JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
NIGERIAN SCAM ARTISTS ISLAMIC TERRORISTS KIDNAP 315 OR MORE CHRISTIAN HOSTAGES.AFTER SLAGHTERING MANY MANY MORE..
GENESIS 6:11-13
11
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with
violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the
earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and,
behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
MARK 13:8
8 For
nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC
GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers
places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the
beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes
shall be in divers places,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME) and
famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there
be from heaven.
2 Peter 3:6-7 Amplified Bible (AMP) (HOT SUN, NUKES ETC)
6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.
7
By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire,
being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
LUKE 21:25-26
25
And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in
the moon,(MAN ON THE MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the
stars;(ASTEROIDS-PROPHECY SIGNS) and upon the earth distress of nations,
with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE
WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for
fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things
which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven
shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
GENESIS 16:11-12
11
And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with
child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF
THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And
he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS)
man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be
against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against
him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL
ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his
brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the
morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground,
which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine
heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars
of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the
sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above
the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF
THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 16:2
2
They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that
whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM
MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
And here are the
bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or
peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels
land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the
future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan,
Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq
west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe
23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN
THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE
FUTURE.
Joel 3:2-King James Version (YOU DIVIDE JERUSALEM IN
HALF - YOUR POKING GOD IN THE EYE - GOD SAYS AN EYE FOR AN EYE AND A
TOOTH FOR A TOOTH- YOU WANNA DIVIDE JERUSALEM IN HALF - HALF OF EARTHS
POPULATION 4 BILLION DIE ON EARTH.
2 I will also gather all nations,
and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead
with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have
scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
NIGIRIA ARE NOT
ONLY THE SCAMMER CAPITAL OF THE WORLD. BUT NOW GOING FOR THE NUMBER ONE
CHRISTIAN GENICIDE AND HOSTAGE TAKING OF CHRISTIANS. AND AS THE LIBERAL
ABORTION LOVER BABY MURDERERS WOULD SAY. ITS FOR THE GOOD OF THE EARTH.
AND FOR THE ISLAMIC TERRORIST KIDS OF COURSE. THE LITTLE ISLAMIC KIDS
NEED TO KNOW HOW THEIR DEATH CULT SHARIA LAW CAN CONTROL A INFIDEL
COUNTRY REAL QUICK. ONCE SHARIA LAW IS ENFORCED. WE CAN GUARENTEE EITHER
BIG QUAKES OR FLOODING OR SOME DESTRUCTION WILL BE COMING TO NIGERIA AS
A RESULT OF THIS CHRISTIAN SLAUGHTER. GOD WILL MAKE SURE THE NIGERIAN
CULTS WILL BE UNDER JESUS' FEET.
Fifty kidnapped Catholic school students in Nigeria escape-By Ahmed Kingimi-November 23, 20254:24 PM EST
MAIDUGURI,
Nigeria, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Fifty of the more than 300 students
kidnapped from a Nigerian Catholic school last week have escaped and
have been reunited with their parents, the Catholic Church and Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN) said on Sunday.But around 253 of the
kidnapped children, along with 12 staff members and teachers, are still
with the kidnappers, said CAN Chairman Bulus Yohanna, a Catholic Bishop
who is also the proprietor of the school.In a statement, Yohanna said
the pupils escaped on Friday and Saturday. Parents rushed to the school
in Niger state, to the west of the capital Abuja, after hearing that
some children were free.
Amose Ibrahim was one of the parents who
went to St. Mary's school to check if any of his three children had
escaped."Unfortunately, they were not among the escapees," Ibrahim,
whose youngest child is six years old, told Reuters by phone. "As of
now, many parents and their loved ones are roaming around the
school."PRESIDENT ORDERS HIRING OF MORE POLICE-President Bola Tinubu
ordered the hiring of 30,000 more police officers at a meeting with
security chiefs on Sunday. He directed the removal of all police from
VIP protection services to focus on core duties, especially in remote
areas prone to attacks.
Nigeria faces scrutiny from U.S. President
Donald Trump who in early November threatened military action over the
treatment of Christians in the country.Gunmen kidnapped students and
teachers from the school on Friday, the latest in a spate of school
attacks that has forced some northern states to shut schools. The
government also ordered the closure of 47 colleges in the north.POPE LEO
PLEADS FOR RELEASE OF CAPTIVES-In response to the kidnappings, Pope Leo
pleaded on Sunday for the immediate release of those who had been taken
in one of the worst mass kidnappings ever recorded in Nigeria.
"I
make a heartfelt appeal for the immediate release of the hostages," the
Pope said at the end of a mass in St. Peter's Square in Rome.In a
separate incident, Tinubu said Nigerian security forces on Sunday
rescued 38 people who were abducted during a service at Christ Apostolic
Church in Kwara state. At least two people died during the
attack.Reporting by Ahmed Kingimi; Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe and Ben
Ezeamalu; Editing by Jane Merriman, David Holmes and Edmund Klamann
Pope Leo appeals for release of 315 kidnapped from Nigeria school By Reuters-November 23, 202512:04 PM EST
VATICAN
CITY, Nov 23 (Reuters) - Pope Leo asked on Sunday for the immediate
release of children and staff abducted this week from a Catholic school
in Nigeria, one of the worst mass kidnappings ever recorded there.Gunmen
in Nigeria kidnapped students and teachers from St. Mary's school in
the northwest of the country on Friday, the Christian Association of
Nigeria (CAN) said, the latest in a spate of school attacks this week
that has forced the government to shut 47 colleges.CAN said on Saturday
it had raised its estimate of those taken from the school to 315 from an
earlier estimate of 227, following a "verification exercise".POPE MAKES
HEARTFELT PLEA FOR RELEASE-"I was deeply saddened to learn of the
kidnappings of priests, faithful, and students in Nigeria and Cameroon. I
feel great pain, especially for the many young men and women who have
been abducted and for their anguished families," Pope Leo said at the
end of a mass in St. Peter's Square."I make a heartfelt appeal for the
immediate release of the hostages and urge the competent authorities to
take appropriate and timely decisions to ensure their release," he
added."Let us pray for these brothers and sisters of ours and that
churches and schools may always and everywhere remain places of safety
and hope."Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro; Editing by David Holmes
Pentagon chief calls on Nigeria to stop violence against Christians.
Washington,
Nov 21 (AFP) Nov 21, 2025-US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met with
Nigerian National Security Advisor Nuhu Ribadu, urging Africa's most
populous nation to take steps to curb violence against Christians, the
Pentagon said Friday.Hegseth called on Nigeria to "take both urgent and
enduring action to stop violence against Christians," Pentagon spokesman
Sean Parnell said in a statement, adding that Washington wants to work
with Abuja "to deter and degrade terrorists that threaten the United
States."The Thursday meeting between Hegseth and Ribadu at the Pentagon
came after US President Donald Trump said Christianity was "facing an
existential threat" in the west African nation, warning that if Nigeria
does not stem the killings, the United States will attack and "it will
be fast, vicious, and sweet."Nigeria, home to 230 million inhabitants,
is divided roughly equally between a predominantly Christian south and a
Muslim-majority north.It is the scene of numerous conflicts, including
jihadist insurgencies, which kill both Christians and Muslims, often
indiscriminately.Clashes are also frequent between mostly Muslim herders
and mainly Christian farmers over land and resources, particularly
water, giving the conflict an air of religious tensions.However, experts
say the conflict in northcentral Nigeria is primarily over land, which
is being squeezed by expanding populations and climate change.
The world notices the persecution of Nigerian Christians-Robert Royal | The Washington Post-Oct 13
The
world tends not to pay much attention to the persecution of Christians,
even though Christians are attacked and repressed in more countries
than any other religious group. But sometimes the persecution is so
extreme that it gains, at least briefly, some purchase on public
attention. The steady slaughter of Christians in the West African nation
of Nigeria is one such case.In recent weeks, the violence has prompted
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to introduce legislation holding accountable
Nigerian officials who facilitate Islamist jihadist attacks on
Christians, and HBO talk-show host Bill Maher excoriated the news media
and others for largely ignoring the bloody persecution of
Christians.According to a report issued in August by the International
Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law (Intersociety), an
African nongovernmental group that documents human rights violations, in
the first seven months of this year alone, more than 7,000 Christians
were killed in Nigeria. Christians of various denominations and moderate
Muslims regularly die at the hands of Boko Haram, Fulani militants and
other violent actors. Numbers vary and are difficult to verify, but
between 2009 and 2023 in Nigeria, Intersociety reports at least 52,000
Christians killed, 18,500 abducted and unlikely to have survived, and
more than 20,000 churches and Christian schools attacked.Mixed in with
religious motives involved in these dire statistics, of course, are
conflicts over land, abductions for ransom (especially of Catholic
priests), and other points of conflict. But the specifically
anti-Christian targeting in the great majority of these cases defies
other explanation. Yet in March, amid U.S. congressional criticism, the
Nigerian government said violence in the country was “not driven by
religious bias or targeted against any particular religious
group.”Though officially there is no state religion, Nigeria is a member
the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, which calls itself “the
collective voice of the Muslim world.” And the Nigerian government does
little — often seemingly nothing — to protect Christians from Islamist
militants. Which is why it is puzzling that in 2021 the Biden
administration removed Nigeria from the list of Countries of Particular
Concern over religious liberty. The Trump administration should, at a
minimum, return Nigeria to the CPC list. In July, the U.S. Commission on
International Religious Freedom urged just such a move, which can carry
with it significant economic and diplomatic consequences.The Western
coalition that brought pressure to bear on the Islamic State terrorists
in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East shrank the group’s
territory to virtually nothing by 2019. But ISIS affiliates such as
Islamic State West Africa and Boko Haram have carried on the jihadist
cause, in particular waging a campaign of persecution and slaughter
against Christians across much of Africa. The problem is most serious in
Nigeria, the most populous African nation, with about 242 million
people, with Muslims a slim majority. Historically, Muslims were mostly
concentrated in the northern half of the country — where 12 states have
embraced sharia law — while Christians largely occupied the south.Local
police forces, in violation of federal law, harshly treat Christians for
sharia violations, imposing punishments that include the death penalty,
amputations and beatings. Police enforce on Christians sharia
regulations about dress, public eating and drinking during Ramadan. As
observers note, though, such treatment is not universal: In Nigeria’s
west, where more-moderate Muslims dominate, Muslim-Christian relations
are largely peaceful and toleration generally prevails.According to Open
Doors, a U.S. group that tracks Christian persecution, 82 percent of
Christians killed around the world from October 2022 to September 2023
met their end in Nigeria. It is imperative that the United Nations and
the European Union, and especially the United States, with its powerful
leverage, apply pressure to Nigeria. If a such a large country, roughly
divided evenly between Muslims and Christians, continues to be the scene
of thousands of Christian deaths every year, without serious
consequences, that not only enables a grave injustice but also suggests
to Muslim extremists everywhere that they can act with impunity.Robert
Royal is the author of “The Martyrs of the New Millennium: The Global
Persecution of Christians in the Twenty-First Century.”
FINALLY THE EUROPEAN UNION IS TALKING ABOUT HAVING THEIR OWN ARMY.AND IT MUST HAPPEN.
REVELATION 19:16-21
16
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of
Kings, And Lord Of Lords.(JESUS RETURNG TO EARTH LITERALLY ON A WHITE
HORSE WITH THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS 7 YEARS EARLIER)
17 And I saw an
angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all
the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves
together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the
flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men,
and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of
all men, both free and bond, both small and great.(2ND TIME GOD-JESUS
TELLS THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS TO GET READY TO EAT HUMAN
FLESH.THE FIRST TIME WAS WHEN GOD TOLD THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING
BIRDS-TO EAT RUSSIA,GERMAN,ARAB, MUSLIM BODIES FOR 7 MONTHS IN EZEK 38 @
39.
19 And I saw the beast,(E.U WORLD LEADER) and the kings of the
earth, and their armies,(HERE IT SAYS THE E.U WILL HAVE ITS OWN ARMY)
gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, (JESUS)
and against his army.(RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
20 And the beast (E.U
WORLD LEADER) was taken, and with him the false prophet (POPE FRANCIS)
that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had
received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the
horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were
filled with their flesh.
Zephaniah 2:1-15
1 Gather together, yes, gather,O shameless nation,
2
before the decree takes effect[a] -before the day passes away like
chaff—before there comes upon you the burning anger of the Lord, before
there comes upon you the day of the anger of the Lord.
3 Seek the
Lord, all you humble of the land, who do his just commands;[b] seek
righteousness; seek humility; perhaps you may be hidden on the day of
the anger of the Lord.
4 For Gaza shall be deserted, and Ashkelon
shall become a desolation; Ashdod's people shall be driven out at noon,
and Ekron shall be uprooted.
5 Woe to you inhabitants of the
seacoast, you nation of the Cherethites! The word of the Lord is against
you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines; and I will destroy you until no
inhabitant is left.
6 And you, O seacoast, shall be pastures, with meadows[c] for shepherds and folds for flocks.
7
The seacoast shall become the possession of the remnant of the house of
Judah, on which they shall graze, and in the houses of Ashkelon they
shall lie down at evening. For the Lord their God will be mindful of
them and restore their fortunes.
8 “I have heard the taunts of Moab
(JORDAN) and the revilings of the Ammonites, how they have taunted my
people and made boasts against their territory.
9 Therefore, as I
live,” declares the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Moab shall become
like Sodom, and the Ammonites like Gomorrah, a land possessed by nettles
and salt pits, and a waste forever.The remnant of my people shall
plunder them, and the survivors of my nation shall possess them.”
10 This shall be their lot in return for their pride, because they taunted and boasted against the people of the Lord of hosts.
11
The Lord will be awesome against them; for he will famish all the gods
of the earth, and to him shall bow down, each in its place, all the
lands of the nations.
12 You also, O Cushites, shall be slain by my sword.
13
And he will stretch out his hand against the north and destroy
Assyria,(SYRIA) and he will make Nineveh a desolation, a dry waste like
the desert.
14 Herds shall lie down in her midst, all kinds of
beasts;[d] even the owl and the hedgehog[e] shall lodge in her
capitals; a voice shall hoot in the window; devastation will be on the
threshold; for her cedar work will be laid bare.
15 This is the
exultant city that lived securely, that said in her heart, “I am, and
there is no one else.” What a desolation she has become, a lair for wild
beasts! Everyone who passes by her hisses and shakes his fist.Sa'ar: No
free meals; talks possible if more hostages freed Israel halts aid into
Gaza, citing Hamas refusal to extend first phase of truce
Footnotes-a
-Zephaniah 2:2 Hebrew gives birth, b-Zephaniah 2:3 Or who carry out his
judgment, c-Zephaniah 2:6 Or caves, d-Zephaniah 2:14 Hebrew beasts of
every nation, e-Zephaniah 2:14 The identity of the animals rendered owl
and hedgehog is uncertain
DANIEL 2:37-45
37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
38
And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and
the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made
thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
39 And after
thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third
kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
40 And
the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh
in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these,
shall it break in pieces and bruise.
41 And whereas thou sawest the
feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom
shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron,
forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
43
And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle
themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to
another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
44 And in the days of
these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never
be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it
shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand
for ever.
45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of
the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the
brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known
to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is
certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
DANIEL 7:17-26
17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.
18 But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
19
Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from
all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his
nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue
with his feet;
20 And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of
the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn
that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was
more stout than his fellows.
21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
22
Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of
the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
23
Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,
which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole
earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the
ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and
another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first,
and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he shall speak great words
against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High,
and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his
hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
THE WORLD IN 10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS LEAD BY THE EUROPEAN UNION THE WORLD LEADER, NOT AMERICA.I PREDICT.
THE EUROPEAN UNION AND REVIVED ROMAN WORLD GOVERNMENT
DANIEL 2:31-33,36-43, DAN 7:3-8,17
First From Daniel Chapter 2
1 EGYPT
2 ASSYRIA
3 BABYLON (HEAD OF GOLD) DAN 2:31-32,36-38, DAN 1:1
4 MEDO-PERSIANS (CHEST & ARMS OF SILVER) DAN 2:32,39, DAN 9:1
5 GREECE (WAIST & HIPS OF BRONZE) DAN 2:32,39, DAN 11:2
6 ROME (2 LEGS OF IRON) DAN 2:33,40, ROM 1:6
7 REVIVED ROME (EU) (FEET IRON & CLAY) DAN 2:33,41-43,10 TOES
Now From Daniel Chapter 7
1 EGYPT
2 ASSYRIA
3 BABYLON (LION WITH EAGLES WINGS) DAN 7:4, DAN 1:1
4 MEDO-PERSIANS (BEAR ON HIND LEGS) DAN 7:5, DAN 9:1
5 GREECE (LEOPARD 4 WINGS, 4 HEADS) DAN 7:6, DAN 11:2
6 ROME (HUGE IRON TEETH) DAN 7:7 (10 HORNS), ROM 1:6
7 REVIVED ROME (EU) DAN 7:8,19-20,23-25 10 HORNS, 10 KINGS
REV
17:9,12, 10 HORNS, 10 KINGS, 7 HILLS ROME. REV 13:1 BEAST WITH 7 HEADS.
THE E.U LEADER OF WORLD GOVERNMENT DAN 2:40-45, 7:7-8,23-25,27, 8:23,
REV 13:3,7,8,12,14,16
REVELATION 17:10-12
10 And there are
seven kings (7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY) five are fallen, (EGYPT,
ASSYRIA, BABYLON,:MEDO-PERSIAN,GREECE and one is,(IN POWER IN JOHNS
DAY-ROME) and the other is not yet come; and when he
cometh,(FUTURE-REVIVED ROMAN EMPIRE-EUROPEAN UNION TODAY) he must
continue a short space.(7 YEARS OF WORLD DOMINATION-BUT 3 1/2 YEARS OF
NEW WORLD ORDER OR ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT)
12 And the ten horns (10
WORLD TRADE BLOCS OR REGIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which
have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour
with the beast.
REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (10
WORLD TRADE BLOCS-NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have
received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the
beast.
13 These have one mind,(WORLD SOCIALISM) and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
We
shall have World Government, whether or not we like it. The only
question is whether World Government will be achieved by conquest or
consent.James Paul Warburg appearing before the Senate on 7th February
1950
Like a famous WWII Belgian General,Paul Henry Spock said in
1957:We need no commission, we have already too many. What we need is a
man who is great enough to be able to keep all the people in subjection
to himself and to lift us out of the economic bog into which we threaten
to sink. Send us such a man. Be he a god or a devil, we will accept
him.And today, sadly, the world is indeed ready for such a man.
DICK
MORRIS-This truly creates a global economic system. From now on, don’t
look to Washington for the rule making, look to Brussels.
THE CLUB OF ROME FOUNDER AURELIO PECCEI WANTS THE WORLD IN 10 REGIONAL TRADING BLOCKS.
REVELATION 16:1-2
1
And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels,
Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the
earth.
2 And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth;
and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the
mark of the beast, and upon them which worshipped his image.
REVELATION 13:16-18
16
And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor,
free and bond, (SLAVE) to receive a mark in their right hand, or in
their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the
beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred
threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
I KNOW THIS MARK WILL
BE A MICROCHIP IMPLANT UNDER THE SKIN. LETS LOOK UP WHAT THE WORD MARK
SAYS IN REVELATION 13:16-18, 14:9,11, 15:2, 16:2, 19:20, 20:4-ALL THESE
VERSES FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION SPEAK OF THIS DICTATORS MARK. NOW
LETS SEE WHAT IT MEANS FROM STRONGS EXAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE OF THE BIBLE.
UNDER MARK PAGE 684.MARK UNDER MARK. THE OLD TESTAMENT IS UNDER HEBREW
AND THE NEW TESTAMENT IS UNDER GREEK. SO WHEN WE LOOK UNDER REVELATION
13:16-17 WE SEE IT IS UNDER GREEK, SO WE GO TO GREEK IN THE BACK SECTION
AND GO TO 5480 TO SEE WHAT IT SAYS THIS MARK WOULD BE. SO LETS GET TO
IT.MARK IN STRONGS GREEK 5480 XAPAYUA CHARAGMA, KHAR-AG-MAH: FROM THE
SAME AS 5482: A SCRATCH OR ETCHING, I.E STAMP (AS A BADGE OF SERVITUDE),
OR SCULPTURED FIGURE-(STATUE):-GRAVEN, MARK FROM 5482 XAPAE CHARAX,
KHAR-AX; FROM XAPAOOW CHARASSO (TO SHARPEN TO A POINT; AKIN TO 1125
THROUGH THE IDEA OF SCRATCHING); A STAKE, I.E (BYIMPL.) A PALISADE OR
RAMPART (MILITARY MOUND FOR CIRCUMVALLATION IN A SIEGE): - TRENCH FROM
1125 YPAPOE GRAPHO, GRAF-0; A PRIM. VERB; TO "GRAVE", ESPEC. TO WRITE;
FIG. TO DESCRIBE:-DESCRIBE, WRITE (-ING, -TEN).G5516-GO TO G4742-666 -
STRONGS NT 4742: στίγμα - στίγμα, στιγματος, τό (from στίζω to prick;
(cf. Latinstimulus, etc.; German stechen, English stick, sting, etc.;
Curtius, § 226)), a mark pricked in or branded upon the body. According
to ancient oriental usage, slaves and soldiers bore the name or stamp of
their master or commander branded or pricked (cut) into their bodies to
indicate what master or general they belonged to, and there were even
some devotees who stamped themselves in this way with the token of their
gods (cf. Deyling, Observations, iii., p. 423ff); hence, τά στίγματα
τοῦ (κυρίου so Rec.) Ἰησοῦ, the marks of (the Lord) Jesus, which Paul in
Galatians 6:17 says he bears branded on his body, are the traces left
there by the perils, hardships, imprisonments, scourgings, endured by
him for the cause of Christ, and which mark him as Christ's faithful and
approved votary, servant, soldier (see Lightfoots Commentary on
Galatians, the passage cited). (Herodotus 7, 233; Aristotle, Aelian,
Plutarch, Lcian, others.)
THE INVENTOR OF THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT-CARL SANDERS MICROCHIP ENGINEER LEADER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgH9D6n4ZWo
THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT IN YOUR RIGHT HAND OR FOREHEAD.
LEVETICUS 19.28
Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.
HERES WHAT THE WORLD WOULD LOOK LIKE (SINCE THERE WILL BE WORLD GOVERNMENT IN THE FUTURE)-UPDATED VERSION (10 WORLD TRADE BLOCS)
01 CANADA, U.S.A, MEXICO
02 EUROPEAN UNION,WESTERN EUROPE
03 JAPAN
04 AUSTRALIA,NEW ZEALAND, S AFRICA, ISRAEL AND PACIFIC ISLANDS
05 EASTERN EUROPE
06 SOUTHERN, CENTRAL AND LATIN AMERICAS
07 NORTH AFRICA, AND MIDEAST (MOSLEMS)
08 CENTRAL AFRICA
09 SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA
10 CENTRAL ASIA
THE
CLUB OF ROME WANTS A WORLD CHARISMATIC DICTATOR (EITHER RELIGIOUS,
POLITICAL OR SCIENTIFICAL) TO HEAD THIS WORLD GOVERNMENT. REV 13:3,7-8,
DAN 7:23-24
WORLD POWERS IN THE END TIME
NORTH - RUSSIA EZEK 38:1-2, 39:1-2
SOUTH - EGYPT DAN 11:42
EAST - CHINA DAN 11:44,REV 16:12
WEST - EUROPEAN UNION DAN 7:23-24 (NOT THE U.S.A)
http://israel7777777.blogspot.ca/2012/03/10-world-trade-blocs-one-world.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2006/09/how-eu-takes-world-control.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2012/05/one-world-religion-crislam.html
FINALLY THE EUROPEAN UNION IS TALKING ABOUT HAVING THEIR OWN ARMY.AND IT MUST HAPPEN.
REVELATION 19:16-21
16
And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King Of
Kings, And Lord Of Lords.(JESUS RETURNG TO EARTH LITERALLY ON A WHITE
HORSE WITH THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS 7 YEARS EARLIER)
17 And I saw an
angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all
the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves
together unto the supper of the great God;
18 That ye may eat the
flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men,
and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of
all men, both free and bond, both small and great.(2ND TIME GOD-JESUS
TELLS THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS TO GET READY TO EAT HUMAN
FLESH.THE FIRST TIME WAS WHEN GOD TOLD THE 500 MILLION MIGRATING
BIRDS-TO EAT RUSSIA,GERMAN,ARAB, MUSLIM BODIES FOR 7 MONTHS IN EZEK 38 @
39.
