Every American has the right to participate in public life without violence, and that includes Donald Trump. Personally, I think he probably belongs in jail, but that is a matter for the justice system.

 

After former President Donald Trump was booked at the Fulton County Jail in August, his campaign plastered the mugshot on mugs, T-shirts, bumper stickers and beverage coolers. 

He is a convicted felon. He can not vote, or own a gun - Nobody ever envisioned a convicted felon would run for President of the USA. He  has to check in with his probation officer monthly. He can not leave the country without permission from his probation officer! He must notify his probation officer of his daily travel schedule! For those that do not understand what all this means - A CONVICTED FELON IS A CONVICTED CRIMINAL!

Trump’s campaign has reported raising millions from gear emblazoned with the former president’s mugshot.

This booking photo shows Donald Trump on Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, after he surrendered and was booked at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta.

Not That Kind of Man

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Every American has the right to participate in public life without violence, and that includes Donald Trump. Personally, I think he probably belongs in jail, but that is a matter for the justice system. I also think he is easily the worst president in American history and one of the very worst people in our national life. But my feelings have no bearing on his rights or his safety. He is an American, and I want him to be treated fairly in court. He is my fellow citizen, and I want him to walk our streets without being in danger. He is a candidate for public office in the United States, and I want our government to ensure his safety—I am willing to be taxed to pay for his security.

If only Trump and his homunculus, J. D. Vance, cared as much about the safety of others as so many others care about theirs.

My colleague David A. Graham has already noted the misery that Vance is bringing down on his own constituents in Ohio, using hatred against immigrants to set neighbors against one another, a conflict that has led to the closure of schools and the lockdown of two hospitals. Vance is a product of such a working-class town, but in reality he is an utterly synthetic politician, a power-seeking drone who will do almost anything to further his political fortunes. In this case, he is casting the innocent people of Springfield, Ohio, in his own obscene little drama about migrant savages roaming the streets of the heartland trying to sink their teeth into Fluffy and Fido. Sure, it’s a pack of lies—Vance admitted on CNN that he and Trump are “creating stories”—but it’s all for the greater good, you see, of advancing the career of the Hillbilly Senator.

Trump, meanwhile, is turning the violence against him into fuel for more political hatred. In July, a young man—a loner with no obvious political agenda—tried to kill Trump in Pennsylvania, and almost did. And now another man is under arrest for a possible assassination attempt after being discovered near Trump’s golf course, apparently lying in wait for the former president. Once again, the suspect seems to be something of a weird loner who said on X that he voted for Trump in 2016 but in subsequent elections, according to federal campaign-finance records, began donating to Democrats. One might hope that these brushes with death would bring Trump a moment of reflection and, perhaps, even something like grace. But if Trump were capable of such a response, he wouldn’t be the man he is.

After the attack in July, Trump engaged in a self-indulgent ramble at the GOP convention, but he did not blame the Democrats; he left that for his surrogates in the party. This time, he’s not even bothering with any of that outsourcing and is instead using this latest incident to blame his political opponents, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, for putting him in danger. He also blames the justice system and the charges brought against him—charges in multiple venues that have been filed in the name of the State of Georgia, the People of New York State, and the United States of America—for encouraging others to try to kill him.

He posted this today on Truth Social and X, and I offer it here verbatim and in its entirety:

*The Rhetoric, Lies, as exemplified by the false statements made by Comrade Kamala Harris during the rigged and highly partisan ABC Debate, and all of the ridiculous lawsuits specifically designed to inflict damage on Joe’s, then Kamala’s, Political Opponent, ME, has taken politics in our Country to a whole new level of Hatred, Abuse, and Distrust. Because of this Communist Left Rhetoric, the bullets are flying, and it will only get worse! Allowing millions of people, from places unknown, to INVADE and take over our Country, is an unpardonable sin. OUR BORDERS MUST BE CLOSED, AND THE TERRORISTS, CRIMINALS, AND MENTALLY INSANE, IMMEDIATELY REMOVED FROM AMERICAN CITIES AND TOWNS, DEPORTED BACK TO THEIR COUNTIES OF ORIGIN. WE WANT PEOPLE TO COME INTO OUR COUNTRY, BUT THEY MUST LOVE OUR NATION, AND COME IN LEGALLY AND THROUGH A SYSTEM OF MERIT. THE WORLD IS LAUGHING AT US AS FOOLS, THEY ARE STEALING OUR JOBS AND OUR WEALTH. WE CANNOT LET THEM LAUGH ANY LONGER. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!*

In other words, Trump is blaming two possible attempts to kill him on pretty much anyone who isn’t an open partisan on his side, and that includes Biden, Harris, me, and millions of other Americans.

Self-awareness is not part of Trump’s personality: He is complaining about overheated rhetoric while constantly spewing such rhetoric himself. He has called Harris various names, and he refers to everyone else he doesn’t like as “vermin” and “scum” and other insults. (Today he called the sitting president and vice president of the United States “the enemy from within.”) Many of Trump’s political opponents and public critics have been the targets of plots and threats, including a pipe-bombing campaign. At this point, with two apparent plots against him foiled, a more thoughtful person would consider what he could do to help turn down the temperature in the nation. But again, Trump is not that kind of man.

America, however, has had such leaders. Many of Trump’s supporters on social media, afflicted with short memories and a lack of historical awareness, seem to believe that the attacks on Trump are unprecedented. Two assassination attempts in about two months is indeed horrifying, but it is not unprecedented: In 1975, President Gerald Ford survived two such attempts in fewer than three weeks. One assailant was a woman from West Virginia named Sara Jane Moore. The other was an acolyte of the murderer Charles Manson, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme. Both of them came within feet of killing Ford.

