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Pollak: Schumer’s Bad Actions Speak Louder than his Words on Antisemitism

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Here is the most important fact about Sen. Chuck Schumer and antisemitism: When President Barack Obama forced the Iran nuclear deal on America, Schumer opposed it but did not whip his caucus against it.

When the deal came up for review in the Senate, Schumer’s party filibustered the vote and prevented Congress from blocking it. The deal gave Iran access to some $100 billion in assets, plus billions of dollars in a side deal as ransom for Americans held in Iran. That money funded terror and Hamas.

At the time, Schumer made a wonderful statement about how terrible the Iran deal was. I even thought that it might be a “game-changer.”

More experienced observers of the future Senate Majority Leader told me to watch his actions, and not his words.

They were right.

A few years later, Schumer — like every other elected Democrat — refused to attend the opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem and declined to attend the party thrown by the Israeli embassy in Washington, DC, to celebrate the event.

The reason? Schumer and the Democrats did not want to give President Donald Trump credit. They put partisan gain ahead of what was good for America and the U.S.-Israel alliance.

So it is with Schumer’s speech on antisemitism in the Senate Wednesday.

Schumer is being praised by the establishment for the speech, including the American Israel Public Affiars Committee (AIPAC), which is always at pains to praise Democrats for doing anything pro-Israel, since that maintains the façade of bipartisan support.

Some conservatives, too, are happy that Schumer mildly criticized the left and college campuses, finally acknowledging that the base of the Democratic Party is the source of the problem.

It took Schumer eight weeks to recognize what is painfully obvious?

Like everything Schumer does, this speech had a partisan purpose: to calm nervous Democrats about the party’s drift toward antisemitism, and to assuage Jewish Democratic voters in particular, some of whom are thinking of backing Republicans in 2024.

Schumer found time to bash President Donald Trump — predictably — by claiming that Trump had imposed a “Muslim ban” in 2017.

No, Trump did not ban Muslims — though it is worth noting that Muslim immigration has likely driven some of the rise in antisemitism, a point that Schumer did not acknowledge.

Schumer also attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for supposedly encouraging “militant settlers in the West Bank.” (That was his only mention of Netanyahu: not a word of support.)

The Senate Majority Leader pointed out that the pro-Palestinian demonstrators across the country have failed to condemn Hamas. He pointed out that Jews want Israel to be strong because it is the only guarantor of Jewish safety in the event of persecution. All of that is important to reiterate.

But these are just words.

Schumer allowed President Joe Biden to confirm radical appointees to key positions, such as Kirsten Clarke, who had a troubling history of antisemitism.

Clark runs the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, which has done nothing to protect the rights of Jewish Americans. (The Department of Education has been more active.)

Schumer prides himself on providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians, without asking — as Trump did — where that aid is going.

As of this moment, Schumer has yet to pass $14 billion in emergency aid to Israel because he insists that it be joined to a much larger amount of aid for Ukraine.

So, as always, with Schumer — watch what he does. It’s more important than anything he says.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

Possible Cyberattack Takes Down Fire and Police Phone Lines in Israel

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A possible cyberattack knocked out phone lines to police and fire departments in Israel for over an hour on Monday night.

The Bezeq Electric company issued a statement that said a “malfunction occurred in all Bezeq lines” during standard “night work.” The nature of the malfunction was not elaborated upon.

The phone outage affected Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel’s national emergency response service, plus police and fire departments, and the Hatzalah emergency medical service. Service was restored after a little over an hour.

A police spokesperson said on Tuesday morning that “an initial review revealed a malfunction occurred during infrastructure work, affecting Bezeq telecommunication lines (not just emergency lines).” 

The last note in that statement seemed to offer reassurances that the phone outage was not an attack that specifically targeted emergency services. Initial reports of the communications breakdown in local media speculated it was the work of hackers trying to knock out Israel’s emergency services.

“The issue is being addressed by the relevant authorities,” the police statement concluded, suggesting that a full investigation of the incident is underway.