19 And I saw the beast,(E.U WORLD LEADER) and the kings of the
earth, and their armies,(HERE IT SAYS THE E.U WILL HAVE ITS OWN ARMY)
gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, (JESUS)
and against his army.(RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
20 And the beast (E.U
WORLD LEADER) was taken, and with him the false prophet (POPE FRANCIS)
that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had
received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image.
These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
21
And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the
horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were
filled with their flesh.
COUNCIL FOR EUROPE ON DEFENCE
https://defence-industry-space.ec.europa.eu/document/download/6d6f889c-e58d-4caa-8f3b-8b93154fe206_en?filename=SAFE%20Regulation.pdf
Thousands march in France to demand action on violence against women.
Paris,
Nov 22 (AFP) Nov 22, 2025-Thousands of protesters across France braved
the cold on Saturday to express their anger over the persistence of
violence against women and demand more public action and funds to combat
the scourge.In Paris, crowds of demonstrators -- 50,000 according to
organisers, 17,000 according to the police -- waved signs, chanted,
danced and sang as they moved through the capital in the protests
organised by the Greve feministe (Feminist Strike) collective of some 60
organisations."A man kills a woman every 2.5 days in France," read one
placard distributed by the feminist collective NousToutes (All of us
Women)."Nine out of 10 victims know their rapist," read another."It's
2025, is it still normal to count our dead women?" said Sylvaine Grevin,
president of the national femicide victims' federation, whose sister
was killed in 2017, ahead of the start of the Paris
demonstration.Hundreds of protesters also gathered in the cold in other
cities, creating crowds awash in purple -- a colour linked to
feminism."We have the right to be loved without being abused," said
20-year-old student Juliette in Lille in northern France.The
associations behind the protests are calling for the adoption of a
comprehensive framework law against violence, along with a
three-billion-euro budget ($3.5-billion) to implement it.They are also
calling for improved education and funding for groups that support
victims of violence.According to official figures published Thursday by
MIPROF, a government organisation tasked with protecting women from
violence and fighting human trafficking, the number of intimate partner
femicides rose by 11 percent between 2023 and 2024, with 107 women
killed by their partner or ex-partner.A woman is a victim of rape,
attempted rape, or sexual assault every two minutes, and every 23
seconds of sexual harassment, indecent exposure, or the unsolicited
sending of sexual content, according to MIPROF.The Women's Foundation
rights group estimates the minimum annual budget the government should
allocate to protecting victims of domestic, gender-based and sexual
violence in France is 2.6 billion euros -- equivalent to 0.5 percent of
the state budget.mep-kal-ldf-lby/sw/kjm/rsc
EU establishing legal foundation for digital travel app and credentials-Nov 21, 2025, 1:52 pm EST | Masha Borak
The
European Union is laying down the legal groundwork for a digital travel
app and digital travel credentials (DTCs) that will ease travel to
Europe, including registration for the biometric-based Entry-Exit System
(EES).On Wednesday, EU member states representatives agreed on a plan
for negotiating a new law on the EU digital travel app and its use on
external borders. The agreement opens the door for the European Council
presidency to begin negotiations with the European Parliament.The EU
digital travel app was proposed by the European Commission last year and
will be developed by eu-LISA. The app will be optional and allow both
EU citizens and third-country nationals to create digital travel
credentials (DTCs). Meanwhile, EU border agency Frontex has developed
its own app called Travel to Europe which will go live for the first
time in Sweden’s Arlanda Airport this year. Currently, it is unclear
which app will be the one travellers use for EES registration.The
proposed regulation aims to define the functional and technical
requirements for developing not just the mobile app but also the backend
validation service and the traveler router, which will allow people to
share their DTCs with border authorities.This app is designed to shorten
waiting times and improve security checks. The platform will
electronically verify a travel document’s chip and confirm that the
document was issued by a legitimate authority. Travelers will be able to
submit their data before arriving at the border, allowing border
officers to remotely verify travel documents and cross-check them
against various databases.The European Council also wants travelers to
use digital travel credentials to register for the EES and the ETIAS
travel authorisation system.The EU started a phased rollout of the EES
border registration scheme in October. The system requires third-country
nationals entering the bloc to submit personal information,
fingerprints and a facial image. ETIAS, on the other hand, is due to
launch in 2026.While the travel app may not solve every problem, it will
allow border guards to do their work better, Rasmus Stoklund, Danish
minister for Immigration and Integration says in an announcement.“We
must be able to control who enters, and we must refuse entry to people
who do not have the right to enter the EU,” says Stoklund. “It is
therefore important that we give border guards the best possible tools
to work with, so that they can combat crime, security threats and
illegal migration.”
European Business Wallet positioned for fast
uptake-Organizations not subject to same privacy concerns as
individuals-Nov 21, 2025, 1:07 pm EST | Masha Borak
This week,
the European Commission unveiled the Digital Omnibus package designed
to simplify the continent’s digital regulatory framework. One part of
the package is the introduction of the European Business Wallet (EWB),
offering companies a single digital identity that will allow them to cut
down on paperwork.The EU predicts that business wallets for legal
persons could unlock 150 billion euros (US$172.5 billion) in savings for
businesses each year. But what we don’t know yet is how well business
identities will work: The European Commission is planning to release
separate legislation on business wallets next week.Earlier this week,
Esther Makaay, vice president of digital identity at Signicat, explained
that organizational identity and wallets could end up “very
complicated.”Built on the EU eIDAS framework, business wallets may see
significantly faster adoption than personal wallets, since organizations
are not subject to the same privacy concerns as individuals. However,
the process of registering businesses varies considerably across
countries and legal jurisdictions, which could bring hurdles.“There are
multiple use cases, and they all involve data access and data sharing.
It’s not so much about identification or authentication,” says
Makaay.The business wallet’s purpose is to “drastically” reduce the
regulatory and administrative burdens and remove barriers for companies
in the European single market.Its main task will be digitizing
operations for companies, organizations and public administration, which
will be able to “digitally sign, timestamp and seal documents;
securely create, store and exchange verified documents; and communicate
securely with other businesses or public administrations in their own
and the other 26 Member States,” according to the European
Commission.The concept was introduced to the public at the beginning of
2025 as part of the EU’s Competitiveness Compass, a scheme designed to
help the continent keep pace with global digitalization trends.Work on
business or organizational wallets, however, started earlier. The
wallet’s use cases were tested during Large Scale Pilots (LSPs) by the
EU Digital Identity Wallet Consortium (EWC), which gathered
approximately 80 organizations, including business registries and
companies such as Signicat, Visa, Digidentity, Amadeus, and Yubico.EWC’s
task was to define data schemas for legal person attestations as well
as pilot the business wallet. The testing included scenarios such as
public procurement, new business partner onboarding, opening a bank
account for a business (KYC), creating a company branch in another
country, supplier verification in eInvoicing and domain holder
verification by a domain registry.The consortium also worked on defining
legal person wallet requirements and architecture and developing the
Legal Person Identification Data (LPID), sometimes referred to as
organizational digital identity (ODI), issued by business registers.The
business wallet has also been a topic outside of EU Digital Identity
(EUDI) Wallet pilots. In a paper presented at the Open Identity Summit
2025, a group of researchers presented how the wallet could work from a
technical standpoint, outlining key functions for the digital system.One
of the challenges facing business wallets is that most governments do
not understand the concept of organizational identity, according to
experts. The EU has been trying to engage stakeholders, including a call
for feedback, which closed in June.The feedback unearthed several
concerns and suggestions, including whether the EWB should accommodate
non-European entities that wish to operate in the EU. Some companies
called for making the wallet mandatory to avoid fragmentation, while
others called for a clear demarcation from the EU Digital Identity
(EUDI) Wallet, which will be used by individuals.The European Business
Wallet still has many hurdles ahead. These include not just the issue of
different company registration processes but also data integration.One
thing everyone agrees on is including businesses in the discussion on
the future of the EWB.“SMEs should be involved at an early stage via
pilot projects, test environments and funding programs,” says Andreas
Schwab, internal market policy spokesperson for the EPP group.
EU
police can store biometrics with no time limit if processing rules
followed-Court of Justice rules no national max needed for convict,
suspect data retention-Nov 21, 2025, 11:38 am EST | Masha Borak
Law
enforcement agencies can store biometric and genetic data from convicts
and suspects in accordance with national and European laws, the Court
of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has ruled. In addition, national law does
not need to provide for a maximum period of storage “if it sets
appropriate time limits for a review of the need to store those data,”
the judgement notes.The court case first started in the Czech Republic
where a person identified only as JH objected to the identification
procedure deployed by the local police. JH was questioned by the Czech
police in 2016, during which officers took the suspect’s fingerprint and
a genetic sample.Despite being convicted by the court in Prague for
several offenses, including misconduct in public office, JH filed a
lawsuit in 2017 alleging that the police identification procedure
constituted an “unlawful interference with his fundamental right to
respect for private life.”The suit escalated to the EU Court of Justice,
which ruled in favor of the police on Thursday.The court case was based
on Directive 2016/680 of the European Union law, which states that
processing the personal data of natural persons must respect fundamental
rights and freedoms.The judgment clarifies that the Directive does not
preclude national legislation that permits the collection of biometric
and genetic data of people accused or suspected of committing criminal
offences. The law also permits the existence of national legislation
under which the police assess the need for continued storage of
biometric and genetic data.The EU Court of Justice also added that
convicts or suspects must have guaranteed rights and that “controllers
must be required to comply with all of the principles and the specific
requirements applicable to the processing of sensitive personal
data.”The decision was reached by the Fifth Chamber of the Court.
UK claims of digital ID cloud security likely come down to encryption, not location-Nov 20, 2025, 4:59 pm EST | Chris Burt
A
UK junior minister is holding up data residency as a factor in keeping
digital identity information private and secure, and says the cloud
servers storing and processing data for the new national digital ID will
be located in the Kingdom.Liberal Democrat MP Martin Wrigley asked in
parliamentary question posed to the Cabinet Office what plans the
department has to ensure the infrastructure is “under sovereign UK
control.”Junior Cabinet Office Minister Josh Simons replied that “Data
associated with the digital ID system will be held and kept safe in
secure cloud environments hosted in the United Kingdom.”“The Government
will work closely with expert stakeholders to make the programme
effective, secure and inclusive, including taking insights from previous
IT projects where appropriate,” Simons added.It was Simons who wrote in
a previous response that the government will consider in-person
onboarding for the national ID, and “a digitally enabled physical
alternative for those without access to technology.”Both the UK Cabinet
Office and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT),
which are working together on the UK’s digital ID, have contracts for
public cloud services from Amazon Web Services. Other government
agencies use other U.S.-based cloud providers, Public Technology
reports.Competition and Markets Authority figures indicate AWS and
Microsoft hold around 80 percent of the UK cloud market between them.The
government designated data centers as critical national infrastructure
last year, which grants them special status as protected areas. But what
about the data inside them?Residency and jurisdiction-Opposition
politicians have claimed an increased risk of breach, but usually in
such vague terms (see Conservative MP David Davis claim that “the entire
population’s entire data will be open to malevolent actors”) that they
do no pinpoint any particular characteristic or characteristics of the
system as inadequate.Left to its own to determine how much specificity
to share with the public and digital identity industry, the government
has declined to explain the measure it will use to protect citizens’
data.Further, what exactly it means for the digital ID data to be hosted
in the UK is uncertain, given questions yet to be answered about the
architecture of the system.Andy Thornley, head of regulatory policy for
UK fintech industry group Innovate Finance, writes for techUK that while
critics fear the creation of a single central database, the new digital
ID represents an opportunity to hand sovereignty over personal data
back to individuals. The government has so far been clear that its
intention is to create a decentralized digital ID system based on
federated data.“A decentralized identity model means your credentials –
your data attributes, are stored securely on your device, in your
digital wallet,” he points out.Federated data would remain with
individual departments, meaning the data the user-controlled digital ID
is populated with will continue to be stored in whatever databases it
currently resides in. Data residency, in other words, does not grant
jurisdictional immunity.Compulsion and encryption-The U.S. Cloud Act
states that the U.S. government can compel domestic companies to hand
over data regardless of where it is held, so long as the company has
control over it. “Sovereign cloud” operations can also create legal and
contractual borders around data, though these do not necessarily
supersede laws like the Cloud Act.But the UK government says that GOV.UK
uses encryption to protect the data it stores and transmits (at least
for its Notify service) wherever possible, meaning that most of the data
AWS would be able to hand over is encrypted.The issue has come up
before in the context of UK policing data hosted in the cloud, as
Microsoft admitted that the Cloud Act means it cannot guarantee policing
data uploaded into Police Scotland’s Digital Evidence Sharing
Capability would remain in the UK. Scottish Biometrics Commissioner
Brian Plastow questioned the legality of the arrangement and invited an
investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office.The UK government
had at the time had already taken the position that “The supplier has
no access to any of the data hosted in the AWS cloud.”The UK government
has already spent hundreds of millions of pounds with AWS, according to
Public Technology.In other words, the sensitive data that will be used
to issue digital IDs is probably already stored in a cloud data center
operated by an U.S.-based company subject to the Cloud Act. And the
security of sensitive data stored in UK cloud data centers operated by
American companies is already in dispute. But it’s probably fine, so
long as you trust the UK government’s encryption, the U.S. government or
Big Tech.
Signicat warns lack of clarity, business model could hold back EUDI Wallet benefits-Nov 20, 2025, 1:36 pm EST | Masha Borak
The
2026 deadline for the introduction of the European Digital Identity
(EUDI) Wallet is approaching but many questions still remain unanswered:
How will governments drive adoption of the wallet, how to define the
technical details, and perhaps the most important one — what kind of
business models should we expect?The digital identity wallet ecosystem
is complex: The digital IDs will function within mobile apps with
national core identity attributes, which can include all sorts of data,
known as attestations. The ecosystem will have lots of roles and actors,
says Esther Makaay, vice president of digital identity at
Signicat.Although some actors and ecosystems are funded by the
government, many of them would benefit from having an income stream.
This, however, is hard as the eIDAS legislation focuses on legal and
operational matters and does not consider business models, Makaay noted
during a recent webinar organized by Dock.“If we don’t address getting
paid and facilitate options for getting paid, we’ll see a short-term
model which is minimally viable compliance,” says Makaay. “The wallets
will be yet another authentication system used for accessing
governmental services and the mandatory SCA acceptance, but commercial
parties will not start issuing into the wallets and using them for a
longer-term value proposition that we’re all envisioning.”EUDI Wallet
pilot results-During the event, the Norwegian digital ID firm executive
did a deep dive into the results of the recently completed EUDI Wallet
pilots, presenting use cases such as payments, travel and business
wallets explored by the EUDI Wallet Consortium (EWC). Makaay also
explored core issues facing digital ID wallets in the future, among
which making money is just one.“There are a lot of requirements on
unlinkability and traceability and other privacy-preserving
requirements, which makes it really hard to push getting paid for
transactions,” she notes. in “There’s also currently no mechanism to
support payments”This question is especially relevant for issuers who
provide attestations and data into the wallets but also for trust
service providers, because they are, by default, commercial entities
which do not work for free, she adds.Another important issue is driving
adoption. According to Signicat’s research, approximately 29 percent of
people are likely to use a digital ID wallet in Europe. Despite strong
overall support, however, there are large differences between markets,
culture and age – older citizens are less likely to adopt the
solution.“We need communication on the benefits of the eIDAS targeted at
different use cases, different market sectors, to gain this adoption,”
says Mackaay.Signicat has participated in two Large Scale Pilots (LSPs)
designed to test different use cases of the EUDI Wallet. As part of the
EWC consortium, which included 80 organizations such as Visa,
Digidentity, Amadeus, and Yubico, the firm tested using the wallet in
payments, travel and organizational identity.Payments are important as
they can provide high-frequency usage – a person may use their digital
ID wallet daily for payment tasks.“Payments with the EUDI Wallet are
possible,” Makaay confirms.The EWC tested using the wallet as an
alternative for Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) method for online
payments, as well as for payment initiation, meaning the ID wallet was
used as a payment wallet. The consortium’s trial, held in March,
involved buying a ferry ticket and receiving a ticket and a receipt
within the wallet.The testing found that a small majority of users
preferred the wallet experience over traditional banking authentication
through banking apps or by bank cards. However, the experience of buying
a ticket through a digital ID wallet was not compared to payment
methods such as Apple Pay or Google Pay, Makaay notes.Potential and
disconnect-In the future, a digital ID user may be able to authenticate
themselves, present a driving license and pay for services such as car
rental. In this scenario, the car rental company or the merchant could
also be authenticated in the process.“This is what they’re working
towards, to have this experience embedded,” says Makaay. “Right now, the
technology doesn’t fully support it, but they are very confident that
this can be done.”Travel is another popular area for the EUDI Wallet as
it can be used in many services, from airlines and ferries to hotels,
car rentals, border control and luggage handling.“If you can share the
data from your passports with a hotel for booking or reservations or
with an airline, you gain so much in efficiency and data accuracy that
it’s really an incredible application of the wallets,” says
Makaay.Border control, however, tends to be a closed ecosystem with
little connection with the industry, she adds. The EWC, instead, piloted
automation of passenger information with biometric enrollment options
at airports. It also tested age verification for receiving discounts on
tourist attraction tickets and hotel check-ins.The last large category
that the consortium explored was organizational wallets and
organizational identity. The adoption of business wallets could be much
faster than individual wallets, because organizations do not have these
privacy concerns that natural persons do, according to Makaay.“There are
multiple use cases, and they all involve data access and data sharing.
It’s not so much about identification or authentication,” she says.The
EWC tested the wallet in public procurement, know your supplier (KYS)
and new business partner onboarding. The process involves identifying
other companies, opening a corporate bank account and the exchange of
business documents.We immediately saw a lot of reduction of
administrative burdens, because business-to-business and
business-to-government right now is very much paper-based,” says Makaay,
adding that the result could be diminishing rates of
fraud.Organizational identity is very complicated: A business wallet has
different requirements from a natural person’s wallet. At the same
time, registering organizations is very different in each country and
legislation. For these reasons, the European Commission is releasing
separate legislation on business wallets, which is expected next
week.More governance, clarity needed-Signicat has been advocating for
specific subsystem governance frameworks. A payments framework, for
example, would be more specific than the general eIDAS framework. The
EU, however, is still struggling to clarify all the regulations related
to the EUDI Wallet.“If you look at the Digital Operational Resilience
Act (DORA), the Digital Services Act, the Digital Market Act, you name
them, they overlap, and there’s a lot of unclarity there and a lot of
questions,” says Makaay.The year 2026 will bring further finalization of
standards, including the Architecture Reference Framework (ARF), which
defines the structural and functional aspects of the EUDI Wallet
ecosystem. Several more Implementing Acts are expected, adding more
rules on technical specifications, processes and standards.EU Members
are due to provide at least one ID wallet by December 2026. Some
countries are already announcing delays, including the Netherlands.
Signicat, however, expects that there will be somewhere around 30 to 50
wallets around Europe, although they won’t be fully
interoperable.Meanwhile, more Large Scale Pilots are being deployed to
test the EUDI Wallets, including the WE BUILD Consortium and APTITUDE,
which includes Signicat.
DHS finalizes rule expanding biometric entry/exit to foreign visitors-Nov 21, 2025, 12:20 pm EST | Anthony Kimery
The
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued its final rule
mandating facial recognition scans for virtually all non-U.S. citizens
entering or leaving the U.S.Published Thursday, the Notice of Final Rule
cements the technical and legal foundation for a fully operational
biometric entry-exit system, an objective that has eluded multiple
administrations since Congress first ordered its creation after the
September 11 attacks.The regulation, which becomes effective December
26, authorizes U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to collect
facial images from all noncitizens at international airports, land ports
of entry, seaports, and “other authorized points of departure.”The
language of the rule signals an expansion beyond commercial air travel
to private aircraft, vehicle crossings, pedestrian lanes, and maritime
departures, modalities that have previously operated through a patchwork
of pilot programs.The rule also removes longstanding exemptions
including those that had shielded diplomats and most Canadian visitors
from enrollment in the biometric system.Public comments on the final
rule remain open until November 26, indicating DHS is still seeking
input even as implementation moves ahead.For DHS leadership, the rule
represents a long-anticipated regulatory finish line.“This final rule
marks a major milestone towards our efforts to successfully implement
the Biometric Entry/Exit mandate and strengthen the security of the
United States,” said Diane J. Sabatino, Acting Executive Assistant
Commissioner of CBP’s Office of Field Operations.Sabatino emphasized
that new funding has given the agency the ability to expand the
technology across air, land, and sea environments, calling the system
central to “innovating the entry/exit process” while tightening border
security.The rule follows years of political pressure and statutory
directives. A recommendation from the 9/11 Commission identified a
biometric entry-exit system as a core national-security
requirement.Congress repeatedly reinforced the mandate through
appropriations and border-security legislation. In early 2017, President
Donald Trump ordered DHS to “expedite” deployment. An Executive Order
subsequently set the reporting schedule for DHS’s updates to
Congress.DHS’s regulatory effort began in earnest in November 2020, when
the agency issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to make biometric
pilots permanent and lift location limits. The new final rule completes
that regulatory process, giving CBP formal authority to scale.At the
center of the expansion is CBP’s Traveler Verification Service (TVS), a
cloud-based biometric matching system that compares live facial images
to government-held passport and visa photos.TVS serves as the technical
engine powering CBP’s growing biometric ecosystem, enabling the agency
to automate identity checks that were previously handled by officers
reviewing travel documents manually.Homeland Security frames the
technology as both an efficiency upgrade and a security enhancement,
capable of identifying impostors using fraudulent documents, detecting
visa overstays, and flagging individuals with criminal histories or
previous removal orders.DHS stresses that U.S. citizens are not subject
to mandatory facial recognition under the new rule. American travelers
may continue to opt out by requesting manual inspection, though most
airlines and ports will continue to offer facial matching as a default
option.The Department has repeatedly noted that photos of U.S. citizens
taken for identity verification are deleted within 12 hours, in keeping
with CBP’s existing privacy policies.By contrast, photos of noncitizens
may be retained for up to 75 years, consistent with the Border Crossing
Information System of Records Notice.Privacy advocates have long
scrutinized the Biometric Entry/Exit program, but DHS argues that it has
built substantial safeguards around the data collection process.The
department notes that it has published more than ten Privacy Impact
Assessments covering different operational settings and system
configurations.These privacy documents outline CBP’s procedures for
storing, sharing, and ultimately deleting data, as well as the auditing
structures that govern access across DHS components.The final rule
arrives as DHS continues its gradual shift toward biometric automation
at most international airports. CBP reports that most international
passengers – both citizens and noncitizens – are now processed using
facial comparison at departure gates or inspection booths.The agency
says the system has already helped intercept individuals traveling on
fraudulent passports and has streamlined overall processing times.Still,
the rule’s expansion into new travel modes marks a significant
operational leap. Biometric exit at land borders, especially for
vehicles, presents logistical challenges due to traffic volume,
throughput demands, and varying port layouts.Maritime exit screening for
cruise passengers and private vessels is similarly complex, and until
now has operated largely through limited pilot deployments.By giving CBP
full regulatory authority, DHS is signaling its intention to push these
pilots into permanent, nationwide operations.The rule’s lifting of
exemptions extends the system’s reach to nearly every noncitizen
traveler, including categories historically considered low-risk or
politically sensitive.Diplomats were previously shielded on reciprocity
grounds, and most Canadian visitors who make up the largest volume of
land border crossings were exempt due to a combination of operational
limitations and longstanding bilateral travel norms.The removal of these
exemptions underscores DHS’s determination to implement the
Congressional mandate without carved-out categories.DHS continues to
defend the program as a national-security requirement rather than a
discretionary surveillance expansion.Officials argue that a verified
biometric exit record is essential for detecting overstays, improving
visa-compliance metrics, and identifying individuals who enter legally
but remain without authorization.Biometric matching, DHS says, provides
reliable confirmation of departure in a way that biographic data
collection cannot.The publication of the final rule also comes at a time
when Congress has taken renewed interest in biometric border
enforcement. Funding for CBP biometric systems has increased in recent
appropriations cycles, and lawmakers have pressed DHS on gaps in exit
data completeness and overstays reporting.The new rule gives DHS the
regulatory clarity it needs to accelerate deployment at ports that have
been awaiting legal authorization.What the rule does not resolve are the
outstanding questions about long-term function creep, oversight, and
the boundaries of permissibility.DHS maintains that U.S. citizens retain
a right to opt out and that no additional biometric modalities are
required for air travel under the program.But the retention period for
noncitizen records, the potential sharing of biometric data across DHS
components, and the involvement of private sector partners continue to
draw scrutiny from civil liberties advocates and some members of
Congress.