Ford was a decent man and an underrated president, and he certainly had enemies, especially after pardoning Richard Nixon. (Moore was obsessed with the Vietnam War and thought that assassinating Ford would spark a violent national revolution.) But he did not blame his opponents for the attempts on his life. He did not blame America, or the courts, or anyone else. He also did not use the attacks by Moore and Fromme to fundraise: Trump used his attacks to beat the bushes for money within a few hours. Instead, Ford acceded to the Secret Service’s request that he start wearing a trench coat with a zip-in Kevlar vest. (It was very uncomfortable and he disliked wearing it.) He then went back out in public and conducted a presidential campaign, which he lost.

Trump doesn’t deserve to be the target of violence any more than his opponents do, even if his own rhetoric has inspired multiple threats against public figures—and, of course, a seditious riot. 

We are a better country, and a better people, than Trump, and every good American citizen should insist on his protection and his safety. But he and Vance seem unable to insist on ours—a fundamental duty of elected officials—and this makes them unfit to hold any American public office.

Bret Stephens expresses my sentiments exactly:

"If Trump wins the election, I’ll feel sick. If Harris wins, I’ll feel scared. A Trump victory is going to complete the G.O.P.’s transition to a full-blown MAGA party that trades conservative convictions for illiberal ones. A Harris victory puts an untested leader in the White House at a moment of real menace from ambitious autocrats in Moscow, Beijing, Pyongyang and Tehran. A Trump victory means the country is again going to go crazy with all the cultural furies he unleashes, both for and against him. A Harris victory means four more years of misbegotten economic policies, like the threat to put controls on prices some federal bureaucrat deems to be too high. A Trump victory is dreadful for Ukraine. A Harris victory could be terrible for Israel. A Trump victory empowers people who don’t accept the results of an election. A Harris victory empowers a candidate who has never won a presidential primary and whose supporters want to jail their political opponent."

The Worthless Abraham Accords - Renaming it the Esau Accords! The Idiot Americans Just Don't Get It, Unless of Course You Want To Build Hotels & Golf Courses There!

 

UAE's FM says country will not support day-after Gaza plan without creating Palestinian state

 

Donald J. Trump, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Foreign Affairs for the United Arab Emirates Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan sign the Abraham Accords Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, on the South Lawn of the White House

WIKI:

The Abraham Accords are bilateral agreements on Arab–Israeli normalization signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and between Israel and Bahrain on September 15, 2020.^[1][2] Mediated by the United States, the announcement of August 13, 2020, concerned Israel and the UAE before the subsequent announcement of an agreement between Israel and Bahrain on September 11, 2020. On September 15, 2020, the signing of the agreements was hosted by US president Trump on the Truman Balcony of the White House amid elaborate staging intended to evoke the signings of historic formal peace treaties in prior administrations.^[3][4][5]

As part of the two agreements, both the UAE and Bahrain recognized Israel's sovereignty, enabling the establishment of full diplomatic relations. Israel's initial agreement with the UAE marked the first instance of Israel establishing diplomatic relations with an Arab country since 1994, when the Israel–Jordan peace treaty came into effect.^[6] The agreements were named "Abraham Accords" to highlight the common belief of Judaism and Islam in the prophet Abraham.^[7][8]

The Israel–United Arab Emirates normalization agreement, officially the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement: Treaty of Peace, Diplomatic Relations and Full Normalization Between the United Arab Emirates and the State of Israel,^[1] was initially agreed to in a joint statement by the United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates on August 13, 2020, officially referred to as the Abraham Accords.^[2][a] The UAE thus became the third Arab country, after Egypt in 1979 and Jordan in 1994, to agree to formally normalize its relationship with Israel,^[3][4][5] as well as the first Persian Gulf country to do so.^[6][7] Concurrently, Israel agreed to suspend plans for annexing parts of the West Bank.^[6][8] The agreement normalized what had long been informal but robust foreign relations between the two countries.^[9][10] The agreement was signed at the White House on September 15, 2020.^[11] It was approved unanimously by the Israeli cabinet on October 12^[12] and was ratified by the Knesset on October 15.^[13] The UAE parliament and cabinet ratified the agreement on October 19. The agreement went into effect on January 5, 2021.^[14]

On August 16, 2020, the UAE for the first time established telephone links to Israel by unblocking direct dialing to Israel's +972 country code.^[15] The first direct commercial flight from Israel to the UAE took place on August 31, 2020,^[16] and the first ship carrying cargo from the United Arab Emirates to Israel entered the Port of Haifa on October 12.

^{[17]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel%E2%80%93United_Arab_Emirates_normalization_agreement}

The international stage is once again witnessing heightened diplomatic tensions as the aftermath of the Gaza war ignites fresh debates over the longstanding Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A central issue in these discussions is the United Arab Emirates’ refusal to support any post-war reconstruction efforts in Gaza without a clear plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state. This position, echoed by UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Saturday, reflects a growing regional consensus on the need for a two-state solution to resolve the conflict.

Abdullah made his stance clear in a statement posted on X/Twitter emphasizing that the UAE’s participation in Gaza’s recovery would be contingent upon progress toward Palestinian statehood. “The United Arab Emirates is not ready to support the day after the war in Gaza without the establishment of a Palestinian state,” he declared.

The UAE’s position aligns with the sentiments expressed during a Joint Ministerial Contact Group meeting in Madrid last week, where representatives from several Muslim and European countries convened to discuss ways to end the Gaza war.

UAE's position endorsed

Hosted by Spain, the meeting brought together foreign ministers from nations such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Norway, and Slovenia, as well as Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa. The group, which also included the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, reiterated the necessity of implementing a two-state solution based on international law.

Speaking at the Madrid meeting on Friday, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares called for a concrete schedule to ensure the realization of the two-state solution, asserting that it is the only viable path to peace in the region. “The implementation of the two-state solution is the only way,” Albares stated, urging the international community to move beyond rhetoric and take concrete actions toward resolving the conflict.

