The changes to which I refer are within the American administration. As I see it, in the main they are going to be exceedingly good changes. We will come to that in a moment.
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But first I want to look at a situation that is NOT likely to change significantly going forward: it is only going to become more worrisome, more distressing, more threatening.
I am referring to the pogrom in Amsterdam which took place last Thursday night. Turns out it wasn’t a pogrom – that is, a specific attack on Jews limited in time and place. It was more in the nature of what David Israel of the Jewish Press calls “the throes of a global intifada”:
“Remember Netanyahu’s speeches at the US Congress and later before the UN General Assembly, in which he warned Western countries that Gaza is going to show up on their doorstep? Well, the publication Workers World ran a lengthy editorial titled, ‘Amsterdam free from Zionism! For a total boycott – globalize the intifada!’
“…it’s a sign of things to come in Europe,” wrote Israel, “just as Netanyahu warned…
”Nazis and Stalinists in black and white keffiyehs will continue to wreck and burn down Western cities long after the last Jew has left.”
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Perhaps Britain and France and Germany are not quite as bad as the Netherlands. But it’s all bad to some degree, and there are anti-Israel and anti-Jewish riots in all of these places. But what we are looking at, as David Israel suggests and I have suggested, is not “just” anti-Semitism but a battle between Western values and radical jihadist Islam.
Endemic anti-Semitism in Europe makes room for radical Islam. I see articles about how anti-Semitism has been ignored for too long, how now there must be education, discussions, etc. But I don’t think it’s that simple.
First, because it is endemic within the culture. And then because the Islamists are part of the larger picture.
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I was delighted earlier this week, when I read that president-elect Donald Trump had declared (emphasis added):
“Here is what I will do to defeat anti-Semitism and defend our Jewish citizens in America.
“My first week back in the Oval Office my Administration will inform every College president that if [they] do not end antisemitic propaganda they will lose their accreditation and federal support.
“We will not subsidize the creation of terrorist sympathizers and we’re not going to do it certainly on American soil; we’re not going to do it anywhere.
“Next, I will inform every educational institution in our land that if they permit violence, harassment or threats against Jewish students the schools will be held accountable for violations of the civil rights law.”
What Trump is putting forth is a policy of no-tolerance for anti-Jewish actions, with real consequences.
Were we to see similar policies in European governments, it would be cause for celebration. But we will not.
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Europe – caught in that battle between traditional Western values and radical Islam – is lost. Giulio Meotti, an Italian journalist, not Jewish, who writes on Jewish issues, reports:
“The Chief Rabbi of the Great Synagogue of Paris, Moshe Sebbag, recently called for departure: ‘There is no future for Jews in France. I tell all young people to go to Israel or to a safer country.’
“The Chief Rabbi of Barcelona, Meir Bar Hen, also invited the Jews to pack their bags.
“’This place is lost. Better to leave sooner rather than later’ to Israel. Our community ‘is condemned‘ both because of radical Islam and the reluctance of the authorities to confront it. ‘I encouraged them (the Jews) to buy a house in Israel.’ (Emphasis added)
“’The Jews have no future in Europe,’ echoed Avraham Gigi, Chief Rabbi of Brussels.”
https://worldisraelnews.com/time-for-jews-to-leave-europe-before-its-too-late/
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America, which was going down a similar slippery slope, has been saved by the recent election.
Most Jews here in Israel watched the Biden administration with great distress, as:
[] Sanctions on Iran were lifted, providing the Iranians with more funds to support their proxies. This translates into more rockets to launch at Israel.
[] Blinken continually pushed Israel to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza that would have left Hamas standing.
[] Biden withheld some of the weaponry Israel needed. At present, 134 Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozers that Israel paid for months ago are still awaiting an export permit from the US State Department.
[] Unreasonable sanctions were levied by the US government against residents of Judea & Samaria, and organizations that assist those residents, because allegedly they interfere with peace – while no sanctions were levied against the PA, which provides funds to terrorists. The goal was to weaken and delegitimize Jewish presence in Judea & Samaria, in order to make way for a Palestinian state; whatever it may pretend for the West, the PA embraces a radical Islamist ideology.
[] With this all, we saw progressive Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala speak of the “truth” of a narrative claiming that Israel is committing genocide. We saw where that was going.
Thus it was for solid reason and with a sense of relief that we cried, “Baruch Hashem!” when Trump won.
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A significant part of the transition to Trump is with regard to the government’s stance on Iran:
“Former President and President-elect Donald Trump is planning to return the U.S. to the ‘maximum pressure’ strategy against Iran which the White House pursued during the four years of his first administration, former U.S. officials told The Wall Street Journal…”
Trump in the past imposed sanctions on Tehran that had been lifted by Obama (some of these sanctions were lifted again by Biden), pushed against Iran with regard to its nuclear ambitions, its ballistic missile program, and its support for terrorist proxy forces. We can expect more of the same now in his second term. What is more, Trump will not be attempting to restrain Israel with regard to attacks on Iran, and he may well supply military resources that are needed.
You may remember that there had been an Iranian threat to attack Israel after the election, but this has not happened. It appears that the mullahs changed their minds after the Trump victory. They are afraid.