Tech firms lead stock rout as AI bubble fears linger.
Hong
Kong, Nov 21 (AFP) Nov 21, 2025-Tech firms led stock losses on Friday
as investors struggled to shake off fears about an AI bubble and after a
sell-off on Wall Street sparked by jobs data dealt a further blow to
hopes for a US interest rate cut.A blockbuster earnings report from chip
bellwether Nvidia on Wednesday seemed to settle nerves that vast
investments in the artificial intelligence sector may have been
overdone.But the euphoria was short-lived as warnings grow that the
tech-led rally across equities -- which has seen several markets hit
records and companies clock eye-watering capitalisations -- may have run
its course, and a correction could be in hand.In unveiling Nvidia's
forecast-topping report, boss Jensen Huang dismissed fears of a bubble
that has caused global equities to wobble."From our vantage point, we
see something very different," he said.After his firm sparked an Asia
rally on Thursday, Wall Street began on a strong note, but later went
into sharp reverse, with selling compounded by worries over the US
labour market.Data showed that while more jobs were created in
September, the unemployment rate crept higher.The reading did little to
alter investors' belief that the US Federal Reserve will stand pat on
borrowing costs when it meets next month, with officials more focused on
stubbornly high inflation.Expectations had been recently dampened by
hawkish comments from decision-makers, including Fed boss Jerome
Powell.Tracking New York, Asian markets were a sea of red, with tech
giants leading the way.Seoul-listed Samsung Electronics sank 5.8 percent
and rival SK hynix 8.8 percent -- the firms are two of the world's
leading memory chip makers.Taiwanese chip titan TSMC tanked 4.8 percent,
while Japanese investment giant SoftBank plunged more than 10
percent.That led broader markets lower.Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai
each lost more than two percent, while Taipei and Seoul were off more
than three percent. Sydney, Singapore, Wellington, Mumbai and Bangkok
also saw steep losses.London, Paris andFrankfurt all fell sharply at the
open.The rush from risk assets also saw bitcoin fall to as low as
$81,629 for the first time since April, extending a sell-off suffered
since its record high above $126,200 last month."The price action across
markets has been prolific, and we've seen some truly impressive
reversals in risk assets," said Chris Weston at Pepperstone."Sentiment
in so many markets remains highly challenged, and we've seen new
evidence that managers are dumping their 2025 winners -- raising
expectations that the path of least resistance is for risk to trade
lower in the near-term."The market seems far more sensitive and ready to
de-risk on emerging news, almost seeking reasons to take positioning
down when that news could easily be seen as a positive in a more bullish
set-up."The yen held earlier gains after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae
Takaichi said her cabinet had approved a major $135 billion stimulus
package aimed at easing the pain of inflation on households and
firms.However, there are worries that the spending plan will add to
Japan's already colossal debt and has pushed government bond yields to
record highs, fanning concerns about the country's fiscal state.The
Japanese currency has fallen this week to its lowest level against the
dollar since January, though it got a little support from data in the
morning showing core inflation ticked up last month, giving the Bank of
Japan some room to hike interest rates.The yen's weakness has also
raised the chances of authorities stepping in to support the unit, with
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama saying on Friday officials may
intervene and take "appropriate action against disorderly (foreign
exchange) moves".Seoul-listed The Pinkfong Company, the creator of the
"Baby Shark" YouTube video, tanked more than 11 percent, with the value
now below its IPO price, having made its market debut on Tuesday.- Key
figures at around 0815 GMT -Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 2.4 percent at
48,625.88 (close)-Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: DOWN 2.4 percent at
25,220.02 (close)-Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 2.5 percent at 3,834.89
(close)-London - FTSE 100: DOWN 1.0 percent at 9,433.32-Dollar/yen: DOWN
at 156.75 yen from 157.55 yen on Thursday-Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1539
from $1.1525-Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3076 from $1.3070-Euro/pound: UP at
88.24 from 88.18 pence-West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.9 percent at
$57.89 per barrel-Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 1.7 percent at $62.31 per
barrel-New York - Dow: DOWN 0.8 percent at 45,752.26
(close)-dan/dhw-NVIDIA-Samsung Electronics-TSMC - TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR
MANUFACTURING COMPANY-SOFTBANK GROUP-INDEX CORP.-Dow
AI's blind spot: tools fail to detect their own fakes.
Manila,
Nov 20 (AFP) Nov 20, 2025-When outraged Filipinos turned to an
AI-powered chatbot to verify a viral photograph of a lawmaker embroiled
in a corruption scandal, the tool failed to detect it was fabricated --
even though it had generated the image itself.Internet users are
increasingly turning to chatbots to verify images in real time, but the
tools often fail, raising questions about their visual debunking
capabilities at a time when major tech platforms are scaling back human
fact-checking.In many cases, the tools wrongly identify images as real
even when they are generated using the same generative models, further
muddying an online information landscape awash with AI-generated
fakes.Among them is a fabricated image circulating on social media of
Elizaldy Co, a former Philippine lawmaker charged by prosecutors in a
multibillion-dollar flood-control corruption scam that sparked massive
protests in the disaster-prone country.The image of Co, whose
whereabouts has been unknown since the official probe began, appeared to
show him in Portugal.When online sleuths tracking him asked Google's
new AI mode whether the image was real, it incorrectly said it was
authentic.AFP's fact-checkers tracked down its creator and determined
that the image was generated using Google AI."These models are trained
primarily on language patterns and lack the specialized visual
understanding needed to accurately identify AI-generated or manipulated
imagery," Alon Yamin, chief executive of AI content detection platform
Copyleaks, told AFP."With AI chatbots, even when an image originates
from a similar generative model, the chatbot often provides inconsistent
or overly generalized assessments, making them unreliable for tasks
like fact-checking or verifying authenticity."Google did not respond to
AFP's request for comment.- 'Distinguishable from reality' -AFP found
similar examples of AI tools failing to verify their own
creations.During last month's deadly protests over lucrative benefits
for senior officials in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, social media
users shared a fabricated image purportedly showing men marching with
flags and torches.An AFP analysis found it was created using Google's
Gemini AI model.But Gemini and Microsoft's Copilot falsely identified it
as a genuine image of the protest."This inability to correctly identify
AI images stems from the fact that they (AI models) are programmed only
to mimic well," Rossine Fallorina, from the nonprofit Sigla Research
Center, told AFP."In a sense, they can only generate things to resemble.
They cannot ascertain whether the resemblance is actually
distinguishable from reality."Earlier this year, Columbia University's
Tow Center for Digital Journalism tested the ability of seven AI
chatbots -- including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Grok, and Gemini -- to verify
10 images from photojournalists of news events.All seven models failed
to correctly identify the provenance of the photos, the study said.-
'Shocked' -AFP tracked down the source of Co's photo that garnered over a
million views across social media -- a middle-aged web developer in the
Philippines, who said he created it "for fun" using Nano Banana,
Gemini's AI image generator."Sadly, a lot of people believed it," he
told AFP, requesting anonymity to avoid a backlash."I edited my post --
and added 'AI generated' to stop the spread -- because I was shocked at
how many shares it got."Such cases show how AI-generated photos flooding
social platforms can look virtually identical to real imagery.The trend
has fueled concerns as surveys show online users are increasingly
shifting from traditional search engines to AI tools for information
gathering and verifying information.The shift comes as Meta announced
earlier this year it was ending its third-party fact-checking program in
the United States, turning over the task of debunking falsehoods to
ordinary users under a model known as "Community Notes."Human
fact-checking has long been a flashpoint in hyperpolarized societies,
where conservative advocates accuse professional fact-checkers of
liberal bias, a charge they reject.AFP currently works in 26 languages
with Meta's fact-checking program, including in Asia, Latin America, and
the European Union.Researchers say AI models can be useful to
professional fact-checkers, helping to quickly geolocate images and spot
visual clues to establish authenticity. But they caution that they
cannot replace the work of trained human fact-checkers."We can't rely on
AI tools to combat AI in the long run," Fallorina said.burs-ac/sla/sms
Draft
Trump executive order signals new battle ahead over state AI
powers-Courts likely would be forced to decide whether AI regulation is a
matter of national coherence, or a domain where states retain
sovereignty-Nov 21, 2025, 2:53 pm EST | Anthony Kimery
As
Biometric Update has reported would likely happen at some point, the
Trump administration has prepared a sweeping new “Deliberative
Predecisional Draft” executive order (EO) that, if signed by President
Trump, would dramatically reshape how the U.S. regulates AI, setting off
a new confrontation over the balance of state and federal power.Indeed,
the draft EO marks the opening of a new regulatory clash that may
define U.S. AI policy for years to come. The leaked six-page draft
executive order lays out an ambitious plan to prevent states from
enacting their own AI rules and to centralize regulatory authority
within federal agencies.Though still only a draft, the document signals
the clearest intent yet by the administration to dismantle state-level
AI governance and to replace it with a single national framework aligned
with its broader strategy to accelerate AI innovation.The EO begins by
declaring that the administration’s approach to AI leadership requires
removing “barriers to American AI leadership” and eliminating what it
calls a “complex and burdensome” patchwork of state-level rules.One the
most consequential actions of Trump’s EO, if signed, would be the
explicit revocation of the January 23, 2025, executive order that was
signed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden, that was intended to
strengthen U.S. AI safety and oversight.By eliminating that federal
framework, the Trump White House positions itself not simply as
preempting state authority, but also as reversing its immediate federal
predecessor’s regulatory approach.The draft EO further states that the
U.S. must sustain AI leadership through a “balanced, minimal regulatory
environment,” language that signals a clear ideological orientation
against safety-first or rights-protective models of AI governance.The
administration wants the Department of Justice to challenge state AI
laws it views as obstructive; the Department of Commerce to catalogue
and publicly criticize state statutes deemed “burdensome;” and agencies
like the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) to establish national standards that would override
state requirements.The proposed EO envisions aggressive litigation and
regulatory actions to weaken or nullify state-level AI rules, including
those enacted in the past year in California and Colorado.It attacks
Colorado’s algorithmic accountability framework in unusually ideological
terms, complaining that it may force AI models to embed “DEI in their
programming” or adjust outputs to avoid “differential treatment or
impact” across demographic groups.That language reflects a
cultural-political framing that goes far beyond typical administrative
legal reasoning.The EO’s language describes recent state efforts as a
“patchwork regulatory framework” that slows innovation and allows the
most restrictive states to dictate national policy, asserting that
American AI companies must be free to innovate “without cumbersome
regulation.”To enforce that vision, the EO lays out a hierarchical
structure. A new Justice Department “AI Litigation Task Force” would
consult directly with the White House’s Special Advisor for AI and
Crypto, the Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, the
Assistant to the President for Economic Policy, and the White House
Counsel.That governance design ensures that litigation against states is
not simply a DOJ initiative but a White House–directed campaign.The
move immediately raises questions not only about the future of AI
governance but also about the structure of American federalism. For
years, states have been the primary actors experimenting with AI
regulation. They have advanced bills aimed at biometric privacy,
algorithmic fairness, deepfake disclosure, automated decision-making
transparency, and even restrictions on government use of facial
recognition.These experiments, often more aggressive than anything
contemplated in Congress, have become the country’s de facto
laboratories of AI oversight. If the draft EO becomes policy, those
laboratories could be shuttered, their influence sharply reduced, and
their policies exposed to direct federal attack.That possibility is
already alarming state officials, privacy advocates, and civil liberties
attorneys. At the center of their concern is the idea that state-level
innovation is not simply a matter of policy preference but a fundamental
check on federal inertia.Many states have adopted biometric or
algorithmic protections precisely because Congress had failed to act.
They created privacy safeguards that federal agencies lacked. And they
imposed accuracy and fairness standards that covered local law
enforcement systems, even where federal policy remained undefined.A
federal assertion of preemption threatens to freeze that process,
leaving states unable to respond to harms and forcing local governments
to rely on federal agencies that have historically been slow or
unwilling to intervene.The administration insists the opposite is true.
Its argument is that AI must be regulated nationally to maintain
American competitiveness and to avoid a maze of conflicting state rules
that burden companies building and deploying AI models.It frames state
laws as impediments to innovation, claiming that differing requirements
in fifty jurisdictions generate compliance chaos and undermine the
nation’s ability to compete with China and Europe.The draft EO goes
further by arguing that AI systems should be free from state-imposed
“alteration of truthful outputs,” language that resurrects a First
Amendment theory the administration deploys throughout the document.In
that framing, state laws requiring transparency, bias testing, model
disclosures, or accuracy reporting may be seen as violating
constitutional protections for AI model outputs, an argument that legal
scholars consider both novel and deeply contested.But the simplicity of
the administration’s argument belies its constitutional complexities.
The President cannot unilaterally preempt state laws unless Congress has
provided statutory authority. Courts have repeatedly held that only
Congress can displace state police powers in areas like consumer
protection, privacy, and public safety.The draft order attempts to
sidestep those legal barriers by instructing the Justice Department to
challenge state AI laws through case-by-case litigation rather than
through explicit preemption. The EO lays out a template for portraying
state AI regulations as unconstitutional, preempted, or in violation of
federal commerce powers.Even conservative legal scholars argue that this
approach stretches presidential authority and that the EO may have
limited binding effect without court victories.Congress complicates
matters further. Earlier in the year, the Senate considered – but
overwhelmingly rejected – a proposal to impose a ten-year freeze on
significant state AI regulation. That moratorium failed with bipartisan
resistance, demonstrating that lawmakers remain deeply protective of
state authority in this domain.The Trump administration’s draft EO
attempts to revive the moratorium’s effect through executive action, but
risks colliding with the same bipartisan skepticism.Under the draft
order, state AI laws could be labeled “onerous,” enabling federal
agencies to target them directly. The EO empowers the FCC to initiate a
federal reporting and disclosure standard meant to displace conflicting
state requirements, while directing the FTC to identify state laws that
allegedly require “false,” “deceptive,” or compelled AI model
outputs.This framing allows the FTC to classify such state laws as
inconsistent with the FTC Act’s prohibitions on unfair or deceptive
practices. States that maintain their laws could face federal
litigation, regulatory pressure, or loss of federal funds.The funding
mechanism is one of the most aggressive features of the EO. Within 90
days, the Commerce Department must issue a policy notice specifying
conditions under which states may remain eligible for BEAD broadband
funding.BEAD is a $42.45 billion federal program designed to expand
high-speed Internet access across the U.S. and the largest broadband
investment in U.S. history.The draft EO weaponizes BEAD as a pressure
point against states with AI laws the administration dislikes.
Specifically, the EO directs the Commerce Department to determine
whether states should remain eligible for BEAD funding only if they
refrain from enforcing “onerous” AI laws. States with such laws must
either repeal them or sign a binding agreement promising not to enforce
them during any year they receive BEAD money.This binding agreement
represents a significant escalation in federal attempts to influence
state policymaking.As the draft order continues to circulate,
uncertainty grows over its final form. A White House official,
responding to reports of its contents, said that speculation over
unreleased orders does not reflect official policy. But federal agencies
are already preparing for the possibility that the directive could be
signed at any moment.Departments are assessing their authorities. State
attorneys general are preparing litigation strategies. Industry groups
are lobbying aggressively in favor of federal uniformity, and civil
liberties groups warn that the order could block many of the strongest
checks on AI-driven surveillance.The order’s most immediate consequences
would likely unfold through litigation. The Justice Department’s
proposed task force would begin filing challenges to state laws within
weeks. Commerce would issue reports identifying state statutes deemed
obstructive. The FCC and FTC would launch rulemaking processes to
establish federal AI disclosure and reporting standards that would
operate as de facto national preemption.States would respond with
lawsuits arguing that the executive overstepped its authority. Courts
would be forced to decide whether AI regulation is a matter of national
coherence or a domain where states retain sovereignty.The broader
political dynamics are equally uncertain. Red states may align with the
administration’s push to limit regulation, while blue states may frame
the order as a constitutional overreach.But even conservative states
like Texas have expressed reluctance to relinquish regulatory authority
to Washington. The Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act,
signed by Gov. Greg Abbott in June and set to go into effect January 1,
underscores the bipartisan desire across states to shape AI policy
independently.Trump’s EO would effectively freeze the Texas law, at
least temporarily, pending inevitable legal challenges.As seen with
environmental regulation, privacy law, and public safety rules,
state-level sovereignty often cuts across partisan lines. The
administration could therefore find itself fighting not only blue states
but also a coalition of states resistant to federal encroachment.The
unresolved question is what a centralized federal AI framework would
ultimately look like. The draft order gives few specifics. It emphasizes
innovation, national security, and global competitiveness, but says
little about civil liberties, biometric safeguards, algorithmic
discrimination, or due-process rights.Its most concrete instruction is
to require the administration’s AI, crypto, and technology advisors to
jointly prepare a legislative recommendation establishing a uniform
federal regulatory framework for AI – effectively a roadmap for
Congressional action.
New digital identity verification market
report forecasts dramatic change and growth-Analysis and buyers guide
demystifies evolving IDV landscape-Nov 16, 2025, 5:49 pm EST |
Stephen Mayhew
The latest report from Biometric Update and Goode
Intelligence, the 2025 Digital Identity Verification Market Report &
Buyers Guide, projects the global market for online identity
verification will surpass $18.2 billion by 2027 while undergoing a major
shift toward the adoption of reusable IDs.Digital identity verification
(IDV) is in the midst of a shift towards reusable identity, even as it
is expanding into sectors beyond those heavily regulated sectors where
KYC requirements are familiar.The 50-page report provides an overview of
the sectors that are adopting identity verification and the reasons
they are doing so. The technologies used and the technical standards
that apply to them are presented, along with the competitive landscape,
along with guidance enabling businesses to make informed decisions when
selecting identity verification partners.The report is the latest in
Biometric Update and Goode Intelligence’s collaborations to illuminate
the areas of major change and gaps in understanding in the digital
identity and biometrics markets.“Government services are moving online
and regulators are demanding identity verification in an expanding set
of use cases just as the industry is figuring out how to make reusable
IDs work in the real world,” says Biometric Update Managing Editor Chris
Burt. “Our report is intended to help businesses navigate this new
landscape for digital IDV.”“Digital identity verification plays a
critical role in establishing identity in a world of increasing risks
and AI driven fraud attacks,” adds Alan Goode, CEO and Chief Analyst,
Goode Intelligence. “This is at a time when the market is at an
important crossroads with the emergence of reusable digital identity
verification. Government issued digital identity, digital identity
wallets and apps, and biometric authentication are all reshaping the
industry.”Case studies from Innovatrics, Ondato, Oz Forensics and
Paravision are included in this market analysis, along with detailed
profiles of more than nearly 50 technology providers offering either
critical components or complete identity verification solutions.Key
highlights of the report include: An introduction to digital identity
verification.An overview into standards and testing.Three-year
forecasts, key sectors and applications for growth.Digital Identity
Verification Buyers guide.Digital Identity Verification vendor profiles
and case studies.Biometric Update is known for unparalleled coverage of
the biometric and digital identity industry, and Goode Intelligence is
widely trusted for in-depth and independent market analysis. The report
is the fourth in an ongoing partnership drawing on the combined
experience and reach of the two companies.The 2025 Digital Identity
Verification Market Report and Buyers Guide can be found here.Reprint
licenses are available. For more information contact Allison Heather at
allison@biometricupdate.com.
Speed check: KYA sets guardrails for agentic AI’s rapid evolution-Nov 23, 2025, 2:54 pm EST | Hal Lonas
There’s
no doubt agentic AI will soon deliver thousands of agents serving their
human masters across the digital landscape, but the pressing question
is: How long will it take those agents to begin replicating complex
human decision-making?It’s one thing to tell an agent to reorder milk
once a week. It’s quite another to ask it to book a complete trip for
your family.We juggle so many variables when we book travel. We manage
expenses, timing, travel flexibility, destination, activities, weather
concerns, number of travelers, accommodations and local
transportation.It’s a complicated process and different from one person
to the next. But our brains are really good at breaking down those
factors and setting priorities.Is agentic AI close to that stage in its
development? Could an agent manage that level of complexity?The
technology is almost there, but it would need guidance. We would either
have to tell it how we behave or let it watch us book travel and ask us
questions about the choices we make.But no matter how the technology
evolves, it needs guardrails.Building trust in AI agents-There are
different modalities of how AI agents might misbehave.There is always
the concern over whether an agent is working in your best interest. If
you turn travel booking over to an AI agent, how do you know you have
the best fare possible? How does the agent interact with the airline
technology?Even without an AI agent, people planning a trip often use a
VPN and turn off their cookies because they don’t want the fact that
they’re shopping for travel to affect pricing. For instance, a recent
study found that when some airlines see a single person booking travel,
they increase the price because they assume it’s business travel, which
is reimbursed.Trust is the currency of the digital economy, and fairness
to consumers will need to be a top priority for AI agents.Fighting the
many faces of fraud-Agentic fraud can take many forms and affect every
side of a digital transaction.Merchants, for instance, have built great
defenses against bots, which are basically smart browsers that scrape
websites for products and prices to add to a database. Now merchants are
suspicious about lowering their defenses when an agent could
fraudulently claim to be shopping but really just performing the same
bot scraping. It’s a simple but prevalent fraud threat.Bad actors can
elevate the fraud threat by using an agent that claims to be operating
on behalf of someone legitimate or doesn’t have permission to do what
it’s doing. Those transactions can hide money laundering, payments fraud
or merchandise theft.On the flip side, a person’s agent might go to
what looks like a legitimate merchant, buy something and never receive
it. There needs to be a reputational check on the merchant’s agent to
prove it can be trusted.The rise of those fraud threats has sparked a
debate around who holds liability in agent interactions.Today, if
someone buys something online with a credit card, the person and card
company share some liability for the transaction. If something goes
wrong, the card company might agree it was a bad merchant and, as a
result, not make the person pay for the transaction. Other times, the
cardholder is responsible.Now, merchants and card companies are worried
about shifting liability in an agentic world where people can say the
agent made the transaction. So who covers the liability in a transaction
under dispute? It’s a big question without an answer right now.Know
Your Agent: The solution starts with identity-There could easily be
billions of agents running around in a few years. How are we going to
track that many agents and know they’re verified? The only way to do
that is through AI and Know Your Agent processes.Agentic identity
verification – whether the agent developer is a merchant, a payments
company or a third party – will be the hinge on which a new era of
digital transactions turns. That verification then must extend to
whoever is using the agent.I see people eventually going to agent
stores, much like app stores, to find the best one to do a job, such as
booking travel. An agent store serves as one mechanism to ensure we know
the developer of the agent, its intent and that a fraudster hasn’t
tampered with it.The second mechanism is an agent passport, which brings
together the developer’s identity, the user’s identity, the intent of
the application, guardrails for the agent and financial details, such as
a credit card. All of that has to come together in a cryptographic,
verifiable way that shows the developer, intent and code have stayed
pristine over time.The timing of agentic AI’s evolution to complex
decision-making remains a critical question. But there’s another, even
more important, one: How do we maintain secure, trusted digital
transactions during that evolution? The answer always starts with
identity.
