As part of Israel’s diplomatic blitz on Norway following its unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced on Thursday that Israel is revoking the status that allows the Norwegian diplomatic team to operate in the Palestinian Authority (PA). This effectively halts all representation by the Norwegian embassy in Israel concerning the Palestinian governing body.

Norway’s chargé d’affaires was summoned to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, where he was handed a diplomatic note informing him of the decision. The Norwegian embassy in Israel had been operating with a team of eight diplomats whose sole responsibility was representing Norway to the PA.

“There is a price for anti-Israel behavior. Instead of fighting Palestinian terrorism after October 7 and supporting Israel in its battle against the Iranian axis of evil, Norway chose to reward Hamas murderers and rapists by recognizing a Palestinian state. But they didn’t stop there—they also joined the baseless lawsuit against us at the ICC,” Foreign Minister Katz said.

Norway has proven itself to be the most hostile European country to Israel. Since it’s blind to the consequences of the evil axis of terror it supports, it’s high time they paid a price.

Source:
Israeli blitz on Norway: Tel Aviv diplomats barred from Palestinian affairs, by Itamar Eichner/Ynetnews, August 8, 2024

A legal challenge to the US administration’s sanctions policy was initiated this week in a Texas federal court by Texans for Israel, Professor Eugene Kontorovich reported in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday (Biden’s Unconstitutional Sanctions on Supporters of Israel). The lawsuit cites concerns over free speech, due process, and equal protection. Kontorovich, an expert in international law, is a member of the plaintiffs’ legal team.

Texans for Israel is an American Christian Zionist nonprofit headed by Michael Isley, which filed the lawsuit with American Jews living in Israel ( Regavim, A.R.; Meir Deutsch; Yosef Ben Chaim; and Ari Abramowitz). They argue that the Biden administration has been using an executive order to impose unprecedented sanctions on Israelis who disagree with Biden’s policies.

Americans for a Safe Israel applauds Texans for Israel for taking this bold legal step to pursue action in the fight to disseminate the truth about Israel.

Source:
‘Texans for Israel’ Sue Biden over Sanctions of Israelis, by David Israel/Jewish Press

UAVs launched by Hezbollah terrorists exploded early Tuesday afternoon in various locations in northern Israel. 18 people were injured in the explosions, including a man of about 30 who was critically injured.

According to one report, at least three UAVs infiltrated Israel. One of them was intercepted, while a second exploded near Mazra’a. Hezbollah took responsibility for the launches, saying, “We launched a stream of UAVs and attacked a Golani Brigade command center and an Egoz Unit base in the Shraga Camp near occupied Acre (Akko).”

The IDF clarified: “Following the sirens that sounded over the past hour in northern Israel, a number of hostile UAVs were identified crossing from Lebanon. One of the UAVs was intercepted. Several civilians were injured to the south of Nahariya during the incident.”

Terror attacks are increasing in the north and to make matters worse, not all areas in this region have shelters. Those that do have often do not have enough of them to turn to for safety.

Source:
18 injured, 1 critically, in UAV explosion in northern Israel, by Israel National News, August 6, 2024

As the threat of an Iranian attack on Israel hangs over the Middle East, Israelis remain determined to go about their ordinary lives.

Potential missile and drone attacks from Iran and its proxies have prompted Israelis to stock up on food, water, batteries and more. The run on stores was reminiscent of the days leading up to Iran’s barrage of hundreds of missiles and drones in April.

“I know that if Khamenei says he’s going to do something, he usually follows through,” Yael Sasson, a 56-year-old homemaker from Ashkelon told The Press Service of Israel. “The question is just what form the attack will take, and in my opinion, the news channels have overreacted a bit to this whole situation.”

Nick Gottlieb, a 26-year-old US immigrant who works at a tech VC firm in Tel Aviv told TPS-IL that life continues in Tel Aviv. “If there’s a war, someone forgot to tell Tel Aviv. It’s business as normal — the beaches, shuk, and bars are still full.” Gottlieb is fully confident in Israel’s defensive abilities. “To put it into just two words, Bring it.”

In the southern town of Gan Yavne, Noa Halifa, a youth movement educator said the ongoing state of alert is more grinding than specific threats from Iran. “By and large we’re stuck in a state of anxiety since October 7th, and everything that’s happened since then just perpetuates that and pours gas on the fire. The fear isn’t because of the Iranian threat exactly, it’s something perpetual,” the 24-year-old told TPS-IL.

Halifa said she sensed the anxiety from the children she has worked with during the summer. “We usually do the camp in the woods, but this year, for the first time, we did it at a youth center, so that the kids would have access to bomb shelters,” Halifa explained. “The kids were stressed, they had panic attacks, and they were less independent overall.”

But she added, “Life still goes on, but we’re all needing to adapt ourselves to the current, difficult situation.”

Source:
‘Bring It’: Israelis Shrug Off Iranian Threats, by Noah Michaeli/TPS, August 5, 2024

For the second time in months, Israelis are sitting, waiting, and twiddling their thumbs, as Iran and its proxies have promised to exact revenge on the Jewish state in response to the deaths of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and the killing of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr.

Where and when this grand act of revenge will occur is proving challenging to estimate. Western intelligence sources told Sky News Arabia that they had evidence that Iran plans to attack Israel on Tisha B’Av next week. Other reports quote US and Israeli security officials as saying that the attack may come as early as today, leaving Israelis in limbo.

