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‘Terrorist state’: Major U.S. carmaker displays anti-Israel messages on its social media

Plus, Trump's return will herald end of Iran and Hamas, says senior Palestinian leader

FibisFibis
Dec 31, 2024 - 08:28
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‘Terrorist state’: Major U.S. carmaker displays anti-Israel messages on its social media
(Photo by Joe Kovacs)
(Photo by Joe Kovacs)
(Photo by Joe Kovacs)

JERUSALEM – Middle East/Israel Morning Brief

Ford social media account displays pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel messages

Perhaps it should not be shocking that the Ford Motor Company – whose founder Henry Ford had a profound dislike of Jews – should have seen its X social media account briefly display – before they were hastily deleted – three pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel messages, reported Israel National News.

“Our X account was briefly compromised, and the previous three posts were not authorized or posted by Ford,” Dan Barbossa, a Ford spokesman, stated to JNS. “We are investigating the issue.”

The deleted posts, all shared within a five-minute span to Ford’s 1.5 million followers, read: “free Palestine,” “Israel is a terrorist state,” and “all eyes on Gaza.”

Analytics from the social media platform X indicated that the posts collectively garnered over 100,000 views before being taken down.

Senior PA leader: Trump’s return will herald end of Iran, Hamas

A top Palestinian leader told the New York Post he expects President-elect Donald Trump to “destroy Iran,” which will cause remaining Hamas influence to crumble.

Hamas has been decimated by Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, but in Judea and Samaria, the terrorist group has been rising up against the Palestinian Authority, which is run by the rival Fatah party.

The PA is supported by western governments including the U.S., and Hamas and other Islamist groups accuse it of cozying up to Israel.

But Hamdan said he expects Trump’s return to the White House will lead to the jihadists’ defeat.

“We see that Trump and the ruling government in Israel are planning to destroy Iran, so Hamas [followers] will have no other choice than to become Palestinian,” the Fatah leader predicted.

Hamas said to be willing to only release 22 of 34 known live hostages

Every time a deal to release at least some Israeli hostages held captive in inhumane conditions for the last 15 months, another wrench seems to be thrown into the works. While rumors continue to swirl about how close the two sides are to a deal, news emerged Tuesday that Hamas was only willing to release 22 of the 34 hostages known to still be alive.

According to the Times of Israel, Hamas is willing to release 22 of the 34 hostages on the list, but is refusing to agree to the release of the other 12. Instead, the report stated, the group offered to release 22 living hostages and 12 bodies during the first phase of a potential deal, as per an unnamed Palestinian source.

Israel turned down the notion and made it clear that it would only accept living hostages during the initial stage of a deal, the report added.

The report did not provide further details on the hostages Hamas is reportedly refusing to release. Earlier this month, Egypt’s Al-Ghad outlet reported that Israel requested that 11 men considered by Hamas to be soldiers be included on the list of hostages to be released in the first phase of a potential deal.

The terrorist group classifies all Israeli men of fighting age to be soldiers.

IDF downs another ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis

Israel’s missile defense shield was activated late Monday night as the Houthis from Yemen fired yet another ballistic missile toward central Israel. Sirens started blaring and rocket alert apps began pinging shortly after 11 p.m. local time.

There was no major damage as a result of the missile debris, although a large fragment crashed in the Ramat Beit Shemesh Alef neighborhood in the city of Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem, reported the Times of Israel.

At the scene of the impact on Nahal Hakishon Street, local residents, most of them ultra-Orthodox Jews, crowded around the remains of the Houthi missile.

Small children ran around in the rain and women pushed babies in strollers only meters from the fragment as police attempted to keep the crowd back.

Iranians protest in Tehran’s historic bazaar over inflation, currency deflation

As Iran reportedly seeks to inject its malign influence into the delicate situation in Syria, the mullahs in Tehran might do better to keep a close watch on events nearer to home.

Hundreds of people staged a vocal protest at Tehran’s iconic Grand Bazaar on Sunday, in an unusual strike occurring amid a financial crisis and vulnerability on the part of the regime, according to the Jewish News Syndicate.

The strike in the bazaar was over soaring inflation and power shortages, and it triggered protests in other commercial hubs in the capital, the Iran International news site, which is critical of the regime.

