Daniel Imperato – Official Website
Daniel Imperato For President 2024
All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name.
To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.
Click the share button above to email/forward this article …
The post Axes Powers of a New Global Cold War? China, Russia, India Versus US, EU, Japan appeared first on Global Research.
All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name.
To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here.
Click the share button above to email/forward this article …
The post Is Biden Taking the World Closer to Nuclear Armageddon? appeared first on Global Research.
Rabbi Leo Dee, who lost his wife Lucy, and daughters, Maia, 20, and Rina, 15, in a Palestinian terrorist attack earlier this month, appeals for unity out of respect of the fallen soldiers and the victims of terror.
The post WATCH – Rabbi Leo Dee Memorial Day appeal: Don’t protest at cemeteries appeared first on World Israel News.
“The demographics are changing,” said Irving Lebovics, co-chairman of the Agudah-affiliated Am Echad. “I’m not even sure who the federation represents today.”
By Menachem Wecker, JNS
The 3,000 North American Jewish leaders who are convening in Israel for the Jewish Federations of North America’s 2023 General Assembly were supposed to reflect their “eternal love for Israel that transcends any difference of opinion or political discussion,” stated Eric Fingerhut, CEO of the umbrella group, which represents 146 Federations and 300 smaller communities.
Controversy has brewed for some time at JNFA ahead of the four-day GA, which is to culminate on Israel’s 75th birthday on Wednesday on Yom Ha’atzmaut, with critics saying that the group is meddling in domestic Israeli politics.
Last month, 30 federation leaders expressed concern about judicial policy in Israel after a 24-hour Israel “fly-in.” In February, JFNA sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposite leader Yair Lapid with very specific policy prescriptions, including that Israel “make clear that a majority of just 61 votes of the Knesset is not sufficient to override a decision of the Supreme Court.”
Earlier this month, JFNA hosted Lapid in New York for an off-the-record meeting. Some of the opposition leader’s statements drew a public statement of “grave concern” from Am Echad, an affiliate of Agudath Israel of America, which represents Orthodox Jews. “We see these comments as sowing discord and delegitimizing not just the current Israeli government, but Israel itself in the eyes of the world, both Jewish and not,” stated Am Echad.
“The demographics are changing. I’m not even sure who the Federation represents today,” Irving Lebovics, co-chairman of Am Echad, told JNS. According to Pew Research Center data, 17% of Jews aged 18 to 29 identify as Orthodox, which is 70% more than Orthodoxy’s proportion of U.S. Jewry overall.
At the GA, Netanyahu canceled his speech ahead of expected protests on Sunday night, and on Monday, representatives of the Jewish Agency for Israel—a JFNA partner—were reportedly among those who repeatedly protested and heckled Simcha Rothman, a Knesset member who is a key figure in the government’s judicial reforms.
Lebovics had told JNS ahead of the GA that he was very concerned about what might happen. “My guess is that there will be a left wing that will try to co-opt that whole event and try to get the Federation to take a stance strongly supporting one side,” he said. Sunday evening New York time, he told JNS: “There is certainly a strong attempt being made to make that happen.”
When North American Jewish leaders meet with the Israeli opposition leader and publicly tell Israel what to do politically, they appear to muddy one of the contemporary examples appended to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism: “holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.”
If American Jewish leaders—whose websites tout the billions of dollars they collectively raise and distribute annually, including in Israel—dictate to Israel what to do, why is it antisemitic to hold world Jewry accountable for Israeli decisions?
“This is sort of unprecedented that an opposition leader from Israel comes to the United States to lobby the Jewish community to undermine an existing government, and at the same time, goes to the United States government and involves them in undermining an elected government,” Lebovics told JNS.
“It’s not healthy. It never worked in Jewish history for the last thousands of years when we try to involve foreign governments in our internal issues. It’s inappropriate,” he added.
He noted that Rashad Hussain, U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom, tweeted on April 16 that he met Shmuel Rabinowitz, rabbi of the Western Wall (Kotel), and “reiterated U.S. support for implementation of the 2016 Western Wall agreement to expand the egalitarian space at the wall.”
“What does this have to do with the United States government? Are we opining about how the mosque be set up for men and women, or about how the National Cathedral should conduct a service?” posed Lebovics.
Fingerhut, the JFNA executive, told JNS that his organization seeks the Jewish community’s “broad center.”
“We don’t dress alike. We don’t eat alike. We don’t pray alike. And yet, we have to care for each other,” he said. “We are very practiced at working across the broad center, and encouraging dialogue and discussion when we engage in any issues that are governmental. We always are working on a bipartisan basis in North America, so we carry that over to our work with Israel.”
