Date: Thursday, November 14, 2019
To: Friends & Supporters
From: Gary L. Bauer, Director

Ceasefire?

A tenuous truce appears to be holding in the fight between Israel and Islamic Jihad. A ceasefire went into effect at 5:30 AM. There was a small barrage of rockets fired at one point this morning, but the ceasefire seems to be intact for now.

According to the IDF, Palestinian Islamic Jihad fired approximately 450 rockets over the past two days, while Israel killed more than two dozen terrorists. Among them was Rasmi Abu Malhous, the head of Islamic Jihad's rocket unit.

IDF Spokesman Brigadier General Hidai Zilberman explained the 50-hour mission to reporters by saying:

"The purpose of the operation was to improve the security situation in the south by weakening the PIJ. . . In this operation, we struck a heavy blow to PIJ's operational capabilities. . .

"We are at high readiness and preparedness on all fronts, not only in Gaza. We are facing a significant challenge against Iranian activity in a variety of arenas and not only in Syria."

The primary target of the operation was Bahaa Abu al-Ata, a top Islamic Jihad commander, whom the Israelis took out Tuesday morning. IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi said that al-Ata "undermined the quiet in southern Israel" and "acted in every way to sabotage attempts for calm with Hamas."

"He was a living ticking bomb," Kochavi added. "He was responsible for the majority of attacks that took place over the past year."

Pope Francis Condemns Anti-Semitism

Pope Francis went "off script" Tuesday during his weekly audience to issue a forceful condemnation of anti-Semitism. It was a much needed statement given recent events throughout Europe -- from the anti-Semitism scandal plaguing the British Labour Party to the Yom Kippur attack on a German synagogue.

Here's what Pope Francis said:

"I would like to make a separate note. The Jewish people have suffered so much in history, they have been chased away, they, too, have been persecuted.

"In the last century we saw so many brutalities against the Jewish people, and we were all convinced that this was over. But today the habit of persecuting the Jews, brothers and sisters, is here reborn. This is neither human nor Christian.

"The Jewish people are our brothers, and they should not be persecuted."