Founded in 1996, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) is committed primarily to opposing Zionism and to boycotting and libeling the Jewish state. Not content to defend those who disguise their hatred of Jews as hatred of Israel, it has also defended such figures as Louis Farrakhan. Miriam Elman provides a history of the group, and demonstrates that is has undergone a disturbing transformation: originally, it merely provided cover for other anti-Zionist groups, effectively saying, “We’re Jewish and we have no problem with them.” But more recently, Elman argues, it has become an engine of anti-Semitic propaganda, most notably the canard that Israel trains U.S. policemen to abuse African Americans, a claim that has made its way to such prominent Israel-haters as the Muslim activist Linda Sarsour and Temple University’s Marc Lamont Hill.

In a particularly telling episode, JVP activists recently found themselves protesting alongside white supremacists at a pro-Israel event held at a San Antonio church. (Video, 65 minutes.)

Most likely, it was the Israeli Air Force that attacked eastern Syria Monday night, apparently destroying a convoy carrying Iranian weapons. Yoav Limor comments:

Israel reportedly carried out 32 attacks in Syria in 2022, and since early 2023 it has already struck 25 times in the country—at the very least. . . . The Iranian-Israeli clash stands out in the wake of the dramatic events in the region, chiefly among them is the effort to strike a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and later on with various other Muslim-Sunni states. Iran is trying to torpedo this process and has even publicly warned Saudi Arabia not to “gamble on a losing horse” because Israel’s demise is near. Riyadh is unlikely to heed that demand, for its own reasons.

Despite the thaw in relations between the kingdom and the Islamic Republic—including the exchange of ambassadors—the Saudis remain very suspicious of the Iranians. A strategic manifestation of that is that Riyadh is trying to forge a defense pact with the U.S.; a tactical manifestation took place this week when Saudi soccer players refused to play a match in Iran because of a bust of the former Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Suleimani, [a master terrorist whose militias have wreaked havoc throughout the Middle East, including within Saudi borders].

Of course, Israel is trying to bring Saudi Arabia into its orbit and to create a strong common front against Iran. The attack in Syria is ostensibly unrelated to the normalization process and is meant to prevent the terrorists on Israel’s northern border from laying their hands on sophisticated arms, but it nevertheless serves as a clear reminder for Riyadh that it must not scale back its fight against the constant danger posed by Iran.