Israel has been dealing with elevated cyber threats since the Hamas atrocities of October 7. Many of the attacks have been launched by hacker groups linked to the government of Iran. On Saturday, an Iran-linked group briefly hacked a water station in Pennsylvania, ostensibly because the station used some Israeli-made equipment.

Hackers linked to Hamas have been pecking away at Israel’s online infrastructure for almost a decade. Cybersecurity experts say the sophistication of these attacks increased considerably in 2023, including the deployment of a sophisticated malware called “SysJoker” by a group called WildCard.

An earlier and much cruder version of SysJoker was deployed against Israeli schools by Hamas hackers in 2021. The 2023 version was extensively rewritten, becoming an order of magnitude more effective, which suggests either Hamas hackers have greatly improved their skills, or they are receiving outside support from more advanced threat actors.

Cybersecurity firm Check Point Software Technologies reported “an increase of approximately 20% in cyberattacks in Israel during the war, including more than 50% when it comes to attacks on the government sector.”

“Around three weeks ago, several known Iranian APT [Advanced Persistent Threat] Groups started to attack organizations in Israel, mostly public/government entities, academia, and supply chain companies working with the government. These attacks are more significant, strong malware, ransomware, and wipers,” said Check Point chief of staff Gil Messing on November 23.

CNBC’s Quick: Biden Has Allowed Iranian Oil to Be Sold to Keep Oil Prices from Rising

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On Monday’s broadcast of CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” co-host Becky Quick stated that while the U.S. has sanctions on Iran, the Biden administration has “acknowledged that they’re going to continue to allow” Iranian oil to be sold elsewhere because they don’t want oil prices to go up.

CNBC Contributor and Global Head of Commodity Strategy for RBC Capital Markets Helima Croft said, “Iranian exports have grown this year. They have grown significantly. So, is the Biden administration going to come under increasing pressure to tighten the Iran sanctions? Now, Amos Hochstein was out basically saying that we’re going to have tougher enforcement, but what are those Iran numbers going to actually look like? That’s a very important wild card, I think, for next year, in terms of market balances.”

Later, Quick stated, “Look, with the Iranian sanctions, though, let’s just be clear, the United States has said, okay, we have these sanctions, but it’s basically been acknowledged that they’re going to continue to allow that oil to be sold elsewhere, because they don’t want — the United States politicians don’t want oil prices going up either, because it really ticks off voters to be paying more at the pump, especially in an election year.”

Croft responded, “Well, Becky, that’s a great question, because you are seeing action from the United States Congress to tighten those sanctions up. You had broad bipartisan support for a bill that just passed the House of Representatives, that would not only mandate stricter enforcement, but also target foreign ports that are taking Iranian cargo. So, I do think you’re seeing new pressure from Congress to tighten up these sanctions…we don’t know the degree of support in the White House for this, Amos Hochstein has said they’re going to tighten them up. But the question is, are we going to see the full 700,000 off the market? How much do we see in terms of rigorous enforcement from this administration? Because you’re right, they don’t want higher oil prices, but, again, I don’t think they want to be accused of allowing Iran a free hand to support groups across the Middle East that have caused so much turmoil.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

U.S. Navy Rescues Israeli-Owned Ship from Armed Attackers in Gulf of Aden

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A United States Navy destroyer, along with ships from allied nations, rescued an Israeli-owned ship from armed attackers on a small boat Sunday, according to U.S. Central Command (Centcom).

According to Centcom, the commercial vessel M/V Central Park issued a distress call that they were under attack by an unknown entity.

The USS Mason and ships from a U.S.-led counter-piracy task force arrived and demanded the five armed attackers release the vessel. The attackers debarked and attempted to flee in their small boat, but the Mason pursued the attackers until their surrender.

Centcom also said on Monday, as the Mason was concluding its response to the distress call from M/V Central Park, that two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen “toward the general location of the Mason and the M/V Central Park,” landing approximately 10 nautical miles from the ships. There was no damage or reported injuries.