“Citing multiple Iranian sources, Sky News Arabia reported that Tehran has backed off its plans for a major strike on Israel for the time being.”
https://worldisraelnews.com/report-trumps-victory-has-forced-iran-to-delay-attack-on-israel/
What is being predicted is a possible cyber-attack:
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The other key indicators of what we can expect from the Trump administration are, of course, the people the president-elect chooses to include in his government. Here I look at a select few (keeping in mind that nominations for key positions are not final until there is Senate confirmation):
One of his early announcements was nomination of Elise Stefanik for US Ambassador to the UN. Stefanik, a Republican, is Representative for New York’s 21st district. You may remember her at a Congressional hearing in December, when she queried a number of top university presidents regarding university regulations when there is a call for genocide of Jews. She was dynamite: tough, clear, and with her values straight. (See the video below.) She will be excellent in the cesspool known as the UN and will stand with Israel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=1jBHvx7POz8
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Another choice by Trump that caused a good deal of excitement here was the nomination of Mike Huckabee as US Ambassador to Israel. Huckabee, an evangelical Baptist minister who has brought thousands of people on missions to Israel over the course of many years, served as governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. His love for Israel is strong.
He says there is no such thing as “the West Bank,” it is Judea & Samaria, and there are no “settlements,” just communities and cities in Judea & Samaria.
“I have been a frequent visitor to Judea and Samaria and I believe that there is a chance of applying Israeli sovereignty to the region. I also very much believe that the people of Israel deserve a secure and safe country and I will do anything I can that will help and accommodate this goal. Of course I will not be the one to make the policy, but I will carry out the president’s policy.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/399096
David Friedman, who was ambassador to Israel in Trump’s first term, wrote that he is thrilled by Huckabee’s nomination. It has not been announced, but reportedly Friedman will be Trump’s emissary to the Middle East with a mandate to promote the Abraham Accords and expand the number of Arab and Muslim countries making peace with Israel. This sounds excellent, as the Abraham Accords was a major achievement of Trump’s first term.
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Lastly here, but most certainly not least, I want to mention Marco Rubio, the senior United States Senator from Florida. He has held his seat since 2011, and is currently the vice-chair of the Senate Select Committee on Foreign Intelligence as well as a member of the Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations; this provides him with experience to serve as secretary of state.
I am mentioning him last because he has not yet been formally nominated by Trump, although numerous media sites and publications, relying on multiple sources, have indicated that Trump intends to do so. Be that as it may, until he’s officially nominated, he’s not nominated. (Who knows, maybe by the time you read this, he will be.)
There is speculation on a couple of counts regarding Trump’s hesitation. One is that fact that Rubio may be too hawkish for Trump. Trump, with his feisty personality, has the image of a political hawk, but he is in fact not: He’s a dealmaker and not an ideologue. It serves us well to remember this going forward.
There are reports that at one point Trump was leaning towards selecting Richard Grenell, acting director of National Intelligence during Trump’s first term and then ambassador to Germany. But, according to reports, Trump then developed a preference for Rubio, with whom he has established a solid relationship.
Something else it’s prudent to remember going forward is the importance to Trump of loyalty. This may have something to do with why Pompeo is not being brought back.
From where I sit, Rubio would be great. He says he would not try to impose a ceasefire in Gaza and believes that Israel must destroy Hamas. If that doesn’t happen, Israel’s enemies will be encouraged. As to the civilian deaths in Gaza, he blames Hamas and its policy of using human shield entirely.
He gets it across the board. See this video for more:
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/399028
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Prime Minister Netanyahu called Trump quickly after the election, with an eye to sustaining a positive working relationship. In all, they have now spoken three times.
“We see eye-to-eye on the Iranian threat in all its aspects and on the dangers they reflect,” he said. “We also see the great opportunities facing Israel, in the area of peace and its expansion, and in other areas.”
https://www.jns.org/netanyahu-trump-and-i-see-eye-to-eye-on-the-iranian-threat/
In closed conversation, Netanyahu is reported to have said that once Trump is back in the White House, the issue of sovereignty in Judea & Samaria should be revisited.
There are no guarantees on this, and some Trump staffers downplay the possibility. But Bezalel Smotrich, who holds a ministerial position in the Ministry of Defense with regard to the Civil Administration, is optimistic. He believes it might be possible to apply sovereignty to Jewish communities in Judea & Samaria. To that end, he “gave instructions to the settlement administration in the Ministry of Defense and to the Civil Administration to begin comprehensive professional staff work to prepare the necessary infrastructure for the application of sovereignty.”
Perhaps the fact that Trump chose as ambassador to Israel someone who supports sovereignty tells us something.
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Hezbollah has been launching large numbers of projectiles into northern Israel, causing injuries and sometimes deaths. There had been talk of a ceasefire, but now Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, who has replaced Yoav Gallant says:
“We have inflicted severe blows on Hezbollah and we have eliminated Nasrallah – and therefore precisely now we need to continue to hit them with all our might in order to realize the fruits of victory….
“We will not make any ceasefires, we will not take our foot off the pedal and we will not allow any plan that does not include achieving the goals of the war, which is disarming Hezbollah, withdrawing it beyond the Litani and creating the conditions for the residents of the north to return to their homes in safety.”
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/399130
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Please, pray with a full heart…
[] for the safety of the Jewish People everywhere,
[] for the continued strength and courage of Israel’s leaders as they make the hard decisions,
[] for the safety of our soldiers in battle as they fight a righteous war,
[] and for the rescue of the hostages.
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©Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by independent journalist Arlene Kushner. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
