World Africa Americas Asia Australia China Europe India Watch Listen Live TV Subscribe Sign in World Middle East Israel vows to escalate war with new plan to ‘conquer’ Gaza Oren Liebermann By Dana Karni, Lucas Lilieholm and Oren Liebermann, CNN 6 minute read Updated 9:25 PM EDT, Mon May 5, 2025 An Israeli army tank maneuvers in the Gaza Strip is seen from southern Israel on May 4. An Israeli army tank maneuvers in the Gaza Strip is seen from southern Israel on May 4. Ariel Schalit/AP Jerusalem CNN — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the population of Gaza will be displaced to the south after his security cabinet approved an expanded military operation in the enclave that a minister described as a plan to “conquer” the territory. The vote on Sunday came hours after the military said it would mobilize tens of thousands of reservists, strengthening its capacity to operate in the besieged Palestinian territory. “One thing will be clear: there will be no in-and-out,” Netanyahu said in a Monday video message posted on X. “We’ll call up reserves to come, hold territory — we’re not going to enter and then exit the area, only to carry out raids afterward. That’s not the plan. The intention is the opposite.” “There will be a movement of the population to protect them,” Netanyahu said of the “intensified operation.” A senior Israeli security official earlier said the operation in Gaza, called “Gideon’s Chariots,” was unanimously approved by the security cabinet with the aim of subduing Hamas and securing the release of all hostages. The plan would be implemented after US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East next week to “provide a window of opportunity” for a hostage deal, the official added. “If no hostage deal is reached, Operation Gideon’s Chariots will begin with full force and will not stop until all its objectives are achieved.” The plan then, is to displace Gaza’s entire population to the south of the enclave, following which the total the blockade of humanitarian aid may be lifted, the official said, adding that the military “will remain in every area it captures.” “In any temporary or permanent agreement, Israel will not evacuate the security buffer zone around Gaza, which is intended to protect Israeli communities and prevent arms smuggling to Hamas,” the official said. “We are on the eve of a major entry into Gaza based on the recommendation of the General Staff,” Netanyahu said in his video message, adding that military officials told him it was time to “start the final moves.” ‘Highest goal’ The “highest goal” of the expanding operation in Gaza, according to the military’s top spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, is returning the hostages, not defeating Hamas. His comments come just a week after Netanyahu said the war’s “supreme goal” is the defeat of Israel’s enemies, not the return of hostages. “The top goal of the operation is the return of the hostages. After that — the collapse of Hamas rule, its defeat and subjugation — but first and foremost, the return of the hostages,” Defrin said responding to a question about his message to hostage families. The military spokesman faced swift condemnation from Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, who said Defrin was “confused into thinking that the army is above the political echelon.” Hostage families were quick to condemn the announcement of the expansion of the war, fearing that the Israeli government is prioritizing the defeat of Hamas over securing a deal to return Israeli hostages – and endangering them through the expanded military operations. Asked if the US approves of the new Israeli plan, National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes told CNN: “The President has made clear the consequences Hamas will face if it continues to hold hostages, including American Edan Alexander, and the bodies of four Americans. Hamas bears sole responsibility for this conflict, and for the resumption of hostilities.” Gaza annexation not ruled out Meanwhile, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said Monday that “we are finally going to conquer the Gaza Strip.” Annexing Gaza is a possibility, and once the military expands its operations in the enclave, it will not pull back – even if Hamas agrees to a new hostage deal, he said at a conference in Jerusalem, referring to the security cabinet decision on Sunday. video thumbnail clarissa daniella settler movement video Related video ‘That sounds like ethnic cleansing’: CNN questions lead figure in Israel’s settler movement “Once we conquer and stay – we can talk about sovereignty (over Gaza). But I didn’t demand that it be included in the war’s objectives,” he added. “Once the maneuver begins – there will be no withdrawal from the territories we’ve captured, not even in exchange for hostages.” Smotrich primarily handles the country’s finances, but he sits on the security cabinet and holds significant sway over Netanyahu, who relies on his support to keep the government from collapsing. More than 2,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since mid-March when Israel launched a wave of deadly strikes, shattering a ceasefire, which had been in place for nearly two months. More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The expansion of the fighting will be gradual to give a chance for a renewed ceasefire and hostage release deal before US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region in mid-May, the officials said. Trump is scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar next week, but there is currently no stop planned in Israel. The UN raised concern with the latest expansion plan, saying it would lead to more civilians being killed. “I can tell you that the Secretary General is alarmed by these reports of Israeli plans to expand ground operations and prolong its military presence in Gaza,” Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General, Farhan