Anti-Zionism or Anti-Semitism in the Chareidi world - guest post seeking clarification

horatio -	9:37 PM (1 hour ago)
to me

Rav Eidensohn, thanks for posting my previous message. Hopefully it

was of benefit.

In other news, R Yaakov Shapiro of Bayswater, Long Island, NY ? , SIL

of R Yerucham Gorelick, just wrote a 1300 page book against Zionism

called "The Empty Wagon" and seemingly it went for a second printing

within a month or two.

Zionist sympathizers are of course not happy, and one spin throws bad

accusations at him.

http://www.rationalistjudaism.com/2018/06/satanic-obsession-satmar-israel-haters.html?showComment=1528143737947#c7298710878794315797

https://www.facebook.com/malky.wigder/posts/10214731936364798

I don't know how to evaluate the truthfulness/falsehood of these things. I also do not know what is the correct course of action, neither on the assumption that the accusations are true nor on the assumption that they are false. There is also the idea that ולא אמרן אלא דלית ליה אויבים אבל אית ליה אויבים אויבים הוא דאפקוה לקלא (יבמות כה. מו"ק יח:)

I forward the information to you for your decision and action, and I withdraw. I only add that I believe that if appropriately pursuing this will hurt the cause of anti-Zionism, so be it.

ברוב הוקרה וברכה

update 5 towns jewish times

‘The Empty Wagon’: A Review Of R’ Yaakov Shapiro’s Attack on Zionism

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman

Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro’s “The Empty Wagon” is one of the most controversial books to hit the Orthodox world in decades. Its 1,373 pages deal with the reaction to the Zionist movement within the Orthodox Jewish world and attempt to debunk much of what the Torah community believes about Israel’s modern history.

Most interesting to me is Rabbi Shapiro’s claim throughout the book that the Six Day War was not “miraculous” at all and involved no nissim whatsoever. Rabbi Shapiro attempts to back this up through Internet searches, citations of a few U.S intelligence reports, and quotes from the Satmar Rebbe, zt’l.

I choose to believe other sources, especially Rav Chaim Shmulevitz, zt’l, the Mirrer rosh yeshiva.

In Az Yashir we read the reaction of the nations in the aftermath of the exodus from Egypt: “Then the chieftains of Edom were startled; as for the powerful men of Moab, trembling seized them.” Rav Chaim Shmulevitz, zt’l, notes that this pasuk seems to be revealing some great chiddush or insight. Yet is it not obvious that when faced with open miracles people are startled and tremble? (Hagaddah of the Roshei Yeshiva of Mir, p. 226)

Rav Chaim Shmulevitz answers that it is not. It is the nature of people not to change themselves even after seeing open miracles. “This explains why people around us now are not changing after seeing the open miracles of the Six Day War,” adds Rav Shmulevitz. This shmuesswas delivered in June 1967 in the Mirrer Yeshiva in Yerushalayim. The Mir experienced an open miracle when a bomb that crashed through the ceiling did not explode.

So there we have it. Rav Chaim Shmulevitz, zt’l, says straight out that there were open miracles. He also explains exactly why Rabbi Shapiro refuses to recognize the open miracles of the Six Day War.

So who do we go with: Rav Chaim Shmulevitz, zt’l, or the author of this book?

Reb Dan Waldman, who fought in 1967, recollects the following:

“We had 200 planes. They had three entire air forces. Rabim b’yad me’atim — we had 2.5 million Jews; they had four entire nations. There were numerous miracles.

“There was no feeling like it in the world. I remember soldiers saying that they will not liberate Yerushalayim from Shaar HaAshpa [Dung Gate]; they went in through the Lions’ Gate. Everyone realized that these were open miracles — chareidim in Bnei Brak and even the most secular people.

“Hashem won us this war not in six days but in six hours. There were such nissim. The Jordanians knew that our planes were bombing those of the Egyptians. They sent a message to Egypt. Hashem made it that they changed the codes the previous day and did not inform the Jordanians. This was Yad Hashem. The complete destruction of the Egyptian Air Force in hours. This was Yad Hashem.”

On a personal note, my entire family and I were in Yerushalayim at the time, and my parents, aleihem ha’shalom, never stopped talking about what happened in Yerushalayim that week. My mother and uncle were hit by shrapnel on their way to the bunker we stayed in while being shelled. The entire nation, both religious and irreligious, experienced nissim and niflaos — from the soldiers who liberated the Koselto the Jewish families in the bunkers.

