Important Takeaways:
- President-elect Donald Trump has reportedly tapped Massad Boulos, the Lebanese-American father-in-law of Trump’s daughter, Tiffany, to lead U.S. negotiations with Lebanon to end the war between Hezbollah and Israel.
- The Boulos family has Christian Arab roots and is part of a global business empire.
- The Times of Israel reported:
- Lebanese-American businessman and Donald Trump surrogate Massad Boulos revealed in a recent interview days before the election that he will serve as the US point man for Lebanon in the incoming administration, tasked with negotiating with Beirut to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
- “I will be responsible for negotiating with the Lebanese side in order to reach an agreement, and Trump will appoint someone familiar with the Israeli file to negotiate with the Israelis,” Boulos told the Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed in what appears to be one of the first revelations regarding now President-elect Trump’s personnel.
- Boulos joined the Trump inner circle after his son Michael married the former president’s daughter Tiffany in 2022. He helped Trump make significant inroads in the Arab American in yesterday’s election.
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Important Takeaways:
- Hezbollah marked President-elect Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election by firing rockets at the Israeli town of Trump Heights on Wednesday morning.
- There were no reports of damage there.
- However, a car was damaged in the town of Ra’anana, near Tel Aviv, when pieces of a Hezbollah missile that was destroyed by Israel’s missile defense system fell onto a parked car.
- Trump Heights was named for Trump in appreciation for his recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which were taken from Syria in a defensive war in 1967.
- Trump has promised to stop the war in Lebanon, while also allowing Israel to do whatever necessary to defend itself from Iranian-backed terror organizations like Hezbollah and Hamas.
- An end to the war could provide opportunities for major foreign policy wins in the early days of the new administration, including an expansion of the Abraham Accords to include Saudi Arabia.
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Important Takeaways:
- Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said there would be a “crushing response” following Israel’s airstrikes on the country last week.
- Israel said it carried out “targeted and precise strikes” on Iranian military sites on October 26, almost four weeks after Iran launched around 180 ballistic missiles at Israel in retaliation to the killings of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
- “The United States of America and the Zionist regime will definitely receive a crushing response for what they do against #Iran and the #Resistance Front,” a post on Khamenei’s X account on Saturday read.
- Speaking at a press conference last week, a senior US official said that while the US was not a participant in the planning or execution of the Israeli operation, President Joe Biden and his national security team had encouraged Israel to respond to Iran in a “targeted and proportional” manner with “low risk of civilian harm.”
- Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced on Friday that it planned to send additional ballistic missile defense destroyers, fighter squadron and tanker aircraft, and “several” US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers to the Middle East in the coming months.
- Khamenei’s comments have taken a more hostile tone from those he made in the immediate aftermath of the Israeli strikes in late October.
- Khamenei said then that Iranian officials should decide how to respond to the attacks, adding that they “should neither be magnified nor downplayed.”
- Experts had predicted that Iran may look “an off-ramp” or launch a small-scale retaliation following Israel’s strikes.
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Important Takeaways:
- Our world is on fire. That which was ignited one year ago on October 7, when Hamas, backed by Iran, invaded Israel and massacred over 1,200 Israeli men, women, youths, children and babies now rages throughout the Middle East. Israel has struck Hezbollah. Iran has struck Israel. And the world now watches on edge in fear of the beginning of a regional war, if not a world war.
- What is happening? Is the world spiraling out of control?
- It was a Friday night when I was led to speak at Beth Israel, the congregation I lead in northern New Jersey on an ancient mystery. The mystery was over three thousand years old. It went back to the Bible, to the Book of Leviticus. It wasn’t what I fathomed would happen, but the mystery itself ordained that a calamity would come to the nation of Israel. More specifically, the mystery determined the following:
- Israel would be invaded. The invasion would catch the nation off-guard. It would result in calamity.
- The invasion would take place in the year 2023.
- It would happen in the autumn of that year.
- It would take place in the month of October.
- It would happen on a Saturday, the Sabbath, the Jewish holy day of rest.
- It would take place on an ancient Hebrew holy day, one that went back to Mount Sinai and the Book of Leviticus.
- It would lead to war.
- It would take place on the first Saturday of October of 2023.