Sri Lanka advances in global cybersecurity
ranking-Reforms to National Cyber Security Act underway-Nov 23, 2025,
2:46 pm EST | Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera
With the
National Digital Economy Strategy identifying cybersecurity as a core
pillar, reforms to the National Cyber Security Act are underway,
alongside efforts to improve incident response capabilities through
institutions such as the Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Response Team
(SLCERT).Reforms to the National Cyber Security Act aim to establish a
Cybersecurity Authority (CSA) as the apex institution for cybersecurity
in Sri Lanka, empower the SLCERT in incident response, and create a
comprehensive legal and administrative framework for a secure digital
ecosystem, Digital Economy Deputy Minister Eng. Eranga Weeraratne told
Biometric Update recently.“With technology advancing faster than policy
can keep pace, trust is our most valuable digital asset. Defending that
trust requires shared commitment from policymakers, cybersecurity
professionals, academics, the private sector, and civil society,” he
said on the sidelines of the National Cyber Security Conference held
recently, noting that Sri Lanka is continuing to place crucial attention
on this area. Weeraratne pointed out that conflicts are not only caused
by weapons as in the past, and therefore, international cooperation on
cybersecurity should be built and is vital.Sri Lanka has achieved a big
milestone by progressing to Tier Two in the Global Cybersecurity Index,
joining the ranks of countries like China, Canada, Austria, and
Switzerland. Dr. Kanishka Karunasena, the Acting CEO of the Sri Lanka
Computer Emergency Reporting Team (SLCERT), highlighted this progress
during the recent cybersecurity conference, emphasizing the strategic
development of the National Cybersecurity Strategy, which is built on
four key pillars.The strategy aims to launch a robust legal and
administrative framework for cybersecurity, which includes finalizing
the Cybersecurity Bill and creating a Cybersecurity Regulatory
Authority. It also focuses on developing a skilled workforce in
cybersecurity, boosting public awareness, improving cybersecurity
readiness in government institutions, and bolstering the capabilities of
Sri Lanka CERT. Collaboration with various stakeholders is also a
priority to foster a secure cyber environment. The overarching goal is
to initiate a secure and trusted digital space for the nation and to
elevate Sri Lanka to Tier One in global cybersecurity
rankings.Technological investments have strengthened the country’s
cybersecurity capabilities, particularly through the formation of the
National Cyber Security Operations Centre (NCSOC). This center is tasked
with monitoring cyberattacks on critical government institutions and
certifying prompt responses. In August 2025, the Cabinet approved the
connection of 37 critical government institutions to the NCSOC,
including the Departments of Immigration, Motor Traffic, Treasury,
Health, Electricity, and Water Supply, which will enhance national cyber
resilience. SLCERT plans to connect all critical organizations to the
NCSOC by December 2026.Additionally, SLCERT operates the National
Certificate Authority (NCA), enabling the issuance of digital
certificates by registered service providers. Recognizing that 95% of
cyber incidents stem from human errors, SLCERT emphasizes the importance
of cybersecurity awareness and training, Dr. Karunasena said. “To build
a strong human firewall, SLCERT has trained over 5,000 government
officers and plans to continue these training programs with the support
of industry partners. This initiative is crucial for creating a secure
digital environment that enables Sri Lanka to fully leverage the
benefits of the digital economy.”
Biometric identity verification and credentials transforming, just in time-Nov 22, 2025, 12:31 pm EST | Chris Burt
Identity
verification is changing, with biometrics and credentials converging in
a way that allows them to be used in new ways, as seen in Biometric
Update’s top stories of the week. Biometrics from Amadeus are enabling
Indonesian travelers to pass through airport ID checks without showing
their passports or even breaking stride. Business registration rules are
mandating more ID verification in the UK. Liveness detection is
increasingly crucial not just to catch fraud attacks with stolen or
synthetic identities and deepfakes, but to tell people apart from AI
agents representing them – or posing as them. In this context, the
arrival of technologies like reusable IDs is setting the stage for
explosive market growth.Biometric IDV, evolved-The global market for
digital identity verification will be worth $18.2 billion by 2027,
according to the 2025 Digital Identity Verification Market Report &
Buyers Guide, released this week. The latest in Biometric Update and
Goode Intelligence’s series of collaborative reports forecasts
highlights the change in identity verification as reusable IDs are
adopted and IDV processes are applied in more markets beyond the
traditional KYC for financial services.Even companies need identity
verification, and in the UK, it’s mandatory as of this week, with
Companies House introducing new rules for company directors and people
with significant control. The goal is to cut down on financial crime and
improve AML controls.Identity verification in the aviation industry has
typically taken place by funneling people toward officials with
physical barriers for manual examination of ID documents like passports.
But IATA says adopting biometric digital IDs instead could save
millions in capital expenditures, plus more in annual operation savings
while reducing their carbon footprints.Indeed, this is already
happening, and Jeff Lennon of Amadeus tells Biometric Update in an
interview that pre-registration and “known traveler” processes like
those Indonesia put in place for Hajj pilgrims will enable on-the-move
IDV at scale. The Seamless Corridors Amadeus has deployed at Jakarta and
Surabaya airports capture biometrics on the move, verifying travelers’
identities without asking them to produce a passport.Incode is aiming to
raise as much as $300 million, at a valuation of $3 billion, fresh off
its acquisition of AuthenticID and a step towards qualifying for
biometric identity verification contracts with the U.S.
government.Login.gov Director Hanna Kim has departed for the private
sector, Nextgov/FCW reports, having overseen the introduction of face
biometrics for IAL2-compliant identity proofing. Matt Pritchard moves
from the deputy role to acting director.National ID choices-Myanmar held
tests integration tests this week as it works towards the adoption of a
national digital ID system based on MOSIP. Officials from the country
have held talks with counterparts from India on how to build a system
that will enhance public service delivery.Executives with Yoti and OneID
appealed to the UK government to preserve the healthy competitive
ecosystem created by the DIATF at a recent Westminster eForum policy
conference. The alternative is submarining its own stated goals by
undoing past work and investment, the argue. Views and evidence on how
digital ID can and should work in the UK are starting to accumulate,
between contribution at that event by the UK business community and at a
Parliamentary Home Affairs Committee meeting by civil society groups
like Big Brother Watch, the Tony Blair Institute and the Open Rights
Group. Perhaps earlier engagement would have prevented already-soft
public support from tanking.A new report and accompanying webinar shed
light on the governance of, vendors behind, and human rights
implications of “Biometrics and digital identification systems in
Africa.” The report, supported by the Atlantic Council’s Democracy +
Tech Initiative, provided several concrete suggestions for how policies
and procedures can be improved.Surveillance and liberties-A mobile
license late reader app allows U.S. immigration enforcement officers to
query vehicle history and ownership records and related personal data
compiled from across the country. Motorola and Thomson Reuters supply
technologies behind ICE’s latest surveillance capability.A Digital
Omnibus package of amendments introduced by the European Commission will
mean major changes to the AI Act, including delays, even as officials
in the EU’s biggest countries suggest postponing it. The amendments
could also weaken Europe’s privacy laws, including GDPR.The balance
between preserving the free speech rights enshrined in the U.S.
Constitution and the benefit of preventing children from accessing
pornography online with age assurance technology is examined based on
Google Trends data in a paper by non-partisan thinktank the Phoenix
Center.Please let us know in the comments below or through social media
if you hear any podcasts or see any other content we should share with
the people in biometrics and the digital identity community.
Billions
Network CEO calls blockchain ‘powerful tool’ for age assurance,
privacy-Evin McMullen tells Biometric Update Podcast what’s wrong with
YouTube, World ID models-Nov 21, 2025, 5:02 pm EST | Joel R. McConvey
Is
blockchain the future of age assurance? It is if you ask Evin McMullin,
CEO of Billions Network – “the first universal human and AI network
built with mobile first verification,” which is associated with
biometrics provider Privado ID.“So that means you can use the devices
you already have, such as your phone or your computer, to prove who you
are online, on chain, and even in real life.”Speaking with the Biometric
Update Podcast, McMullen takes issue with the algorithmic age inference
method that YouTube has implemented, and with some other decentralized
models for identity that nonetheless appear problematic on the privacy
front.“There’s a concern that YouTube will continue to tighten the gate
here, leveraging age not just for safety, but rather for controlling
which content is recommended or monetized, which could be seen as the
first step in normalizing AI-based age verification tied to censorship,”
she says. “What starts as age safety could become a control mechanism
over what content is allowed or recommended or monetizable for different
user groups if that process is opaque.”McMullen says that, while there
are many other identity and blockchain-related protocols working on
parts of the problem, “they are not focused on privacy first, minimal
disclosure, and accessibility to all as first principles” the way
Billions Network is.“Billions Network was founded on the belief that
identity does not need to mean handing over all of your data, but rather
we can enable people to make high consent, privacy first, verifiable
claims about themselves, rooted in trusted organizations, such as
government IDs, or trusted data like biometrics, with minimal exposure
of personal data.”“Blockchains now are not just about currency. They are
trust layers that allow us to verifiable claims, such as the claim of
age based on a passport, in a way that is tamper-resistant and
verifiable without storing that actual data on-chain. You can think of a
blockchain as write once, never erase, but you can update.”“In the
context of regulation, that’s really powerful because you can comply
with laws and emerging regulations such as those in the UK and EU in a
way that also respects the privacy and consent of users.”Check out the
full episode for more from Billions Network’s Evin McMullen.
Demystify Biometrics introduces toolset to analyze, compare algorithms-Nov 21, 2025, 4:37 pm EST | Chris Burt
A
new resource has been launched by Demystify Biometrics to apply its
mission of increasing transparency to governments, enterprises, analysts
and investors around biometric performance to the benchmarks created by
organizations like NIST.The new Biometrics Intelligence Hub now
presents overviews and analysis of NIST evaluation reports on algorithms
for 1:N face biometrics.It will soon add the results of biometrics
evaluations for 1:1 verification, liveness detection, age estimation and
other modalities, Demystify Biometrics Founder Ashok Singal said in a
LinkedIn post. Singal expanded on the plan in an exchange of messages
with Biometric Update, noting that evaluations of face morphing
detection, demographic performance differentials and information about
image quality standards are also on the roadmap. Eventually, he says,
the Hub will include field relevance indicators and publicly verifiable
reference deployments.The idea is in part to help buyers “ask better
questions,” Singal told Biometric Update. “Not just ‘Who is #1?,’ but
‘Who is reliable, scalable, compliant, and suitable for my use case?’”
The Hub does not rank or recommend biometrics vendors, instead offering
transparent analytics to help organizations make informed choices.Singal
believes the industry needs to further demystify nuances like how
algorithm performance evolves over time.To that end, the tool provides
news report alerts detailed developer profiles and performance reports,
as well as a function to search for algorithms based on performance,
geographic or use-case criteria. It enables competitor benchmarking and
allows organizations to compare biometric algorithm performance across
different datasets.
Mastercard signs MoU to enhance efficiency of
Ukraine’s digital infrastructure-Collaborating to improve financial and
public services-Nov 21, 2025, 4:35 pm EST | Masha Borak
Mastercard
has signed a five-year public-private cooperation agreement with the
government of Ukraine, aiming to boost the country’s digital economy by
implementing new financial and payment tools and developing digital
identity and cybersecurity.The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the
Digital Country Partnership (DCP) program was signed last week in
Warsaw between the payment operator and the Ukrainian Ministry of
Economy, Environment and Agriculture.The collaboration will enhance the
efficiency of public services, expand access to financial tools, and
open new opportunities for small businesses and for investment in
Ukraine’s digital infrastructure, according to Economy Minister Oleksii
Sobolev.“We are implementing cutting-edge international technologies in
financial services, electronic payments, and cybersecurity to ensure
that the government, businesses, and citizens can operate within a
shared digital environment,” says Sobolev.Mastercard has previously
signed Digital Country Partnerships with the governments and public
sector bodies in France, Czechia, Slovakia, Panama and other countries.
The program attempts to leverage Mastercard’s technology and data
insights in the public sector.Mastercard’s digital identification
service is also part of the initiative, including its ID verification
service and its digital ID network, a decentralized framework that
offers a reusable digital ID.The partnership with Ukraine focuses on
several work streams. The financial security and inclusion stream aims
to streamline government disbursements by applying data analytics and AI
tools to social policy and designing effective government programs.
Mastercard will also support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
with digital solutions.The travel and mobility stream focuses on
modernizing payment and ticketing systems for public transportation and
boosting the country’s tourism sector.The digitalization and innovation
stream foresees digital solutions in cybersecurity, digital identity and
financial inclusion as well as deployments of AI solutions. The stream
also includes strengthening collaboration within GovTech and support for
fintechs and startups.Finally, Mastercard plans to work with Ukraine on
cybersecurity and payment security by enhancing the resilience of
critical infrastructure. Since the start of the war with Russia, the
country has been facing intense cyberattacks and strikes on its physical
infrastructure.
METEORS OR ASTEROIDS OR SATELLITES FALLING STARS HIT THE EARTH DURING THE 7 YR TRIB
AMOS 5:7,18-20-6:1
7 (WOE 1) Ye who turn judgment to wormwood,(POISON) and leave (CAST) off righteousness in the earth,(GROUND)
18 (Woe 2) unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
19
As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the
house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?
AMOS 6:1
1
(Woe 3) to them that are at ease in Zion,(JERUSALEM) and trust in the
mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the
house of Israel came!(WOE 3 IS THIRD WAVE OF WW3 WHEN ALL NATIONS MARCH
TO JERUSALEM FOR BATTLE)
JOB 9:6-9 (COMPARE TO REV 6:12-17)
6 Which shaketh the earth out of her place,(QUAKE) and the pillars thereof tremble.
7 Which commandeth the sun, and it riseth not;(THE SUN BLACKEND) and sealeth up the stars.(WHICH NOW FALL FROM HEAVEN)
8
Which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of
the sea.(THESE SAME MEORITES MIGHT POISON ALL THE EARTHS WATERS ALSO)
9
Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the
south.(AND IT IS INTERESTING GOD THRONE IS IN THE NORTH.AND FROM THE
SOUTH THESE METEORITES WILL BE FALLING ON EARTH)
COULD THE FALLING STARS-PLANETS BE PLEIADES AND ORION-JUST MY THOUGHT
Historically,
the Pleiades were seen as a group of seven stars – its brightest stars:
Alcyone, Atlas, Electra, Maia, Merope, Taygeta and Pleione are visible
to the keen naked eye. However modern observations show that this most
famous of open clusters is comprised of several hundred stars wreathed
in intricately structured nebulosity.As the Pleiades cluster is close to
the ecliptic (within 4°) in the constellation of Taurus it is a spring
and autumnal 'seasonal' object in both the northern and southern
hemispheres. Being close to the ecliptic, there are frequent
occultations of the cluster with the Moon and planets. To our
superstitious ancestors these were, no doubt, portentious events.
Likewise, the apparent annual motion of the cluster would have been
highly significant. The heliacal (near dawn) rising of the Pleiades in
spring in the northern hemisphere has from ancient times augured the
opening of the seafaring and farming season: while its dawn autumnal
setting marked the season's end.And also Spring and fall are Bird
migration seasons in Israel.It would not surprise me if Israeli wars are
not fought around the time of the Pleiades-Orion happenings.The Bible
contains three direct references to the Pleiades in Job 9:9 and 38:31,
and Amos 5:8, and a single indirect reference in the New Testament. This
latter passage (Revelation 1:16) describes a vision of the coming of
the Messiah – who holds, in his right hand, seven stars.Well since the
meteors do hit the earth in the last 6 months of the 7 year tribulation
period.I believe.Jesus' return will be only 6 months or so from
happening.So this Pieades (meteorites) earth hit would be warning the
world that Jesus is about to return to earth literally.
AMOS 5:8 (FORGET ABOUT PLANET X-NIBURU)(HERES THE FALLING STARS HERE)
8
Seek him (GOD) that maketh the seven stars (plieades) and Orion, and
turneth the shadow of death (darkness) into the morning, and maketh the
day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth
them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name:
JOB 38:31-33
31
Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of
Orion? (BIND AND LOOSE THESE STARS)(GOD GIVES US A HINT-THESE ARE THE
ONES THAT FALL TO EARTH)
32 Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?
33
Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion
thereof in the earth? (GOD TELLS US-I CAN THROW THESE STARS TO EARTH-I
AM IN CONTROL OF ALL THINGS)
MATTHEW 24:29-31
29 Immediately
after the tribulation of those days (NEAR THE END OF THE TRIB)(IS THE
ASTEROID HIT) shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her
light,(AS A RESULT OF THE METEORITES OR ASTEROID HITTING THE GROUND-IT
SHORTENS THE DAYLIGHT HOURS BECAUSE THE EARTHS GROUND STIRS UP DUST TO
THE HEAVENS AND DARKENS THE SUN AND MOON.I BELIEVE WHEN THIS ASTEROID OR
METEOR HITS THE EARTH-WE WILL ONLY HAVE 8 HOURS OF SUNLIGHT A DAY-SINCE
THE BIBLE SAYS 1/3 OF THE SUN AND MOON WILL BE DARKENED) and the stars
(METEORITES) shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall
be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in
heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall
see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great
glory.(JESUS AND THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS COME BACK TO EARTH AT THE END
OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD)(AND SINCE ITS RIGHT NEAR THE END OF
THE TRIBULATION PERIOD-THE ASTEROID HITS.-THEN JESUS RETURNS TO
EARTH)(SO WE KNOW NOW FOR SURE THAT THE ASTEROID HITS THE EARTH IN THE
LAST 6 MONTHS OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION PERIOD)(JUST BEFORE JESUS
RETURNS TO EARTH)
31 And he shall send his angels with a great sound
of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four
winds, from one end of heaven to the other.(HERES THE RAPTURED
CHRISTIANS FROM 7 YEARS EARLIAR-BEING GATHERED TOGETHER TO RETURN BACK
TO EARTH WITH JESUS)(FOR US TO LIVE ON EARTH FOREVER WITH JESUS)
REVELATION 6:12-17
12
And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a
great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the
moon became as blood;
13 And the stars (METORITES) of heaven fell
unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she
is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and
the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every
free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16
And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the
face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come;(LAST HALF OF THE 7 YR TRIB) and who shall be able to stand?
REVELATION 8:8-13
8
And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning
with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became
blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
10
And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star (ASTEROID)
from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part
of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of
the star (ASTEROID) is called Wormwood:(bitter,Poisoned) and the third
part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters,
because they were made bitter.(poisoned)
12 And the fourth angel
sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part
of the moon, and the third part of the stars;(LITERAL STARS) so as the
third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part
of it, and the night likewise.(HERES WERE THE ASTEROID HIT BLOCKS THE
SUN AND MOON-SHORTENING THE DAYLIGHT HOURS TO 8 HOURS A DAY ONLY)
13
And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven,
saying with a loud voice, Woe,(1) woe,(2) woe,(3) to the inhabiters of
the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three
angels,which are yet to sound!
MATTHEW 24:29 STAR MEANS ASTER OR ASTEROID ALSO-http://biblehub.com/text/matthew/24-29.htm
REVELATION 6:13 STAR MEANS ASTER OR ASTEROID ALSO.-http://biblehub.com/text/revelation/6-13.htm
REVELATION 8:10 STAR MEANS ASTER OR ASTEROID ALSO.-http://biblehub.com/text/revelation/8-10.htm
REVELATION 8:11 STAR MEANS ASTER OR ASTEROID ALSO-http://biblehub.com/text/revelation/8-11.htm
REVELATION 8:12 STARS MEAN LITERAL STARS NOT ASTEROIDS-http://biblehub.com/greek/792.htm
JOB
9:7 STAR MEANS - LITERAL STARS NOT
ASTEROIDS.-http://biblehub.com/text/job/9-7.htm -
http://biblehub.com/hebrew/strongs_3556.htm
AMOS 5:8 STAR MEANS - LITERAL STARS NOT ASTEROIDS-http://biblehub.com/text/amos/5-8.htm
40 000 near-Earth asteroids discovered! by ESA Staff Writers.
Paris,
France (ESA) Nov 21, 2025-Astronomers recently discovered the 40 000th
near-Earth asteroid! These space rocks range from a few metres to a few
kilometres in size and are on orbits that bring them relatively close to
Earth. Each new discovery is both a reminder of our planet's
vulnerability and a testament to how far the field of planetary defence
has advanced in just a few decades.An asteroid is a rocky leftover from
the formation of the Solar System more than four billion years ago. Most
of them orbit the Sun between Mars and Jupiter. A near-Earth asteroid
(NEA) is one whose orbit brings it within roughly 45 million kilometres
of Earth's orbit - close enough for planetary defence teams to keep a
watchful eye on it.The first NEA, Eros, was discovered in 1898. For
decades, discoveries came slowly, until dedicated survey telescopes in
the 1990s and 2000s began to find hundreds of new NEAs every year. In
November 2025, the total number of identified NEAs surpassed 40 000,
with around 10 000 of these discovered in the last three years
alone."The number of discoveries is rising exponentially, from one
thousand at the beginning of the century to 15 000 in 2016 and 30 000 in
2022. As the next generation of telescopes enter operation, we expect
the number of known NEAs to continue to grow at an even higher pace,"
says Luca Conversi, manager of ESA's Near-Earth Object Coordination
Centre."Inaugurated this year, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile,
while not dedicated exclusively to asteroid surveys, will discover tens
of thousands of new NEAs and other asteroids. Meanwhile, ESA's Flyeye
telescopes, designed with a wide, insect-like view of the sky, will
catch asteroids that slip past current surveys."Every time a new NEA is
discovered, astronomers use all of the available observations to predict
its path years, decades, and even centuries ahead. Dedicated software
systems calculate whether the object has any chance of impacting Earth
within at least the next century.These predictions and risk assessments
are then updated and refined each time a new observation is made. At
ESA, this work is carried out by the Near-Earth Object Coordination
Centre (NEOCC), part of the Planetary Defence Office.Almost 2000 NEAs
have a non-zero chance of impacting Earth sometime in the next hundred
years. However, most of these objects are very small, pose no
significant danger, and their impact probabilities are typically much
lower than one percent.Importantly, the largest NEAs - those larger than
one kilometre across - are also the easiest to spot, and many of them
were among the first to be found. These objects would cause global
effects if they struck Earth, but the scientific community is confident
that the vast majority have already been found.Today's focus is on
finding and tracking mid-sized asteroids, between about 100 and 300
metres wide. Much harder to spot, they would cause serious regional
damage if they were to hit our planet. There is still work to be done as
current models suggest that we have discovered only about 30% of these
object.Thankfully, none of the 40 000 known NEAs are cause for concern
for the foreseeable future.However, ESA is not just waiting around for
the day we do detect a hazard. The Agency's Planetary Defence team also
oversees the development of Europe's asteroid mitigation capabilities
through missions, such as Hera.Hera is currently in space and enroute to
the asteroid Dimorphos, where it will study the aftermath of the impact
carried out by NASA's DART spacecraft in 2022. By examining in detail
how the DART impact changed the structure and trajectory of Dimorphos,
Hera will help turn asteroid deflection into a reliable way to protect
Earth.ESA is also actively planning the Ramses (Rapid Apophis Mission
for Space Safety) mission to the 375-m asteroid Apophis and accompany it
through a safe but exceptionally close flyby of Earth in 2029.Hunting
asteroids in the infrared, ESA's NEOMIR (Near-Earth Object Mission in
the Infra-Red) will enable us to detect impact hazards similar to the
Chelyabinsk event in advance for the first time. Targeted for launch in
the mid-2030s, NEOMIR will close a large blind spot on the dayside
hemisphere of Earth as bright sunlight prevents the detection of
asteroids with optical, ground-based telescopes.What began with the
discovery of Eros in 1898 has grown into a global effort that has
successfully identified tens of thousands of near-Earth asteroids. Each
new addition, of which there are sure to be many thousands in the years
ahead, improves our understanding of the Solar System's history and
strengthens our ability to keep our planet safe.
Lunar impactor Theia originated near Earth and Sun analysis reveals by Robert Schreiber.
Berlin,
Germany (SPX) Nov 21, 2025-A new study published in Science has traced
the origin of Theia, the body that collided with Earth around 4.5
billion years ago and triggered the creation of the Moon. Led by the Max
Planck Institute for Solar System Research and University of Chicago,
the research utilizes ratios of metal isotopes to uncover Theia's place
of origin and composition.The collision with Theia dramatically altered
Earth's size, composition, and orbit, marking the birth of the Moon.
Although Theia was destroyed in the event, its chemical and isotopic
traces remain in the present-day compositions of Earth and Moon. Isotope
ratios for iron, chromium, calcium, titanium, and zirconium-measured in
terrestrial rocks as well as Apollo-returned lunar samples-are key to
understanding planetary origins.Iron isotopic ratios in both Earth and
Moon rocks proved indistinguishable. This supports previous data for
other elements, yet leaves open multiple collision models: the Moon may
be composed mainly of Theia's material, of proto-Earth mantle, or a
blend of both. The researchers reconstructed likely scenarios in
planetary "reverse engineering," simulating which sizes and compositions
for Theia and early Earth would produce the observed isotope
matches.Their work extended beyond iron to other metallic isotopes.