Thus, the author’s abnegation of the opinions of gedolei olam, the bomb in the Mir miraculously not exploding, the experiences of soldiers and run-of-the-mill citizens, and my parents’ personal experience, leaves me with an unpleasant aftertaste.

Throughout the book, Rabbi Shapiro attempts to demonstrate that the strongly anti-Zionistic view of the Satmar Rebbe, zt’l, was the same view of the gedolim of the past and the yeshiva world. In this reviewer’s opinion, his analysis is fundamentally flawed. To say that this premise is grossly inaccurate is a serious understatement.

The White House wanted an ICE spectacle. It backfired.

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/01/19/ice-immigration-enforcement-minneapolis-protests/

Donald Trump likes visual proof of his influence and legacy. In the business world, this meant putting his name on the towers he built (or selling his name to adorn some he didn’t) and making cameo appearances in movies filmed on his properties. In government, it has also meant putting his name on things, like the Kennedy Center and the TrumpRx website, which is supposed to connect patients to cheaper drug options.

According to a YouGov/Economist poll of U.S. adults, almost 70 percent of respondents say they have seen a video of Good’s shooting. In a poll conducted that day, a majority of Americans already thought ICE’s tactics were “too forceful.” Since the shooting, they say ICE is making the country less safe — 47 percent, compared with 34 percent saying more safe — and that they would support “abolishing ICE” altogether, 46 percent to 43 percent. This marks a fast and notable change: Last summer, just 27 percent of respondents supported abolishing the agency.

This is not a government strategy so much as it is a spectacle — one that has little to do with the president’s promise to deport violent criminals. The performance starts at the recruitment stage. “America has been invaded by criminals and predators. We need YOU to get them out” reads the current ICE sign-up page. “CHOOSE YOUR MISSION.” Deportation operations are being treated like a video game — one that comes with a signing bonus of up to $50,000, significantly scaled-back training and the federal government’s full backing.

Many Americans see something different. They see masked agents, armed to the hilt, demanding passersby provide proof of citizenship. That ICE agents are not supposed to target U.S. citizens no longer seems to matter. Agents appear emboldened, so much so that they are going door to door, car to car, abandoning both their remit and the law as they demand papers, please.

The closing of the southern border to illegal immigrants has been Trump’s great victory in the eyes of voters since he returned to office. Yet the more he shows off his deportation strategy, the more the public becomes wary. The president has succeeded in drawing national attention to what his federal forces are doing, and millions of Americans are horrified by what they see.

Trump ties failure to win Nobel Peace Prize to efforts to acquire Greenland

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/01/19/europe/trump-norway-nobel-prize-snub-intl

US President Donald Trump told Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre that he no longer feels bound “to think purely of Peace” because the Norwegian Nobel Committee did not award him the Nobel Peace Prize.

“Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America,” Trump wrote

Our Impossibly Small-Souled President

 https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/our-impossibly-small-souled-president/

This week the president of the United States finally achieved a lifelong dream, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. No, not from the Nobel Committee — they will never give anything to Donald Trump. Instead, Trump did what he is naturally best at: He extorted it from its rightful owner, and then posed with it as a trophy.

Once again, there is nothing to be done about it except lament the unspeakably small-souled trashiness of our president, a man who needs to be bribed and publicly flattered to maybe do the right thing. Spare me your defense of “She gave it to him! She even said he earned it!” Nobody is fooled by the pretense. Donald Trump took office in 2025; Machado has devoted her entire adult life to opposition to Chávez and Maduro, and her party won an overwhelming election long before he retook power. Trump earned this prize in the same way that he earned the addition of his name to the Kennedy Center: by being vain enough to demand it beyond all reason.

Israel's cabinet members blame Jared Kushner for Turkish, Qatari presence on Gaza board

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-883730?dicbo=v2-6BjTYbi

Several ministers in Israel’s small security cabinet blamed Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, for the composition of the Executive Board for the Board of Peace, which includes Turkish and Qatari representation that Israel firmly opposes.

According to remarks made during a closed discussion on Sunday, participants alleged that Kushner was “taking revenge” on Israel for its refusal to reopen the Rafah Crossing, and that his ties in the region were shaping the plan’s structure.

Ministers said Kushner “derailed” Israel’s 2020 sovereignty declaration and continues to pose obstacles because of close political and economic links with Arab leaders.

Israeli officials stressed they work routinely and effectively with the American administration. In a past cabinet session, one participant claimed Kushner has “fantasies about world peace” that do not always align with Israeli interests.