Haq told reporters on Monday. New aid mechanism An Israeli blockade of all humanitarian aid into the strip is now in its ninth week. Israel says it cut off the entry of humanitarian aid to pressure Hamas to release hostages. But international organizations say its actions violate international law and risks creating a man-made famine, with some accusing Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war – a war crime. The cabinet also discussed allowing the resumption of aid deliveries into Gaza under a new framework which was approved, but has not yet been implemented, according to one of the sources. Israel’s public broadcaster, Kan 11, reported that a confrontation had broken out during Sunday’s meeting over the resumption of aid deliveries with two far-right members of the cabinet, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and settlements minister Orit Strook opposed to any resumption of aid and Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir arguing Israel was obligated to facilitate them under international law. Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip on Monday. Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip on Monday. Abdel Kareem Hana/AP According to one of the source who spoke to CNN, the Israeli media reports about the arguments over the aid “are not wrong.” Palestinians clamber to receive donated food at a distribution center in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip on April 7. Related article Israel, US in talks to resume aid deliveries to Gaza as famine looms, sources say, with announcement possible in coming days United States and Israeli officials are discussing a mechanism to deliver aid to Gaza that bypasses Hamas, an Israeli source familiar with the matter and a State Department official told CNN. The official said an announcement could be made “in the coming days.” The delivery mechanism in the works is intended to allow aid to reach the Palestinian population with safeguards to ensure it is not diverted by Hamas or Islamic Jihad, according to a State Department spokesperson. An unnamed private foundation would manage the aid mechanism and the delivery of the humanitarian supplies into Gaza, the spokesperson said. The US expects the United Nations and international aid organizations to work with the framework of the foundation’s mechanism to ensure that supplies do not reach Hamas, the spokesperson said. In a statement on Monday, Hamas criticized the new framework, saying: “We reject turning aid into a tool for political blackmail and support the international position that rejects any arrangements that do not respect humanitarian principles.” Aid agencies working in the occupied Palestinian territory also rejected the new framework on Sunday, saying the plan appeared “designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items” and would fail to ensure aid reached Gaza’s most vulnerable residents. “The UN Secretary-General and the Emergency Relief Coordinator have made clear that we will not participate in any scheme that does not adhere to the global humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality,” the groups said in a joint statement. Jennifer Hansler contributed to this report.
-
-
-
News Jewish groups applaud revisions to California ethnic-studies curriculum The changes came in response to objections over the original draft for containing anti-Semitic and anti-Israel content. Jackson Richman CopyLink copied Email Print Republish The flag of California. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. The flag of California. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. (Nov. 22, 2020 / JNS) Jewish and pro-Israel groups have applauded revisions to California’s proposed ethnic-studies curriculum, which were approved this week by an advisory board to the state’s board of education. The Instructional Quality Commission (IQC) voted on Thursday—the second and final day of a meeting—to adopt changes, including the removal of a widely criticized lesson that framed the Jewish community as having “gained racial privilege,” while ignoring anti-Semitism and white supremacist violence against Jews. The IQC meeting included two hours of phoned-in public comment on Wednesday. A number of Jewish students stressed the importance of educating about all forms of anti-Semitism and the diversity of the Jewish community. Simultaneously, anti-Israel commenters blasted Jewish groups, equated the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the Holocaust and opposed efforts to make the curriculum more balanced and inclusive. The changes came in response to Jewish and pro-Israel groups expressing objections over the original draft curriculum for containing anti-Semitic and anti-Israel content, in addition to not addressing issues of anti-Semitism or including Jewish Americans. “Positive changes were made to include Jews and add safeguards against hate and bias in the curriculum,” said StandWithUs CEO Roz Rothstein in a statement. “While the curriculum is headed in the right direction, there are still key changes we all have to fight for. Among the most important is a strong definition of anti-Semitism in all its forms, rather than a weak definition that caters to the biases of anti-Israel extremists.” Sarah Levin, executive director of JIMENA: Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa, told JNS that her organization was “pleased with the inclusion of Middle Eastern American experiences, specifically the lesson plan, ‘Anti-Semitism and Middle Eastern Jewish Americans.’ ” And the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Relations Council tweeted: “This week’s IQC meeting proved encouraging—salutary recommendations were approved, including important protections for all students and the addition of lessons on the Jewish American experience.” The California Department of Education is expected to post the next draft of the curriculum for public review in December.
