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The regime reportedly called for Taurus projectiles with a range of 500km, which are enough to successfully attack the Russian capital.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signed off on the move, infuriating members of the Opposition.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

In an operation reminiscent of pre-State settlers’ overnight construction of Tower and Stockade settlements, Jewish civilians rebuilt the Homesh yeshiva Sunday night, angering opponents.

On May 20, the head of the IDF’s Central Command signed off on permission for Jews to enter Homesh and annex it to the Samaria regional council. This followed the Knesset’s repeal two months ago of the Disengagement Law as it pertained to the four villages that were forcibly evacuated in 2005 in northern Samaria.

While Sa-Nur, Ganim and Kadim have always remained empty, there waws a yeshiva in Homesh already before the Disengagement, and its students soon came back to study there in temporary accommodations that were periodically destroyed by the army over the ensuing years.

Israel’s High Court of Justice had ruled that the yeshiva was illegal, as it allegedly stood on private Palestinian property.

The only permission granted towards the actual reconstruction of the yeshiva was to plan new buildings there, on paper. The Biden administration strongly objected to the rebuilding of the settlement itself, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured Washington that this would not happen.

Before dawn Monday, students and volunteers set up the study hall in new mobile homes several hundred meters from its original location on land legally designated for construction. The yeshiva stressed that it was done legally, as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had given them the go-ahead.

As Judea and Samaria are formally under military law, any building there requires the permission of the Defense Ministry.

This did not sit well with Labour party head Merav Michaeli, who slammed Gallant for giving a “gift” to “moonstruck settlers and their destructive whims” that “come at the expense of Israel’s security, its future and its democracy.”

The defense minister “proved that he doesn’t care about the hundreds of thousands who supported him after he was fired,” she charged. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sacked Gallant after he spoke in opposition to the government’s planned judicial reform but backtracked a few weeks later after mass protests broke out over the decision.

Some security officials reportedly objected to the move, preferring that a more permanent structure be built only after all the formal planning procedures were completed and final approval received.

Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan affixed a mezuzah to the door of the yeshiva to mark its official opening. He called it “a historic moment… one of the steps that will correct the terrible wrong of the expulsion of Homesh” and the other three Jewish villages of the region. The opponents of the Disengagement had never stopped working to reverse this wrong, he said, calling it “a mark of Cain” on the State of Israel.

He told Ynet Radio on Monday that the undertaking was “a big celebration,” even though “it’s a shame” that it had to be done “in the dead of night.”

According to Dagan, “The next step will be to submit a TAMA (zoning and development plan) and regulate the place as a settlement. Let there be no doubt, we will fully build Homesh, it will be a city in Israel, and will be followed by Sa-Nur, Ganim and Kadim. There is justice in the world; even if it takes time, it does occur.”

Donors from across the country as well as overseas funded the new buildings.

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If forced to “pick a side”, most countries may end up “decoupling” from the US instead.

Erdogan has retained the backing of conservative voters who remain devoted to him for lifting Islam’s profile in Turkey.

By Associated Press

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won reelection Sunday, extending his increasingly authoritarian rule into a third decade as the country reels from high inflation and the aftermath of an earthquake that leveled entire cities.

A third term gives Erdogan, an even stronger hand domestically and internationally, and the election results will have implications far beyond the capital of Ankara. Turkey stands at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, and it plays a key role in NATO.

With more than 99% of ballot boxes opened, unofficial results from competing news agencies showed Erdogan with 52% of the vote, compared with 48% for his challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The head of Turkey’s electoral board confirmed the victory, saying that even after accounting for outstanding votes, the result was another term for Erdogan.

In two speeches — one in Istanbul and one in Ankara — Erdogan thanked the nation for entrusting him with the presidency for five more years.

“We hope to be worthy of your trust, as we have been for 21 years,” he told supporters on a campaign bus outside his home in Istanbul in his first comments after the results emerged.

He ridiculed his challenger for his loss, saying “bye bye bye, Kemal,” as supporters booed. He said the divisions of the election are now over, but he continued to rail against his opponent as well as the former co-leader of the pro-Kurdish party who has been imprisoned for years over alleged links to terrorism.

“The only winner today is Turkey,” Erdogan said to hundreds of thousands gathered outside the presidential palace in Ankara, promising to work hard for Turkey’s second century, which he calls the “Turkish century.” The country marks its centennial this year.