Other public JFNA statements suggest otherwise.
Rather than stating that many of its members had one perspective and a minority held a different view, JFNA recently tweeted that it was “deeply troubled” by a federal judge’s ruling on the abortion drug mifepristone. Last year, JFNA stated that it was “extremely concerned about the medical risks” posed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade.
According to the Pew Research Center’s Religious Landscape Study—conducted in 2007 and 2014, with responses from 35,000 Americans—83% of Jews said that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 15% said it should be illegal in all or most cases. That may sound like a strong mandate for JFNA to comment as it did, but in its letter to Netanyahu and Lapid, it stressed: “The essence of democracy is both majority rule and protection of minority rights.”
Fingerhut told JNS that JFNA balances questions of majority and minority “with great care and great intentionality.”
“We are always aware of the differing opinions in our community. It is an absolute requirement of our work that we listen to all of those opinions,” he said.
Israel ought to conduct its own political debates, but when the Jewish state’s actions “deeply affect” North American Jews, JFNA has a responsibility to communicate that, according to Fingerhut.
“It is impossible to overstate how important Israel’s fundamental democratic nature is to American Jews, and to our ability to build support for Israel in our community and in the broader community,” he said. “We could not see how we could square that provision with our description of Israel as the robust democracy, the model democracy it ought to be.”
Asked if JFNA’s role as financial patron looms in the background of its conversations with Israeli officials, Fingerhut denied that money was a factor. “If the implication is, does the fact of funding or not funding something—is that what’s driving this—the answer is not at all,” he said. “I’ve never heard it at all.”
He wouldn’t name participants in private meetings, but Fingerhut claimed that “a number” of officials in the coalition told him they realized that they went too far or made mistakes. “I think we’ve been enormously judicious and only going to those things that matter,” he said.
U.S. politics has gone through “a very partisan time,” stated Fingerhut.
“There’s no question that certainly the four years that President [Donald] Trump was in office, and frankly, much of the time, I’m sure our friends on the right would say that during the Obama administration, they felt similarly,” he said. “The rhetoric has been ratcheted up very high in America. I’m afraid that some of that has spilled over also into Israel now. And I think it’s not a very good trend.”
Fingerhut would not confirm whether Agudah was invited to the event with Lapid, citing its off-the-record nature. “I have a great, wonderful relationship with Agudah,” he said. “Certainly with the OU.” (The Orthodox Union has been named as an attendee.)
Agudah, which was not invited to the meeting, referred JNS to Lebovics, who said Am Echad was also not invited. Lebovics thinks if Am Echad had been invited, the organization probably would have declined, following consultation with rabbinic authorities.
Of the relationship between JFNA and Agudah, Lebovics said: “The leadership has a cordial relationship.”
Agudah had tried to get JFNA and other Jewish organizations to sign a statement with it about the importance of dialogue, according to Lebovics. Eric Goldstein, CEO of UJA-Federation of New York, who edited the document, and Fingerhut were ready to sign, noted Lebovics. “That was what I was told. All of a sudden, they put out a statement—I don’t think they meant it maliciously—but they put out a statement saying basically that the demonstrators have a right to demonstrate in Israel,” he said.
“That basically undermined the entire concept that we were trying to create. We put our statement out alone. It was, in my mind, a tremendously lost opportunity,” he said.
“You have a group of leadership, both in America and Israel, on the left that sees the vulnerability of this government and is going in for the kill. They’re basically trying to get the government out,” said Lebovics. “What they couldn’t do in the election, they are trying to do in the street.”
With U.S. Jewish demographics changing and a continued strong Orthodox Jewish commitment to Israel, Lebovics again raised the question of JFNA’s constituency.
“Forty percent of the Jewish population is unaffiliated,” he said. “Who exactly are you representing when you say, ‘We talk for the majority?’ ”
The post Facing criticism of partisanship, head of Jewish Federations defends its legitimacy appeared first on World Israel News.
Lemon said he was “stunned” at the news, which came hours after he presented his show.
By World Israel News Staff
Longtime CNN host Don Lemon has lashed out at the cable news network two months after apologizing to viewers for misogynistic comments about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.
“I am stunned,” Mr Lemon wrote on Twitter, noting that he was told by his agent that he had been let go.
CNN itself published that the announcement “came without explanation and astonished the media industry.”
“CNN and Don have parted ways,” CNN chair and CEO Chris Licht said in a memo to staff. “Don will forever be a part of the CNN family, and we thank him for his contributions over the past 17 years. We wish him well and will be cheering him on in his future endeavors.”