Elements like iron and molybdenum collect in a planet's core during
formation, while others such as zirconium remain in the rocky mantle,
documenting a broader formation history. Calculations using these
isotopic ratios, compared against known meteorite classes, illustrated
that most of Earth's constituents fit meteorite standards.Theia's
composition, however, does not match any current meteorite class,
indicating that some of its building material originated even closer to
the Sun than Earth, possibly from unknown Solar System reservoirs. "The
composition of a body archives its entire history of formation,
including its place of origin," said Thorsten Kleine, Director at
MPS."The most convincing scenario is that most of the building blocks of
Earth and Theia originated in the inner Solar System. Earth and Theia
are likely to have been neighbors," lead author Timo Hopp stated.
Meteorites were used as reference material, but Theia's signature could
only be explained by the presence of material from a region nearer to
the Sun than our own planet.These findings suggest that both Earth and
Theia shared close formation locales, with the lunar impactor's unique
isotopic recipe corroborating its birth in the inner Solar System rather
than the outer reaches. The scenario not only clarifies Moon formation
but also offers a window into the Solar System's dynamic early
environment.
Halloween fireballs could signal increased risk of cosmic impact or airburst in 2032 and 2036 by Dani Rae Wascher for UNM News.
Albuquerque
NM (SPX) Oct 30, 2025-Every year, the Taurid meteor shower lights up
the night sky from late October through early November. Sometimes called
the "Halloween fireballs", they are named for the constellation
Taurus-the bull-from which the meteors appear to radiate, the shower is
best viewed from dark-sky locations. In New Mexico, where wide-open
spaces and low light pollution offer some of the clearest skies in the
country, stargazers have a front-row seat to the spectacle.Meteors are
flashes and streaks of light that appear when dust, pebbles and rocks
burn up as they enter Earth's atmosphere. These fragments come from
Comet Encke, which has left a trail of debris orbiting the sun. Twice a
year, this stream intersects with Earth's orbit-once around Halloween,
when the Taurids are visible at night, and again in June, during the
daytime. The June meteors, known as the Beta Taurids, can't be seen in
the daytime sky unless they are exceptionally bright fireballs.But what
would happen if much larger Taurids came a little too close to Earth?
New research led by Research Professor Mark Boslough, recently published
in a special issue of Acta Astronautica, the proceedings of this year's
Planetary Defense Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, explores this
idea. The research titled, "2032 and 2036 risk enhancement from NEOs in
the Taurid stream: Is there a significant coherent component to impact
risk?" explores the risk assessment for planetary defense."Planetary
defense is the multidisciplinary and internationally coordinated effort
to protect the Earth and its inhabitants from impacts by near-Earth
objects (NEOs)," explained Boslough. "It requires surveys to discover
and track NEOs, campaigns to characterize those that are hazardous,
modeling efforts to understand and predict impact effects and associated
consequences, and mitigation through impact avoidance and/or civil
defense."A near-Earth object, or NEO, is an asteroid, comet or fragment
whose orbit comes close to or can cross Earth's path around the sun.
These objects have the potential to collide with our planet, but only if
their orbit intersects Earth's and they arrive there at the exact same
time. Small particles, such as the dust and pebbles that create the
Taurid "Halloween fireballs," enter our atmosphere regularly. Larger
objects, like those responsible for the Chelyabinsk meteor and Tunguska
events, strike far less often.Mitigation requires the development of
ways to deflect or disperse an object on a collision course with
sufficient warning, as well as emergency response planning for
unexpected or unpreventable impacts.The research incorporated recently
published data from observational campaigns associated with the Taurid
stream. The researchers found that the risk from airburst-sized
near-Earth objects (NEOs), which are small enough to explode in the
atmosphere instead of striking the ground, might be larger than
currently estimated. Likewise, the researchers also investigated the
possibility of a Taurid resonant swarm (TRS)."The resonant swarm is
theoretical, but there is some evidence that a sparse swarm of small
objects exists because bright fireballs and seismic signatures of
impacts on the moon have been observed at times that the theory has
predicted," explained Boslough.Objects in the Taurid stream orbit the
sun seven times for every two orbits of Jupiter. This cycle, known as a
resonance, means that part of the stream approaches Jupiter at regular
intervals. Because Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system,
its strong gravity can pull these objects together, creating dense
clusters. It's somewhat like a prospector panning for gold-swirling the
pan at just the right rhythm to make the specks collect in one place.The
findings suggest that if a Taurid swarm does exist it will pass close
to Earth in 2032 and 2036. During this time, Earth could experience
higher impact risk."Our findings are that we have the technology to test
the Taurid resonant swarm by using existing telescopes for targeted sky
surveys in 2032 and 2036 when the hypothetical swarm will make very
close approaches," said Boslough.In 2032 and 2036, objects in a
hypothetical Taurid swarm could be observable according to the
researchers and the risk from airburst-sized NEOS might be larger than
currently estimated. A concentration of larger (Chelyabinsk or
Tunguska-sized) objects in a swarm would be observable by telescopes, if
they exist, but only after they miss the Earth and recede into the
night-time sky.Boslough's airburst models during his time at Sandia
National Laboratories (SNL) explores the Chelyabinsk explosion and
estimate that the asteroid was about 60 feet in diameter and had an
explosive yield of about a half megaton (TNT equivalent). Likewise, the
Tunguska was probably about 10 times more powerful (3 to 5 megatons),
also based on Boslough's SNL analysis."If we discover the objects with
enough warning time, then we can take measures to reduce or eliminate
the risk. If the new infrared telescope (NEO Surveyor) is in operation,
then we can potentially have much more warning time," he said.The
research was funded by NASA at UNM and in partnership with NNSA funding
at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in the planetary defense
program.Boslough suggests that it is important for citizens to be aware
of various geohazards including weather, fire, earthquakes, and
volcanoes, and to put them in perspective, and to be prepared to
act."Asteroid impacts represent a small but significant risk, and New
Mexico's national labs have some of the best minds working on the
problem," he said.One of the key lessons from the Chelyabinsk event is
that most injuries were caused by flying glass when people rushed to
windows to watch the bright flash in the sky. If a similar event were to
occur over New Mexico, this would likely be the primary cause of
injury. Experts say the public can learn from Chelyabinsk and to stay
away from windows and avoid looking directly at the blast.The 2032 pass
of the hypothetical swarm will arrive from the night-time side of the
Earth. Boslough says that the probability of an impact or airburst might
be higher than average, if the hypothesis of a significant
concentration is correct.Boslough explains that there are such things as
daytime fireballs, but they must be extremely bright in order to
compete with the sun. A concentration of objects in a swarm (if it
exists) would be observable by telescopes after they miss the Earth and
recede into the night."The average probability is extremely low, so even
an enhanced risk means that the probability would still be low. The
swarm will come from the direction of the sun in 2036, so fireballs will
not be seen in our blue skies unless they are extremely bright," he
explained.Magdelena Ridge observatory near Socorro is involved in the
observational part of planetary defense, and both SNL and LANL have
active planetary defense programs. While the university and national
laboratories are continuing to research the TRS, Boslough cautions the
public about where they get their information from."A lot of false
information and mythology about this subject has been promulgated on
social media, online sources, and sensational TV shows. This media gives
the public the wrong impression about NEOs, impacts, and airbursts, and
what we can do to reduce the risk," he said.Boslough has also been
active in debunking this misinformation. His published research was
instrumental in one journal's decision to retract, due to the authors'
misunderstandings of airburst phenomena and evidence, a much-publicized
claim that an ancient city in Jordan was destroyed by an Tunguska-sized
airburst. He also coauthored a comprehensive refutation of the fringe
idea that the Taurid swarm was responsible for a climate catastrophe
12,900 years ago.Want to get an up-close view of the Taurids show soon?
Boslough says that there are a few opportunities coming up to view
including the night of Halloween after 2 a.m. They should be visible
when the moon is not in the sky. A few days after the next full moon on
Nov. 5, the Taurids show should be viewable in the sky in the evening
before moonrise.
Western researchers support international collaboration for planetary defence by Jeff Renaud for WwesternU News.
London,
Canada (SPX) Sep 25, 2025-A large international collaboration of nearly
100 researchers, led by Western adjunct professor Auriane Egal, has
completed the first-ever comprehensive study of an asteroid tracked from
space through to its impact on Earth. The analysis of asteroid 2023 CX1
represents a unique opportunity for both science and planetary
defence.The asteroid, quite ordinary by space rock standards, exploded
so quickly and with so much force that its actions underscore the
potential threat of similar - and larger - astronomical
objects.Discovered on Feb. 12, 2023, barely seven hours before entering
Earth's atmosphere, 2023 CX1 struck over Normandy, France, on Feb. 13,
2023 at 2:59 a.m. GMT. Nearly spherical, it measured just under one
metre in diameter with an estimated mass of about 650 kilograms. When it
abruptly shattered just 28 kilometres above Earth, it released 98 per
cent of its energy in a fraction of a second - an exceptional behaviour
for an object of this size.The explosion scattered more than a hundred
fragments across Normandy. The recovered meteorite, named
Saint-Pierre-Le-Viger (SPLV), is the only L-type chondrite (a type of
stony meteorite) ever studied from space to laboratory.Using new and
innovative observational strategies, ESA and NASA successfully predicted
the time and location of 2023 CX1's fall with unprecedented accuracy.
The difference between the predicted and observed atmospheric trajectory
was less than 20 metres, making SPLV the meteorite with one of the most
precisely measured orbits to date.The space agencies and
FRIPON/Vigie-Ciel, a France-based camera network used to track incoming
meteoroids, mobilized the public to record the asteroid's atmospheric
entry, resulting in the first large-scale targeted observation of a
meteor. It also enabled the rapid recovery of meteorites on the ground,
samples which were later studied in a laboratory to complete the
comprehensive study.More than 100 scientists, including meteor
physicists from Western Space, and citizen observers across Europe,
America, Africa and Australia joined forces to investigate every aspect
of this exceptional fall: telescopic discovery, orbital tracking,
atmospheric observations through optical, infrasound and seismic data
and geochemical laboratory analyses."This unique alliance between
professional and citizen scientists demonstrates the power of
international cooperation when facing rare and critical celestial
events," said Egal, an astrophysicist and scientific advisor at the
Montreal Planetarium and lead author of the study.The Western-led Global
Meteor Network, founded by Western adjunct physics and astronomy
professor Denis Vida, was critical in collecting data required for
predicting the fall zone for 2023 CX1. Physics and astronomy professor
Peter Brown and former graduate student Luke McFadden also contributed
to the analysis of the event's acoustic signals, and physics and
astronomy professor Paul Wiegert was involved in reverse engineering the
asteroid's time in flight prior to impact."This is the first time we
have telescopic observation of an asteroid before it entered the
atmosphere. We tracked it as it entered our space, and we correctly
predicted the impact location by calculating its orbit and size," said
Vida, a study co-author. "From first observation to final impact and
recovery, the whole clockwork of planetary defence worked really
well."Risk and reward-Analyses of 2023 CX1 - only the seventh asteroid
ever detected prior to impact - showed it separated from its parent body
in the inner part of the asteroid belt, located between Mars and
Jupiter, about 30 million years ago.Computer simulations constructed
after 2023 CX1's recovery revealed this type of fragmentation could
cause greater ground damage than typical fragmentations, like those
observed for the 2013 Chelyabinsk, Russia meteor event - the largest
known natural object to have entered Earth's atmosphere since the 1908
Tunguska event in Siberia.This study highlights the need to integrate
observation and analysis of pre-impact asteroids into planetary defence
protocols. L-type chondrite-related asteroids, like 2023 CX1, may
require reinforced alert systems and adapted evacuation plans in the
event of a threat."We confirmed the existence of a new population of
asteroids linked to L-type chondrites, capable of fragmenting abruptly
in the atmosphere and releasing almost all their energy at once. Such
asteroids must be accounted for in planetary defence strategies, as they
pose an increased risk to populated areas," said Egal.
And here
are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through
war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only
Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land
in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel,
Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half
of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18,
Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY
OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND
IN THE FUTURE.
Joel 3:2-King James Version (YOU DIVIDE JERUSALEM
IN HALF - YOUR POKING GOD IN THE EYE - GOD SAYS AN EYE FOR AN EYE AND A
TOOTH FOR A TOOTH- YOU WANNA DIVIDE JERUSALEM IN HALF - HALF OF EARTHS
POPULATION 4 BILLION DIE ON EARTH.
2 I will also gather all nations,
and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead
with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have
scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29xoDyqXD9U (MICHELE BACHMANN ON DIVIDING ISRAEL IN TRUMPS 20 PLAN)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE
17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS
KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE
BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND
DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in
that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN
WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4
billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37
And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto
them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered
together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against
Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten
by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE
SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE
CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH
IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7
Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and
Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the
inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
JEREMIAH 47:1-7
1 The word of
the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the
Philistines,(PALESTINIAN/ARABS) before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2
Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north,(NORTHERN
TSUNAMI POSSIBLY) and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow
the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell
therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land
shall howl.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his
strong horses,(ISRAELS ARMY) at the rushing of his chariots, and at the
rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their
children for feebleness of hands;(ISRAEL POSSIBLY NUKES GAZA)
4
Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN
FAKE ARABS) and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that
remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the
country of Caphtor.
5 Baldness is come upon Gaza;(NUKED POSSIBLY)
Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou
cut thyself?
6 O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
7
How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against
Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? (MEDITTERANEAN SEA) there hath he
appointed it.
RUSSIA,GERMANY, ARAB MUSLIMS COME AGAINST ISRAEL.
EZEKIEL 38:1-23
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2
Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA)
the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy
against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against
thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and
Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I (GOD) will turn thee back, and put hooks into
thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee
forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with
all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields,
all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6
Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of
the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with
thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
7 Be thou prepared, and
prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto
thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be
visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is
brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against
the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is
brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of
them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a
cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with
thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall
also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy
mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt
say,(RUSSIA-ARAB-MUSLIMS) I will go up to the land of unwalled
villages;(ISRAEL) I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely,
all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12
To take a spoil,(OIL IS IN SPOIL) and to take a prey; to turn thine
hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the
people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle
and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
13 Sheba, and
Dedan,(SAUDI-ARABIA) and the merchants of Tarshish,(SPAIN) with all the
young lions thereof,(ENGLAND,AND ALL ITS ASSOCIATES-CANADA,AUSTRALIA-NEW
ZEALAND, USA, AND WESTERN ENGLISH SPEAKING NATIONS) shall say unto
thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to
take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and
goods, to take a great spoil?(OIL IS IN SPOIL-I BELIEVE THATS WHY
RUSSIA,ARAB/MUSLIMS MARCH TO ISRAEL)
14 Therefore, son of man,
prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my
people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15 And
thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many
people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a
mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel,
as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I
will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I
shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith
the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my
servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many
years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to
pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel,
saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19 For in
my jealousy and in the fire (atomic bomb) of my wrath have I spoken,
Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
20
So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the
beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth,
and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my
presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places
shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
21 And I will
call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord
GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.
22 And I will
plead against him with pestilence (biological,chemical,nuclear) and with
blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many
people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones,
fire, and brimstone.(NUKED,THEN MIGRATING BIRDS EAT RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS
FLESH)
23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I
will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am
the LORD.
EZEKIEL 39:1-29
1 Therefore, thou son of man,
prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord
GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech
(MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee
back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of
thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will
cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee
upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4
Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,(
ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the
ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be
devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6
And I will send a shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto
Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley
of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east
of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there
shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE)
and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300
MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
13
Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it
shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified,
saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual
employment,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to
bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth,
to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15
And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s
bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the
buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of
Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)(EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN
THE JORDAN VALLEY)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17
And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every
feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY
SPRING,FALL) and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and
come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do
sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel,
that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM
ARMIES)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood
of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of
bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye (MIGRATING BIRDS
IN ISRAEL) shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be
drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for
you.(RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS)
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21
And I (GOD-JESUS) will set my glory among the heathen,(WORLD NATIONS)
and all the heathen (WORLD NATIONS) shall see my judgment that I have
executed,(AGAINST ISRAELS ENEMIES) and my (GODS) hand that I have laid
upon them.(ISRAELS HATER ENEMIES)
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
23
And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity
for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I
my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so
fell they all by the sword.
24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.
25
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity
of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be
jealous for my holy name;
26 After that they have borne their shame,
and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when
they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid.
27 When I
have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their
enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;
28
Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to
be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto
their own land, and have left none of them any more there.
29
Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my
spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7
Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and
Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the
inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
JEREMIAH 47:1-7
1 The word of
the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the
Philistines,(PALESTINIAN/ARABS) before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2
Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north,(NORTHERN
TSUNAMI POSSIBLY) and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow
the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell
therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land
shall howl.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his
strong horses,(ISRAELS ARMY) at the rushing of his chariots, and at the
rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their
children for feebleness of hands;(ISRAEL POSSIBLY NUKES GAZA)
4
Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN
FAKE ARABS) and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that
remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the
country of Caphtor.
5 Baldness is come upon Gaza;(NUKED POSSIBLY)
Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou
cut thyself?
6 O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
7
How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against
Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? (MEDITTERANEAN SEA) there hath he
appointed it.
Now the scriptures that a week in Israel history is 7YEARS.
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
Isn"t
this interesting it comes from the same Person whos name was changed to
Israel,(JACOB) and Israel and Jerusalem is the places dealt with in
Daniel 9:24-27.
GENESIS 32:27-28
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as
a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26
And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF
69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and
the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the
sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof
shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are
determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND
PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL
WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant
(PEACE TREATY) with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of
the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2
yrs in TEMPLE ANIMAL SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of
abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and
that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15
Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell
are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through,
it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under
falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord
GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a
precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not
make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and
righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge
of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your
covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell
shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then
ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth
it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and
by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3
For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction
cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not
escape.
ISAIAH 33:8
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring
man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised
the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS
HIMSELF GOD)
US Ukraine proposals 'not a real plan': Germany by AFP Staff Writers.
Brussels,
Belgium (AFP) Nov 21, 2025-Germany's foreign minister said Friday that
the US 28-point proposal to stop the war in Ukraine was "not a real
plan", and details still needed to be hammered out by Kyiv."From my
point of view, it is not a real plan, but simply a list of topics,"
Johann Wadephul told journalists in Brussels."I believe it is the task
of the negotiating parties to define this."Kyiv's EU backers have pushed
back against the plan from Washington and said Kyiv and Europe need to
be on board."We want to ensure that Ukraine can discuss these points
from a strong negotiating position," Berlin's top diplomat said."It will
be Ukraine that decides what compromises it makes, just as Russia will
have to make such decisions for its part."He added that "we are not
referees here, but we are advocates for Ukraine, because Ukraine is
defending its freedom and the freedom of Europe."Under the sweeping
28-point plan backed by US President Donald Trump Ukraine would give up a
swathe of eastern territory to Russia and slash the size of its
army.Kyiv would also pledge never to join NATO, and would not get the
Western peacekeepers they have called for, although European warplanes
would be stationed in Poland to protect Ukraine.Russia would meanwhile
be readmitted to the G8 group of nations and be rewarded with sanctions
relief under the plan.The proposal involves major concessions by Kyiv,
which has previously refused to cede any land, while appearing to meet
many of Moscow's maximalist demands following its 2022 invasion.
Israel says killed Hezbollah chief of staff in Beirut strike.
Beirut,
Lebanon, Nov 23 (AFP) Nov 23, 2025-Israel said it killed Hezbollah's
chief of staff in an air strike on Lebanon's capital on Sunday, hitting
an apartment building in an operation the militant group said crossed a
red line.Lebanon's health ministry said the attack in Beirut, which came
after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Israel would "do
everything necessary" to prevent the pro-Iran movement from regrouping,
killed five people and wounded 28 more.The ministry did not give the
identities of those killed in the strike, which took place in the Haret
Hreik area in Beirut's southern suburbs, a densely populated area where
Hezbollah holds sway.In a statement shortly after the strike, the
Israeli military said it had "eliminated the terrorist Haytham Ali
Tabatabai, Hezbollah's chief of general staff".It was the fifth Israeli
strike on Beirut's southern suburbs since a ceasefire agreed in November
2024 after a year of conflict, and comes a week before Pope Leo XIV is
scheduled to visit Lebanon.The Israeli military insisted in its
statement that it "remains committed" to the ceasefire.Hezbollah said a
senior commander was targeted in the strike, without confirming if they
were killed."The targeting was clearly aimed at a key... figure in the
resistance, and the results are unknown," Hezbollah official Mahmud
Qomati told reporters in front of the strike location,saying the attack
"crosses a new red line".He was speaking before Israel said it had
succeeded.An AFP correspondent at the scene said the strike hit the
third and fourth floors of a nine-storey building, where ambulance and
fire crews scrambled to find survivors and Lebanese soldiers deployed to
secure the site.Debris littered the road below, with several burned-out
cars seen in the street.The AFP journalist saw rescue workers
evacuating a body wrapped in a white bag and at least three wounded
women from the site."I was on the balcony. There was a flash, then I hit
the railing and all the glass broke," a man who was in a building
opposite the targeted apartment told AFP, refusing to give his
name.Lebanon's official National News Agency said three missiles were
fired at the building.- 'Maximum enforcement' -Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he had ordered the attack."In the heart
of Beirut, the IDF (Israeli military) attacked the Hezbollah chief of
staff, who had been leading the terrorist organisation's build-up and
rearmament," the premier's office said in a statement."Israel is
determined to act to achieve its objectives everywhere and at all
times."Separately, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said: "Anyone
who raises a hand against Israel will have his hand cut off," warning
that Israel would "continue the policy of maximum enforcement".Israel
has defended its attacks on Lebanon since the ceasefire as upholding the
terms of the deal by preventing Hezbollah from rebuilding.Sunday's
strike was the first on Beirut's southern suburbs since June 5, when
Israel said it hit a Hezbollah drone factory.- Hezbollah weakened
-Hezbollah was weakened by its fight with Israel, which it started in
support of its ally Hamas in Gaza in October 2023 with cross-border
exchanges of fire that later escalated into two months of full-blown
war.Since then, Lebanon has come under increasing Israeli and US
pressure to disarm the militant group, a move that the group has
rejected."Hezbollah will not be allowed to rearm and operate inside of
Lebanon and we expect Lebanon to hold Hezbollah's feet to the fire on
this," Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian said after
Sunday's strike."Hezbollah's terrorist activities constitute a violation
of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon and the IDF will
continue to operate to remove any threats to the citizens of Israel,"
she told reporters.Netanyahu earlier on Sunday told a cabinet meeting
that Israel "will continue to do everything necessary to prevent
Hezbollah from re-establishing its threat capability against
us".Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called on the international community
to intervene firmly to stop Israeli attacks on the country.Beirut
"reiterates its call to the international community to assume its
responsibility and intervene firmly and seriously to stop the attacks on
Lebanon and its people", he said in a statement.rjm-burs-glp/jfx/dcp
Gaza civil defence says 21 killed in Israeli strikes.
Gaza
City, Palestinian Territories, Nov 22 (AFP) Nov 22, 2025-Gaza's civil
defence agency said 21 people were killed and dozens more wounded in
multiple Israeli air strikes on Saturday, as Hamas and Israel again
traded allegations of violating the fragile ceasefire.Saturday was one
of the deadliest days since the US-brokered truce between Israel and
Hamas came into effect on October 10, after two years of war.The Israeli
military said an "armed terrorist" had crossed the so-called Yellow
Line within the Gaza Strip, behind which Israeli forces have withdrawn,
and fired at Israeli soldiers.In response to the incident in southern
Gaza, which it said was on a route used for humanitarian aid deliveries
in the territory, the Israeli military said it "began striking terror
targets in the Gaza Strip".Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil
defence agency which operates under Hamas authority, told AFP there were
"21 martyrs this evening in five separate Israeli air strikes, in a
clear violation of the ceasefire in Gaza".They included seven killed and
more than 16 injured in a strike on a house in Nuseirat in the central
Gaza Strip, and four killed and several injured in an air strike on a
residential apartment in the Al-Nasr district, west of Gaza City, he
said.According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, as of Thursday,
312 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli fire since the truce took
hold.- Children carried into hospital -Bassal said one strike hit a
house in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.At Al-Aqsa hospital in
Deir el-Balah, AFP witnessed children being brought to the hospital in
ambulances and carried inside. Some casualties were taken in on
stretchers.Health ministry spokesman Khalil al-Daqran said "more than 20
injured" had been brought to the hospital, "most of them women and
children"."Among the injuries, there are many severe wounds to the head
and chest," he told AFP.The first reported strike targeted a vehicle in
the Al-Rimal neighbourhood in western Gaza City. Five people were killed
and several injured, said Bassal.An AFP photographer at the scene
witnessed passers-by approaching the wreckage of the burnt-out car, with
children appearing to be trying to salvage food from inside.-Truce
violation claims -Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office
accused Hamas of breaching the truce agreement."Hamas violated the
ceasefire again, sending a terrorist into Israel held territory to
attack IDF soldiers," it said on X. "In response, Israel eliminated five
senior Hamas terrorists.""Israel has fully honoured the ceasefire,
Hamas has not. We again call on the mediators to insist that Hamas
fulfil its side of the ceasefire."In a statement, Hamas said the
"escalation" of Israeli violations were "attempts to undermine the
ceasefire"."We call on the mediators to intervene urgently and exert
pressure to stop these violations immediately."The Palestinian foreign
ministry, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, condemned the
strikes.It urged the international community to put "immediate pressure"
on Israel in order to "stop the massacres".- Ceasefire 'pointless' -The
UN humanitarian agency OCHA said the ceasefire scale-up of aid
deliveries into Gaza "is still being held back by restrictions affecting
visas and import approvals, too few crossing points operating" and
other impediments.Jihad Abed Al-Aziz, who was displaced to Khan Yunis in
southern Gaza, was at a food distribution point where dozens of people
jostled for a pan of rice."A ceasefire is pointless," the 55-year-old
told AFP."The crossings do not bring in enough to give us food,
supplies, or even the basics of life."We have lost our jobs, our homes,
and everything in our lives. Life itself has no meaning any more."The
war was sparked by Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which
resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people.Israel's retaliatory assault on
Gaza has killed at least 69,733 people, according to figures from the
health ministry that the UN considers reliable.