Kilicdaroglu campaigned on promises to reverse Erdogan’s democratic backsliding, to restore the economy by reverting to more conventional policies and to improve ties with the West. He said the election was “the most unjust ever,” with all state resources mobilized for Erdogan.

“We will continue to be at the forefront of this struggle until real democracy comes to our country,” he said in Ankara. He thanked the more than 25 million people who voted for him and asked them to “remain upright.”

The people have shown their will “to change an authoritarian government despite all the pressures,” he said.

Supporters of Erdogan took to the streets to celebrate, waving Turkish or ruling party flags, honking car horns and chanting his name. Celebratory gunfire was heard in several Istanbul neighborhoods.

Erdogan’s government vetoed Sweden’s bid to join NATO and purchased Russian missile-defense systems, which prompted the United States to oust Turkey from a U.S.-led fighter-jet project. But Turkey also helped broker a crucial deal that allowed Ukrainian grain shipments and averted a global food crisis.

“No one can look down on our nation,” Erdogan said in Istanbul.

Steven A. Cook, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Council on Foreign Relations, said Turkey was likely to “move the goal post” on Sweden’s membership in NATO as it seeks demands from the United States.

He also said Erdogan, who has spoken about introducing a new constitution, was likely to make an even greater push for it to lock in changes overseen by his conservative and religious Justice and Development Party, or AKP.

Erdogan, who has been at Turkey’s helm for 20 years, came just short of victory in the first round of elections on May 14. It was the first time he failed to win an election outright, but he made up for it Sunday.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog was among several world leaders who congratulated Erdogan.

“Congratulations to President @RTErdogan of Türkiye on his election victory. I am convinced that we will continue to work together to strengthen and expand the good ties between Türkiye and Israel,” Herzog tweeted on Sunday evening.

Congratulations to President @RTErdogan of Türkiye on his election victory. I am convinced that we will continue to work together to strengthen and expand the good ties between Türkiye and Israel.

— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) May 28, 2023

In March 2022, Herzog became the first Israeli official to visit Turkey since 2008.

“Israel-Turkey relations are important for Israel, important for Turkey, and important for the whole region. And for the first time in many years, there will be a visit to Turkey,” Herzog said before taking off. He was received warmly it Ankara, where he and First Lady Michal Herzog were met with the playing of Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Erdogan’s victory was “clear evidence” that the Turkish people support his efforts to “strengthen state sovereignty and pursue an independent foreign policy.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was counting on building the partnership between the two countries and strengthening cooperation “for the security and stability of Europe.”

U.S. President Joe Biden said he looked forward “to continuing to work together as NATO allies on bilateral issues and shared global challenges.”

The two Turkish candidates offered sharply different visions of the country’s future, and its recent past.

Critics blame Erdogan’s unconventional economic policies for skyrocketing inflation that has fueled a cost-of-living crisis. Many also faulted his government for a slow response to the earthquake that killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey.

In his victory remarks, Erdogan said rebuilding the quake-struck cities would be his priority, and he said a million Syrian refugees would go back to Turkish-controlled “safe zones” in Syria as part of a resettlement project being run with Qatar.

Erdogan, a 69-year-old Muslim, is set to remain in power until 2028. He has retained the backing of conservative voters who remain devoted to him for lifting Islam’s profile in Turkey, which was founded on secular principles, and for raising the country’s influence in world politics.

The first half of Erdogan’s tenure included reforms that allowed the country to begin talks to join the European Union, and economic growth that lifted many out of poverty. But he later moved to suppress freedoms and the media and concentrated more power in his own hands, especially after a failed coup attempt that Turkey says was orchestrated by the U.S.-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen. The cleric denies involvement.

In Kurdish-majority Diyarbakir, 37-year-old metalworker Ahmet Koyun said everyone would have to accept the results.

“It is sad on behalf of our people that a government with such corruption, such stains, has come into power again. Mr. Kemal would have been great for our country, at least for a change of scene,” he said.

Sunday also marked the 10th anniversary of the start of mass anti-government protests that broke out over plans to uproot trees in Istanbul’s Gezi Park. The demonstrations became one of the most serious challenges to Erdogan’s government.

Erdogan’s response to the protests, in which eight people were convicted, was a harbinger of a crackdown on civil society and freedom of expression.