Lemon had appeared on his show on Monday morning and said the news came as a total shock.
“I was informed this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned,” he wrote on Twitter. “After 17 years at CNN, I would have thought that someone in management would have the decency to tell me directly. At no time was I ever given any indication that I would not be able to continue to do the work I have loved at the network.”
The controversial anchor had come under fire in February for an episode of “CNN This Morning” in which he remarked that 51-year-old Haley was not “in her prime.” A woman, Lemon said, was considered in her prime “in her 20s, 30s, and maybe her 40s.”
“It is clear that there are larger issues at play.”
Moments before Lemon’s announcement, Fox News announced it was parting ways with anchor Tucker Carlson.
The post CNN anchor Don Lemon outraged after getting fired over sexist Nikki Haley comments appeared first on World Israel News.
The annual Memorial Day opening ceremony began at the Western Wall plaza with President Herzog calling for unity at a time of discord.
By World Israel News Staff
Israel drew to a standstill on Monday evening as Israelis ushered in Memorial Day with a minute-long silence in honor of the country’s 28,468 fallen soldiers and terror victims.
Fifty-nine soldiers were killed during active military service since Israel’s last Memorial Day, with another 86 dying from complications from injuries sustained prior to that, bringing the total number of fallen soldiers to 24,213, according to Defense Ministry numbers.
The somber day also marked the deaths of 4,255 victims of terror.
The annual Memorial Day opening ceremony began at the Western Wall plaza at 8 pm on Monday, in the presence of President Isaac Herzog and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi.
Herzog, reflecting on the siren marking the one-minute silence, called for unity at a time of “discord.”
“I ask myself, I ask us: what other country in the world has such a special sound? It is the sound of pain and of hope, of grief, and of pride. It is the sound of the State of Israel,” he said.
“A sound that calls on us to pause for a moment, to lock in the sanctity, to remember and to connect — together. This year, in the throes of these days of discord, this sound is more powerful, more forceful, more pained and more painful than ever.”
“This year, more than ever before, this sound calls on us, all of us, together! Their sacrifice has not been in vain – it shall not have been in vain.”
“I appeal to you, my brothers and sisters, citizens of Israel, at this holy moment, from here, the wailing wall, from which the Divine Presence has never shifted, and I ask us to mourn and grieve — together. May we let that feeling of yearning envelop us, together. May we let that sound of our collective pain ring loudly on this Memorial Day, without discord, as we cry for our sons and daughters. Even as we refuse to find comfort, for they are no more.”
Halevi, who, as a religiously observant Jew, is a rarity among IDF chiefs of staff, delivered a message laced with Talmudic references while calling on would-be protesters to respect the bereaved families.
“Tomorrow, we will stand by the side of the families in the cemeteries. I hope that on this day… we will adhere to our heritage and devote ourselves exclusively to solidarity with the memory of the fallen and with our pain over their passing. Above all, and beyond all controversy,” Halevi says.
“Controversy is, perhaps, the most beautiful gift the Jewish people gave to humanity. The people of Israel have been carrying Hillel and Shammai for about 2,000 years,” Halevi went on.
“In the Gemara, it is said that although Beit Shammai and Beit Hillel were divided, they did not refrain from marrying each other. To teach you, that affection and deep friendship are needed to fulfill the saying: ‘Truth and peace loved.’”
“Out of our responsibility to protect the memory of the fallen, tomorrow we will keep the affairs of the hour outside the cemeteries,” Halevi said, in a veiled reference to the judicial reform controversy. “We will allow families, commanders, and soldiers to… honor the memory of the fallen.”
Ordinarily, hundreds of thousands of Israelis gather in military cemeteries across the country to commemorate soldiers who have fallen in Israel’s wars and military operations.
But this year, numerous government ministers and MKs have declined to participate in the ceremonies, citing concerns that their presence may ignite protests from bereaved families who are vehemently opposed to judicial reform.
Some families have demanded that lawmakers who did not serve in the IDF not attend ceremonies. They’ve also argued that politicians who criticized reservists for their refusal to serve, as part of a protest against the reforms, should be excluded from official events.
The post Israel marks 28,468 fallen soldiers, terror victims on Memorial Day appeared first on World Israel News.
On the evening of April 14, 2022, tragedy struck when James-David Joseph Algarin allegedly opened fire on two homeless women in Kent, Washington.
The Washington State Prosecutors have charged the suspect on Friday, April 21 with two counts of attempted murder in the first-degree and have stated they are asking that he be held on a bond of $1.5 million.