Notably absent from the Madrid talks was Israel, a decision Albares defended by stating that Israel was not part of the contact group. “We will be delighted to see Israel at any table where peace and the two-state solution are discussed,” he said. This exclusion, however, underscored the widening gap between Israel and many international actors over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

As the Madrid meeting concluded with a renewed call for “Palestine” to join the United Nations, Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz launched a scathing attack on Borrell, accusing him of antisemitism. Katz’s harsh comments were triggered by Borrell’s participation in discussions about the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Katz denounced Borrell as an “antisemitic Israel-hater,” comparing him to “the greatest antisemites in history.” He further accused the EU foreign policy chief of leading a “hateful, antisemitic campaign” against Israel while failing to confront the growing influence of Iran in the region. “Rather than confronting the Iranian axis of evil, which poses a threat to Europe’s security, Borrell sides with them in promoting anti-Israel initiatives,” the foreign minister charged.

The exchange between Katz and Borrell highlighted the deepening rift between Israel and the European Union regarding the future of the region. Borrell responded to Katz’s accusations by rejecting the notion that his advocacy for a two-state solution is driven by antisemitism. “Accusing those who disagree with a government’s position of antisemitism makes no sense,” Borrell said.

---

“There have, unfortunately, been examples in history of what it means to be antisemitic, and I don’t think we should play with big words that have had a tragic dimension in history,” he added, alluding to the historical weight of the term. Borrell defended his participation in the Madrid talks, stating that supporting a Palestinian state is not tantamount to opposing Israel but rather seeking a path to lasting peace. 

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-820071?

Two Zonas Walk Into The Knesset......Netanyahu promised the haredi party heads that he would approve a private bill allowing an exemption from enlistment for yeshiva students.

 

Report: Netanyahu and Goldknopf reach agreement on Draft Law

 

Hamodia newspaper reports that an agreement was reached between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UTJ chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf on the formulation and promotion of the Draft Law in the coming days.

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Draft LawBenjamin NetanyahuYitzhak Goldknopf

 

 

 

Netanyahu and Goldknopf

Has an agreement been reached on the promotion of the Draft Law? A report in the Hamodia newspaper, which is affiliated with the Agudat Yisrael faction of the United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party, said that an agreement was reached between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and UTJ chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf on the formulation and promotion of the Draft Law in the coming days.

According to the report, the planned law "will recognize the importance of Torah study and of Torah students and will thwart the harm being done to yeshiva students." The move, it was reported, follows instructions from the leadership of the haredi public.

Goldknopf clarified to Netanyahu that the law must pass three readings in the Knesset before the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the report said.

The meeting between the two took place at the Kirya in Tel Aviv, with the participation of other senior officials from the offices of both.

According to the report, it was agreed that there will be a follow-up meeting between the sides next week, in order to monitor the progress of the preparation of the law.

The Draft Law has been met with obstacles, among other things from Likud members MK Amichai Chikli, Moshe Sa'ada, and Dan Illouz, who wrote a letter to the Prime Minister after the war broke out, saying, "We can no longer calmly accept a situation in which certain groups in society take the burden of security onto their shoulders, with its heavy price, while other groups in the nation of Israel continue to live their routines."

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant promised that he would not support the law, unless it received broad support, including from members of the opposition.

At the time, Netanyahu promised the haredi party heads that he would approve a private bill allowing an exemption from enlistment for yeshiva students. In June, the Knesset approved the revival of a draft law which had been put forth during the previous Knesset by MK Benny Gantz. However, a short time later, the Supreme Court ordered that all yeshiva students be drafted, and that funding for their yeshivas be ended.

UTJ then demanded that Netanyahu approve the Draft Law by the end of the Knesset's summer session, but this did not happen.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/396113?utm_source=activetrail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

While The Halacha Is Not Clear Explicitly - Rav Moshe Feinstein Does Make A Difference Between Outside & Inside and Permanent Place of Tefillah Versus Temporary Place of Tefillah. (PM)

 

Judge seeks rabbis’ input on separated prayer in Tel Aviv 

 

The court needs to know whether the Chief Rabbinate requires a divider between the sexes when praying outside.

Rosh Yehudi's lawyer, Harel Arnon (right), with petitioner Irit Linur at a hearing in Tel Aviv District Court on Sept. 4, 2024. 

 

For the second time this month, the Tel Aviv District Court postponed ruling on a petition asking it to order the municipality to allow sex-separated prayers on Yom Kippur on public grounds.

In the hearing on Thursday, Judge Erez Yakuel instructed the municipality to obtain by Sept. 19 a position paper from the Tel Aviv Religious Council, which is subordinate to the Chief Rabbinate, on the municipality’s claim that Jewish law does not require a divider to separate the sexes when praying outside.

The municipality claimed this at a preliminary hearing last week on a petition by 14 residents and the Rosh Yehudi group, whose mission statement is strengthening Jewish identity. The petitioners went to court following the municipality’s refusal last month to issue a permit for the annual Yom Kippur prayer that Rosh Yehudi has been organizing at Dizengoff Square in recent years. The holy day begins this year at sunset on Oct. 11.

The events of last year’s Yom Kippur prayer at Dizengoff Square, which Rosh Yehudi held with a permit, shocked Jews and others across the world. Secular activists interrupted the event, tearing down Rosh Yehudi’s dividers—frames made of flexible materials to symbolically separate the sexes while respecting the municipality’s ban on physical barriers. Some activists threw prayer books into the square’s fountain as they harassed and chased away Jews trying to pray on Judaism’s holiest day.