The ship, which at the time was carrying phosphoric acid, is Liberian-flagged, but is managed by a ship management firm owned by Israel’s Ofer family, according to Al Jazeera.

Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Monday that the five armed attackers were currently aboard the USS Mason, and that “initial indications” are that they are Somali and not Houthi.

“We know that they’re not Houthi. Again, we’re continuing to assess the situation,” Ryder said.

The ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen towards an American ship could mark a widening of attacks by the Iran-backed proxy forces against U.S. assets in the region.

Since October 17, Iran-backed groups in Iraq and Syria have ramped up drone and missile attacks against U.S. bases and troops in Iraq and Syria, but they have not recently fired ballistic missiles towards U.S. ships. Houthi rebels have previously fired missiles towards Israel, but not towards U.S. ships.

Pentagon officials insist the conflict between Israel and Hamas has not spilled over into other countries, despite the more than 60 attacks against U.S. troops.

On Monday, Ryder was reluctant to link the missiles fired near the Mason to the increased attacks on U.S. troops in the region by Iran-proxy forces since the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel on October 7 and the subsequent Israeli offensive with U.S. support.

“We largely see the conflict contained between Israel and Hamas.  That’s not to say that — that you haven’t seen Iranian proxies attempt to take advantage to further their own goals,” Ryder said.

The latest hijacking comes after Houthi rebels last week seized a different Israeli-linked cargo ship, taking its 25 crew members hostage.

According to the Associated Press, the Houthi rebels said they hijacked the ship over its connection to Israel and would continue to target ships in international waters that were linked to or owned by Israelis until the end of Israel’s campaign against Gaza’s Hamas rulers.

“All ships belonging to the Israeli enemy or that deal with it will become legitimate targets,” the Houthis said, according to the AP.

The Houthis’ chief negotiator and spokesman, Mohammed Abdul-Salam, said in an online statement that the Israelis only understand “the language of force,” and that “the detention of the Israeli ship is a practical step that proves the seriousness of the Yemeni armed forces in waging the sea battle, regardless of its costs.”

“This is the beginning,” Abdul-Salam added.

The ship in that attack was Bahaman-flagged and Japanese-operated, but the ship was a vehicle carrier founded by an Israeli billionaire.

Over the last two months, U.S. ships have twice intercepted missiles or drones from Yemen headed towards Israel or posing a threat to U.S. ships.

In October, the USS Carney intercepted three land attack cruise missiles and drones launched by Houthis toward the northern Red Sea, and on November 15, the USS Thomas Hudner shot down a drone over the water.

Follow Breitbart News’s Kristina Wong on ”X”, Truth Social, or on Facebook.

White House: We Don’t Regret Swap with Iran in Wake of Increased Attacks

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On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “The Story,” White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said that the White House doesn’t regret its earlier hostage deal with Iran in the wake of increased attacks by Iranian proxies on U.S. soldiers and the Biden administration isn’t the first to negotiate to bring Americans home.

Host Martha MacCallum asked, [relevant exchange begins around 9:55] “74 attacks is quite a bit. And whether or not it’s intended for the U.S.S. Mason, it’s not a pretty picture that we’re looking at…of attacks on U.S. military forces. Do you ever — do you think the White House has any regrets about the five-for-five hostage and prisoner release and the $6 billion that went to Iran in September, just a few weeks before all of this started?”

Kirby answered, “No. We got five Americans back home with their families where they belong. Those kinds of decisions are always tough for any commander-in-chief to make. The president’s always going to put a priority on getting Americans home.”

MacCallum then cut in to ask, “You don’t think it gave Iran sort of a green light that these kind of things were not going to be pushed back on significantly?”

Kirby responded, “This wasn’t the first time Iran has wrongfully detained Americans and held them. And we weren’t — aren’t the first administration to do negotiations to get our Americans home. And again, you and I have talked about the 6 billion…that money cannot be touched by the regime. It can only be used for vending, through approved contractors, [for] humanitarian assistance. The regime never touches that money and none of it…has been touched.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett