Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

On Christmas, the pope forgets who the real bad guys are

“Israel Undiplomatic” with Ruthie Blum and Mark Regev, Ep. 34

Pope Francis characterized Israeli counter-terrorism operations in the Gaza Strip as “cruelty” in his Christmas Eve speech.

This marks the second time that the pontiff has criticized the Jewish state’s actions in the course of a week. Earlier, the pope suggested that the world should investigate whether Jerusalem is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.

JNS senior contributing editor Ruthie Blum and Mark Regev, former Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom—both former advisers at the Prime Minister’s Office—unpack Rome’s attacks and their moral depravity.

In addition, they discuss the significance of Chanukah in light of Israel’s ongoing seven-front war and the near-daily missile fire from Yemen’s Houthis. All this and more on this episode of “Israel Undiplomatic!”

Ruthie Blum, a former adviser at the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is an award-winning columnist and a senior contributing editor at JNS. Co-host with Ambassador Mark Regev of the JNS-TV podcast “Israel Undiplomatic,” she writes on Israeli politics and U.S.-Israel relations. Originally from New York City, she moved to Israel in 1977. She is a regular guest on national and international media outlets, including Fox, Sky News, i24News, Scripps, ILTV, WION and Newsmax.
Mark Regev is an Australian-Israeli diplomat, government advisor, and former ambassador. He served as Israel’s Ambassador to the UK (2016–2020) and as Senior Advisor for Foreign Affairs and International Communications to Prime Minister Netanyahu (2020–2021). Currently, he is the Chairman of the Abba Eban Institute for Diplomacy and Foreign Relations at Reichman University. Regev co-hosts Undiplomatic on JNS TV’s YouTube channel alongside Ruthie Blum.
Anessa Johnson claimed $10 million in damages after the private Washington school fired her for a series of antisemitic social media posts.
U.S. President Donald Trump appears to have precipitated the move by demanding congressional action in a social media post earlier on Wednesday.
JNS sought comment from Aria Fani and received an autoreply, “On leave until September. Will not check email with capitalist frequency.”
A spokesman for the Ivy told JNS that the school believes being required “to create lists of Jewish faculty and staff, and to provide personal contact information, raises serious privacy and First Amendment concerns.”
The new program adds “America First foreign policy lectures” and shifts focus to merit and core diplomatic skills.
Police officers found evidence that Dejaun Angelo was running a marijuana business in his apartment and “hundreds of ammunition boxes” in a storage unit.