Trump urges jail time for Democrats over military message.
Washington,
Nov 23 (AFP) Nov 23, 2025-US President Donald Trump said late Saturday
that six Democrats involved in a video calling on military officers to
refuse illegal commands "should be in jail."The Republican leader's
remarks came after he accused the Democrat lawmakers on Friday of
"seditious behaviour, punishable by death."Democrats slammed Trump's
comments as "absolutely vile" threats against the six senators and
representatives, all of whom have served in the military or intelligence
community.Trump took to social media on Saturday night, writing:"THE
TRAITORS THAT TOLD THE MILITARY TO DISOBEY MY ORDERS SHOULD BE IN JAIL
RIGHT NOW, NOT ROAMING THE FAKE NEWS NETWORKS TRYING TO EXPLAIN THAT
WHAT THEY SAID WAS OK."He said that the Democrats' message was "SEDITION
AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL" and that "THERE CAN BE NO OTHER INTERPRETATION OF
WHAT THEY SAID".The video posted on social media Friday called on the
military to "refuse illegal orders" and featured Arizona's Mark Kelly,
Michigan's Elissa Slotkin, along with Jason Crow of Colorado, Chris
Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania and Maggie Goodlander of
New Hampshire.They did not specify which orders they were referring to,
but Trump has ordered the National Guard into multiple US cities, in
many cases against the wishes of local officials, in a bid to bring
alleged rampant unrest under control.Abroad, Trump has also ordered
strikes on a series of alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean
Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that have left more than 80 people dead
and which experts say are illegal.Trump has alluded to the death penalty
on previous occasions.In 2023, former US military officer Mark Milley
told a journalist he had secretly called his Chinese counterpart after
the January 6, 2021 riots at the US Capitol to reassure Beijing that the
United States remained "stable" and had no intention to attack
China.Trump subsequently wrote on social media that "in times gone by,
the punishment would have been DEATH!"ane/dhw.
Iran says new framework needed to access bombed nuclear sites.
Tehran,
Nov 21 (AFP) Nov 21, 2025-Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a
new approach should be taken for the monitoring of the country's
nuclear sites attacked in a recent war with Israel.Tehran is under
pressure from Western powers to allow inspectors from the UN's nuclear
watchdog into the facilities."We need a method or a framework for how to
inspect those facilities," he said in an interview with the British
magazine The Economist, posted on his telegram channel on Friday."There
are safety and security risks; there are unexploded ordnance, missiles,
and the like. There is also the risk of radiation," the Iranian top
diplomat stated.He added that Iran was also receiving threats of attacks
from the United States should anyone got close to those facilities.In
mid-June, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against
Iran, triggering a 12-day war that the United States briefly joined with
strikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities.Following the war, Iran
heavily restricted access of the UN nuclear watchdog's inspectors to its
nuclear sites.A few months later in September, an agreement was reached
between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Cairo
to establish a framework for cooperation.That deal, however, was
declared invalid by Tehran last month when Britain, Germany and France
triggered the return of UN sanctions that had been lifted under a
now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal.On Thursday, the IAEA's Board of Governors
approved a resolution, demanding Tehran provide "full and prompt"
cooperation including access to sensitive nuclear sites.Iran in return,
sent an official letter to the IAEA reiterating that the Cairo Agreement
was "null and void"."Given that the E3 and the US seek escalation, they
know full well that the official termination of the Cairo Agreement is
the direct outcome of their provocations," Araghchi said on X on
Friday.The 12-day war also derailed high-level nuclear talks between
Tehran and Washington that had begun in April, during which the two
sides were at odds over Iran's right to enrich uranium -- which Tehran
defends as "inalienable"."Like the diplomacy which was assaulted by
Israel and the US in June, the Cairo Agreement has been killed by the US
and the E3," Araghchi said in his X post.
‘We cannot remain
silent’: 400 Gush Etzion residents sign petition against settler
violence-Violence is ‘happening around our communities and we have a
responsibility to address it,’ says one of the promoters of the
initiative By Rossella Tercatin-Today, 4:57 am-NOV 24,25
Over 400
people who live in the West Bank settlement bloc of Gush Etzion have
signed a petition condemning violent attacks against Palestinian
property and residents at the hands of Israeli civilians, one of its
initiators told The Times of Israel on Sunday.The appeal, disseminated
last week, addressed local religious and political leaders, calling on
them to speak up against the violence. The beginning of the petition
quotes a verse from the Torah warning the Jewish people to behave in
such a way “that the land not spew you out.”“We, residents of Gush
Etzion, lovers of Zion and the Land of Israel, feel that we cannot
remain silent in the face of the terrible wave of violence in recent
weeks — horrific acts such as houses set on fire, vehicles burned,
property and flocks destroyed, shooting, physical assaults carried out
against Arabs residing in the Gush Etzion bloc, with the intent of
harming children, women, and men,” the petition reads. “These acts stand
in violation of the law, morality, and halakha [Jewish law].”Rabbi
Shaul Judelman, 46, a resident of the local settlement of Tekoa, said
the petition has been circulating at the initiative of a group of about
40 Gush Etzion residents who have been organizing to oppose extremist
violence for over a year.“Since the war began, we have been hearing of
attacks by extremist youth, mostly against Palestinians in the area,
that went beyond any pale of justification,” Judelman, who has lived in
the Gush Etzion area since he moved to Israel from the United States in
2000, told The Times of Israel in a phone interview.“It wasn’t people
defending themselves. It was people going out and burning houses or
killing sheep. And [we had] a sense that this sometimes is happening
around our communities and we have a responsibility to address it.”The
IDF has recorded over 752 incidents of nationalistic crime and settler
violence since the start of the year. The total for 2024 was 675
incidents.“After October 7, the sense that what happened in the Gaza
border communities could happen anywhere has been very raw,” Judelman
said, referring to the 2023 Hamas-led onslaught in southern Israel.“Many
of the people in our group are in the reserves, guarding our towns,
serving in Gaza,” he said. “But at the same time, there’s a question of
where the red line is, how we defend ourselves, and what actions we see
not as defending ourselves, but actually weakening ourselves, at least
in front of God, and I think also morally, in [terms of] what it means
to live here.”Judelman noted that the group, as well as the petition,
chose to focus not on the West Bank as a whole but specifically on Gush
Etzion because they are familiar with the reality on the ground. (A
similar petition has since begun circulating in the Kfar Adumim
settlement in the central West Bank.)“Maybe we do not always know for
certain what the facts are in other places, but in Gush Etzion, there
are many Jews and Palestinians who have known each other for a long
time, and there are connections,” he said.These connections have at
times enabled Judelman and other Israeli residents to help Palestinian
victims of violence. He mentioned a case where some cars were destroyed
at a garage in the Palestinian town of Jab’a, at a business that is also
popular among Israeli clients due to its affordability and the owner’s
reputation.“The owner, Muhammad, volunteers with an Israeli non-profit
that helps people stuck on the road,” Judelman said. “One of the cars
belonged to an Israeli who had just finished serving in Gaza.”A drop in
the bucket? The 400 who signed the petition are a small fraction of the
close to 30,000 total Israelis who live in the Gush Etzion settlements,
and one signatory said the issue of settler violence is a fraught one in
the bloc.Nechama Goldman Barash, an educator at several advanced Jewish
studies institutions who has lived in the settlement of Elazar for 29
years, said raising these topics locally has not been easy.“In my
community in Elazar, I feel people don’t want to talk about it,” she
told The Times of Israel in a phone interview. “I think anyone I would
talk to would say, ‘Of course, we condemn violence, but they are always
attacking us, or it’s not as bad as you think’.”Goldman Barash said she
recently joined the activist group working to raise awareness about the
violence and has signed the petition. But she has felt nervous about
sharing it with her contacts, fearing backlash.“I still haven’t really
put it out on WhatsApp groups in my community,” she said. “I went to
Facebook instead, because people are very hostile to admitting that we
have this problem.”She continued, “The narrative is that the
Palestinians are violent, and we only respond when we’re attacked, and
so the idea that there might be Jewish settlers who do these terrible
acts unprovoked is very difficult. In addition, sometimes people think
it’s just a small group and they don’t really matter.”Goldman Barash
said that even if the perpetrators are small in number, it is still
essential to raise alarm over the attacks in order to get the attention
of local officials.“We should protest people who are violent in
unspeakable ways, so we can confront it and deal with it,” she said.
“The idea of the petition has been to put pressure on the head of the
regional council so he can see that this matters to people.”Judelman
likewise feels that, more than collecting signatures, the initiative’s
goal is to open up a conversation about the violence in the
community.“Many people do not sign petitions, and we did not really do a
big push for people to sign it; we shared it on our social media, on
some WhatsApp groups, but we did not go to the main media,” Judelman
said. “Also, let’s be honest, during wartime, it is hard to do something
self-critical, and many are not aware of the extent [these attacks] are
happening.”He said, however, that the petition and recent incidents,
including Israel’s demolition of a local illegal outpost, have meant
that “people are talking more.”Judelman described the violence as an
affront to his Jewish values.“That’s not my Judaism, that’s not what we
came here to do,” he said. “As the Jewish people, we’ve waited for
thousands of years to have an army to defend ourselves. That army has
the right to use force to do what they need to defend us, and of course,
there is a right to self-defense, but you do not have the right to go
and attack someone.”The group of activists from Gush Etzion has been
working to meet local leaders, rabbis, educators, and army officers. It
has also made efforts to meet representatives of the so-called “hilltop
youth,” the network of extremist settlers thought to be behind the
violence targeting Palestinians, as well as Israeli troops and
police.According to Judelman, the response among local authorities has
been positive.“There are different levels and facets to the problem,” he
said. “One part is about education. There is a lot of youth at risk,
and I think there is a big challenge of how youth go through this
conflict right now.”He added, “I think the sense that the army failed us
is very vivid across Israel post October 7, and I believe we have a job
of restoring faith in the army.”He said that all of those factors
demand a multifaceted response to the outbreak of violence.“If we really
want to work on this issue, we need social workers, we need therapists,
we need rabbis, we need parents,” he said. “There needs to be
enforcement that goes to the roots of the problem, a question of faith
in institutions, of people having places to go, of channeling energies
into the right place. There is a problem of ideology, but also of not
feeling protected by the state.”
US hails ‘significant step forward’ in Ukraine talks, announces ‘updated’ framework By AFP Today, 2:37 am.
The
White House says that talks in Switzerland on a proposal to end the
Ukraine war mark a “significant step forward,” and reaffirms that any
eventual deal will “fully uphold” the war-torn country’s sovereignty.A
joint US-Ukraine statement released minutes later by Washington says:
“As a result of the discussions, the parties drafted an updated and
refined peace framework.”US Secretary of State Marco Rubio led a US
delegation that met with Ukrainian and European officials in Geneva on
Sunday to try to thrash out a plan for ending the conflict, which began
in February 2022 with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.US President Donald
Trump had given Ukraine until November 27 to approve his controversial
plan to end nearly four years of fighting, whose initial draft accepted a
range of Moscow’s hardline demands. The 28-point plan requires the
invaded country to cede territory, cut its army, and pledge never to
join NATO.Kyiv has sought changes to the draft. The statement’s
announcement of a new draft appears to indicate that changes were indeed
made.“The talks were constructive, focused, and respectful,
underscoring the shared commitment to achieving a just and lasting
peace,” the joint statement says. “The discussions showed meaningful
progress toward aligning positions and identifying clear next steps.
They reaffirmed that any future agreement must fully uphold Ukraine’s
sovereignty and deliver a sustainable and just peace.”Both sides pledged
to keep working on joint proposals “in the coming days.”
Colombia
says 17 minors ‘rescued’ from Jewish cult Lev Tahor amid abuse
allegations-Five of those rescued were subjects of Interpol missing
person alerts; Leader of extremist sect, dubbed ‘Jewish Taliban,’ in
prison for kidnapping child whose mother left the group-By AFP and ToI
Staff Today, 2:15 am-NOV 24,25
Colombian authorities said Sunday
they had rescued 17 minors from Lev Tahor, an extremist ultra-Orthodox
Jewish sect under investigation for alleged child sex abuse.“We have
rescued 17 boys, girls and teens,” the country’s immigration service
said on X, posting pictures of some of the children with their faces
blurred or shielded from view.Five of the minors rescued were identified
as missing persons whom Interpol had issued “yellow notices” to find,
authorities said.Founded in Jerusalem in the 1980s, Lev Tahor —
literally, “pure heart” in Hebrew — has been dogged by allegations of
child abuse for years, and Israel and others have called it a cult. Its
leader is in prison for kidnapping children.A group called Lev Tahor
Survivors has estimated the sect’s membership at several hundred people
and says it is led by a core cohort, with the rest being held mostly
against their will.The group adheres to an extreme, idiosyncratic
interpretation of Judaism and kosher dietary laws that largely shields
members from the outside world.Women and girls above 3 are required to
dress in black robes that completely cover their bodies, leading some to
call the group the “Jewish Taliban.” The men spend most of their days
in prayer and studying specific portions of the Torah.Lev Tahor jumped
borders for years, under scrutiny from authorities, with members seeking
refuge at various times in Mexico, Canada, Iran, Bosnia, and Morocco,
among other locations.In December 2024, Guatemalan authorities took 160
minors into protective custody from a farm occupied by Lev Tahor,
alleging they were being abused.At the time, Guatemalan public
prosecutor Dimas Jimenez told a press conference that the raid was
carried out due to suspicions of “forced pregnancy, mistreatment of
minors and rape.”The group has gone to extreme lengths to retrieve
children taken from the sect in the past.Group leader Nachman Helbrans
and other members of Lev Tahor’s leadership are in prison in New York
for kidnapping two children whose mother left Lev Tahor for the
children’s safety. Helbrans’s father, Shlomo, the group’s founder, was
also imprisoned for kidnapping in the 1990s.The group rejects all
allegations of abuse and has accused various governments, including
Israel’s, of religious persecution.Luke Tress contributed to this
report.
NYC anti-Zionist groups back walkout from interfaith
campus event to protest Hillel leader-Activists from CUNY schools around
the city support demonstration against Jewish representative decried as
‘Zionist,’ condemn campus efforts toward dialogue between religions-By
Luke Tress-Today, 2:00 am-NOV 24,25
NEW YORK — Anti-Zionist
activist groups in New York City on Sunday backed a Muslim leader who
led a walkout from a college interfaith event after decrying a fellow
panelist as “Zionist.”The groups also condemned similar interfaith
efforts.Last week, a Muslim leader, Abdullah Mady, spurred around 100
students to walk out of an interfaith event at Manhattan’s City College
of New York after castigating the Jewish community representative,
Hillel leader Ilya Bratman.“I came here to this event not knowing that I
would be sitting next to a Zionist and this is something I’m not going
to accept. My people are being killed right now in Gaza,” Mady said, to
cheers and applause from the students.“If you’re a Muslim, out of
strength and dignity, I ask you to exit this room immediately,” he
shouted, leading all of the Muslim students out of the room.City College
of New York, part of the public City University of New York (CUNY)
system, said it was aware of the incident and investigating.The
incident, first reported by The Times of Israel, caused an uproar among
New York leaders, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, who decried the rhetoric
and walkout as antisemitic.But over the weekend, activist groups from
around the city, including from CUNY campuses, issued statements backing
Mady and condemning interfaith efforts.Muslim or pro-Palestinian groups
hailing from CUNY’s John Jay College, the Borough of Manhattan
Community College, Brooklyn College, the College of Staten Island and
the CUNY Graduate Center also shared statements in support of Mady, as
did the Muslim American Society Youth Center in Brooklyn.“We stand in
full solidarity with Abdullah Mady’s statements rejecting the
normalization of Zionism,” said a statement from a group at John Jay
College that was shared widely by other activist organizations.The
statement said that interfaith workshops “are not genuine dialogue:
instead, they feel like structured attempts to manufacture political
consent under the guise of coexistence.”“What is presented as
‘interfaith understanding’ becomes, in practice, an attempt to sanitize
state violence,” the statement said.Two groups at Brooklyn College and
the borough’s Muslim American Society center condemned the interfaith
event and supported past disruptions of interfaith gatherings at the
college.“Zionism is a racist belief system and it has no place at our
universities,” the statement said. “The Zionist state has no ‘right to
exist,’ and Palestinians should not be pressured into ‘coexisting’ with
racists who call for their annihilation.”Two groups from the College of
Staten Island also backed Mady, saying, “By normalizing Zionism, you, in
turn, legitimize the violent ongoing occupation and ethnic cleansing of
the Palestinian people.”The statements took aim at Hochul, who called
the walkout “antisemitism, plain and simple,” and said she expected CUNY
to “act swiftly to ensure accountability.”Other New York and national
leaders condemned the walkout, including Harmeet Dhillon, the US
Department of Justice’s assistant attorney general for civil rights, who
said the department will “look into this.”A spokesperson for the City
College of New York said last week, “We were made aware of this incident
and are working with our teams to investigate claims of possible
discrimination.”“The City College of New York has zero tolerance for
acts of hate or bigotry of any kind and will promptly take all necessary
and appropriate actions to address any such discrimination and remedy
its effects,” the spokesperson said.CUNY is the largest urban college
network in the US, with more than 240,000 students at 26 colleges spread
around the city. The experience of Jewish students varies widely
between the different campuses, and each college has significant
autonomy from the central CUNY administration.But Jewish students and
faculty have said Israel criticism on campuses often spills over into
outright antisemitism, which has prompted investigations and City
Council hearings. Palestinians and their supporters have decried alleged
attacks on free speech.Some campuses have seen vitriolic protests
against Israel since the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack, including
students targeting Hillel chapters with terrorist symbols. Other
campuses have been relatively quiet.The CUNY system has contended with
instances of antisemitism on its campuses for years, and taken steps to
counter anti-Jewish discrimination. A third-party review of antisemitism
and discrimination at CUNY last year called for an overhaul of the
system’s policies related to the issue.An attempted interfaith event
between Muslim and Jewish students weeks after the October 7 attack, at
CUNY’s Queens College, also broke down amid protests by Muslim students,
who denounced the imam for hosting the event with the rabbi and stormed
out of the meeting.
Trump accuses Ukraine of ingratitude as
officials meet in Geneva on US peace plan-Ukrainian officials stress
their appreciation for US president’s efforts to end war; Rubio says
Geneva talks probably best US has ever had with Kyiv during this
administration-By Olivia Le Poidevin and Emma Farge 23 November 2025,
10:30 pm
GENEVA (Reuters) — Ukrainian, US, and European officials
met in Geneva on Sunday to discuss a draft plan presented by Washington
to end the war in Ukraine, after Kyiv and its allies voiced alarm over
what they saw as major concessions to the aggressor, Russia.US President
Donald Trump, who has championed the 28-point plan, said on Sunday that
Ukraine had not been grateful for American efforts over the war,
prompting Ukrainian officials to stress their gratitude to the US
president for his support.On Friday, Trump said Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky had until Thursday to approve the plan, which calls
on Ukraine to cede territory, accept limits on its military, and
renounce ambitions to join NATO.For many Ukrainians, including soldiers
fighting on the front lines, such terms would amount to capitulation
after nearly four years of fighting in Europe’s deadliest conflict since
World War II. On Saturday, Trump said the current proposal for ending
the war is not his final offer.With the US delegation led by Secretary
of State Marco Rubio, the main talks between US and Ukrainian officials
got under way in Geneva on Sunday afternoon in a stiff atmosphere at the
US mission, soon after Trump complained in a Truth Social post that
Ukraine’s leadership had shown “zero gratitude” to the US for its
efforts and Europe continued to buy Russian oil.Rubio interrupted the
meeting to speak to reporters, saying that the talks had probably been
the best the US had held with Ukraine since Trump returned to power.He
said changes would be made to the plan to work towards a solution that
both Ukraine and the US were comfortable with.“Obviously, this will
ultimately have to be signed off with our presidents, although I feel
very comfortable about that happening given the progress we’ve made,”
said Rubio, who arrived in Geneva with US Special Envoy Steve
Witkoff.Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian delegation, was at pains to
thank Trump for his commitment to Kyiv during the brief remarks, before
he and Rubio returned to their talks. Minutes later, Zelensky himself
offered thanks to Trump.Since the US plan was announced, there has been
confusion about who was involved in drawing it up. European allies said
they had not been consulted.As officials began meeting, German
Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the goal was to craft a plan acceptable
to Ukraine that could be used in a negotiation with Russia.“Right now,
I’m not yet convinced we’re going to get the solution President Trump
wants in the next few days,” Merz said on the sidelines of a G20 meeting
in Johannesburg.Before heading to Geneva, Rubio insisted on X that
Washington had authored the plan after remarks from some US senators
suggesting otherwise.Senator Angus King said Rubio had told senators the
plan was not the administration’s position, but “essentially the wish
list of the Russians.”Europeans have submitted a modified version of the
US plan for Ukraine that pushes back on proposed limits to Kyiv’s armed
forces and territorial concessions, according to a document seen by
Reuters on Sunday.A perilous moment for Ukraine-The draft US plan, which
includes many of Russia’s key demands and offers only vague assurances
to Ukraine of “robust security guarantees,” comes at a perilous moment
for Kyiv.European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on
Sunday that Ukraine’s borders cannot be changed by force, its army
cannot be left vulnerable to attack, and the European Union must have a
central role in a Ukraine peace deal.Russia has been making gains on
parts of the front, albeit slowly, and, according to Western and
Ukrainian officials, the advances have been extremely costly in terms of
lives lost.The transportation hub of Pokrovsk has been partially taken
by Russian forces, and Ukrainian commanders say they do not have enough
soldiers to prevent small, persistent incursions.Ukraine’s power and gas
facilities have been pummeled by drone and missile attacks, meaning
millions of people are without water, heating, and power for hours each
day.Zelensky himself has been under pressure domestically after a major
corruption scandal broke, ensnaring some of his ministers and people in
his close entourage.He has warned that Ukraine risked losing its dignity
and freedom — or Washington’s backing — over the US plan.Handing the
advantage to Russia-Zelensky welcomed the diplomatic efforts in Geneva,
saying that he hoped they would lead to a result.Kyiv had taken heart in
recent weeks after the United States tightened sanctions on Russia’s
oil sector, the main source of funding for the war, while its own
long-range drone and missile strikes have caused considerable damage to
the industry.But the draft peace plan appears to hand the diplomatic
advantage back to Moscow. Ukraine relies heavily on US intelligence and
weapons to sustain its war against Russia.European and other Western
leaders have said the US peace plan was a basis for talks to end the
war, but needed more work.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he
would speak to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Monday about
Ukraine and share the outcome with European and US allies.Putin has
described the plan as the basis for a resolution to the conflict, but
Moscow may object to some proposals in the scheme, which requires its
forces to pull back from some areas they have captured.