Some 55 toddlers treated for exposure to hazardous chemicals in Jerusalem, two critical

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-883825

Two toddlers are in critical condition, and some 55 sustained injuries in an incident possibly involving carbon monoxide at a kindergarten in Jerusalem’s Romema neighborhood on Monday, Magen David Adom confirmed.

The number of children treated was not immediately released, and the cause of the incident remains under investigation.

The Education Ministry told Maariv that an initial assessment indicates the scene is a private daycare for toddlers operating inside a private apartment in the haredi Romema neighborhood.

Greenland Live: Russia Says Trump Will ‘Go Down in History’

 The Kremlin said U.S. President Donald Trump will "go down in history" if he acquires Greenland from Denmark in a dispute that has rocked the NATO alliance. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Trump's threat to impose tariffs on European allies who oppose his moves on Greenland “completely wrong”.

The rift among NATO allies over Greenland is a strategic win for Russia, which is openly celebrating the clash. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, originally in Russian, that it is "hard to disagree" with "international experts who believe that by resolving the issue of Greenland’s accession, Trump would undoubtedly go down in history."

ICE Shot a 21-Year-Old in the Face and Blinded Him

Cop Slams Teenage Girl, Then Her Dad Shows Up

Video Analysis of ICE Shooting Sheds Light on Contested Moments

 https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000010648638/ice-shooting-renee-good-minneapolis-videos-analysis.html

 Now let’s go back and analyze some of the key contested moments of the agent’s cellphone video, alongside other footage, to break down what happens during these critical six seconds. Here, the agent’s cellphone footage shows he’s moving directly in front of the S.U.V. as it’s reversing and rotating towards him, initiating a three-point turn, apparently to leave. Law enforcement officers are trained to avoid doing this because it puts them in danger, and often leads to the use of force against drivers. His cellphone is focused squarely on Ms. Good. She looks down, shifts into drive, and begins turning to the right, away from the agent. Cut to this high angle and zoom in. We can make out the agent’s body and his arm filming. We can also see, at the same time, he’s beginning to lift his other arm. On these cameras, we can see what’s happening around agent Ross. The other agent is yelling orders and reaching into Ms. Good’s S.U.V. Her front tire spins as she continues turning right. Agent Ross is at least a few feet away from Ms. Good’s S.U.V. He does not appear to move out of the way. As the S.U.V. rolls forward, the agent unholsters his firearm. We see in his cellphone video, at this moment, the camera drifting off to the left. The agent is no longer focused on filming. It’s at this point in the cellphone video where it first looks and sounds like the agent’s getting knocked violently. “Whoa!” [thud] On the other camera, we can see what’s happening. Here is agent Ross aiming his gun at Ms. Good. And here is his outstretched arm, leaning toward her vehicle, which is barely visible behind the Tahoe. His phone, which is gripped in his left hand, flips over when the agent’s hand lands on the front of the vehicle. There’s an audible thud when it hits. “Whoa!” [thud] The camera rotates up towards the sky. Again, while it appears the agent’s getting knocked over, we can see that’s not the case from the other angle, which shows he’s standing with his hand near the headlight, his torso and legs away from the vehicle. In the cellphone footage, the agent’s face flashes on screen, then it goes black. The other angle shows us why. We can see the agent’s foot sliding, his hand bracing against the S.U.V. and his arm getting pressed into his chest. It is impossible to determine if this is happening because of the S.U.V.’s movement or the icy asphalt or, more likely, both. And what’s very unclear, because of the limited quality and availability of footage, is whether the agent’s upper body gets swiped by the vehicle as his left foot slides back. This moment is when agent Ross fires. We see the other agent pulled back from the S.U.V. Both of them stumble, apparently slipping on the ice. This is also the moment many have said looks like agent Ross getting run over. And it does when watched at full speed. But looking more closely, we can see in multiple angles that there is a visible gap between the vehicle and his legs, indicating his feet are positioned outside the S.U.V.’s path. The agent’s left hand is still against the vehicle and gripping his phone. We see, as he fires, it’s recording the clouds and the trees overhead. It’s not because the agent is knocked to the ground. The other angle shows he’s still standing, continuing to maintain his grip on his phone and his gun, and we see a clear and growing gap between his body and the S.U.V. as he fires a second shot and a third. None of the bullets have the effect of stopping the S.U.V., but they kill Renee Good. 

SHOCK New Details in Good Killing Could CHANGE THE CASE

Trump administration's lies about ICE are laid bare by cameras and witnesses

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