SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, taking note of the takeover of Aleppo, Syria, by rebel Suni Islamist forces, said his nation’s security forces are keeping a close watch on the situation lest it should devolve into a threat to Israel.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Arraghchi accused Israel and the U.S. of being behind the rebels in a plot “to undermine regional security.”
U.S. National Security adviser Jake Sullivan said the U.S. does not favor one side nor the other, as Syria under Bashar Assad is an ally of Iran, Russia and Hezbollah, and the rebel Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) force, translated as “Organization for the Liberation of the Levant,” has been designated by the U.S. as a terrorist organization.
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ISRAEL
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told a conference on security organized by the newspaper Israel Hayom that concerning the hostages still held in Gaza “there are clear indications of progress, and the government is committed to pursuing this. We expect to have more clarity in the coming days.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told the conference on Sunday, “I am confident that we can return most of the hostages home – absolutely not through surrender. We are making progress in the war in the south. Hamas is under significant pressure, and this will ultimately break them psychologically.”
In Washington, meanwhile, U.S. national Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the U.S. is “deeply engaged with the key players in the region, and there is activity even today. There will be further conversations and consultations, and our hope is that we can generate a ceasefire and hostage deal, but we are not there yet.”
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White House envoy Amos Hochstein and U.S. Army Major General Jasper Jeffers will co-chair implementation and monitoring of Israel’s ceasefire agreement with Lebanon pending the naming of their permanent replacements. … In another U.S. development, President-elect Trump has named his daughter Tiffany’s father-in-law, Massad Boulos, a Lebanese-American, will serve as his adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs. Boulos, a member of Christianity’s Greek Orthodox church, campaigned for Trump among Arab-speakers in the battleground states.
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Israel’s former Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said far-right members of Israel’s Cabinet want to evict Palestinians from Gaza and build new Israeli settlements there. “I am compelled to warn what is happening there and is being concealed from us. At the end of the day, war crimes are being committed,” Ya’alon said on a public broadcast. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar responded that “everything Israel does is in accordance with international law.” Calling on Ya’alon to retract his remarks, Sa’ar called it a pity that Ya’ar does not realize the damage his remarks have done.
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Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke explained that he denied a visa for former Israeli MK Ayelet Shaked because he was concerned her anti-Palestinian views might “seriously undermine social cohesion” in Australia. “My view is really simple: if you’re simply coming here to demean people we can do without you. Whether those hatreds are demeaning of Israelis or demeaning of Palestinians, I’m going to have the exact same line.” He noted that “Ms. Shaked has said that all Palestinians should leave Gaza.” Shaked, meanwhile, posted on the social media platform X, “The issue here is not that I didn’t get a visa. The issue here is that the current Australian government has become antisemitic.”
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GLOBAL
Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelensky, in a meeting Sunday in Kyiv with European Union (EU) officials, said before he sits down for peace talks with Russia, he needs two things: more weapons and an invitation for Ukraine to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He also said that the EU and NATO should be involved in any eventual negotiations between his country and Ukraine.
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Mexico has disbanded two migrant caravans headed from its southern border toward the United States in the aftermath of a telephone call between Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has threatened to levy 25 percent tariffs on Mexican goods unless migration across the U.S.-Mexico border is stopped. One caravan of 2,500 started in the Mexican city of Tapachula, near the border with Guatemala, and the progress of another caravan of 1,500 was stopped in Tonala, in the state of Chiapas. In both instances, Mexico offered the migrants free bus rides to cities in southern and central Mexico.
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Hawaii’s Gov. Josh Green hosted Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te for a discussion about disaster preparedness. Both Green and Lai are physicians. “We extended a warm aloha to Lai and his delegation,” Green posted on Instagram. China’s Foreign Ministry “strongly condemned” the visit of Lai to the U.S., contending that the island in actuality is Chinese territory.
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NATIONAL
U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) on Sunday expressed doubts on CNN about Republican claims that the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have been “weaponized” against Republicans. “This Department of Justice has brought charges against a Democratic U.S. Senator [Bob Menendez} in New Jersey and a Democratic congressman [Henry Cuellar] in Texas,” he said. Alluding to MAGA Republicans who want to root out “the deep state,” Raskin said “the deep state—nobody’s ever defined it. Apparently, it just means anybody who doesn’t do the will of Donald Trump.”
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Governor-elect Josh Stein of North Carolina said on Sunday he is eager to work with the incoming administration of President-elect Trump to speed relief funds to the people of the flood-ravaged western portion of his state “to get back up on their feet.” He said on ABC’s “This Week” that in the wake of Hurricane Helene there were “many lives lost, thousands of buildings destroyed, homes and small businesses, infrastructure, critical infrastructure, water and sewer, wastewater, highways, parts of Interstate 40 fell into the river.”
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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro has issued a disaster declaration for Erie, Pennsylvania, which has experienced unusually heavy snowfall.
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U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (Ind-Vermont) says he agrees with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who will co-chair Trump’s efforts to cut the federal budget, that there is a lot of wasteful spending. Sanders said the Defense Department, with a budget of $886 billion, is particularly wasteful with taxpayers’ money.
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San Diego Jewish World staff report