Erdogan and pro-government media portrayed Kilicdaroglu, who received the backing of the country’s pro-Kurdish party, as colluding with “terrorists” and of supporting what they described as “deviant” LGBTQ rights.

In his victory speech, he repeated those themes, saying LGBTQ people cannot “infiltrate” his ruling party or its nationalist allies.

World Israel News contributed to this report.

The post Turkey’s Erdogan wins another term as president, Herzog sends congratulations appeared first on World Israel News.

“There are no more red lines,” says senior police officer after Arab crime boss’ son and his bodyguard wounded in assassination attempt.

By World Israel News Staff

A five-year-old boy and his bodyguard were left wounded after they were intentionally targeted in a gang hit last Friday morning as clashes between warring crime families in Israel reached a fever pitch.

The boy, whose father is the head of a prominent Arab crime family based in the northern city of Umm Al-Fahm, was ambushed by members of a rival mafia.

The child’s bodyguard, who had been hired by his father just days before the attempted murder, moved to shield the child when the assailants opened fire.

According to a Mako report, both the boy and his bodyguard were wounded in the shooting; the child was only moderately hurt and is expected to make a full recovery. The bodyguard is currently hospitalized in serious condition.

“I don’t want to imagine what would have happened here if this child had been killed. There would have been crazy [retaliation], a bloodbath,” a senior police officer, speaking anonymously, told Mako.

“There are no red lines today [when it comes to mafia activity.] Now, the children of senior criminals are also in the crosshairs.”

Over the weekend, the suspected perpetrators of the attack were arrested in a joint operation between local police in the Northern District and security officers from a Border Police unit.

Authorities detained the three men, all residents of the nearby Arab town of Arara, and seized an M-16 rifle and a Glock pistol they believe were used during the assassination attempt.

Ammunition and a motorcycle, which may have also been used during the incident, were also confiscated.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir recently pledged to wage “total war” on organized crime, particularly within Israel’s peripheral Negev and Galilee regions. Murders within Israel’s Arab towns and cities have reached a record high since the beginning of the year, with at least 80 members of the community murdered so far in 2023.

Many of those killings took place within the context of ongoing disputes between crime families, with a smaller number of those murdered being victims of domestic violence and honor killings.

The post 5-year-old son of Arab-Israeli crime boss targeted for assasination appeared first on World Israel News.

While the world has been watching the “no limits” partnership between Russia and China grow into “a relationship that probably cannot be compared with anything in the world,” Russia has been growing quietly closer to the second largest country in the world

Economist Peter St Onge just issued a major warning on the fate of the US dollar and the quality of life in America

The antisemitic, vitriolic commencement speech by CUNY law school graduate and anti-Israel activist Fatima Mousa Mohammed earlier this month “is even worse that last year’s hate spewed by Nerdeen Kiswani,” tweeted S.A.F.E. CUNY, adding that “CUNY Law, under state investigation, tried to hide this video.”

Mohammed’s hate speech was met with enthusiastic applause.

S.A.F.E. CUNY advocates for Zionist Jews systemically discriminated against and excluded by CUNY and its union.

“Imagine being so crazed by hatred for Israel as a Jewish State that you make it the subject of your commencement speech at a law school graduation. Anti-Israel derangement syndrome at work,” tweeted New York Congressman Ritchie Torres.

SJP Activist Fatima Mousa Mohammed at CUNY School of Law Commencement Speech: America Is an Empire with Ravenous Appetite for Destruction, Violence; Israel Murders Young and Old, Encourages Lynch Mobs; Great Empires of Destruction Have Fallen – So Will Israel and America pic.twitter.com/w7g1TI6Dar

— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) May 29, 2023

The post WATCH: CUNY law school graduate’s antisemitic commencement speech met with huge applause appeared first on World Israel News.

The foreign ministers of the BRICS group of major emerging economies will meet in South Africa on June 1-2 to discuss pressing geopolitical issues, including the bloc’s first enlargement in over a decade as it seeks to position itself as a representative of the “Global South” and provide an alternative model to the Group of Seven

The reasoning behind the attack was likely manifold and since the ship is providing security to the TurkStream and Blue Stream, it’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility that the Kiev regime was trying to jeopardize the two key Black Sea natural gas pipelines.