- The first Saturday of October 2023 fell on October 7. On October 7, Israel was invaded, and the nation was caught off guard. The result was a calamity that would lead to war. It happened on the Sabbath and on a Hebrew holy day, Shemini Atzeret, that was given on Mount Sinai and went back to the book of Leviticus. In fact, it happened the very next day after I shared the mystery.
- It was this mystery and these events that led me to preempt the book I was about to write and begin working instead on what would become The Dragon’s Prophecy: Israel, the Dark Resurrection, and the End of Days. Something happened as I wrote the book that I never before experienced — what I was writing would come true in the world right after I wrote it — so much so, that I had to keep rewriting and updating the book up until now when it was released.
- In fact, after I finished the manuscript, three other events came true that were ordained in the same mystery. In fact, this single mystery may enable us to know what is coming, future events and exactly when they are to happen. For there is more to the world than meets our eyes. What is now taking place in the Middle East and threatening the peace of the entire world is all part of these mysteries. Yes, the world is at a most dangerous moment — but it is not out of control. In fact, the conflagration we are witnessing, from Israel to Hamas to Hezbollah to the Houthis and ultimately to Iran, is all part of a prophetic mystery that sits in the bookcases or night tables in our houses — the Bible.
- The ancient biblical and end-time prophecies foretell that in what is called “the last days,” the Jewish people will be gathered from the ends of the earth and brought back to the land of Israel. On that day, the nations of the world will be strangely focused, obsessed, with the tiny Jewish state the size of New Jersey. The world will rage against that stage. The Bible also speaks of the nation of Iran. One of the things it foretells is that in that time when Israel is back in the world, the nation of Iran will turn against the Jewish nation — will come against the Jewish nation — will attack the Jewish nation.
- There is so much more that was foretold and that is now unfolding literally before our eyes, far more than I can put here. Perhaps I was led to write books. But the takeaway is this — while we live in the most perilous times — there is a plan, there is a destiny. We can even know where it is heading, what the future holds and how to survive, stand and prevail in what is yet to come.
- But for that we must return to what the world around us, our culture, and our nation have forgotten — God is real. His word is true. And He remains the only answer to the crisis of our world — and of our lives. For there is more to the world than meets our eyes — and if we seek with our all hearts — we will find it.
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Important Takeaways:
- “Turkey is bombing and massacring Kurds tonight. No protests, no marches, no media coverage, no condemnations from UN, no ICC arrest warrants for Erdogan. Since 1914 Turkey has killed over 1.5 million Kurds. Stop Kurdish genocide.” — Hemdad Mehristani, researcher, X, October 23, 2024.
- If Turkey has the right to respond to a terrorist attack by bombing dozens of targets belonging to Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria, why is Israel being condemned for responding to the October 7 Hamas-led atrocities against its own citizens? Just because of the “two-state solution”: Michigan and Minnesota?
- Not only is Erdogan lying when he accuses Israel of “genocide,” but he is also proving that he is a big hypocrite. If he is really worried about the safety of the Muslims in the Gaza Strip, why does he continue to support Hamas, while denying Israel the right to defend itself against Islamist terrorism? If he believes that he has the right to bomb Kurdish militants in Syria and Iraq, why is he denouncing Israel for taking the same action against Palestinian Islamist terrorists?
- The complicit silence of the anti-Israel groups on US university campuses towards Turkey’s crimes is simply evidence of a staggering racism and hypocrisy.
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Important Takeaways:
- Iran’s missile production has not been disrupted following Israeli airstrikes on the Islamic Republic on Oct. 26, Defense Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh was quoted as saying Wednesday by state media.
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Important Takeaways:
- As fighting continues in Lebanon and Hezbollah continues to launch rockets and UAVs at Israel, the Defense Ministry claims it has substantially reduced Hezbollah’s arsenal. This as the Knesset is under criticism for voting to ban UNRWA from operating in Israel.
- Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant claims the Iranian-backed Hezbollah’s rocket supply has been reduced to just 20 percent of what it was before the October 7th, 2023, Hamas attack.
- That’s an especially important number because Hezbollah’s chief threat has been its ability to rain down tens of thousands of missiles on Israelis.