The outbreak of protests at the Grand Bazaar, a sprawling center of commerce, is symbolically significant because it was a focus of the protests of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, which installed in power the current regime, then led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, after it toppled Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

IDF eliminates dozens of Hamas terrorists in Jabalya

The IDF has been active in what was the former Hamas stronghold of Jabalya over the last few days – the fourth time it has operated there since the ground incursion commenced in late October 2023 – announcing it had killed dozens of terrorists.

According to the military, locating and killing the Hamas forces was made possible by a mix of ongoing intelligence collection, operations to trick the forces into an ambush, and both tank fire and soldiers’ nearby gunfire, reported the Jerusalem Post.

By December 2023, the IDF declared Jabalya under operational control and Hamas’s battalions broken.
​​UAE holds talks with Iran to boost regional cooperation

Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs of the United Arab Emirates, met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Dubai on Sunday to discuss key regional issues and strengthen bilateral relations, according to the Media Line.

During the meeting, both officials addressed regional developments and expressed a shared commitment to stability and cooperation. The discussions also explored ways to advance collaboration between the UAE and Iran, with an emphasis on mutual interests and fostering positive diplomatic ties.

This meeting comes as the UAE continues efforts to balance its strategic relationships across the Gulf, including its growing trade ties with Iran. In recent years, the two countries have maintained a complex relationship, marked by both cooperation and disagreements, particularly over regional conflicts and territorial disputes. Despite these challenges, economic exchanges between the UAE and Iran have grown, with Dubai serving as a significant hub for Iranian business interests.

​​Report: Netanyahu says IDF will resume operations even if there is a hostage deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in a recent closed meeting about the hostages that fighting in Gaza would resume following any ceasefire agreement with Hamas, according to the Jewish News Syndicate.

“If there is a deal – and I hope there will be – Israel will return to fighting afterward. There’s no reason to obscure or conceal this because resuming fighting is intended to complete the war’s objectives. This doesn’t obstruct a deal; it encourages one,” the news outlet quoted the premier as saying.

The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on the report, which also claimed that some negotiators have expressed concern over Netanyahu’s stance, because Hamas demands international guarantees for the later stages of an agreement. The terrorist group has previously insisted on an end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.

Israel lashed by rain, as Mt. Hermon peak is blanketed with record 22-inch snowfall

Israel is grappling with severe weather conditions after an unusually dry December, marked by heavy rainfall, flash floods and snow in the Hermon region, reported Ynet.

On Tuesday, temperatures remained below seasonal averages. Rainfall persisted from northern Israel to the Negev, accompanied by isolated thunderstorms. Lighter, local rain fell in the Negev, with a lingering risk of flooding in coastal and lowland areas until noon, while flash floods threatened eastern streams. Snow continued to blanket Mount Hermon, with 22 inches (55 cm) recorded at the upper level and 16 inches (40 cm) at the lower level. The site, designated a closed military zone due to the war, remains inaccessible to visitors.

U.S. raises concerns over attacks on minorities in Syria

According to Barak Ravid writing for Axios, the United States has raised concerns with the new Syrian government over reported attacks of several minority groups in the country over the past week or so. The mainstream media attempted to paint a hagiographic image of Ahmad al-Sharaa – also known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani – and how he had renounced his former radical Islamism.

The Assad regime’s fall after five decades in power and 13 years of civil war left behind many armed groups, and many more grievances. The U.S. is concerned that violent reprisals by militants affiliated with the victorious rebels – targeting minority groups or members of the ousted regime – will undermine efforts to stabilize the country.

Al-Shibani is the right-hand man to Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is both the de facto ruler of Syria and the leader of the opposition group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the strongest armed group in Syria today.

U.S. launches trade investigation into Chinese semiconductor industry

The United States is intensifying its crackdown on China’s rapidly expanding semiconductor industry, according to the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. The Biden administration announced on December 23 the launch of a formal trade investigation into Beijing’s support for China’s semiconductor industry due to its alleged harm to U.S. commerce and national security.

The investigation lays the groundwork for additional trade restrictions, which have the potential to frustrate Beijing’s economic and military modernization. The results of the inquiry may allow the incoming administration to retaliate against Beijing by imposing additional import duties and suspending trade concessions, among other measures.

