Yahya Sinwar is hiding in Khan Yunis, not Rafah - report

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-800805

Hamas' leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, is still hiding in tunnels under Khan Yunis, not in Rafah, American officials told the New York Times on Sunday.

According to the cited anonymous American officials, Israeli intelligence agencies agree that Sinwar and other Hamas leaders are not hiding in Rafah and are likely still under Khan Yunis, a city north of Rafah that the IDF pulled out of in early April. The officials added that they don't believe Sinwar was ever hiding in Rafah.

The architect of the October 7 massacre is also believed to be protecting himself with a group of Israeli hostages he uses as human shields in order to stop Israel from raiding or bombing his hideout, US and Israeli officials told the New York Times.

U.S. officials: Hamas leaders, including Sinwar, not in Rafah - report

 https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel-at-war/artc-u-s-officials-hamas-leaders-including-sinwar-not-in-rafah-report#:~:text=Instead%2C%20they%20suggest%20that%20Sinwar,Hamas%2C%20providing%20protection%20and%20concealment.

Despite Israel's extensive intelligence capabilities, American officials assert that the United States is sharing all relevant information regarding Sinwar's whereabouts with Israel.

US Ambassador Lew: 'Despite tension, no fundamental changes in US-Israel ties'

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/389851

US Ambassador to Israel Jacob Lew said in an interview with Chanel 12's Yonit Levi that despite the apparent tensions, nothing has fundamentally changed in the relationship between the US and Israel.

Man who received first pig kidney transplant dies

 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4n1l9g2wn9o

The first man to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant has died two months after the operation, the hospital which carried out the procedure has said.

U.S. cites intelligence, offers Israel supplies to limit Rafah operation

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/11/us-israel-rafah-invasion-palestinians-evacuation/

The Biden administration has made an internal assessment that Hamas — and its leader in Gaza, Yehiya Sinwar — would welcome a major, protracted battle in Rafah that is destructive and deadly, according to a senior administration official, because it would further isolate Israel.

Sinwar is hiding in Khan Yunis

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/389845

US and Israeli officials cited in the report said Sinwar is hiding near hostages, using them as human shields. American officials believe Israel has comparable or superior intelligence on the Hamas leader’s whereabouts.

It’s the Criminality, Stupid: Why Voters See Crooks in All Corners of Politics

https://www.wsj.com/articles/presidential-candidates-crime-politics-trump-biden-f94380b4

“Biden’s attack on Trump’s corruption is a direct hit that’s being covered fairly and honestly in the newspapers, and it’s on multiple fronts,” said Joel Benenson, a Democratic pollster who worked on Barack Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns. “Whereas the attack on Hunter Biden is a bank shot. And I think direct attacks and direct hits are much more potent and are going to ring much more true.”

Partisans are equally likely to say the other candidate is ‘too corrupt’

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/15/biden-trump-corrupt-poll/

Yahoo and YouGov asked the same questions in May. Then, the gap between Biden and Trump on the “too corrupt” question was in the double digits, while “too incompetent” was in the single digits. Since then, the “corrupt” gap narrowed and the “incompetent” gap widened — thanks largely to shifts among Republicans.

What Trump promised oil CEOs as he asked them to steer $1 billion to his campaign - Corruption

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/09/trump-oil-industry-campaign-money/

Trump’s response stunned several of the executives in the room overlooking the ocean: You all are wealthy enough, he said, that you should raise $1 billion to return me to the White House. At the dinner, he vowed to immediately reverse dozens of President Biden’s environmental rules and policies and stop new ones from being enacted, according to people with knowledge of the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation.

Biden Is Not the First U.S. President to Cut Off Weapons to Israel

 https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-not-first-u-president-172558453.html

Dwight D. Eisenhower threatened economic sanctions and an aid cutoff to force Israel to withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula after it invaded Egypt in 1956. Gerald Ford warned that he would reevaluate the entire relationship in 1975 over what he considered Israel’s recalcitrance during peace talks with Egypt. George H.W. Bush postponed $10 billion in loan guarantees in 1991 in a dispute over settlements in the West Bank.

Israeli military says it has weapons it needs for Rafah ground operation

 https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/israeli-military-says-it-has-weapons-it-needs-for-rafah-ground-operation/article68158902.ece

Israel's military spokesman says the army has the weapons it needs to press ahead with its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari was asked at a news conference whether the army can conduct the operation without U.S. arms.

“The army has armaments for the missions it plans, and for the missions in Rafah too — we have what we need,” Mr. Hagari said.

Biden takes fire from all sides after Israel arms move

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4657284-biden-israel-rafah-weapons-fire-all-sides/

State Department spokesperson Matt Miller, asked at a Thursday media briefing by The Hill about the criticism that Biden should have taken action at an earlier stage to rein in Israel, said: 

“Our policy responds to the facts on the ground. We made clear at the outset of this conflict we wanted to see Israel defeat Hamas. We wanted to see Israel dismantle Hamas and prevent its ability to launch the terrorist attacks of Oct. 7 again. They’ve largely succeeded in that goal.”

But Miller added, “We also respond to the increasing civilian death toll and while we’ve seen the daily count come down — because of steps that Israel’s taken that we have urged — it hasn’t come down enough.”

Answers like that underline what a complicated knot Biden is trying to unpick. 

THE GAP IS WIDE — BUT WE CAN BRIDGE IT

 https://mishpacha.com/the-gap-is-wide-but-we-can-bridge-it/

Since Simchas Torah, our people have been actively engaged in an existential battle against an enemy intent on destroying us. Hundreds of Israel’s precious soldiers have given their lives, and thousands have been wounded in defense of our land and its inhabitants, changing the lives of their families forever. Thousands of Israelis have been living for months with the unimaginable tension of having a child, spouse, parent, or sibling on the front lines as they await the dreaded knock on the door.

There is an unbridgeable gap between them and those of us — the vast majority of both the Israeli chareidi population and of American Jewry — who have not shared that experience and who cannot possibly imagine it. A dear friend lost his son, a reservist who was exempt from service as a father of six but nevertheless went voluntarily to the front lines. Thinking of his child who literally gave his life for the Jewish People and of the wife and children who proudly encouraged him and sent him into battle, my friend cannot bear hearing others bandy about the term “mesirus nefesh” to describe things like traveling three hours to a wedding or staying after an event to clean up. Those of us far from the front lines really have no clue what true mesirus nefesh is.

Biden's big donors fume over Israel criticism

 https://www.axios.com/2024/05/10/israel-gaza-biden-rafah-donors

Mark Mellman, the president and CEO of the influential group Democratic Majority for Israel, told Axios that "there has never been a president more pro-Israel than Joe Biden but at the same time we are very concerned about what appears to be a significant shift in US policy."

He added: "There are a lot of people in the pro-Israel community who are very worried, very upset and very angry."

"We don't know what the consequences are going to be politically."