- Some in the Israel Defense Forces want to wrap up the invasion of Lebanon soon. Still, other Israelis want to see it continue until Hezbollah has been eliminated as a threat to Israel’s northern border communities. They’ve been largely evacuated for more than a year.
- After the killing of Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah and his successor, Hezbollah announced it has a new leader, Sheikh Naim Kassem, who has been with the terror group since its start in 1982.
- He’s hiding out in Iran, hoping to avoid the fate of the two previous leaders who were killed by Israeli airstrikes in Beirut.
- As for the Iranian regime controlling the proxy wars from Tehran, it is threatening to respond to Israel’s retaliatory strike on some of the country’s military sites this past weekend, making clear the timing will be made by the Iranians.
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Important Takeaways:
- Iran’s Guards chief warns of ‘bitter, unimaginable consequences’ for Israel’s strike
- The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Monday that Israel had “failed to achieve its ominous goals” with its Saturday strikes on Iranian military sites.
- Hossein Salami, quoted by the Tasnim news agency, said the Israeli attack, which came in retaliation for Iran’s Oct. 1 ballistic missile barrage on the country, was a sign of “miscalculation and helplessness” as Israel battles the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
- “Its bitter consequences will be unimaginable” for Israel, Salami warned according to Tasnim.
- Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei warned that Tehran would use “all available tools” to respond to Israel’s strikes.
- Speaking at a weekly televised news conference, Baghaei said Iran would “use available tools to deliver a definite and effective response to the Zionist regime.”
- Israel has indicated it will not take further action if Iran holds its fire after its two strikes on the Jewish state — in April and in October — but has threatened escalation if the Islamic Republic launches a third barrage.
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Important Takeaways:
- Strike on oil or nuclear sites could lead Tehran to take drastic measures for fear of seeming weak, but attack on weapons depots or military bases may not warrant further response
- Citing four Iranian officials, The New York Times reported that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered Iran’s armed forces to formulate numerous plans based on the potential outcome of an expected retaliatory attack by Israel, which has been weeks in the making. “Iran has ordered the armed forces to be prepared for war but also to try to avoid it,” the report said.
- The officials, two of whom belong to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said that if Israel were to inflict significant damage on sensitive sites, such as oil and nuclear facilities, or if it were to target senior Iranian officials, Iran would without a doubt escalate further.
- In this instance, the sources said, Iran could fire a barrage of up to 1,000 ballistic missiles — a significant step up in comparison to the 200 it fired on October 1 — or even disrupt global energy supplies and international trade routes.
- However, if Jerusalem were to limit its response to striking weapons warehouses or military bases, Tehran may conclude that it is in its best interest to do nothing, bringing an end to the latest round of direct conflict between the two countries.
- Israel’s plans for retaliation were said to have been thrown off course recently after confidential US documents on the matter were leaked last Friday, revealing US observations of measures taken by the Israeli Air Force on October 15-16 in the lead-up to an attack.cn
- Amid reports that Israel had been forced to change tactics and delay its plans as a result of the leak, Army Radio quoted an unnamed Israeli official on Thursday who insisted that this was not the case.
- “There’s no connection between the leaking of the documents from the Pentagon and the choice of timing for the attack on Iran,” the official said.
- While several windows had been discussed, the official said that no final date had been set for Israel’s response and the decision would be made “according to operational opportunities.”
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Important Takeaways:
- The IDF announced on Wednesday that six journalists actively working for Al Jazeera were members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ).
- The IDF says that due to intelligence recovered from the Gaza Strip during military operations, they can reveal that Anas Al-Sharif, Alaa Salama, Hossam Shabat, Ashraf Saraj, Ismail Abu Amr, and Talal Aruki are all affiliated with the military wings of either Hamas or PIJ.
- Ismail Abu Amr was injured several months ago in Gaza by an IDF attack; during that period, Al Jazeera denied his membership in Hamas. Documents recovered by the IDF showed this was untrue.
- Some of the documents include personnel tables, terrorist training courses, phone books, and salary documents for terrorists.
- The IDF said that this “unequivocally proves that they function as military terrorist operatives of the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.”
- The IDF also said that these documents prove Al Jazeera has employed them simultaneously.
- The exposed journalists are part of Hamas’s military wing operating as the vanguard of Hamas’s propaganda war against Israel.
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