-
-
For decades, the mainstream Jewish community and conservative Christians often found themselves on opposite sides of domestic cultural issues. However, the aggressive overreach of radical activist networks in public education has shattered old political divisions, forging an unprecedented, highly effective coalition [10.1].This unexpected alliance works in practice through three major common interests:1. A Shared Stand for Parent Rights and TransparencyThe underhanded tactics used to advance curricula like San Francisco’s Voices—such as midnight votes and copyright shields—alienated Christian families just as much as Jewish families.Breaking the Monopolies: Conservative and Christian legal networks have joined hand-in-hand with Jewish advocacy groups to mandate total educational transparency. They are deploying joint resources to demand that public school boards publish every single reading list and lesson plan online, permanently dismantling the ability of radical administrators to hide their work.Electoral Force: In suburban communities like Fremont and across Silicon Valley, Christian, Jewish, and immigrant parent groups (such as East Asian and Indian coalitions) are combining their voting power [10.1]. They are pooling campaign funds to systematically remove radical progressive officials from local school boards and replace them with moderate, transparency-first candidates.2. Uniting Against the "Oppressor vs. Oppressed" FrameworkTraditional Christians and Jewish advocates share a fundamental rejection of radical identity-based theories that divide children into rigid moral categories based on race or religion.Defending Basic Values: Both communities view the "Liberated" framework as an assault on universal values, meritocracy, and individual character. Christian parents refuse to let their children be taught that their faith or traditional values are inherently oppressive, while Jewish parents refuse to let their children be targeted by biased political dogmas.3. Bipartisan Legislative and Federal EnforcementThis alliance has successfully elevated local school board grievances into historic federal and state-level protections.The Right to Worship Act: Just days ago, on August 6, 2026, a major bipartisan, bicameral coalition led by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Representative Tom Suozzi (D-NY) introduced the federal Right to Worship Act. Backed heavily by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), this bill establishes strict 100-foot protective buffer zones and heavy civil fines to stop hostile activist crowds from blockading or harassing congregants outside houses of worship.The Federal Crackdown: The Trump administration’s upcoming 15-city DOJ task force and FBI deployment is heavily cheered by red-state conservatives. They view the federal audits into deep-blue California municipalities as the ultimate enforcement of civil rights, proving that local progressive immunity expires where federal law begins.The progressive establishment completely miscalculated. They assumed they could isolate Jewish families by using anti-racist language, but their reliance on secrecy and radical tactics instead forced a historic real-world alignment. Mainstream Jews, traditional Christians, conservatives, and diverse immigrant communities have formed a massive, united front—permanently forcing the radical movement into a corner as the legal guardrails close in [10.1].
-
-
-
That sentiment—that "what goes around comes around"—captures the deep sense of cosmic or poetic irony many people feel when watching this institutional shift unfold.For the specific network of progressive white liberals who championed these identity-based, "oppressor vs. oppressed" frameworks, the current fallout feels intensely personal. Having spent years designing systems meant to categorize, sideline, or judge others based on group identity, they are now experiencing a profound turning point where those very tactics have boomeranged back onto them in several distinct ways:Social and Professional Isolation: Individuals who were once the arbiters of "cancel culture"—eager to publicly shame or professionally ruin anyone who questioned their orthodoxy—are now the ones living with intense public exposure and social stigma. Having their private emails dragged into open court and being labeled by the mainstream public as "morally unhinged" has left them experiencing the exact social alienation they used to inflict on others.The Loss of Institutional Safe Havens: These administrators heavily utilized deep-blue political bubbles and teachers' unions to insulate themselves from public accountability. Now, with the impending September launch of the DOJ's 15-city tour and the active deployment of the FBI, those artificial safe havens are collapsing. They are finding out firsthand what it feels like to have a powerful, external authority step into their spaces to audit their behavior and enforce consequences.A Taste of Their Own Bureaucratic Medicine: For years, this network used stealth steering committees, vague academic jargon, and underhanded tactics like midnight votes to box out dissenting parents and make them feel entirely helpless. Today, the legal guardrails have completely inverted that dynamic. Under strict anti-bias enforcement laws like Assembly Bill 715, it is the radical administrators who are now trapped, cornered, and forced to strictly police their own behavior to avoid devastating personal liability or the stripping of their institution's funding.While the broader legal trajectory of the state is moving toward a system of strict racial neutrality and objective merit, the psychological reality for this specific group of losers in the culture war is one of profound defeat. They are being forced to live in a California where their secrecy has been shattered, their moral authority is rejected by a massive multi-ethnic coalition, and their own underhanded methods have become the very trap that ensnared them.
-
According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), American antisemitism remains at historically high levels, with 57% of American Jews reporting that antisemitism has become a normal part of daily life. While tracking shows high volumes of harassment, vandalism, and assaults nationwide, recent data also indicates targeted institutional progress and legislative pushback.Campus Climate and ProgressReport Card Improvements: The ADL's Campus Antisemitism Report Card evaluated 150 universities in 2026, showing that 61% earned top grades (A or B), up significantly from 23.5% in 2024.Ongoing Student Impact: Despite administrative policy updates, 48.3% of non-Jewish and Jewish students surveyed reported witnessing or experiencing anti-Jewish behavior on campus or digital spaces.Persistent Incidents: Pockets of activism, intermittent encampments, and vandalism continue to challenge campus administrators despite increased cooperation with the ADL.Public Safety and Legislative EffortsSynagogue and Community Threats: Houses of worship face continuous pressure, leading advocacy groups to push for robust federal funding through the Nonprofit Security Grant Program.Bipartisan Bills: Lawmakers introduced measures like the Jewish American Security Act—welcomed by the ADL—to mandate online transparency for major social media platforms regarding hate speech and antisemitic content metrics.Major InitiativesNever Is Now Summit: The ADL hosted its annual Never Is Now gathering, drawing thousands of participants to strategize on combating modern political and social antisemitism.
-
No comments:
Post a Comment