What a week! If you’re sitting where I am, in the Jewish center of the Arab Middle East, and you’ve been mercilessly attacked by what seems like the all-powerful, unstoppable evil of the Jihadi world, events this week showed us clearly why you should never give up hope. Iran, the octopus of evil, is burning, and there is no water – literally and figuratively – to put out the fires. The uprising of citizens, ostensively because of draconian economic measures, according to the media (but we know better), included the torching of memorial posters of arch terrorist Qasem Soleimani, and attacks on Iranian goon squads, and tearing down of regime flags.

This filled us with hope that maybe this time the ugly, ignorant, hate-filled Mullah behind our people’s and his own people’s woes, will finally get his just deserts. Suggestions have been made that he’s already trying to find an apartment in Moscow, near Assad!

If this protest does succeed, unlike the failed 2022 uprising that fizzled out, the Twelve Day War with Israel will have played a significant role. As Abu Ali puts it: “The Iranian regime was humiliated. Senior military officials and Revolutionary Guard leaders were killed. Iran’s military weakness was exposed in full. The military power Iran projected outward turned out to be an illusion. Iranian prestige was badly damaged. An important historical precedent was created in which Israel, which supports the Iranian opposition, struck forcefully inside Iran’s centers of power and declares it will do so again if necessary. This is not an empty threat – it is a serious and very real one. A well-timed Israeli strike, at the right moment, could reshuffle the deck for both the regime and the protest – and a word to the wise is sufficient.”

The plucking of evil dictator Maduro from Caracas in his pajamas out of his bed with military American pincers has to be filling the nightmares of “Supreme Leader” Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei. I’m sure if the Americans picked him out of his bedroom, he’d be under the bed, not on top of it. So brave!

Another win for Israel is that Qatar and Turkey, her avowed enemies, are not behaving nicely to their dear friend and ally Donald Trump over Venezuela. Qatar expressed “deep concern over the developments in Venezuela and calls for dialogue to resolve conflicts.” Jamil Akalim, a senior adviser to the Turkish President Erdoğan, “We stand with the people of Venezuela and with President Maduro, it is unacceptable that this ‘crime’ [the capture of Maduro – AA] goes unpunished.”

Not very supportive, of their dear friend Donald Trump, huh?

Israel, on the other hand, can’t thank Donald Trump enough! At a cabinet meeting Prime Minister Netanyahu praised the arrest of Maduro, calling it a “resolute action to restore freedom and justice.”

This changes so many scenarios! The use of Venezuelan oil tankers to transport and sell contraband Russian and Iranian oil is now impossible, something that will drain the already drained coffers of all the evil players involved. Also, the White House issued a statement that if Iranian forces opened fire on unarmed protestors, the U.S. was “locked and loaded and ready to go.” Opposition forces report 17 brave souls shot dead, including some Kurds.

Compared to what’s going on in the rest of the world, little Israel has had a relatively quiet week. That is not to say the IDF has been idle. On January 4, there were massive explosions in Shua’giya, the eastern part of Gaza City, with buildings toppled. A UAV destroyed a Hezbollah vehicle in Tebnine, southern Lebanon. According to the Gazans (and I hope they’re right) the IDF is constantly expanding the area under its control, moving the yellow concrete barriers forward to include more territory.

About a month ago, hundreds of policemen, border police, and special forces descended on dozens of of locations countrywide to arrest the heads of two of Israel’s largest crime syndicates – Hariri and Abu Latif. Yesterday, Israeli prosecutors presented their case preceding formal indictments.

 It’s about time Israel got serious about the crimes committed by Israeli Arabs, which include almost daily murders in Arab villages. Police say ten suspects will be charged in connection with the activities of these crime syndicates including the head of the gang, Nidal Abu Latif, and ten other senior members, among them an accountant, a lawyer, and a former deputy mayor. Allegations against the suspects include extortion by threats, conspiracy to commit a crime, extortion by force, obstruction of justice, fraud, money laundering, tax and customs fraud. And the murders? Were they not connected to the “protection” racket being run by these criminals? Abu Latif terrorized the entire north of Israel, mostly among his fellow Arabs. Let us hope this long, long overdue police action resets public safety in the north.

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