At last week’s hearing, the judge postponed ruling because he wanted the parties to compromise. Rosh Yehudi told the court it would move the event to anywhere in the city. The municipality insisted it could not allow sex-separated prayer because this would discriminate against women.

https://www.jns.org/judge-seeks-rabbis-input-on-separated-prayer-in-tel-aviv/?

Those interested in pursuing this topic, see Sefer Chassidim 393; Yam Shel Shelomo, Ketuvot 1:20; Levush, Likkutei Minhangim 36; Bach, Even Ha-Ezer 62; and Kitzur Shulchan Arukh 149.  See also Iggerot Moshe OC 1:41 and Seridei Eish 1:77. PM.

No Torah - No Scruples - No Morals - Hurt the Millions To Keep The 60,000 Bench Kvetchers In Their Beds At Night!

 

UTJ to Netanyahu: Without a draft law - there will be no budget

 

Sources in United Torah Judaism send message to the Prime Minister indicating that the party expects him to advance a draft law as agreed upon in the coalition agreements.

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Yitzhak Goldknopf

Officials in the haredi United Torah Judaism Party on Wednesday evening sent a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the party expects him to manage the coalition and promote a haredi draft law as agreed upon in the coalition agreements.

The officials made clear that "without a draft law, there is no point in bringing forward a budget".

A similar message was delivered on Tuesday by the Minister of Housing and the chairman of United Torah Judaism, Yitzhak Goldknopf, directly to Netanyahu.

According to sources close to the Minister of Housing, Goldknopf told Netanyahu, "There is no point in bringing a state budget to a vote without a draft law."

Related articles:

• Grandmother of wounded soldier attacked by haredi protesters
• Violence breaks out at anti-draft protest in Jerusalem

This move comes against the background of ongoing discussions in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on the draft law. Last week, Goldknopf attended the committee's deliberations, in what was seen as an attempt to "speed up the passage of the draft law."

Upon leaving the discussion, the minister clarified, "If there is no draft law, there will be no government, not even for [Benny] Gantz."

 

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/396056?utm_source=activetrail&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=nl

No One Alone - No One Forgotten

There were at least two op-eds in the New York Times in the last few days arguing that if Harris was to win last night’s debate, she could not spend her time attacking Trump but had to show that she had tangible policy proposals for the American people.  Well, Harris did win the debate (I’m not aware of anybody who disagrees with this, including conservative websites like the National Review), but it was not because of her policy proposals. (Fortunately, I managed to stay awake to watch the whole thing.)

The NYT was wrong: Harris won the debate hands down, not by presenting tangible policies (she did mention a few), but by doing what she was told not to do: baiting and attacking Trump. She did it calmly but persistently, to the point where Trump became so baffled and enraged that he simply lost it, becoming unhinged and yes, almost deranged. And when that happened, his narcissism and lying became uncontrollable. In fact, at some points I thought that, like Biden, he had simply lost his ability to think. It seems to me now that Trump is showing signs of age, in a manner different in degree but not in kind from the kind of fogginess that brought down Biden in his last debate with Trump.

I suspect that some of Harris’s debate practice involved confecting statements that would unsettle Trump, and, sure enough, they worked, like a red cape shown to a bull.  Perhaps the most effective was Harris’s assertion that people got bored at Trump rallies, which were insubstantial and full of pop culture, and simply left them early.

That was enough to unsettle Trump, who claims that his rallies were, like everything else he does, the greatest in the history of America. And he never recovered his equilibrium.  The lies and misstatements spouted forth like water from a fountain.  There was the statement that Haitians were eating pets in Ohio, the claim that Harris met both Putin and Zelensky and failed to secure a peace (she never met Putin), the false claim that tariffs on foreign goods wouldn’t result in higher prices for consumers, that if was elected he could settle the Ukraine/Russia war before he took office, that Harris was a Marxist, that some Democrats support the execution of children after birth, and so on. None of that is true. When Harris said that world leaders were laughing at Trump’s ineptitude (another statement guaranteed to bait him), his response was to quote Hungarian President Viktor Orbán, a minor figure who admires Trump but also admires Putin. Was that the best he could do?

The WaPo and other sites have compiled a list of Trump’s lies and exaggerations, and it’s long.  Now Harris wasn’t immune to misstatements, either, but they were far fewer, and included her statement that “And as of today, there is not one member of the United States military who is in active duty in a combat zone, in any war zone around the world, the first time this century,”, which isn’t true. She claimed that the Biden administration created over 800,000 manufacturing jobs (the true number is close to 625,00).  But these are trivial compared to Trump’s fulminating and arrant lying.

I don’t know how many undecided voters would have been swayed by Trump’s performance to vote for him, but I doubt that it’s anywhere close to half.  The debate was really a contrast in likability and personality, and Harris’s cool demeanor and failure to get flustered made her look far better than Trump, whom I’ve always said suffers from a form of personality disorder.  And voters want to like the person whose box they check on the Presidential ballot.

Both candidates evaded some questions, including Trump’s denial of any responsibility for Project 2025, his failure to own up to the “fine people on both sides” statements he said after the far-right rally in Charlottesville, and his failure to specify how he’d rid the country of 11 million illegal immigrants. For her part, Harris didn’t really explain how her policies could change if her values didn’t, and she didn’t own up to her change of policy on fracking nor admit the seriousness of the immigration issue. This was balanced by two statements by Harris that were eloquent and, at least to me, somewhat moving: her defense of abortion rights for women and her rebuke of Trump for failing to stand for America’s democratic values by not supporting Ukraine.

No, Harris wasn’t strong on presenting policies (she did outline some, like her $6,000 tax credit to parents with newborns and a reduction in tax credits, and her website now outlines specific plans, including giving $25,000 to first-time home buyers). Whether her plans are financially viable is another question, but neither she nor Trump were asked that. (Note that, according to the New Republic, many of Harris’s policies were lifted directly from Biden’s campaign website).

The one issue on which I strongly disagree with Harris is the stand on Israel she espoused. While she said she strongly supported Israel and its right to defend itself, she also argued that the death toll of civilians in Gaza (something that’s been lifted from Hamas’s figures) is too high, and that we need both an immediate cease-fire and especially a two-state solution.  Both of those policies explicitly deny Israel the right to defend itself: a cease-fire now is a loss for Israel and a victory for Hamas, and we simply cannot have a two-state solution now. There are not honest brokers on either side, and of course neither Israel nor the Palestinians really want a two-state “solution”, which won’t solve any problems. (Israel now has no faith that a Palestinian state will be peaceful, and the Palestinians want the erasure of the state of Israel far more than they want their own state alongside Israel.)  I have little faith that Harris will conduct an israeli policy to my liking, but of course many Americans are far less pro-Israel than I.

As for the moderators, they were pretty good, though David Muir dominated the questions over Linsey Davis, which seems to me a bit sexist. However, the questions were generally good, and I thought the policy of fact-checking false claims during the live debate was a good one (and probably threw Trump off even more).

I believe that the Democrats, flush with victory, are now calling for a second debate, but I’m not sure there will be one. If the polls show that voters (and the electoral college) have moved towards Harris, Trump will surely not agree to a second debate.

 If Trump loses, then MAGA is gone and Trump has lost most of his influence in the GOP. If Harris loses, then the Democrats have to become yet more centrist (though I have to add that Harris has deliberately become more centrist recently as a pragmatic issue to win).

We don’t know who will win the election, and the next few days will show how much Trump’s embarrassing performance will cost the GOP. (Remember, he’s always been an awful debater but has nevertheless come out on top twice.)  But regardless of that, there’s no question that the winner of the debate was Kamala Harris.

 I’m still not a big fan of hers, but was reminded last night why I’ve always regarded Trump as a joke—but a very dangerous joke.

https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2024/09/11/postmortem-of-the-presidential-debate-trump-blew-it-big-time/#respond

Jack Lew Pays A Visit To Israel's Premier Al Z. Heime*r*she Nursing Home!

 

Biden administration praises Rabbi Lando's stance on Temple Mount amid controversy

 

US Ambassador met with Rabbi Dov Lando in Bnei Brak, praising his opposition to Temple Mount visits and relaying President Biden's appreciation for his role in reducing regional tensions.

Rabbi Dov Lando age 94 seen during a meeting to discuss the drafting of Ultra orthodox jews to the IDF in the Ultra orthodox city of Bnei Brak,

 

US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew met with Rabbi Dov Lando, the head of the Slabodka Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, and commended his opposition to the ascent to the Temple Mount on behalf of US President Joe Biden, Israeli media reported on Monday.

During the meeting at Rabbi Lando's home in Bnei Brak, Lew praised the rabbi for his stance opposing visits to the Temple Mount.

He conveyed President Joe Biden's appreciation for his efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East, according to a report by Ynet News.

In recent months, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s actions and statements regarding the Temple Mount have sparked widespread debate and criticism.

In a recent statement, Ben-Gvir admitted: “If I could do what I wanted, a synagogue would also be established on the Temple Mount.”

Following Ben-Gvir’s controversial visit to the site on Tisha B’Av, the Haredi newspaper Yated Ne'eman published an article titled "Temple Mount desecrators endanger Jewish lives," which strongly condemned the visit.

According to Kikar News, the article was published at the behest of Rabbi Lando. The piece also featured calls from prominent community figures to reconsider their support for Otzma Yehudit, led by Ben-Gvir.

Toward the end of the visit, Rabbi Lando extended New Year wishes to the ambassador, who, according to Kikar News responded with a greeting in Yiddish, much to the rabbi's surprise.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-819444?

It's In Our Genes - The Israeli government and army are helping the vaccination drive “promptly, comprehensively and effectively,” Professor Dorit Nitzan, a former WHO official and current director of the master’s program in emergency medicine at Ben Gurion University

 

Israel facilitates massive polio vaccination drive in Gaza 

 

A three-phase medical campaign headed by the United Nations is underway after several children in the Strip contracted the disease.

 

 

People queue with their children for polio vaccinations at a makeshift camp for those displaced by conflict in a school run by UNRWA in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Sept. 5, 2024.

 

Amid a polio outbreak in the Gaza Strip, the World Health Organization is spearheading a massive vaccination campaign for more than 600,000 children there, with help from Israel and the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry.

The outbreak, which has affected a handful of Gazan children this summer, is at risk of being exacerbated by conditions in the Strip amid the Israel-Hamas war, which has hundreds of thousands of displaced persons huddled in camps and tent cities.

The Israel Defense Forces is also vaccinating its own troops in Gaza as it adapts the fighting to facilitate the medical campaign.

The Israeli government and army are helping the vaccination drive “promptly, comprehensively and effectively,” Professor Dorit Nitzan, a former WHO official and current director of the master’s program in emergency medicine at Ben Gurion University, told JNS.

The IDF has paused fighting in certain areas to facilitate the first phase of vaccinations. Israel has allowed international medical teams to enter Gaza to train locals and ensured that they enjoy freedom of movement, said Nitzan, one of the government’s advisers on the Gaza outbreak

The first phase is focused on children under 10 in central Gaza, and is to be followed by a second phase in the south with 340,000 children and a third and final phase in the north, which is scheduled to be completed on Sept. 11, the WHO said on Wednesday. The WHO, an agency of the United Nations, has dozens of teams administering the vaccines in the Gaza Strip or training locals on how to do so.  

“At least 90% vaccination coverage during each round of the campaign is needed to stop the outbreak, prevent the international spread of polio, and reduce the risk of its re-emergence, given the severely disrupted health, water, and sanitation systems in the Gaza Strip,” the WHO said.

