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Netanyahu Declines to Engage in Discussions of Post-War Strategies for Gaza with Security Chiefs
The Israeli leader has expressed his goal of a continuous Israeli military presence in Gaza without a predetermined expiration date.

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Israeli media sources indicate that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declined pleas from his senior military and intelligence officers to engage in discussions over potential strategies for the Gaza Strip at the conclusion of a conflict.

According to a report from Israel’s Channel 12, Netanyahu declined three distinct appeals made by the leaders of Mossad, Shin Bet, and the Israeli Defense Forces. “Time is running out and decisions need to be made already about how to act with regard to all the relevant actors inside and outside the Gaza Strip. The Americans want explanations,” an anonymously Israeli security source said.

Netanyahu’s office stated that he had directed his senior aides to make preparations for initial discussions regarding the matter. Netanyahu’s rejection to engage in conversation about the subject coincides with Ron Dermer, Netanyahu’s minister for strategic affairs, being in Washington and scheduled to meet with senior US officials to discuss the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

The United States and Israel hold divergent perspectives on the future of Gaza after the conflict. The Biden administration advocates for a rejuvenated Palestinian Authority to assume control, whilst Netanyahu has openly dismissed this proposition. The Israeli leader has often expressed his aim for an indefinite Israeli military presence in Gaza.

There is also a significant divergence between the United States and Israel about Israel’s ongoing military activities in Gaza. US authorities have recommended that Israel conclude the ongoing phase of the war, characterized by frequent airstrikes and ground operations, and instead adopt a more focused strategy targeting the leadership of Hamas.

Netanyahu and other Israeli authorities have declared that military activities in Gaza are intensifying and have committed to a prolonged duration of the offensive. According to data from Gaza’s Health Ministry, the ongoing Israeli operation, supported by the United States, has resulted in the death of more than 21,000 Palestinians, including over 8,000 children. It is important to note that these figures are considered to be a conservative estimate.

Netanyahu is motivated to persist with the offensive because his political future is at risk as a result of intelligence shortcomings that allowed the October 7 Hamas assault on southern Israel to occur. The Israeli leader has faced significant backlash for his approach of supporting Hamas in order to hinder the establishment of a Palestinian state. According to polling data, a significant proportion of Israelis are in favor of Netanyahu stepping down following the conclusion of the conflict.

Microsoft Buys 1,000+ Acres of Wisconsin Farmland

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Microsoft Corporation’s acquisition of more than one thousand acres of farmland in Racine County, Wisconsin, has just been finalized. The 1,000 acres were acquired through three transactions with a combined value of around $176 million.

Microsoft’s last acquisition consisted of 407 acres of land, encompassing a pumpkin farm and a 9-acre corn maze located in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.

Microsoft plans to put almost $1 billion into a data center in Mount Pleasant property.

Per Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Microsoft Corp. has completed its purchase of just over 1,000 acres of Racine County farm land that will be developed for data center facilities.

The three transactions totaled nearly $176 million.

The company paid the Village of Mount Pleasant $63.2 million for 400 acres on Braun Road and Durand Avenue, according to newly filed deeds.

Also, Microsoft paid the village $36.5 million for 241 acres on County Highway H.

Finally, the company bought 407 acres on Braun Road and Durand Avenue from Creuziger Farms Inc. for $76 million, according to the deeds posted online Wednesday by the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.

France Finalizes Withdrawal of Troops from Niger, Complies with Demands
France completed the withdrawal of its troops after they were asked to leave Niger by the country’s new junta, ending years of on-the-ground military support

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The junta that severed ties with Paris following the July coup in Niger demanded that all French military aircraft and personnel withdraw from the country by December 22, according to an email from the French Army General Staff to The Associated Press. This week, France made the preliminary declaration that its diplomatic mission in Niger would be suspended indefinitely.

Despite this, the nation would maintain its involvement in the Sahel – the extensive region south of the Sahara Desert that has been a breeding ground for violent extremism – President Emmanuel Macron stated Thursday while visiting a Jordanian base.

“I decided on some important reconfigurations,” Macron said. “We will continue to protect our interests over there but our armies won´t be as present permanently, will be less stationary and also less exposed,” he said.

The termination of military collaboration with France was hailed by the Niger junta as the commencement of “a new era” for the Nigeriens.

“Niger stands tall, and the security of our homeland will no longer depend on a foreign presence,” the Junta proclaimed on X, formerly Twitter. “We are determined to meet the challenges before us, by consolidating our national military and strategic capabilities.”

However, western analysts naturally assert that the withdrawal of the forces will result in a void, as is the case whenever western hegemony is booted from a region. As Niger was the final Western ally in the ten-year war against jihadi groups in the region, it will “leave Niger and the entire Sahel worse off” in terms of overall counterterrorism efforts, according to Ryan Cummings, director of Africa-focused security consulting firm Signal Risk.

A base for counterterrorism operations in the region was envisioned in Niger, where approximately 1,500 French forces were providing training and support to the local military. This decision was made in response to the rise of anti-French sentiment in Burkina Faso and Mali, both of which are ruled by juntas that have also expelled French troops.

It would seem that Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger see the French, and by extension the West, as more of an existential threat than the jihadis in the region, though you will likely not hear such analysis in establishment media.

Upon deposing Mohamed Bazoum, largely seen as an installed puppet president beholden to Western interests, the nation’s junta severed military ties with France and other European nations. Conversely, they pursued defense collaboration with Russia.

