 32, is suspected of preparing an “Islamist-motivated attack” using cyanide and ricin. News reports in Germany claimed that the intelligence came from Israel’s Mossad. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), ricin is “one of the most toxic biological agents known” and is designated as a Schedule 1 chemical warfare agent. The investigation is ongoing. According to German media, investigators raided the Iranian’s residence at around midnight. The scene was cordoned off and police, fire brigade and rescue workers were at the scene, many of whom were wearing protective suits. The evidence gathered by investigators was brought in blue barrels to a decontamination point set up by the fire department. The citizen and one other person have been arrested and evidence has been secured. According to a German media outlet, a “friendly intelligence service” informed German authorities about the danger of a chemical weapon attack. (JPost / VFI News)
AFTER DEMONSTRATING 57% REMISSION RATE, ISRAELI IMMUNOTHERAPY LICENSED BY US FIRM: An Israeli immunotherapy has successfully “reprogrammed the immune systems” of cancer patients, with a US-based pharma company licensing it for commercialization, its inventors revealed on Wednesday, January 4.
The treatment involves removing healthy white blood cells — T-cells — from cancer patients and adding an artificial molecule before returning the cells to the body, said Prof. Cyrille Cohen of Bar Ilan University. The molecule gives the T-cells powers to recognize and kill cells that cause multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer. Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem tested the therapy with different dose levels and found that, when given at the highest strength, 57 percent of multiple myeloma patients went into remission. Some 90% of patients given the high dose saw an improvement in their condition. Partial results from the ongoing study, which involved 50 cancer patients, have been peer-reviewed. The innovation arms of Bar Ilan and Hadassah Medical Center announced Wednesday that they have signed a deal with Los Angeles-based Immix BioPharma for the further development and commercialization of the therapy. It is named HBI0101, with the first three letters referencing Hadassah and Bar Ilan. “This is very exciting, and represents the first immunotherapy of its type developed entirely in Israel, a blue-and-white cancer treatment,” said Cohen, who co-invented HBI0101 together with Prof. Polina Stepensky of Hadassah, predicting that it could be in mainstream use within five years. (TOI / VFI News)
ISRAELI SINGER OFRA HAZA NAMED AS ONE OF 200 GREATEST SINGERS OF ALL TIME: Israeli singer Ofra Haza has been named to the list of Rolling Stone Magazine’s 200 greatest singers of all time, coming in at 186.
“Like a call to prayer, the opening phrase of Ofra Haza’s 1984 song ‘Im Nin’alu’ is instantly transportive, sweeping the listener up in her expressive, fluttery mezzo-soprano,” the magazine wrote of Haza. “And when U.K. production duo Coldcut sampled that passage on their landmark 1987 remix of Eric B. & Rakim’s ‘Paid in Full,’ it was a cross-cultural masterstroke that helped bring the Israeli singer’s unmistakable voice to the pop mainstream.” “Inspired by her Yemeni-Jewish ancestry, Haza combined traditional vocal conventions with modern technique to create something that felt at once ancient and ahead of its time.” “On albums like 1984’s Shirei Teiman, 1988’s Shaday, and 1992’s Kirya, her unprecedented splash in the U.S. pop market cemented her status as ‘The Madonna of the Middle East,’” the magazine added. Haza, who was born in Tel Aviv in 1957, was the youngest of nine children. She joined a local theater group at the age of 12 and became Israel’s foremost pop star at the age of 19. Haza recorded 17 studio albums and one live album. She passed away on February 23, 2000, at the age of 42. (INN / VFI News)
The suggestions, opinions and scripture references made by VFI writers and editors are based on the best information received.
Blessings from Jerusalem,
Barry Segal with the Editorial Staff