The 1.2 million doses of orally administered vaccines that the WHO has shipped to Gaza with Israel’s approval account for about $200,000 of the operation’s total budget of several million dollars, a WHO official told JNS. WHO is covering all or almost all of the costs, the official said, adding that each vaccinated child gets two doses.   

The outbreak originated in a vaccine featuring a weakened virus, Nitzan confirmed to JNS. It has mutated to cause infections, subsequently spreading through the population.

“We know it’s vaccine-derived because it’s a type 2 virus, whose wild form has been eradicated,” she said. The virus spreads mainly through contaminated water.

Although only several cases of polio have been diagnosed in Gaza so far, the disease has likely spread far wider, according to Nitzan. “For every child we know who has polio, there are probably a hundred more who carry the virus,” she said.

Israeli troops who return regularly from Gaza will likely not contract the virus, Nitzan said, because most have been vaccinated. But the army is vaccinating again anyway “to be extra safe and eliminate all risks,” she continued, noting that Israel has immigrants from dozens of countries with various vaccination policies, making it statistically likelier that an unvaccinated soldier would contract the virus and bring it back to Israel.

Even an unvaccinated adult would likely not get sick from the polio virus if they contract it. However, such individuals can pass the virus in feces or droplets from sneezing or coughing. The virus enters the body via the mouth. Children are far more susceptible, especially when they are younger than 18 months.

A vaccinated adult will rarely infect others with polio because the virus cannot survive in their body. But the virus still might come into Israel on the clothes, shoes, or gear of troops returning from Gaza, where many of them garrison in residential homes and search for underground tunnels—including ones partially flooded with standing water, where the polio virus tends to flourish.

Still, Nitzan said, there is no need to vaccinate Israeli children, who are nearly all vaccinated, again in connection with the outbreak.

The development underscores some of the complications that come with protracted warfare, which Israel has not endured since its Independence War of 1947-1949. Global action on the outbreak and media coverage of it, meanwhile, highlight and reinforce the international community’s shifting attention away from Israeli victims and hostages in favor of the suffering Palestinian population, for which Israel is widely blamed, being frequently accused of perpetrating a “genocide” in Gaza.

Ben Cohen, a senior analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote in a column for JNS that, given the vaccination campaign, “Israel is either waging the strangest genocide in the ghastly history of that phenomenon or isn’t waging one at all.”

The global pro-Hamas circles, he wrote, have “either been silent on the vaccine campaign or promoted ridiculous conspiracy theories accusing Israel of planting the virus and then rolling out a fake vaccine.”

https://www.jns.org/israel-facilitates-massive-polio-vaccination-drive-in-gaza/?

Map of 2020 Winners - I intend to pound the Jewish Vote in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania NOT to vote Trump! I purchased the physical address and email mailing list of every Jewish sounding name in those 3 states!

 

 

https://www.cnn.com/election/2020/results/president

 

 My Fellow Jews,

Jewish voters, like any other demographic, have diverse opinions and political leanings, so it is important not to generalize. However, there are several reasons why some Jewish voters may be wary of supporting former President Donald Trump. These reasons can include concerns about his stance on issues like antisemitism, democratic values, and broader social and moral issues that align with many Jewish communities. Below are key points that explain why some Jewish voters might choose not to support Donald Trump:

One of the most significant concerns for Jewish voters during Trump’s presidency was the rise of antisemitic incidents in the United States. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), antisemitic hate crimes surged during Trump’s time in office. Critics argue that Trump's rhetoric and refusal to unequivocally condemn white supremacist groups contributed to this rise. For instance, after the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville in 2017, where white nationalists chanted slogans like "Jews will not replace us," Trump faced backlash for saying there were "very fine people on both sides"—a comment many saw as an equivocation on condemning racism and antisemitism.

For Jewish voters who prioritize the fight against antisemitism, Trump’s response to these incidents, as well as the apparent emboldening of far-right, white supremacist groups during his presidency, is a cause for concern. Despite Trump's Israel policies, which were meant to appease the Christian right for the most part, his domestic policies and rhetoric toward hate groups may lead some Jewish voters to feel that his presidency did not adequately protect their community from antisemitism.

Many Jewish voters prioritize the protection of democratic values and institutions, which they view as essential for safeguarding minority rights. Trump's actions during and after the 2020 election, especially his refusal to accept the election results and the subsequent January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, are seen by some as an attack on the foundation of American democracy. The peaceful transition of power is a core value in democratic systems, and attempts to undermine it can be deeply troubling for those who see such actions as weakening the very institutions that protect civil rights and liberties.

Jewish voters, particularly those with historical knowledge of how fragile democracies can lead to the erosion of minority protections, may see Trump's behavior as a dangerous precedent. His unwillingness to condemn political violence and the perpetuation of baseless claims about election fraud have left many feeling that his leadership threatens the rule of law, democratic governance, and social stability.

Jewish teachings often emphasize social justice, moral behavior, and ethical governance. Many Jewish voters take these values into account when making political decisions. Trump's personal behavior, including his well-documented history of dishonesty, divisive rhetoric, and accusations of sexual misconduct, clashes with the values of integrity and accountability that are important to many within the Jewish community.

Trump's close alignment with evangelical Christian groups and his willingness to promote Christian nationalist themes have also been sources of discomfort for some Jewish voters. While many Jewish Americans appreciate religious freedom and support for religious communities, they may view Christian nationalism as exclusionary and a potential threat to the separation of church and state.