This is a genuinely worrying time for Israelis. Under normal circumstances, people could expect to look to their leader to provide strength, guidance, and cohesion, but that is proving to be a damp squib. So, if we cannot look to the present for inspiration, what about the past?

Sunday marked Jabotinsky Day, a national holiday celebrated annually to commemorate the life and vision of the Zionist leader. But what, if anything, can be learned from the former chief of Revisionist Zionism during these trying times?

Source:
Drawing on the legacy of Ze’ev Jabotinsky is critical in fighting Iran – editorial, by JPost Editorial, August 5, 2024

A 66-year-old Israeli woman and a 70-year-old man were killed, and two others injured when a Palestinian terrorist went on a stabbing spree in Holon on Sunday morning. The victims were attacked in three different areas before the terrorist, who had entered Israel illegally, was shot and killed by a police officer.

“This is a serious and complex attack, the victims were in three different scenes about 500 meters away from each other,” said Magen David Adom paramedic Rami Mushter and senior medic Eran Carmel.

“For many months the State of Israel has been facing murderous terrorism from home and abroad – there is no country in the world that will accept the agenda that an elderly couple who have done no harm to anyone are attacked with terrible cruelty by bloodthirsty terrorists. The security system will reckon with everyone, and its long arms will reach everywhere in the world and overwhelm our enemy,” said Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur.

Source:
Palestinian Kills 2, Injures 2 in Holon Stabbing Spree, by Pesach Benson/TPS, August 4, 2024

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran, where he was attending the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the terror group confirmed on Wednesday morning.

Haniyeh is the highest-ranking Hamas figure killed since October 7.

According to Iran’s state-run IRNA, Haniyeh and an Iranian security guard were killed inside the Tehran residence where he was staying.

Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah reacted today for the first time to the elimination of his top military commander Fuad Shukr who was assassinated just a day before Haniyeh. He accused Israel of crossing a red line and threatened, “The enemy should wait for revenge for all the blood that was spilled. The escalation depends now on Israel’s conduct and response.”

All of this has created spiraling tensions and fears of a full outbreak of war. As a result, many major airlines have cancelled their flights to and from Israel.

Since the war began, Israel has eliminated many key people in the vast terrorist network that seeks to delegitimize and wipe it off the map. Haniyeh’s elimination should not be taken lightly as he was one of the heads of the snake and their #2 man and leader of the Hamas political bureau. Haniyeh’s shocking loss to Hamas – and Iran – represents a serious victory to the enemies of terrorism. It’s also another removal of a driver of terrorist activity that harms the security and safety of Israel. However, it remains to be seen what this portends for an all-out war.

Sources:
Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh Killed in Tehran, by Pesach Benson/TPS, July 31, 2024

Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah reacted on Thursday for the first time to the elimination of his top military commander Fuad Shukr, by Israel National News, August 1, 2024

As more foreign airlines nix flights, Israeli official says airspace ‘absolutely safe’, by Times of Israel Staff, August 1, 2024

The Knesset will summon US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew to provide answers for why the US government recently sanctioned Israeli citizens living in Judea and Samaria, and Israeli organizations, Kan Reshet Bet reported Tuesday morning.

In addition, the Japanese and European Union ambassadors will also be summoned, since European countries and Japan have imposed similar sanctions on Israeli citizens and organizations.

This is the first time the Knesset and the Israeli authorities are initiating a public process on the matter.

The Knesset cannot force the foreign ambassadors to come to the hearing.

Source:
In first: US Ambassador summoned following sanctions against Israelis, by Israel National news, July 30, 2024

Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi said he is working to ban the pro-Hezbollah Al Mayadeen TV channel from operating in Israel and is awaiting an opinion from the security establishment.

He was responding to Israeli anger after an Al Mayadeen reporter broadcast live from the Majdal Shams soccer field where 12 children were killed in a Hezbollah rocket strike. One day after the deadly attack, reporter Hanaa Mahamid, claimed on the air that the children were killed in “an Israeli attack,” and insisted that Majdal Shams residents were skeptical that the rocket had been fired by Hezbollah.

“Allowing a Hezbollah reporter to broadcast from the scene of the massacre that Hezbollah carried out is absurd by any standard,” he said.

Source:
Israel working to ban pro-Hezbollah TV channel, by Pesach Benson/TPS, July 29, 2024

It’s been just over a day since Hezbollah fired an Iranian made Falaq-1 missile into a soccer field in the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Northern Golan, killing 12 children. Israel’s security cabinet has voted to give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, the power to decide when and how to respond to Hezbollah’s massacre.

The attack came as a shock with the Prime Minister still in the USA - forcing him to fly back early. Most people believe that this attack crossed enough red lines to push the region over into total war.

“For the deaths of little children, [Hezbollah chief Hassan] Nasrallah should pay with his head,” Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich tweeted,” asserting that it was “time for action” and that “Lebanon as a whole has to pay the price.”

Did Hezbollah intentionally push Israel’s button to see if it will declare war? If, when, and how Israel will respond remains to be seen. In the meantime, reports are quickly circulating about other countries taking every precaution by evacuating their people from Lebanon and the surrounding areas, and Israel’s hospitals are under a state of intense war readiness, possibly never seen before.

Source:
Hezbollah Massacres 12 Children; Bibi and Gallant to Decide on Israel’s Response, by Micha Gefen/Israel Unwired, July 28, 2024