The shootings have been linked to one another, and police records show that at 11:01 P.M., they responded to an emergency call saying that someone had heard gunshots and saw a red vehicle drive away from the area. When arriving at the scene, officials discovered the victim, struck multiple times in the chest and back.
The woman reportedly remembered being picked up by someone near a 7-Eleven in the region who had a holstered handgun by his side. It is believed that her refusal of his advances spurred the attack, and surveillance footage shows Algarin aiming his weapon at her as she attempted to flee.
The second attack occurred at 11:37 P.M. when police received another 911 call about a woman lying on the side of the road. It was reported that Algerian first followed the victim for a while. Footage shows that the victim had eventually approached Algarin’s car, she put her head inside, but quickly walked away before he opened fire with an AR-15, hitting her in the leg and head. Officers were later able to identify the suspect’s unique red Subaru WRX with custom lettering on the sidewalls, which tied both murders together.
Post arrest, detectives uncovered survey data from Algarin’s phone which included searches of “Kent shootings in the U.S.,” “King County cold cases,” and “Unsolved murders in Washington state.”
Court documents state that it was premeditated. They read, “Although the defendant has no significant criminal history, his premeditated search and hunt for homeless women in Kent resulting in shooting of both women.”
The document also shares that the suspect had a firearm and then rearmed himself for the second shooting. “The defendant used a pistol at the first shooting and then re-armed himself with an Ar-15 rifle to shoot his second victim. The fact the defendant lured both women into darkened areas of Kent at night equipped with two different types of firearms and without provocation shoot both women is very concerning.”
Algarin is now in custody, and his charges provide an unfortunate reminder of the dangers homeless women face daily.
Thankfully, both women survived their ordeals, though the woman who was shot in the head received life-changing injuries that could affect her for the rest of her life.
US army soldiers stand near an armored military vehicle in Syria on March 27, 2023. (Delil Souleiman / AFP via Getty Images)
Last week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy unveiled the Limit, Save, Grow Act, the House GOP’s budget plan. The bill would cap fiscal year 2024 federal spending at FY2022 levels, or about $260 billion less than the $1.73 trillion budget Joe Biden proposed last month. Here’s how the FY2022 budget divvied up that $1.47 trillion:
The FY2024 budget won’t end up looking like FY2022’s, however. Even though McCarthy’s bill doesn’t specify which parts of the federal budget would be slashed, social programs are clearly the GOP’s primary target.
Oklahoma representative Tom Cole — vice chair of the Appropriations Committee and chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development — said that of the twelve spending measures that make up the annual federal budget, only Pentagon, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Military Construction-Veterans Affairs (Milcon-VA) appropriations will be spared from cuts. The chairpersons of those subcommittees, Cole said, will be “popping champagne corks,” while “the rest of us will be crying into our beer.” (Cole also sits on the Congressional Bourbon Caucus.)
The prized three — Pentagon, DHS, Milicon-VA — consumed most of the discretionary budget in FY2022, but even the amount Biden is proposing for the Pentagon and Milcon-VA in FY2024 is way higher than in 2022 (DHS is “only” a few billion dollars higher). As a result, the other nine appropriation categories would have about $140 billion less to work with next year than they did last year.
The projected GOP budget below reflects that. I estimated the funding for the remaining nine appropriations bills based on their share of last year’s $1.47 trillion discretionary budget — minus FY2022-level Pentagon, DHS, and Milcon-VA funding — and applied that percentage to a prospective $1.47 trillion budget for FY2024, minus what Biden just proposed for the Pentagon, DHS, and Milcon-VA. This would leave at most 28% of the federal budget available for everything else.
What we see is Exhibit A in how the establishment uses bloated militarized spending to crowd out social spending. By setting a budget ceiling, Republicans force a choice between funding for social programs and the national security state — knowing full well which one the president will select. Biden refers to military spending as America’s only “sacred obligation” and spent the last year dismantling the United States’ pandemic-era expansion of the welfare state. Biden is unlikely to insist on paring back DHS, either, especially after investing so heavily in border patrol agents, surveillance, and operations in his FY2023 budget.
The current budget battle is being framed as an inter-party struggle, but it’s much more a class conflict than a partisan one. Joe Biden knew this would be the Republican strategy, and he released the largest-ever (nominal) Pentagon budget anyways. And after McCarthy put out his bill, the White House effectively ruled out any conversion from military to nonmilitary spending. As Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told David Sirota in a recent interview, Biden is lurching to the right.