 

Trump is selling ‘God Bless the USA’ Bibles for $59.99 as he faces mounting legal bills

 

Christian nationalist rhetoric often emphasizes a particular vision of America as a Christian nation, which can alienate Jewish Americans and other religious minorities. Policies and movements that intertwine religion and government are often viewed with skepticism by those who favor a pluralistic society where all religions are treated equally under the law. Trump's alignment with leaders of the Christian right, who promote such ideals, could alienate Jewish voters who prioritize religious inclusivity and secular governance.

Trump’s leadership style, which often stoked division rather than unity, is another factor that may turn Jewish voters away. Jewish tradition places a strong emphasis on the concept of shalom (peace) and achdut (unity), values that stand in contrast to Trump’s polarizing rhetoric. Many Jewish voters may be uncomfortable with a president who uses inflammatory language to target his opponents, criticize the media, and exacerbate political divisions. This divisiveness can contribute to a more hostile political environment, which in turn may lead to increased discrimination against minority groups, including Jews.

While Trump has implemented policies that appeal to certain segments of the Jewish community,  there are numerous reasons why other Jewish voters may choose not to support him. Rising antisemitism, concerns about the erosion of democratic norms, and opposition to Trump’s moral, social, and policy positions all contribute to the hesitance of many Jewish voters to back him. Like any community, Jewish voters are not monolithic, and their voting decisions are shaped by a combination of domestic concerns, ethical values, and personal experiences.

 Best wishes for a happy and healthy New Year.

A former Conservative Republican, now an Independent.

Paul Mendlowitz

Yahrzeit of Horav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz zt"l Tonight - 3 Elul Horav Shraga Feivel ben R' Moshe

 

Yahrzeit of

Horav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz zt"l

Tonight - 3 Elul

Horav Shraga Feivel ben R' Moshe

Tonight marks 76 years since the passing of the great visionary leader, Rav Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz zt"l. Our legendary Menahel was instrumental in building the foundation of yiddishkeit in America, through Torah Vodaath, Torah Umesorah, Bais Medrash Elyon, Aish Dos, Camp Mesivta and became the architect of Yiddishkeit in America.

How appropriate it is that with Siyata D’shmaya, that the z’man started yesterday with an enrollment of over more than 1,000 talmdim! What greater tribute can there be to the vision and memory of Rav Shraga Feivel - יהי זכרו ברוך!

For a biography (with pictures) which appears in

 "AMERICA's YESHIVA"  

Click Here  

 To make a donation in memory of Horav Shraga Feivel zt"l

 Click Here

Israel does not need a right to defend itself. It needs a right to win. The right to defend itself is Israel’s slow suicide. Survival rests on the right to win.

Israel has the right to win 

 

Not a right to defend itself. A right to win. 

 

View of the Philadelphi Corridor between the southern Gaza Strip and Egypt 

 

“Israel has a right to defend itself,” Kamala told CNN. And then insisted that the “war must end.”

What she was really saying was that Israel doesn’t have a right to win.

Democrats and some Republicans have offered the same formulaic responses since Oct. 7.

And long before that.

“Israel has a right to defend itself from rocket attacks,” Obama said in 2014 before calling for a ceasefire. Israel has a right to defend itself, Bush and Clinton used to say before urging a quick end to the fighting in order to make a deal with the terrorists Israel is defending itself against.

The right to self-defense is the bare minimum allotted to anyone. Everyone has a right to defend themselves when they are attacked. Agreeing to it is not a pro-Israel statement. It is at best a neutral position to which the alternative position is that the Israelis should have allowed themselves to be overrun, destroyed and massacred, men, women and children, on Oct. 7.

Anything less than the assertion that Israel has a right to defend itself is a declaration that it deserves to be destroyed. And that is the state of the debate within the Democratic Party.

On one side are the supporters of a two-state solution, who want to split Israel between the Jews and the Islamic terrorists. Every time the terrorists invade and kill Jews, the Israeli army would have the right to briefly defend the country before the politicians make a new deal with the terrorists. On the other side are the one-state solution backers, who don’t believe Israel has a right to exist and therefore no right to defend itself. These people support the Islamic terrorists who call themselves “Palestinians” in their quest to destroy it by any means, from BDS to genocide.

The “extremists” want Israel gone now while the “moderates” want Israel to keep making deals with terrorists until it ceases to exist. Along the way it’ll have plenty of chances to defend itself on a diminishing amount of territory using static defenses that the enemy will plot to subvert.

Israel does not need a right to defend itself. It needs a right to win.

The right to defend yourself is the right to be penned up in a ghetto while murderers roam outside. It’s the right to spend billions of dollars on elaborate defenses like the Gaza border wall or Iron Dome that, like any alarm system or wall, only work until the terrorists find a way around them. It’s the right to be constantly hunted, to be always on the defensive and always afraid.

That’s no right at all.

The Nazis were not defeated with the right of defense, but the right of offense. Wars don’t end when the invaded are given a right to fight for a few weeks before calling it a draw. Wars end when one side actually has the power to do more than defend itself. To fight back and win.

When Netanyahu spoke to Congress about “total victory,” the political establishment ridiculed and dismissed the prospect of defeating Hamas, instead arguing in favor of a deal with the terrorist group. That deal, known as a “ceasefire” after the cycle of ceasefires with Hamas initiated by Obama, would allow the genocidal Muslim Brotherhood jihadists to regroup, rearm and attack again.

“In some respects, we are struggling over what the theory of victory is. Sometimes when we listen closely to Israeli leaders, they talk about mostly the idea of… a sweeping victory on the battlefield, total victory,” Biden’s Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told a NATO summit. “I don’t think we believe that that is likely or possible.”

The Biden administration and NATO leaders did not display this sort of skepticism towards Zelensky’s promises of victory against Russia. When the Ukrainian leader recently promised to present a “victory plan” to the Biden administration, the move was met with applause.

The Biden-Harris administration and the European Union believe that Ukraine has the right to win while Israel only has the right to defend itself. That is the fundamental difference between the treatment of Ukraine and Israel, and the treatment of their two wars.