At
cabinet meeting, PM vows to ‘continue to strike terrorism’ wherever
necessary-Hours before Beirut strike on Hezbollah military chief,
ministers argue over dairy prices; education minister, key MK join
protest outside meeting, demanding Israel annex West Bank-By Lazar
Berman,Sam Sokol-and ToI Staff 23 November 2025, 8:45 pm
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, opening Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting,
vowed to continue to respond to ceasefire violations in Gaza and
Lebanon, while batting away accusations of Israeli over-deference to
Washington.The meeting — held hours before Israel killed Hezbollah’s
number-two leader in a Beirut airstrike — also featured heated arguments
over dairy reform and jabs against Turkey. Members of the government
joined a protest outside the meeting demanding Israel annex the West
Bank.“We continue to strike terrorism on several fronts,” Netanyahu said
at the discussion’s start. “This weekend, the IDF struck in Lebanon,
and we will continue to do whatever is necessary to prevent Hezbollah
from reestablishing its capacity to threaten us.”Netanyahu added that
Israel was pursuing a similar strategy in the Gaza Strip: “Since the
ceasefire, Hamas has not stopped violating it, and we are acting
accordingly,” he said.Israel carried out airstrikes in Gaza on Saturday
after a Palestinian gunman opened fire on Israeli troops in the Strip’s
south. According to Netanyahu’s office, five senior Hamas officials were
killed in the strikes.Netanyahu also pushed back on criticism that
critical decisions on Gaza were going through Washington. “All the talk
that ‘we must obtain approval’ from this or that party is simply a
complete lie. We act without relying on anyone,” he said.“Israel is
responsible for its own security.”After Netanyahu spoke, far-right
ministers exchanged a yelling match over proposed dairy reform,
according to quotes leaked to Hebrew media.Nationwide milk shortages
have led Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich to advance a plan to open up
the dairy market, which would ease government controls and waive high
tariffs on imports. Opponents argue it will harm local producers and
could eventually lead to a rise in costs of basic products.National
Security Minister Ben Gvir lashed out against the plan Sunday, saying
Smotrich “is shutting down the dairy farms! Because of him, Israeli
citizens won’t have milk.”“Do you even know what the reform says?”
Smotrich hit back. “It will strengthen the dairy farms and lower
prices.”“Stop being arrogant and conceited, thinking that everyone here
is stupid,” Ben Gvir retorted. The debate grew so loud and heated that
Netanyahu intervened, urging the ministers to speak slowly and
concisely.Presence of Turkish missions ‘intolerable’As the topic shifted
to Israel’s ally-turned-foe in Ankara, Diaspora Affairs Minister
Amichai Chikli called on the government to shut down the activities of
the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), a Turkish
government body that conducts development assistance and operates widely
in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.“The presence of
the Turkish consulates in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and TIKA’s activity is
intolerable and must be shut down,” Chikli said.“No self-respecting
state would accept a country whose rhetoric is the rhetoric of an enemy
state,” he said, adding that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
rhetoric “calls for the destruction of Israel.”“This is an enemy state
that wants to establish itself in Syria,” Chikli said. “We need to kick
them out.”According to Hebrew media quotes, Netanyahu replied: “Is that
diplomatic language? I would say an ‘adversarial’ state.”Chiming in,
Settlements and National Projects Minister Orit Strock asked: “Why don’t
we take away their diplomatic visas and send them to hell?”Politicians
join pro-annexation protesters-Before the meeting, Education Minister
Yoav Kisch (Likud) and Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee
chairman Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism) joined a protest outside the
Prime Minister’s Office demanding the annexation of the West
Bank.“There must not, under any circumstances, be a Palestinian state.
I’m saying this as clearly as I can,” declared Kisch.“More than that, we
must advance sovereignty,” he continued, standing next to a sign that
said: “Don’t upset God. Don’t go up against the Bible.
Judea-Samaria-Gaza belong to the Jewish people!”“There is an opportunity
right now. There is an opportunity here at home. We must convey this
message and act on it,” Kisch declared. “I think this is the best answer
to all those who talk about this delusion called a Palestinian state.
It is dangerous to Israel’s security, contrary to historical justice and
to our right to the land… and we will establish one state, as the prime
minister said, between the Jordan and the sea — and that is the State
of Israel,” he says before heading into the gathering.Rothman said: “The
people demand it. Every poll shows it. The Knesset has affirmed it.
It’s time for the government to do it… We must make sure that no
Palestinian state is created and that the territories of Judea and
Samaria are under the sovereignty of the State of Israel, not only
through military control, but through applying sovereignty on the ground
itself.“Today, a government decision on applying sovereignty could be
issued. It is in the hands of the government, and that is what we need
to do,” he added.Most of the international community considers Israel’s
control of the West Bank an illegal occupation, and US President Donald
Trump has said he will not let Israel annex the territory that
Palestinians claim for a future state. Netanyahu has indicated the
matter is not on the table.Sharon Wrobel contributed to this report.
Over
1 in 4 Israelis considering leaving the country, poll finds-30% of
Arabs, 26% of Jews thinking of emigrating, IDI says; secular Jews more
inclined than religious; security, politics, employment and cost of
living are top concerns By ToI Staff 23 November 2025, 5:34 pm
A
new study published on Sunday found that 27 percent of Israelis are
considering moving out of the country, even though the majority of them
believe mass emigration would be dangerous for the future of the
state.The study by the Israel Democracy Institute was conducted in April
among 720 Jewish respondents and 187 Arab respondents. It found that a
larger percentage of Arab Israelis (30%) are considering leaving than
Jewish Israelis (26%). Among Jews, the less individuals identified as
religious, the more likely they were to say they were considering
emigration, and respondents identifying as left-wing were more likely to
say so than those on the right.Of those who said they were considering
leaving, 69% of Jews and 62.5% of Arabs said they had no specific pull
abroad — it was just a matter of getting out of the country.The poll was
conducted after some 18 months of war on multiple fronts — before
Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in June and before a fragile ceasefire was
achieved last month in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, leading to the
return of all but three of the hostages held there. It is unclear
whether these two developments would change the results.Among those
weighing emigration, those who identified as non-religious made up the
highest percentage (39%), followed by traditional but non-religious
(24%), traditional religious (19%), Orthodox (14%), and finally
ultra-Orthodox (4%).Among younger secular Jewish Israelis, 60% said they
would consider leaving, and among those with a high income and a
foreign passport, the figure jumped to 80%.In both Arabs and Jews, the
more educated were more likely to consider leaving, and high and
medium-high incomes created a higher likelihood as well. In the same
vein, people with jobs that enabled more global mobility, such as
high-tech, medicine, and finance, were most likely to consider
leaving.Israelis with a second citizenship were unsurprisingly more
likely to weigh leaving than those without, but the study found more
Israeli-born citizens (33%) were considering moving than those who had
immigrated to Israel (22%). The study attributed this to the
intentionality of immigrating, noting that those who had made the effort
to come would be less likely to think of leaving.Israeli-born Jews with
dual citizenship were more likely to consider leaving if they had lived
abroad for any amount of time. The longer they had spent abroad, the
more likely they were to consider moving away from Israel.Forty-two
percent of Jews and 33% of Arabs reported thinking that the current
state of the nation was “bad,” while 8% and 15% respectively described
it as “good.”Respondents cited cost of living, security and political
concerns and “the lack of a good future for my children” as top
considerations for emigrating.The most popular destination among those
thinking of leaving was the European Union (43%). higher than North
America or Canada (27%).Other concerns included public services,
Israel’s international standing, the state of the country’s democracy,
free speech, and Israel’s identity as the Jewish state.The biggest
consideration for staying in Israel for both Jewish and Arab Israelis
was the desire to stay close to family. Both groups’ respondents were
far more likely to say they might leave if relatives had left the
country in recent years.
Tehran alleges Israel and US attempted
to target Khamenei to destabilize Iran-Iranian minister says supreme
leader threatened ‘sometimes with assassination attempts, sometimes with
hostile attacks,’ but may not have been referring to a specific
incident By AFP and ToI Staff 23 November 2025, 3:17 pm
Iran’s
intelligence ministry has claimed there were attempts by foreign
adversaries, including the United States and Israel, to target Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and destabilize the Islamic Republic.The
country’s ISNA news agency reported on Saturday that Intelligence
Minister Esmail Khatib cautioned that “the enemy seeks to target the
supreme leader, sometimes with assassination attempts, sometimes with
hostile attacks.”“Those who act in this direction, knowingly or
unknowingly, are the infiltrating agents of the enemy,” Khatib added,
referring directly to Israel and the United States.While it was not
immediately clear if the minister was referring to a specific incident,
and Iranian officials often allege foreign plots, statements on threats
against Khamenei’s life had been rare prior to the 12-day war between
Israel and Iran in June.Israel said its sweeping assault on Iran’s top
military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites, and
ballistic missile program was necessary to prevent the Islamic Republic
from realizing its avowed plan to destroy Israel. Iran retaliated by
launching over 500 ballistic missiles and around 1,100 drones at
Israel.Iran has consistently denied seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.
However, it has enriched uranium to levels that have no peaceful
application, obstructed international inspectors from checking its
nuclear facilities, and expanded its ballistic missile capabilities.
Israel said Iran had also taken steps toward weaponization.During the
war, there were reports that US President Donald Trump vetoed an Israeli
plan to kill Khamenei out of concern it would escalate the
situation.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was dismissive of the
reports, but said the move would be a surefire way “end the conflict.”At
the time, Trump also said that Iran’s supreme leader was a “very easy
target” and that “we are not going to take him out, at least not for
now.”He later said in a post on Truth Social that he had saved Iran’s
supreme leader from “A VERY UGLY AND IGNOMINIOUS DEATH.”The 86-year-old
Khamenei has been Iran’s supreme leader since 1989 and has the final say
on all state affairs.Earlier this month, Iran’s President Masoud
Pezeshkian said he had been particularly concerned for Khamenei’s life
during the war and feared that the country’s institutions “would start
fighting among each other.”
Hamas spent years mining IDF troops’
social media for intel on bases, tanks – report-Terror group said to
have spied on 100,000 soldiers’ online accounts, gathering data to map
bases, build VR training models, and even learn how to disable tanks By
ToI Staff and Emanuel Fabian-23 November 2025, 2:36 pm
Military
investigations have reportedly revealed that Hamas spent years
collecting sensitive intelligence on IDF bases and equipment, especially
tanks and their operations, from soldiers’ social media activity,
allowing the terror group to disable tanks and raid army bases during
its October 7, 2023, onslaught in southern Israel.Army Radio reported
Sunday that a specialized Hamas intelligence unit built a detailed
database over several years by piecing together thousands of social
media posts by soldiers, including photos and videos, specifically
focusing on the Merkava Mark 4 tank — the most advanced armored vehicle
in the IDF’s arsenal.According to the report, Hamas learned about a
hidden kill switch on the tank that disables the vehicle and renders it
useless, which they utilized during their attacks on IDF bases along the
Gaza border on October 7, especially during their assault on the Nahal
Oz base, where 53 soldiers were killed and 10 were taken hostage.The
extent of the terror group’s understanding of IDF bases and equipment
was only made known to the military when soldiers found a tunnel complex
in early 2024 containing a trove of intelligence data about military
positions, vehicles, and units, which had largely been gathered by
monitoring the social media accounts of some 100,000 Israeli soldiers,
the report said.The tunnel complex, dubbed “the Pentagon” by the IDF,
was reportedly located underneath central Gaza’s refugee camps. The
underground complex stored maps, intelligence reports, virtual reality
simulators and full-scale models of military equipment, which Hamas
accumulated over some five years of intelligence gathering.According to
the report, Hamas’s intelligence units used the facility as a
headquarters for a meticulous, multi-year intelligence and training
program based largely on open-source information inadvertently leaked by
soldiers online.The facility was also used as an underground training
base for the terror group’s elite Nukhba force, which created a unit
specifically trained to operate IDF tanks using intelligence gathered
via social media.While the special Hamas tank unit was initially
supposed to commandeer the tanks and drive them into Gaza with the
intention of using them against the IDF in battle, on the day of the
attacks, the operatives failed to do so and only succeeded in disabling
the tanks, the report said.Still, the group’s success in disabling the
tanks deeply puzzled IDF brass at the time, as they were unsure how
Hamas fighters figured out the Merkava Mark 4’s hidden kill switch —
until the army uncovered the extent of the Hamas intelligence unit’s
database.The intelligence unit, which reportedly consisted of some 2,500
operatives, created tens of thousands of fake social media accounts to
follow hundreds of thousands of IDF soldiers in the hopes that the
soldiers would post sensitive and classified information about their
equipment and bases.Over five years, beginning in 2018, Hamas collected
and studied the data, building intelligence reports that the IDF probes
said rivaled the military’s own special operation dossiers.The unit also
managed to infiltrate internal WhatsApp groups for various IDF units by
creating fake profiles, which they used to track individual soldiers
from the time they were drafted though their promotions to officers and
even high-level commanders.According to the report, Hamas’s military
intelligence unit produced daily reports about routine IDF activity that
detailed where every military company was located, where every Iron
Dome battery was positioned, and whether the IDF made changes to troop
deployment or quietly moved forces between sectors.The group
cross-referenced thousands of real-time data points from social networks
and built precise models of IDF bases and equipment into virtual
reality simulators, which were used to train elite operatives, the
report said.An officer quoted by Army Radio said the military knew about
some of Hamas’s training models, but said “we never imagined how
accurate they were.”“Hamas knew [the bases] better than I did, and I
served there for many years.” another officer told the outlet.The Times
of Israel reported in March on the IDF’s probes into the Hamas-led
attack on the Nahal Oz base, which found that the terror group knew how
many troops were deployed at the base at any given date, as well as the
best time to attack, how long it would take for the IDF to send backup
troops to the base, and what the best routes were to reach the base.A
document found in Gaza detailed the exact layout of the base, including
bomb shelters, barracks, generator rooms, communication antennas,
surveillance cameras, and the war room. Hamas knew where the commanders
slept, how effective the shelters would be against rocket fire, and how
many soldiers had weapons, and which weapons.The attack on Nahal Oz,
located just 850 meters from the border with the Gaza Strip, was perhaps
the terror group’s most successful single attack of its October 7,
2023, onslaught.The base, which held 162 soldiers, 90 of whom were
armed, served as an army post for combat soldiers due to its proximity
to Gaza, as well as a command center for the Border Defense Corps’ 414th
Combat Intelligence Collection Unit, whose female members operate
surveillance cameras looking toward the Strip.On the morning of October
7, some 215 Hamas terrorists stormed the base, quickly overrunning its
defenses and capturing it. In all, 53 soldiers were killed at the base:
31 combat troops and 22 noncombat — including 16 female surveillance
soldiers. Another 10 were abducted — seven female surveillance soldiers
and three tank soldiers.A total of 35 terrorists were killed inside the
Nahal Oz base and another 10 just outside it. Dozens more were killed
between the base and the Gaza border barrier.Over 1,200 people were
killed during the Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel, mostly
civilians, and 251 people were taken hostage into Gaza. The attacks
sparked the war against terror groups in the Strip, which was paused by a
US-negotiated ceasefire last month after two years of fighting.
Hamas
officials in Cairo discuss Gaza escalation, transition to Trump plan’s
stage 2-Netanyahu says terror group has not stopped violating the
ceasefire, and Israel is acting accordingly; military, Shin Bet confirm
killing top Hamas commander in Saturday strike-By Reuters, Agencies and
ToI Staff 23 November 2025, 2:16 pM
A Hamas delegation was in
Cairo on Sunday to meet with Gaza mediators on the recent escalation of
hostilities in the Strip, as both Israel and the Palestinian terror
group continued to trade accusations of ceasefire violations.Hamas on
Sunday night confirmed the meeting, saying senior leaders Muhammad
Darwish, Khaled Mashal, Khalil al-Hayya, Nizar Awdallah, Zaher Jabarin
and Ghazi Hamed met with Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad, a
senior mediator for the truce.They discussed “ways to urgently address,
via mediators’ efforts with the various parties,” the issue of dozens of
Hamas operatives holed up underground in Israeli-controlled Rafah,
Hamas said in a statement. It added that contact with the operatives had
been lost.The statement came after Israel on Friday, in the wake of
attacks on its troops, killed or captured 17 terror operatives who tried
to flee a tunnel in eastern Rafah. On Saturday, Israel carried out
deadly strikes across Gaza, including a strike on Gaza City targeting
Hamas’s military chief, according to the IDF and Palestinian media.The
Hamas statement also came after reports Saturday that the group had
informed mediators that the ceasefire was over. Hamas, which denied the
report, said in the statement Sunday that it remains committed to the
first phase of the Gaza ceasefire, “stressing the importance of ending
the continuing Zionist violations… via a clear and specific mechanism
sponsored and overseen by the mediators,” including the US, Qatar, and
Turkey along with Egypt.The mechanism would “report to mediators on any
violations, so that necessary steps can be taken to spot them in
immediately and prevent unilateral steps resulting in escalation,” said
Hamas.The first phase of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire
plan formed the basis of Israel and Hamas’s October 9 truce-hostage
deal.In the next stage of the plan, Israel is meant to withdraw further
from the so-called Yellow Line, alongside the establishment of a
transitional authority to govern Gaza, the deployment of the
multinational security force meant to take over from the Israeli
military, the disarmament of Hamas, and the start of
reconstruction.Hamas has so far refused to agree on the matter of
demilitarization. Israel insists the Strip must be demilitarized before
Trump’s plan can advance.Additionally, terrorists are still holding the
bodies of three slain hostages: Dror Or, Master Sgt. Ran Gvili and Thai
national Sudthisak Rinthalak. All living and dead hostages were supposed
to be returned to Israel under the ceasefire.Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel will keep striking Hamas, as well as
the Hezbollah terror group, over ceasefire violations.“Hamas has not
stopped violating [the ceasefire], and we are acting accordingly,” he
said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting.“There were several
attempts by them to infiltrate our territory beyond the Yellow Line and
harm our soldiers. We thwarted these forcefully, and we responded and
exacted a very heavy price,” he said. “Many terrorists were eliminated,
and terrorists were also captured from the tunnels in Rafah.”Netanyahu
also pushed back on criticism that critical Israeli decisions on Gaza
were going through Washington, calling it a “complete lie.”l carried out
a number of airstrikes in Gaza on Saturday after a Palestinian gunman
opened fire on IDF troops in the Strip’s south. Similar attacks have
killed several soldiers in recent weeks.The strikes and clashes marked
one of the most violent days in Gaza since the fragile ceasefire took
effect on October 10, with both Israel and Hamas accusing the other side
of breaking the truce’s terms.According to Netanyahu’s office, five
senior Hamas officials were killed in the strikes.The IDF and Shin Bet
on Sunday confirmed that one of those killed in a Gaza City strike was
Alaa Hadidi, chief of supply in Hamas’s weapons manufacturing
headquarter.Hadidi was a “central source of knowledge” in the field of
supply and weapons production, and during the war he worked to provide
Hamas’s fighters with weapons, the military said.In all, 21 people were
killed, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defense agency, whose tolls
are unverified and do not differentiate between civilians and
fighters.In a reflection of the terror group’s apparent anger over the
strikes, Hamas passed along messages to the US through Arab mediators
that it was prepared to end the six-week-old ceasefire over what it
called Israeli violations, an Arab diplomat told The Times of Israel.But
later on Saturday, Hamas spokesman Izzat al-Rishq denied reports that
the terror group had announced an end to the truce. He said the group
had asked the mediators of the agreement to intervene and compel Israel
to uphold the ceasefire.Lazar Berman and Emanuel Fabian contributed to
this report.
Analysis'Significant US involvement in Gaza beyond
security matters'-As US dives into remaking Gaza, shades of
nation-building come into focus-US president pledged to steer clear of
projects like George W. Bush’s Iraq and Afghanistan commitments, yet his
Gaza plan is increasingly starting to resemble those
misadventures-Lazar Berman-By Lazar Berman-23 November 2025, 6:16 am
US
President Donald Trump may be a champion of making America great. When
it comes to other countries, however, the proud America Firster is
interested in how they trade with the US, stopping conflicts, and having
their leaders publicly back his flagship initiatives.He has been
emphatically uninterested in committing American resources to improving
the governance and humanitarian record of foreign countries.“We are
getting out of the nation‑building business, and instead focusing on
creating stability in the world,” Trump said in a major foreign policy
address during his 2016 campaign, marking a shift from predecessors who
tried to export American values to developing states. “Our foreign
policy will always put the interests of the American people, and
American security, above all else.”He returned to the theme in May
during a visit to the Middle East, long a crucible of American
adventures in state-building. Presenting his vision for the region in
Riyadh, Trump said that “great transformation” of prosperous Gulf
countries “has not come from Western interventionists… giving you
lectures on how to live or how to govern your own affairs. No, the
gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the
so-called ‘nation-builders,’ ‘neo-cons,’ or ‘liberal non-profits,’ like
those who spent trillions failing to develop Kabul and Baghdad, so many
other cities.”“In the end, the so-called ‘nation-builders’ wrecked far
more nations than they built — and the interventionists were intervening
in complex societies that they did not even understand themselves,” he
thundered.In one place, however, Trump seems to be the one heartily
intervening. He is committing American treasure to a project in Gaza
that increasingly looks like the very thing the US president has so
vociferously opposed.Trump cajoled, pushed, threatened and enticed
pro-Western leaders in the Middle East and beyond to back his 20-point
vision for a ceasefire in Gaza and rebuilding of the Strip after two
years of war between Israel and Hamas.With the first phase of that plan
nearing completion, the US and its allies are now shifting their focus
to the next phase, the creation of a prosperous, demilitarized Gaza
free of Hamas rule.But to make that vision a reality, Trump looks to be
following a path with pertinent similarities to those taken by the US in
Iraq and Afghanistan. In both of those cases, American missions to
foster the trappings of modern, competent statehood, from security and
citizen services to US-friendly free-market economics, ultimately fell
apart, now remembered as resource-wasting quagmires.In recent weeks,
reports and leaks out of the White House have signaled that the US is
willing to at least consider taking an active role in building Gaza back
up. Trump and other officials have hinted at the prospect of more
intense US involvement in the project than previously speculated.“Maybe
this is going to be the greatest deal of them all,” Trump said while
wrapping up a speech to world leaders last month at a summit in Sharm
El-Sheikh to rally support for the Gaza plan. “Not just
nation-building.”Things fall apart-On the debate stage during his 2000
run for the White House, George W. Bush said that he “would be very
careful about using our troops as nation builders.”Bush was making his
pitch after a decade that saw American military interventions in Haiti
and the Balkans in which US troops were used to impose order and promote
international efforts to create new governing structures.The September
11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington changed his approach
entirely.Bush ordered the invasion of Taliban-held Afghanistan, followed
by Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Those short and successful conventional
military campaigns quickly gave way to far more ambitious programs to
bring democracy to the newly liberated countries.The effort became the
focus of US military and foreign policy. The Department of Defense in
2005 made stability operations one of the US military’s “core missions.”