All of these coups taking place throughout the third world inevitably play into the larger silent war between BRICS and the West.

Together with the military administrations of Mali and Burkina Faso, the Niger junta has established a security alliance in order to coordinate counterterrorism efforts throughout the Sahel.

Presidential Immunity Case: The Supreme Court Will Not Hear Immediately Despite Jack Smith’s Speed Plea
A ruling in favor of former President Donald Trump has prevented the Supreme Court of the United States from hearing his case for presidential immunity immediately.

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On Friday, the high court denied Smith’s request for an expedited review. Consequently, the case will proceed through the customary proceedings in the appeals court and will likely ultimately reach the SCOTUS.

This outcome represents a triumph for Trump and a substantial setback for Smith, who is pressed for time to present Trump to a preponderantly Democratic jury prior to the election.

According to polling, a conviction could cost Trump millions of votes, and if he fails to appeal the conviction by November, there is a possibility that it will harm his campaign on Election Day. The timing of Smith’s prosecution has been characterized by Trump as “election interference,” an effort to manipulate the forthcoming presidential election.

The SCOTUS denied an immediate review of Trump’s presidential immunity claims less than two weeks after Smith initially requested that the justices ascertain expeditiously whether Trump could be legally prosecuted on the charges pertaining to January 6. Those charges allege that Trump allegedly attempted to tamper with the results of the 2020 presidential election.

“Despite having lost, the Defendant was determined to stay in power,” the indictment claims. “So for more than two months following Election Day on November 3, 2020, the Defendant spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election that he actually won. These claims were false, and the Defendant knew they were false.”

In that particular case, Trump was indicted on four counts. “One of obstruction and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; one of conspiracy to defraud the United States; one of conspiracy against rights; and one on obstruction and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding.”

Smith, attempting to stick to his ideal trial date of March 4, 2024, is requesting an expeditious review of the case out of concern that it may be postponed until 2025, following the presidential election.

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“It is of imperative public importance that respondent’s claims of immunity be resolved by this Court and that respondent’s trial proceed as promptly as possible if his claim of immunity is rejected,” the prosecutors implored.

However, Trump’s attorneys pushed back on Smith’s request:

Importance does not automatically necessitate speed. If anything, the opposite is usually true. Novel, complex, sensitive, and historic issues — such as the existence of presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts — call for more careful deliberation, not less.

They argued that SCOTUS adoption of the case is unnecessary “before the lower courts complete their review.”

 

3.4 Million Acres of US Farmland / Forests Purchased by Foreign Entities in 2022 According to Agriculture Department

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A report by the US Department of Agriculture’s (DAG) agricultural Service Agency has brought attention to the startling rate at which foreign interests have been buying US agricultural and forest land, amid growing worries over foreign land purchases within the US.

According to the research, these foreign entities added 3.4 million acres of U.S. soil to their holdings between December 31, 2021, and the same day in 2022. Foreign parties possessed over 43.4 million acres in total, of which 28% was farmland, 21% was pasture and other agricultural property, 2% was non-agricultural land, and 48% was forest land.

The DAG previously projected that 1.2 billion of the approximately 2.3 billion acres of U.S. land were utilized for agriculture; hence, as of the end of 2022, foreign ownership of property used exclusively for agriculture accounted for just less than 1.8% of the country’s total land area.

The percentage of foreign-owned land to privately held domestic land topped ten percent in two states. Hawaii recorded a 12.8% percentage, while Maine recorded a 21.1% percentage. With 8.6% and 8.3% respectively, Alabama, Michigan, and Kentucky completed the top five.

Rhode Island stood as the state with the least amount of foreign-held land, with external parties controlling a mere 14 acres of agricultural land, which the DAG listed as a rounded 0.0%. Connecticut placed second with 0.1%. Massachusetts placed third with 0.2%, while Delaware posted 0.4%, tying New Hampshire.

Who Are the Foreign Buyers?

The majority of foreign-owned land in the United States was held by Canadian investors; their combined holdings accounted for 14.2 million acres, or 32% of all agricultural and non-agricultural land held by foreigners.

The next four biggest foreign groups held a total of 13 million acres, or 29% of the land. Dutch investors held 12% of the total, followed by Italians with 6%, British investors with 5%, and Germans with 5%.

Lawmakers around the country have expressed particular concerns about Chinese-based corporations’ acquisitions of American land, particularly those parcels close to U.S. military facilities. According to The Washington Post, lawmakers in 33 states have submitted 81 proposals this year that would restrict the purchase of agricultural land or real estate close to military facilities by the Chinese government, some Chinese-based companies, and a large number of Chinese citizens.

“There were no filings directly by the government of China,” the report stated.

State governments, on the other hand, have taken action out of concern that land acquired by China could be used as a staging area for espionage operations. In May of this year, Florida, for example, prohibited the sale of land to Chinese nationals, with significant exceptions.

“Florida is taking action to stand against the United States’ greatest geopolitical threat — the Chinese Communist Party,” GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis said at the time. “I’m proud to sign this legislation to stop the purchase of our farmland and land near our military bases and critical infrastructure by Chinese agents, to stop sensitive digital data from being stored in China, and to stop CCP influence in our education system from grade school to grad school. We are following through on our commitment to crack down on Communist China.”