Ukraine’s demands for bigger and deadlier weapons systems, including tanks and jets, were swiftly met even while the Biden-Harris administration cut off or “slow walked” more basic weapons deliveries to Israel to force it to slow down offensive operations, including in Rafah. Those pressure campaigns allowed Hamas to hold on to and murder captured hostages.

That’s what the “right to win” looks like as opposed to the paltry “right to defend itself.”

Every time Ukraine pushed further or opened a new front in the war, including going into Russia, there was applause, rather than warnings about “escalation.” But every phase of Israel’s military campaign, including the push into Rafah where the hostages and tunnels were, was marked by pressure campaigns and warnings about the danger of “escalation” in the Middle East.

Ukraine attacking a nuclear world power isn’t “escalation,” Israel taking out a Hamas leader is.

The political establishment believes that Ukraine has the right to do more than just throw back invading armies, but believes that Israel’s rights are limited to defending and maintaining its 1948 borders, that it must surrender of all its Six-Day War borders, including half of Jerusalem, to Islamic terrorists and then promise them everything else they ask for to end the fighting.

And when the terrorists attack anyway, Israel will have the “right to defend itself” for a week or two. Then it’ll be time for another “ceasefire,” more negotiations and more surrenders.

Kamala and the political establishment are wrong. Israel does not have a “right to defend itself,” it has a right and a duty to go on the offensive and win. It has a right and a duty to utterly defeat and destroy every single Islamic terrorist organization at war with it. It has a right and a duty to secure whatever territory the terrorists were using for their operations, including the Philadelphi Corridor on the Gaza-Egypt border, through which massive amounts of weapons were delivered to Hamas.

That’s the least of what winning means.

In 1948, 1967 and 1973, Israel undertook to win. In those first three decades, it won and emerged stronger for it. In the next terrible four decades, it lost land, ambition and safety in a failed search for a peace that could never come on any terms other than its own strength.

Defense was traded for offense. Conflicts were to be managed. A weakening deterrence would reduce the scope of any individual exchange of fire. The United States and the Europeans would offer “guarantees” in exchange for a perpetual process of peace negotiations and war.

That was Israel’s “right to defend itself.”

On Oct. 7, Israel hit bottom. The cost of peace at any price was no longer just the ethnic cleansing of Jews from Gaza, rockets falling on major cities or a worldwide campaign of demonization by its “peace partners,” but a new invasion of Israel. Out of that horror rises a single fundamental question: Will Israel remain on the defensive or will it fight to win.

The right to defend itself is Israel’s slow suicide. Survival rests on the right to win.

 

https://www.jns.org/israel-has-the-right-to-win/?

The 78-year-old Demented Lunatic has compared himself to Jesus and audaciously claimed he would have won California in the 2020 presidential election if the Lord's son was the vote counter.

 

Trump making increasingly bizarre God claims while losing grip on Christian voters - He Tried The Jewish God As Well - His Version Of Pascal's Wager :-)

 

Donald Trump has claimed God wants him to 'straighten out America' amid struggles with faith-and-values Christian voters.

 

Trump Will Talk To Any God He Can Find - Here He Is At The Jewish God Convention - And The Idiots Eat This Up!

 

Donald Trump has claimed that he think God believes he will 'straighten out' the country

Donald Trump is making increasingly bizarre claims about God's 'higher purpose' for him - just as he loses his grip on Christian voters.

The 78-year-old has compared himself to Jesus and audaciously claimed he would have won California in the 2020 presidential election if the Lord's son was the vote counter.

However, Trump is now struggling with faith-and-values Christian voters after claiming Florida’s six-week restriction on abortion is 'too short' and IVF should be provided for free.

Trump keeps repeating the line that he survived an assassination attempt during his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania because of some sort of divine intervention, despite firefighter Corey Comperatore losing his life.

This is now being pushed by his allies, with Fox News' Mark Levin claiming God gave Trump, who he reffered to as a man of faith. a "purpose" by "saving his life".

"I think you think like, if you believe in God, you believe in God more. And somebody said like, why? And I'd like to think that God thinks that I'm going to straighten out our country," he told Levin on 'Life, Liberty and Levin.'

"Our country is so sick and it's so broken. Our country is just broken. And maybe that was the reason, I don't know. I don't know, a lot of people have said that."

Trump also pushed the claim that his survival was due to divine protection.

 

"I think you believe more, because when you speak to experts, like my sons who are shooting experts. But when you speak to experts, they said there was no chance that he could have missed from that distance," Trump concluded.

Trump has tried to campaign for more Christian votes

 

 

"I think he was hurried. I think he was rushed because people were starting to say, like, you know, there's a guy up there with a gun. And I think he was probably rushed."

The Secret Service has come under intense scrutiny in the months following the assassination attempt, with ongoing debates about how the shooter managed to fire at the former president.

"Now, obviously, somebody should have been on top of that roof. And there were some problems. But I have to tell you- Secret Service. They were right on me, bullets were flying over us and not one of them hesitated, thinking, 'Oh gee, I'm not doing that,'" Trump remarked.

The former president has been trying to appeal to the masses as well as courting Christian voters, but has been accused of 'flip-flopping' over his abortion stance.

Trump has welcomed pro-choice independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and said he would be “great for women and their reproductive rights.”

National anti-abortion activist Lila Rose of Virginia-based Live Action said: "If you don’t stand for pro-life principles, you don’t get pro-life votes.”

"If Trump loses, it will be his own fault," wrote lawyer Bradley Pierce of Liberty Hill-based Abolish Abortion Texas, who wants abortion punishable by the death penalty.

 

https://www.the-express.com/news/politics/147522/donald-trump-god-christian-voters