SAN DIEGO (SDJW) — Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thanked President-elect Donald Trump for his statement on Monday urging the release of hostages held in Gaza or there would be “hell to pay.”
“I want to thank President Trump for his strong statement yesterday about the need for Hamas to release the hostages, the responsibility of Hamas, and this adds another force to our continued effort to release all the hostages,” he said.
Newsweek reported the following response from Basem Naim, a Hamas spokesperson. “Since the beginning of this genocide, Hamas has publicly announced and been active in seeking a permanent ceasefire to end the Israeli aggression against our people; a deal which would have included a full prisoners’ exchange. However, Netanyahu has sabotaged all these attempts. At many times, we were extremely close to signing on a deal, but due to his savage actions and decisions, these deals broke down.”
*
Keith Siegel, who was abducted by Hamas from his home in Kfar Aza – a kibbutz in San Diego’s sister city of Sha’ar Hanegev – may be unaware that his mother died on Sunday. His daughter, Elan Siegel, posted the news on Facebook, adding, “My father couldn’t come to say goodbye to his mother, who can never return. My father, a man who dedicated his life to doing good, who believed in goodness and loved humanity. My father is 65 years old. Dad won’t be able to stand with us tomorrow at the cemetery; he won’t be able to say goodbye to the woman who raised him and loved him all his life A violent and murderous terror organization is dictating our lives from the Gaza Strip to the great United States, and the world remains silent.”
*
Danny Danon once again will serve as Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, succeeding Gilad Erdan. Danon, who previously served in the role from 2015 to 2020, presented his credentials on Monday to U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres. “I’m committed to represent my country, to show the real face of Israel and to push ack the lies and hypocrisy that we unfortunately have to deal (with) here in this building,” the Israfan news service quoted him as saying.
*
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller has described Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad as a “brutal dictator with blood on his hands” and said that U.S. policy goals are to promote a situation in which the Syrian people get to freely choose their own leaders. Regarding the progress of rebel forces which have captured Syria’s second largest city, Aleppo, Miller said the U.S. is calling on all parties to de-escalate.
*
“Code Pink” demonstrators held handmade signs outside the Capitol office of U.S. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nevada) accusing her of having blood on her hands for supporting Israel’s military actions in Gaza. “It is a Shanda that Jacky Rosen, as a Jewish American, is supporting this kind of massive slaughter of Palestinian civilians day by day by day,” one protester said.
*
NATIONAL
Several shots reportedly were fired early Tuesday morning near the home of U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, but apparently, according to the Washington D.C. police, she was not in danger nor the subject of any threats.
*
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) was reelected as the Democratic leader in the Senate. Because of Republican gains, his title in the next Congress will be Senate Minority Leader. Senator John Thune (R-South Dakota) will become the next Senate Majority Leader.
*
Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland) is seeking colleagues’ support to replace Congressman Jerry Nadler (D-New York) as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. If he is successful, that would open his top spot on the House Oversight Committee.
*
There is still fallout over President Joe Biden’s Thanksgiving vacation in Nantucket, Massachusetts, given his emergence from the Nantucket Bookworks with a book by Rashid Khalidi titled The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine. John Kirby, spokesperson for the National Security Council, answered a reporter’s question on Monday this way: “It doesn’t surprise me that he would go into a bookstore and get a book of history, particularly about the Middle East, to try to keep learning. He really does believe in speaking, learning and thinking broadly, and that’s what he tells me.”
*
The Washington Post reports that U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland is urging career employees of the Department of Justice to remain in their posts through the Trump administration. He said institutional knowledge is important to retain.
*
CALIFORNIA
Nathan Hochman’s swearing-in as Los Angeles County District Attorney is today. He routinely wears on his suit a yellow ribbon symbolizing the hope that hostages held by Hamas in Gaza will soon be returned home.
*
In a special session called by Gov. Gavin Newsom, Assemblyman Marc Berman (D-Palo Alto) introduced a skeleton Assembly Bill 5 on Monday stating the “intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that assists counties in the prompt tallying and release of election results.” CalMatters reports that Berman said he will flesh out the bill after speaking with county election officials to determine what changes they wish to make. He also will explore increased funding for ballot counting.
*
Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel (D-San Fernando Valley) has introduced legislation to set aside up to $25 million for legal fees in case California has to defend its laws regarding abortion, civil rights, climate change and immigration from adverse action by the incoming Trump administration. In a statement published in Times of San Diego, Gabriel commented, “While we always hope to collaborate with our federal partners, California will be ready to vigorously defend our interests and values from any unlawful action by the incoming Trump Administration.”
*
LOCAL
San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera is promoting an ordinance that would preclude apartment owners from utilizing third party software to learn what rents other landlords are charging and then fix the price of their properties. “In the simplest terms, what this platform [YieldStar and its successor AI Revenue Management] is doing is providing what we think of as that dark, smoky room for big companies to get together and set prices,” he told CalMatters. “The technology is being used as a way of keeping an arm’s length from one big company to the other. But that’s an illusion.”
*
SDJW staff report