News Digest — 7/25/25
Netanyahu To Macron : Palestinian State Would Be Launch Pad To Annihilate Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded on Thursday evening (24th) to French President Emmanuel Macron’s announcement that France would officially recognize the “State of Palestine.”
“We strongly condemn President Macron’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state next to Tel Aviv in the wake of the October 7 massacre. Such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became. A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel – not to live in peace beside it. Let’s be clear. The Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel: they seek a state instead of Israel,” he said.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar criticized Macron and said,” The French President’s pretension to create by merely words an illusionary arrangement in our land is ridiculous and not serious. His statement this evening shows that all the conditions that he himself set a few weeks ago – have evaporated. All that remains is the illusionary state he presumes to establish.”
“A Palestinian state will be a Hamas state, just as the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip twenty years ago led to Hamas taking control of it,” Sa’ar added.
Other Israeli leaders similarly blasted Macron’s announcement on Thursday evening (24th).
“Macron just awarded Hamas a prize for committing the October 7 massacre. This shameful act is nothing less than a betrayal by one of the so-called ‘leaders’ of the free world. It sends a chilling message: terrorism pays off,” said Knesset Speaker Amit Ohana.
Emmanuel Macron will be remembered as a collaborator with evil – on the wrong side of history. I’m ashamed to have met this man. I love France. It deserves more courageous leadership,” he added.
Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “Macron’s announcement of his intention to recognize a Palestinian state is a disgrace and a surrender to terrorism, rewarding and emboldening the murderers and rapists of Hamas, who committed the most horrific massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Instead of standing with Israel at this critical moment, the French president is acting to weaken it.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrish responded to Nacron’s announcement and said, “I thank President Macron for giving us a reason to finally apply Israeli sovereignty over the homeland’s territories in Judea and Samaria and to permanently toss the idea of establishing an Arab terror state in the heart of the Land of Israel into the dustpan of history. This will be our appropriate Zionist response to the unilateral coercion attempts by Macron and his partners.”
In his announcement on Thursday (24th), Macron said, “Faithful to its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognize the State of Palestine.”
He added that a formal announcement will be made during the United Nations General Assembly in September.
Eight IDF Soldiers Wounded In Kfar Yona Terror Ramming, Police Searching For Second Suspect
Eight IDF soldiers were wounded, two moderately, and six lightly, when a terrorist conducted a ramming attack at the Beit Lid Junction near Kfar Yona on Thursday morning (24th). The soldiers had been waiting at a bus stop.
While one of the terrorists was arrested, a second suspect, Arkan Khaled, 27, fromTaibe, is still being searched for, according to police.
Magen David Adom teams administered aid at the scene of the attack.
“I saw the bus stop shattered, glass broken, and eight injured people nearby,” MDA motorcycle paramedic Idan Shina said. “Three of them had been thrown about 15 meters back into the dirt behind the bus stop. All were fully conscious and told us that while they were standing at the bus stop, a vehicle suddenly sped toward them, hit them and fled the scene.”
“We performed an initial triage, other bystanders began assisting the injured, guided over the phone by MDA’s 101 dispatch center. A young man and woman, about 20 years old, were assessed at the scene in moderate condition with injuries typical of vehicular trauma.”
The injured were evacuated to the Laniado Hospital in Netanya, Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba and Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hadera.
The soldiers’ families were all notified.
“For months we have been begging the Israel National Roads Company to put up posts on this road. We were told that ‘it wasn’t safe.’ This was expected,” Albert Taib, mayor of Kfar Yona, told Israeli public broadcaster KAN News.
Police Commissioner Danny Levi conducted a situational assessment at the scene of the attack and at the vehicle’s location, which was found near Beit Lid.
Police said that searches for the second suspect are ongoing in open areas and along several routes, with the assistance of a police helicopter, drones, a canine unit, motorcycles, and emergency response teams.
Police bomb disposal experts and criminal identification teams are examining the vehicle to gather further evidence.
Meanwhile, all emergency standby squads from nearby communities have been ordered to stay on high alert.
IDF On Alert As Houthis Aim To Raid Israel
The third class of elite fighters trained in the Houthi terrorist organization in Yemen has recently completed its training. Among the scenarios being prepared for is a seaborne incursion into Israel. While the vast distance between Israel and Yemen may appear to render such ambitions far-fetched, regional instability provides fertile ground for turning this nightmare scenario into reality.
The Houthi military has just graduated its third cohort of elite fighters, who are being trained to launch raids on Israel proper.
The name given to this group,”Tufan al-Aqsa” (Al-Aqsa Flood), is the same as the one Hamas used for its October 7 massacre. This choice only solidifies the deep connection the Houthis maintain with Gaza, in whose name they continue to launch missile attacks on Israel. One might be tempted to dismiss their vision of unleashing another round of devastation as pure fantasy; the distance alone presents a formidable obstacle even for elite fighters, showcased in slickly produced YouTube videos.
Yet, their declaration serves as a warning: this invasion plan very much exists, albeit currently in a nascent stage. But it could resurface, unexpectedly and dangerously, at any time. The Houthi threat demands continuous monitoring to ensure they don’t stage a surprise maritime or land assault, potentially targeting the critical port of Eilat or a vulnerable kibbutz.
It is essential, however, to assess this situation from a broader strategic perspective, one that should guide how Israel reinforces its borders in the years to come. On at least three of these borders – Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan – Israel faces likely instability at best, and serious threats at worst. Events in Syria last week provided a stark reminder.
Costa Rica Becomes Sixth Latin American Nation To Embrace IHRA Definition
Costa Rica has officially adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism, becoming the sixth Latin American country to do so, JNS reported.