The State Department stood up the new Office of the Coordinator for
Stabilization and Reconstruction, while the UN created the Peacebuilding
Commission to oversee such missions.The US spent over $140 billion in
reconstruction in Afghanistan, seeking to build a centralized democratic
government in a country dominated by tribal alliances and weak central
governance. The effort eventually morphed into a series of NATO
missions, with some 51 contributing countries helping prop up Afghan
forces. NATO Provincial Reconstruction Teams secured rebuilding efforts
and helped locals “establish good governance and the rule of law, as
well as…promote human rights.”However, corruption was rampant, and
billions of dollars of aid went into the pockets of warlords and corrupt
ministers. With Afghan security forces largely ineffective and the
public losing faith in the US-backed government, a Taliban insurgency
spread, leading to a troop surge that peaked in 2011 with 100,000 US
soldiers in the country.When those troops began to leave, the Taliban
steadily asserted its control over greater swathes of the
country.Taliban fighters atop Humvees prepare before parading along a
road to celebrate after the US pulled all its troops out of Afghanistan,
in Kandahar on September 1, 2021, following the Taliban’s military
takeover of the country. (Javed Tanveer/AFP)Everything fell apart in
2021. With US forces scheduled to leave, the Taliban took over rural
areas, then provincial capitals, and finally entered Kabul in August
2021.Today, the Taliban governs the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and
ranks at the bottom of The Economist’s Democracy Index, two spots below
North Korea.In Iraq, Bush said that his goal was a country that is
“peaceful, united, stable and secure, well integrated into the
international community, and a full partner in the global war on
terrorism.”But a failure to understand the scale of the challenges
facing the US doomed efforts in the years after the fall of Saddam’s
regime. “The US occupation of Iraq was marked by a series of
unanticipated challenges and hastily improvised responses,” wrote the
authors of a Rand study.Initially focused on military gains, the US
eventually shifted to winning Iraqis hearts and minds while trying to
keep insurgents in check, all of which came at a significant cost.In the
first decade of the war, the US spent around $53 billion on
reconstruction alone. By the time US soldiers pulled out in 2011, 4,500
Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis had been killed.Despite
the massive investment, America’s nation-building campaign in Iraq could
not overcome Iranian support for Shia insurgents and political parties,
a lack of democratic tradition, a political culture marked by
authoritarian rule and legitimized violence, and a weak middle
class.Nonetheless, the country has managed to maintain elements of
constitutional governance that make it one of the more democratic
countries in the Arab world.“Iraq holds regular, competitive elections,
and the country’s various partisan, religious and ethnic groups
generally enjoy representation in the political system,” Freedom House
wrote last year. “However, democratic governance is impeded in practice
by corruption, militias operating outside the bounds of the law and the
weakness of formal institutions.”During the brief interregnum that
preceded the US sending troops back to Iraq following the rise of the
Islamic State, the Rand Corporation labeled the war and its outcome “at
best a tenuous, qualified success,” which was still more than could be
said for Afghanistan.“Iraq is not in open conflict with its neighbors,
but terrorism and limited insurgency continue across the country,” read
the 2013 study. “Iraq is united under a constitutional government for
now.”Stabilization or civic seeds? There are certainly key differences
between US efforts in the Middle East after 9/11 and Trump’s fledgling
multi-national initiative to transform the Gaza Strip.While Washington
emphasized fostering democratic values and creating public institutions
in Iraq and Afghanistan, this has not been mentioned thus far as a
central feature of US plans in Gaza.Palestinian statehood is mentioned
as an eventual goal of Trump’s plan for Gaza, but the scheme’s more
concrete facets, such as transferring governing power to technocrats and
training police, are aimed at stability rather than civic
participation.“This isn’t nation building, which I really think people
use on my end to discredit the work that has to be done,” said John
Spencer, chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute in
the prestigious US military academy West Point.“I actually don’t think
you’ll see one governance in Gaza anytime soon,” he predicted. “You’ll
see the stable zones with governance, local governance, while other
people take on this massive challenge of Palestinian Authority reform
and all of the future of that.”“Nobody’s building a nation in Gaza,”
Spencer maintained. “They’re building bubbles of stable
zones.”Nonetheless, elements of the emerging Gaza project echo the US
experience in Iraq and Afghanistan.In a 2006 address, Bush laid out the
three main elements of his Iraq strategy: “On the political side, we are
helping Iraqis build a strong democracy, so that old resentments will
be eased, and the insurgency marginalized. On the economic side, we are
continuing reconstruction efforts and helping Iraqis build a modern
economy that will give all its citizens a stake in a free and peaceful
Iraq. Economic development and building local security forces are very
much a part of the US vision in Gaza.Trump’s 20-point plan places a
significant emphasis on the economic development of the Strip: “A Trump
economic development plan to rebuild and energize Gaza will be created
by convening a panel of experts who have helped birth some of the
thriving modern miracle cities in the Middle East.”“Many thoughtful
investment proposals and exciting development ideas have been crafted by
well-meaning international groups,” Trump’s plan continues, “and will
be considered to synthesize the security and governance frameworks to
attract and facilitate these investments that will create jobs,
opportunity, and hope for the future of Gaza.”On the security side,
according to the plan, a temporary International Stabilization Force —
not to be confused with the International Security Assistance Force in
Afghanistan — “will train and provide support to vetted Palestinian
police forces in Gaza, and will consult with Jordan and Egypt, who have
extensive experience in this field. This force will be the long-term
internal security solution.”There are also signs that the US could be
involved in building Gaza’s governing bodies. According to Israel Hayom,
one of the teams at the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in
Kiryat Gat is “thinking through how to build Gaza’s civilian
institutions so that the next generation of Gazans will be
peaceful.”During a visit to the CMCC on Wednesday, The Times of Israel
observed a meeting by the Civil Governance team with dozens of
participants.Officials involved with the CMCC told The New York Times
that “scenes of American soldiers tossing around ideas for how to
rebuild the devastated Gaza Strip evoke uncomfortable memories of other
US-led attempts at reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan.”The US
investment in those initiatives could be limited if international
partners agree to shoulder much of the burden.But the American
involvement could well be far larger than anticipated. In both Iraq and
Afghanistan, the US had dozens of partners, but was still the main
contributor.A PowerPoint presentation at an October symposium at the
CMCC “detail[ed] plans for significant US involvement in Gaza even
beyond security matters, including overseeing economic reconstruction,”
Politico reported recently.Palestinian security forces will need
“long-term US and international support,” according to another document
from the symposium. “Security and police forces may need outside funding
and advising for decades.”Lessons from past experiments-The US is
already devoting significant resources and attention to the future of
Gaza, including during the recent federal shutdown period when
Washington’s own government stopped functioning.Aside from the air train
of top administration officials visiting Israel since the ceasefire,
including Trump and his Vice President JD Vance, there has also been a
steady influx of Pentagon brass with the establishment of the CMCC.US
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine was in Israel to
fly over Gaza and visit the CMCC, as was CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad
Cooper. Lt. Gen. Patrick Frank, commander of US Army Central and the US
pointman at the CMCC, is living in Kiryat Gat, as are other American
generals.Some of the people Trump has brought in to implement his
outline were deeply involved in the past US nation-building efforts in
the Middle East. Chief among them is former British prime minister Tony
Blair, who took the United Kingdom into the US-led invasion and
reconstruction of Iraq, and now has taken on a leading role in
overseeing the postwar administration and reconstruction of the
Strip.Even if Trump stops short of a full nation-building program in
Gaza, there are still relevant lessons that emerge from the costly US
experiments in Iraq and Afghanistan.An ostensibly time-bound and limited
initial investment can balloon into a long and expensive commitment.
Competent local security forces are notoriously difficult to create,
especially when foreign peacekeepers head home. Rival countries will be
trying to undermine what the US is doing.“Britain and France both tried
it,” warned historian and former envoy to Washington Michael Oren of
Middle East nation-building efforts. “They lost their nerve and they ran
away. America is liable to do the same thing.”
'Now that the
doors are open, this is not surprising'Surging LGBTQ enrollment in
Jewish seminaries signals ‘astounding’ shift in US rabbinate-A new study
provides empirical evidence for a trend many have seen coming for
years, as new models and broken barriers bring an influx of leadership
from a once-marginalized population-By Asaf Elia-Shalev 23 November
2025, 3:44 am
JTA — Hannah Karpel-Pomerantz and her wife met as
rabbinical school classmates in Jerusalem four years ago, bonding over
their love of Jewish texts and rituals. This August, as they began their
final two years of school, Hebrew Union College splashed the couple
across its website in an essay celebrating their relationship.“HUC
wanted to feature me and my wife as a love story — as something that
makes the school look good,” Karpel-Pomerantz said. “It signals that
American progressive Jewish life has evolved to the point where LGBTQ
inclusion is a no-brainer.”A new national study in the United States
suggests just how deeply that shift has taken hold: 51% of the
rabbinical students surveyed identified as LGBTQ+. It’s an eye-popping
finding that provides the first empirical evidence for a phenomenon many
in the non-Orthodox rabbinate have been noticing for years.“If you take
a historical perspective, it is rather astounding, given the fact that
rabbinical schools weren’t even accepting LGBTQ students until the 1990s
or later,” said Jonathan Krasner, a professor of Jewish studies at
Brandeis University.The demographic shift can be linked to a broader
transformation in the rabbinate, as the old “sage on the stage” model
gives way to a more pastoral, responsive style of leadership. Aspiring
rabbis are entering the field with new expectations, while congregations
are placing unprecedented demands on clergy, fueling a placement crisis
that has left many pulpits empty.As they make the case for their
students, educators say LGBTQ rabbis, shaped by the long fight for
inclusion, are emerging as the leaders the community needs amid
polarization and rising antisemitism.“For 23 years, SVARA has invited
queer Jews into the long project of upgrading the tradition,” said Rabbi
Benay Lappe, founder of the queer yeshiva whose alumni now populate
rabbinical schools across the country. “Queer people understand
upheaval, resilience, and creativity — the same toolkit that catalyzed
rabbinic Judaism itself. When people who’ve had to reimagine their own
lives step into spiritual leadership, they bring clarity and empathy
that enrich the whole community.”Lappe added, “The question is not ‘Why
so many queer people?’ but rather, ‘Why is this extraordinarily good
news for the future of Judaism?’”The new research, published by a group
called Atra, bills itself as the first comprehensive,
cross-denominational study of the American rabbinate. But its
headline-grabbing LGBTQ+ figure requires some clarification: It is based
on a survey of 181 volunteer respondents, with limited participation
from Orthodox students, making it impossible to know how precisely it
reflects the entire population of aspiring rabbis.Still, the study’s
lead researcher, Wendy Rosov, said the finding should not be dismissed.
“Even if the estimate is high, it’s not far off — it is not a crazy
statistic,” she said.Rosov noted that seminaries do not systematically
track students’ sexual orientation, but several told her team informally
that as many as half of their current students identify as LGBTQ+. She
also pointed to broader survey data showing rising rates of LGBTQ
identification among young Americans — and among young Jews in
particular — which helps explain the pattern.There is clear
year-over-year evidence within the study itself. Among surveyed rabbis
ordained before 2004, only 7% identified as LGBTQ+. The share rises to
15% for those ordained between 2005 and 2014, 29% for the 2015-2024
cohort, and 51% among current students.The study does not attempt to
explain the trend, and Rosov declined to offer theories, citing a lack
of data.Scholars and educators expect the dramatic numbers to stir
murmurs in some corners of the Jewish community about the “queering of
the rabbinate.” Krasner said those anxieties echo an earlier chapter in
Jewish history, when women began enrolling in rabbinical schools in
significant numbers and some predicted a “feminization” of Judaism and a
loss of rabbinic authority.“Those concerns were overblown,” he said.
What mattered then, he added, is what matters now: that people can see
themselves reflected in their religious leaders. “I’m not worried about
the rabbinate ‘going queer.’ We should be cautious about that kind of
anxiety.”Deborah Waxman, president of Reconstructing Judaism, remembers
that earlier era firsthand. When she came out to her mother during her
first year of rabbinical school in 1993, the reaction was immediate —
and telling.“My mother cried,” Waxman recalled. “She said, it’s already
going to be so hard for you as a woman rabbi, I’m so worried that you
will never get employed as a lesbian.”At the time, Waxman said, those
fears weren’t unfounded. Many queer students worried that being open
about who they were could jeopardize their ordination or leave them
unemployable. Waxman’s career bridges both eras, and she has learned to
reinterpret the social anxieties of the past as markers of how
dramatically the landscape has shifted.One leading theory among rabbinic
educators is that the surge in LGBTQ students represents not only a new
openness but also generations of pent-up aspiration. For much of modern
American Jewish history, LGBTQ Jews were barred from the rabbinate.
Once that barrier fell, seminary leaders say, the long-deferred interest
began to surface.Andrew Rehfeld, president of Hebrew Union College,
calls it a “backlog of interest.”“For years, gay and lesbian Jews were
excluded not only from leadership, but from many communities
themselves,” Rehfeld said. “Now that the doors are open, it’s not
surprising there’s an equilibrium happening.”Shuly Rubin Schwartz,
chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary and a historian of
American Judaism, said she is reminded of the pattern that unfolded
before. When the rabbinate first opened its doors to women, she said,
there was an initial wave of interest from people who had long been
denied access.“You have a group that has been marginalized throughout
Jewish history finally given the opportunity to exercise leadership,”
she said. “What we’re seeing now is similar.”Another theory holds that
the trend reflects a deeper affinity between queer identity and Jewish
spiritual life.Lappe sees this clearly through SVARA, her queer-centered
yeshiva, where thousands of LGBTQ Jews have engaged in Talmud study
over the past two decades. Many of her students later apply to
rabbinical school.“This shift isn’t an accident,” she said, referring to
the new study. “It’s a predictable outcome of a tradition that has
always been renewed by people moving through upheaval. When people who
have had to courageously reimagine their own lives step into spiritual
leadership, they bring clarity, empathy, and a commitment to justice
that enriches the whole community. That shows you where this energy is
coming from.”For many aspiring rabbis, that process begins long before
they arrive on campus.Karpel-Pomerantz said LGBTQ Jews often come to the
rabbinate with a level of self-awareness that grows out of the work of
understanding their identities. “LGBTQ people are sometimes almost on
the fast track to having done a lot of the soul-searching that can help
prepare people for the rabbinate in a meaningful way,” she said.The
increase in LGBTQ enrollment has come in tandem with an evolution in the
role of a rabbi. Once defined primarily as a learned authority who
delivered sermons and rendered halakhic decisions, the rabbi was
positioned above the community. Today, rabbis are expected to serve as
pastoral caregivers, counselors, organizers and companions in moments of
crisis. Their authority is less formal and more relational, grounded in
presence, empathy and trust rather than in scholarly distance.Krasner
noted that LGBTQ Americans are generally overrepresented in “helping
professions” like social work, counseling, and education. Rabbinic work,
increasingly centered on pastoral care, fits that
pattern.Karpel-Pomerantz sees the same phenomenon in herself and in many
peers. “I’m in rabbinical school because I want to be a clinical
pastoral educator,” she said. “First, I need to become a hospital
chaplain, and then I can learn to teach other people how to do it.”Even
as seminaries become more welcoming, the job market is still uneven for
LGBTQ clergy. Rabbi Leora Kaye, director of career services for the
Central Conference of American Rabbis, the association for Reform
rabbis, said she tries to prepare students honestly.“I can’t promise
them they won’t encounter bias,” she said. “What I do promise is that
we’ll do everything we can to make it as safe as possible. We respond
when situations arise. We don’t let people face it alone.”As a sign of
the Reform movement’s commitment, she cited anti-bias training that is
now a requirement for search committees in congregations before they
begin interviewing rabbis.Often, Kaye said, LGBTQ graduates find
congregations that are enthusiastic about their leadership.“We see many
situations where sexuality or gender identity is not an issue at all, or
where it’s embraced,” she said. “Communities want rabbis who are
compassionate, grounded, and capable. And many of them are explicitly
seeking rabbis who reflect their own diversity.”Rehfeld also said that
despite broad acceptance in many congregations, discrimination still
happens. He recalled how one HUC graduate ended an interview process
after being asked inappropriate questions.“The harm was real for the
student,” he said. “But the bigger loss was for the congregation.
Discrimination keeps talent out of the pool.”The student ultimately
found a “fantastic” pulpit, he added: “They still ended up in middle
America in a relatively rural place that they never thought about
living.” He sees the outcome as a testament to the movement’s ethical
guidelines and support systems.Both working as rabbinic interns at
congregations in the Los Angeles area, Karpel-Pomerantz and her wife
feel confident about what they have to offer and optimistic about what
will come after graduation.“At this particular moment in history, there
is something really valuable about people who have multiple marginalized
identities being willing to take on the role of leader of communities,”
she said. “And I hope that our communities are able to see the presence
of queer folks as the gift that I believe it to be.”
Tunisians
protest against political and economic conditions, in echo of Arab
Spring-Mass rally denounces crackdown on dissent, shrinking freedoms and
economic hardship; demonstrators demand release of political prisoners
and accountability from the president-By AFP 23 November 2025, 1:45 am
Thousands
of Tunisians gathered on Saturday in the capital to protest against the
jailing of government critics, the curtailing of liberties, and tough
economic conditions in the North African country.At least 2,000 people,
including activists and members of political parties, marched for more
than two hours through Tunis to demonstrate “against injustices” at a
rally organized by the committee defending jailed lawyer Ahmed Souab,
AFP journalists and witnesses said.The protest — one of the largest in
recent months — made symbolic stops in front of the headquarters of the
Tunisian Chemical Group, which has been accused of releasing harmful
pollutants in the southern city of Gabes, and outside the National
Syndicate of Tunisian Journalists.The journalists’ union last month
denounced what it branded an “unprecedented rise in threats” to press
freedom in Tunisia.Dressed in black and with whistles and red ribbons,
the demonstrators shouted “Freedom, freedom!” and called for the release
of dozens of opposition figures, journalists, lawyers, and humanitarian
workers jailed in recent years.Many of them have been held on charges
of plotting against President Kais Saied, or on accusations of
“spreading false news” under a law Saied enacted in 2022.“Tunisia is
going through a dark period on every front — we have political
prisoners, imprisoned journalists, and even environmentalists in Gabes,”
Souab’s son Saeb, spokesman for the organizing committee, told AFP.“My
father was convicted in the space of six or seven minutes,” he said.
“That should be in the Guinness Book of World Records.”Tunisia ‘in
misery’Protesters on Saturday shouted: “The people want the fall of the
regime,” echoing chants from the Arab Spring uprising that toppled
longtime ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in 2011, sparking protests and
ousting governments across the region.Some held signs reading “Not my
president,” referring to Saied, who was democratically elected in 2019
before staging a power grab two years later.“We’ve had enough of this
president and the group around him,” Nejia Adjmi, 63, a retired pastry
chef, told AFP.“The country is in misery — we can’t buy anything, the
country is collapsing, the hospitals are in bad shape,” she said.“We
can’t even express ourselves on social media anymore,” Adjmi added,
saying she was a close friend of Saber Chouchane, who was sentenced to
death and then pardoned in October for criticizing the president and
Justice Minister Leila Jaffel on Facebook.Amel, a 68-year-old retired
psychologist, said she was “outraged that people are put in prison just
for expressing an opinion.”“We don’t know why they are being held,” she
added. “They’re being subjected to one trial after another in order to
prevent their release.”Tunisian and international rights groups have
decried the erosion of rights and freedoms since Saied’s 2021 power
grab.Citizens have also complained about their reduced purchasing power
because of inflation, with food products particularly affected.“With
poverty and inflation, the country has hit rock bottom,” said shoemaker
Hichem Lahmer, 45.“The prisons are full and there is no more freedom of
expression,” he added, demanding Saied’s departure and “new
elections.”Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Yemenite
synagogue in central Israel vandalized, holy books ripped apart-Mishkan
Shalom Synagogue decries ‘pogrom,’ community member calls it ‘terror
attack’; police yet to identify motive or suspects-By Charlie Summers-22
November 2025, 11:21 pm
A Yemenite synagogue in a town in
central Israel was vandalized on Friday, ahead of Shabbat, according to
footage circulating on social media.Israel Police said Saturday that
officers opened an investigation into the incident, though no motive or
suspects had yet been identified.Members of the Mishkan Shalom Synagogue
in Kadima-Zoran, near Netanya, turned up for Shabbat prayers Friday
evening to find prayer books and chumashim, or pentateuchs, torn up, one
of the worshipers told the Ynet news site.The footage showed the floor
of the synagogue covered with pages of books strewn about.At least two
Torah scrolls, which are generally treated with the utmost care and kept
in an ark, were lying on the floor, along with other ritual
objects.“There’s never been a pogrom like this,” the synagogue said in a
statement, according to Ynet. “After we saw the horrors, we closed the
place, and because of the holy Shabbat, we submitted a complaint to the
police after Shabbat.”“We are in shock, this is a terrorist attack,” a
member of the community told Channel 12. “I arrived at the synagogue and
almost fainted when I saw it.”“We have no idea who it is and why they
did this,” the member added. “There are no words to describe the
destruction and damage.”Responding to the reports, a police spokesperson
said that officers opened an expedited investigation into the
vandalism.“An initial examination found no signs of a break-in,” the
spokesperson said, emphasizing that “all directions of the investigation
are being examined.”“This is a serious incident,” the statement said,
adding that all resources are being utilized to “expose the perpetrators
of the crime and bring them to justice.”
Sweltering heat bakes
Israel in one of the hottest November days on record-Autumn highs in Tel
Aviv reach 34.5°C (94°F), bringing thousands to the beach; heatwave
expected to continue through Monday-By ToI Staff 22 November 2025, 7:12
pm
Unseasonably high temperatures baked coastal Israel for a
second day in a row on Saturday, as the country endured one of the
hottest November days in its 77-year history.According to the Israel
Meteorological Service, Friday was Israel’s single hottest late November
day on record, and the heat wave continued into the following day, as
several locations throughout Israel notched historical records for
November 22.“A heatwave still prevails today, with record highs for the
month of November, mainly on the coast and Shfela,” a low-lying
southern-central region, the service said in a statement a little after
noon.The service added that in those areas, temperatures had exceeded
34°C (93°F). According to the meteorological service, temperatures
across the country were some 10 degrees Celsius, or 18 degrees
Fahrenheit, higher than average temperatures for the time of year.Tel
Aviv and its surrounding coastal plain faced among the highest
temperatures, with highs of 34.5°C (94°F), bringing thousands of
residents to the city’s beaches for a late-season day in the sun, Hebrew
outlets reported. In nearby Herzliya, midday temperatures reached
34.3°C (93°F).Taking advantage of the late-season heat, tens of
thousands of Israelis made their way to national parks and recreational
areas across the country, with the National Parks Service reporting that
some 70,000 people entered their parks and reserves on
Saturday.Jerusalem, which sits at a higher elevation, stayed somewhat
cooler, but still faced uncharacteristically high temperatures ranging
around 27°C (80°F)Eilat, the resort town at the southern tip of the
country, hit highs of 37.2°C (98°F).In the northern port city of Haifa,
highs reached 32.8°C (91°F).By the Dead Sea, temperatures reached 34.2°C
(93°F), and the towns along the coast of the Sea of Galilee faced highs
ranging between 32-35°C (91-95°F).The heatwave marked a sharp departure
from the winter storm that hit the country last weekend, and is
expected to temper a bit but continue through Monday, with autumn
temperatures and winds forecasted to return Tuesday.
Indonesia’s
largest Islamic group urges leader to quit for inviting pro-Israel
speaker-Yahya Cholil Staquf, head of Nahdlatul Ulama, has drawn outrage
for inviting former US official Peter Berkowitz, who has backed Israel’s
war against Hamas in Gaza By Reuters and ToI Staff 22 November 2025,
5:57 pm
JAKARTA — Indonesia’s biggest Islamic organization,
Nahdlatul Ulama, has asked its chief to resign for inviting a US scholar
known for his support of Israel during the Gaza war to an internal
event in August, according to meeting minutes reviewed by Reuters.The
leadership of NU, which is also the world’s biggest Islamic organization
with around 100 million members and affiliates, has given Chairman
Yahya Cholil Staquf three days to offer his resignation or be removed
from his post, according to the minutes from a meeting on Thursday.NU
cited Staquf’s invitation to a person “affiliated with an International
Zionism network” for an internal event and alleged financial
mismanagement as reasons for his ouster.Staquf, who has been NU’s
chairman since 2021, did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.NU official Najib Azca told Reuters the decision was linked to
Staquf’s invitation to former US official and scholar Peter Berkowitz
for an August training event.Staquf has apologized for the invitation
and called it an oversight as he had not carefully checked Berkowitz’s
background, adding that he condemned Israel’s “brutal genocidal acts in
Gaza.”Israel vociferously denies genocide in its military campaign
against Hamas that was launched in the wake of the October 7, 2023,
Hamas massacre that killed some 1,200 people and captured 251
hostages.Berkowitz often writes in support of Israel’s campaign in Gaza,
according to his website, including a piece in September aiming to
refute allegations of genocide against Israel.He previously spoke at NU
seminars about the history of Western political thought in August, his
website showed.Berkowitz did not immediately respond to an email
requesting comment that reached him outside of office hours.Indonesia,
the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, has no formal ties with
Israel and has routinely condemned Israel’s actions in Gaza.Yet, despite
the lack of formal diplomatic ties, Indonesia has previously
coordinated with Israel on airdropping humanitarian aid to Gaza, and was
said last year to be considering normalization to join the OECD.The
country’s President Prabowo Subianto was widely reported in October to
have been planning to visit Israel, though Jakarta denied any visit was
planned. A source familiar with the matter told The Times of Israel that
he had initially okayed a trip but backed out once the plan was leaked
to the press, out of concern about domestic pushback.The country is also
among those with which the United States has discussed plans for an
International Stabilization Force (ISF) in Gaza, which include
Azerbaijan, Egypt and Qatar.Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono said
this month that his country is prepared to deploy at least 20,000 troops
in Gaza to help secure peace, pending a UN Security Council resolution
enshrining the ISF to participate in the force.