This could harm U.S. national security since dependence on Chinese imports for legacy semiconductors may produce potential chokepoints in American commercial and military supply chains, limiting Washington’s ability to access these critical technologies in the event of a conflict.

Moreover, in relying on state assistance to offset lost revenue from charging lower rates, Chinese firms can drive down global prices, rendering U.S. domestic production unprofitable and reducing the effectiveness of previous government in reshoring semiconductor manufacturing under the CHIPS Act.

Syria’s new leader is no moderate

Barbara Leaf, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, left her meeting with Ahmad Al-Sharaa, Syria’s de facto leader, declaring herself highly satisfied. It was an important moment, given that for the last 12 years under former president Bashar al-Assad’s rule, the U.S. had no official contact with the Middle Eastern state.

Al-Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre – Abu Muhammad al-Julani – has been feted – prematurely so – by foreign ministers across the Middle East, as well as diplomats from the U.S. and the E.U., who seem to have bought his turn away from his radical roots.

However, two senior figures at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies have poured cold water on this apparent about-face. Has this new leader really rejected what al Qaeda stands for and severed ties with the extremist group’s extended network? Jolani delivered an address in 2016 in which he disavowed “affiliation with any external entity,” the FDD authors wrote in the Wall Street Journal. Many reporters and analysts interpreted that comment as a repudiation of al-Qaida. Yet one of al-Qaida’s high-ranking leaders approved in advance of Julani’s rebranding.

It’s true that Julani has clashed with al-Qaida-affiliated rivals and achieved effective autonomy while carving out his fiefdom in northwest Syria. But he remains committed to armed jihad and Islamic rule. To this day, several organizations within al-Qaida’s orbit operate under his Hayat Tahrir al-Sham banner.

Syrian Jews once again step into 2,700-year-old synagogue, following fall of Assad

Syria used to be home to some 100,000 Jews; however, like most of the other Middle Eastern and North African Jewish communities they were ethnically cleansed in the decades following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.

Following the fall of the Assad regime, the handful of Jews remaining in Syria can once again visit one of the world’s oldest synagogues. Located in Damascus’s Jobar suburb, it once attracted worshipers from throughout the region, according to the Jewish News Syndicate.

The area, which was a dangerous zone during Syria’s 13-year civil war and served as a battleground between regime forces and rebels, is safe to visit again. The civil war left the area and the Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue in ruins. The walls and roof have collapsed, and artifacts are missing. A marble sign at the entrance states in Arabic that it was built in 720 B.C.

“This synagogue means a lot to us,” Bakhour Chamntoub, the 74-year-old head of Syria’s Jewish community, told AP during his first visit to the site in 15 years. Upon seeing parts reduced to rubble, he added, “I am frankly disturbed.”

Jews worldwide have contacted him offering to help rebuild.

Tehran residents reject idea to rename street after Hamas terrorist chief Sinwar

On Dec. 26, the spokesperson for Tehran’s municipality announced the cancellation of a decision, made by the city council just days earlier, to rename Behistun Street in Tehran to “Martyr Yahya Sinwar Street,” reported the Institute for National Security Studies. The street was named after Mount Behistun in western Iran, home to the Behistun Inscription. This multilingual inscription (in Babylonian, Elamite, and Old Persian) was commissioned by King Darius I in 521 B.C., and the mountain has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The decision to reverse the street name change came following sharp public opposition. Critics argued the city council’s decision demonstrated disrespect for Iran’s rich cultural heritage and ancient civilization. They claimed renaming the street – especially in honor of a Hamas leader who is not Iranian – undermines public trust, disregards citizens’ sentiments, and ignores their desire to preserve their cultural identity. Some critics stated that even if Sinwar deserves commemoration in Tehran, it should not come at the expense of a street name representing Iran’s cultural heritage.

World Net Daily
Originally Published at Daily Wire, World Net Daily, or The Blaze

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Fibis
Fibis I am just an average American. My teen years were in the late 70s and I participated in all that that decade offered. Started working young, too young. Then I joined the Army before I graduated High School. I spent 25 years in, mostly in Infantry units. Since then I've worked in information technology positions all at small family owned companies. At this rate I'll never be a tech millionaire. When I was young I rode horses as much as I could. I do believe I should have been a cowboy. I'm getting in the saddle again by taking riding lessons and see where it goes.

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