Jewish organizations welcomed the move as a significant step in the global effort to combat Jew-hatred.
“We are grateful that Costa Rica has joined the growing number of nations that view the IHRA definition as an essential guidepost to recognize anti-Semitism in its various forms so it can be properly addressed,”said Dina Siegel Vann, director of the American Jewish Committee’s Institute for Latin American Affairs.
Siegel Vann called on other countries to follow Costa Rica’s lead. “We urge all nations to take this important step to protect their Jewish communities and uphold their Democratic values,” she stated.
The World Jewish Congress also commended the Costa Rica government “for taking meaningful action against anti-Semitism.
Gilbert Meltzer, president of the Costa Rican Jewish community, highlighted the importance of the decision in the current climate. “The increase of hate speech and attacks on Jews all over the world, especially after October 7, demands ethical decisions and firm actions as this one,” he said. “We thank Costa Rica for joining the group of countries in the international community that support morality and combat discrimination.”
The IHRA working definition offers a comprehensive description of anti-Semitism in its various forms, including hatred and discrimination against Jews, Holocaust denial and, sometimes controversially, the way anti-Semitism relates to the ways criticism of Israel is expressed.
More than half the states in the US have adopted or endorsed the IHRA definition, plus the District of Columbia, either as legislation or as an educational standard.
Countries that have adopted the definition include Canada, Germany, Britain, Austria, Romania, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.
In 2017, the European Parliament voted to adopt a resolution calling on member states and their institutions to apply the IHRA definition.
I’m A War Scholar: There Is No Genocide In Gaza – Maj. (ret.) John Spencer
In his New York Times July 15th op-ed titled “I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It,” Omer Bartov accused Israel of commiting genocide in Gaza. As a professor of genocide studies, he should know better. Genocide is defined by specific intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group in whole or in part. Bartov did not even try to meet that high legal bar.
I am a war expert. I have led soldiers in combat. I have trained military units in urban warfare for decades and studied and taught military history, strategy, and the laws of war for years. Since Oct. 7, I have been to Gaza four times. I have interviewed dozens of commanders and soldiers on the front lines. I have reviewed their orders, watched their targeting process, and seen soldiers take real risks to avoid harming civilians. Nothing I have seen or studied resembles genocide or genocidal intent.
Bartov claims that statements by Israeli leaders prove genocidal intent. He begins with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s comment on October 7 that Hamas would “pay a huge price.” That is not a call for genocide. It is what any leader would say after the worst terrorist attack in the nation’s history.
Israel has taken extraordinary steps to limit civilian harm. It warns before attacks using text messages, phone calls, leaflets, and broadcasts. It opens safe corridors and pauses operations so civilians can leave combat areas. It tracks civilian presence down to the building level. I have seen missions delayed or canceled because children were nearby. I have seen Israeli troops come under fire and still be ordered not to shoot back because civilians might be harmed.
Israel has delivered more humanitarian aid to Gaza than any military in history has provided to an enemy population during wartime. Israel has supported hospitals, repaired water pipelines, increased access to clean water, and enabled over 36,000 patients to leave Gaza for treatment abroad.
No military operation is judged solely by body counts. If we used Bartov’s logic, every major war would be called genocide. War is destructive and ugly. But it is not automatically a crime. Nations must follow the rules of distinction, proportionality, and take all possible care to avoid civilian harm. Israel is doing that. I have seen it. What is happening in Gaza is tragic. But it is not genocide. And it is not illegal.
The writer is chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point. (X)
(x.com)
No, Israel Is Not Committing Genocide In Gaza. The Charge Is Obscene – Bret Stephens
• If the Israeli government’s intentions and actions are truly genocidal, why hasn’t it been more methodical and vastly more deadly? It could have bombed without prior notice, instead of routinely warning Gazans to evacuate areas it intended to strike. It could have bombed without putting its own soldiers, hundreds of whom have died in combat, at risk.
• The death count isn’t higher because Israel is manifestly not committing genocide, a legally specific term defined by the UN Convention on Genocide as the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.” Note the word “intent” and “as such.” Genocide does not mean simply “too many civilian deaths” – a heartbreaking fact of nearly every war.
• It means seeking to exterminate a category of people for no other reason than that they belong to that category: the Nazis and their partners killing Jews in the Holocaust because they were Jews, or Hamas on October 7 intentionally butchering families in their homes and young people at a music festival because they were Israelis.
• Over a million German civilians died in World War II, victims of war but not of genocide. The aim of the Allies was to defeat the Nazis, not to wipe out Germans simply for being German. I am aware of no evidence of an Israeli plan to deliberately target and kill Gazan civilians.
• What is unusual about Gaza is the cynical and criminal way Hamas has chosen to wage war. In Ukraine, when Russia attacks, civilians go underground while the Ukrainian military stays above ground to fight. In Gaza it’s the reverse: Hamas hides and feeds and preserves itself in its vast warren of tunnels rather than open them to civilians for protection. These tactics are war crimes in themselves.
• We know how the U.S. would operate in similar circumstances. In 2016 and 2017, the U.S. aided the government of Iraq in retaking the city of Mosul, which was captured by the Islamic State three years earlier and turned into a booby-trapped, underground fortress. As the Times reported on March 28, 2017, “American airstrikes have at times leveled entire blocks–including the one in Mosul Jidideh this month that residents said left as many as 200 civilians dead.” I don’t recall any campus protests.
• Wars are awful enough, but the term “genocide” can’t be promiscuously applied to any military situation we don’t like.
(nyt.com)
