JERUSALEM — President Biden slapped sanctions on four Israeli settlers Thursday for violently targeting Palestinians in the disputed West Bank territory.  

The White House’s unprecedented executive order to penalize Israelis while the Jewish state wages a war against the Palestinian Hamas terrorist movement in Gaza and Palestinian terrorist cells in the West Bank sparked intense anger among supporters of the Middle East’s only democracy.   

‘While I have no tolerance for violence, Biden’s selection of four Israeli Jews for sanctions, especially when Palestinian violence is far more prevalent and lethal, is just pure politics,’ David Friedman, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and a key architect of peace between Arab nations and Israel, told Fox News Digital. 

‘Meanwhile, Biden is permitting hundreds of people on the Terror Watch List to enter the USA illegally and refuses to enforce sanctions on Iran. This order represents a huge hit to the prestige of the presidency. No one is falling for it.’

Friedman, who served under President Trump, further excoriated Biden for singling out Israeli Jews for sanctions while Palestinian violence flourishes in the West Bank, according to the envoy and other experts. 

‘The order targets anyone acting against peace and stability. On that basis, Biden must sanction all members of the Palestinian Authority, which pays terrorists to kill Jews. But we know he won’t. He’ll roll out the red carpet for them.’ 

Friedman’s comment about Biden playing ‘pure politics’ appears to be a reference to Biden’s efforts to court Arab-American votes in the state of Michigan. Biden’s punitive measures against the four Israelis coincided with a campaign visit Thursday to Michigan, the state with the largest Arab-American community, in a push to shore up falling support among many community members who object to Israel’s war to root out Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.   

Biden’s executive order stated that it is aimed at a ‘threat posed by the situation in the West Bank, including, in particular, high levels of extremist settler violence, forced displacement of people and villages, and property destruction.  Such actions constitute a serious threat to the peace, security, and stability of the West Bank and Gaza, Israel, and the broader Middle East region and undermine the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States.’ 

The executive order also noted: ‘I find that these actions constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and I have declared a national emergency to deal with that threat.’ 

The four Israelis sanctioned are David Chai Chasdai, Einan Tanjil, Shalom Zicherman and Yinon Levi. The Biden administration’s punitive action has also triggered outrage because Israel’s judiciary has either taken legal action against the Israelis or is in the process of litigating claims against the extremists. 

A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office on X regarding the executive order said, ‘The overwhelming majority of residents in Judea and Samaria are law-abiding citizens, many of whom are currently fighting – as conscripts and reservists – to defend Israel.’

It concluded by stating that, ‘Israel acts against all Israelis who break the law, everywhere; therefore, exceptional measures are unnecessary.’ 

Israel sentenced Chasdai in 2016 to six months in jail for planning to attack a Palestinian village. Israel’s Supreme Court is hearing a case against Levi for vandalizing Palestinian olive trees and water wells. Tanjil is facing charges for assaulting an Israeli activist in 2021. 

Shalom Zicherman faces an indictment from 2022 for attacking left-wing Israeli activists near the ancient city of Hebron. 

Biden’s sanctions bar the four men from commerce with Americans in the U.S. and travel to the U.S.  

‘Calling Israelis ‘settlers’ is an ahistorical slur,’ former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote on X, formerly Twitter. ‘Judea and Samaria are the rightful homeland of the Jewish people. For Biden to target these Israelis — especially as he shows weakness and deference to Iran — is a reckless policy.’ 

Israelis who live in Judea and Samaria prefer the term residents over ‘settlers’ because of the connotation of invasion applied to settlers. From the legal perspective of Israel’s government, the region of Judea and Samaria is disputed territory.  

Most of the international community claims the territory is being occupied by the Israeli government. Israel seized Judea and Samaria in response to a self-defense war carried out by multiple Arab nations against the existence of the Jewish state in 1967. 

Pompeo, who like Friedman served during the Trump administration, recently appeared in a documentary with the former ambassador titled ‘Route 60: The Biblical Highway.’ The film covers major Christian and Jewish biblical sites along Route 60 in the Holy Land. 

Yisrael Medad, who lives in Shiloh in Samaria, told Fox News Digital, ‘I think the executive order does a disservice to the cause of justice. 

‘There are many more Arab residents of the same territory that deserve the restrictions more, including members of the Palestinian Authority governing bodies. Actually, Mr. Biden should push applying the terms of the Taylor Force Act first.’ 

Congress passed the Taylor Force Act, named after West Point graduate Taylor Force, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. A Palestinian terrorist stabbed Force in 2016. The act seeks to stop economic aid to the Palestinian Authority until it pulls the plug on its monetary subsidy system to Palestinians convicted of terrorism and their family members. The program has earned the infamous name ‘Pay to Slay.’  

When asked about what is motivating Biden to punish Israelis living in settlements, Medad, who has written extensively about the area, said, ‘He is doing so to placate Mahmoud Abbas (the president of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank), who Israel refuses to see a part of the post-Gaza War arrangements as well as help out his election campaign, which is threatened by pro-Palestine activists quite openly.’ 

He argued the violence in the region is ‘Terrorist killings of Jews, official incitement to terror by the Palestinian Authority and the like.’ 

In a recent opinion article for the Jerusalem Post, Medad disputed U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, who said Dec. 6 that there has been ‘unprecedented levels of violence by Israeli extremist settlers targeting Palestinians and their property.’ 

According to Medad, Israeli media reported in early November that, when contrasted with 2022, ‘there has been an overall almost 50% decrease in incidents in which Jews were engaged in violent offenses in Judea and Samaria.’ Some half a million Israelis and an estimated three million Palestinians live in the West Bank. 

When asked about Ambassador Friedman’s criticism, the U.S. State Department referred a Fox News Digital press query to spokesman Miller’s press briefing Thursday.

‘The president and the secretary have both raised our concerns with their Israeli and Palestinian counterparts about the level of violence in the West Bank and stressed that Israel must do more to stop violence against civilians and hold accountable those responsible for it,’ Miller said during Thursday’s State Department briefing. 

Miller also noted that, ‘We continue to make clear that expectation to the government of Israel, and as we do, the United States will also continue to take actions to advance the safety, security and dignity of Israelis and Palestinians alike.’

Democrats have started the election year off on a high note with a vast fundraising advantage over their Republican counterparts, who are facing a shortage of cash and party disarray in crucial swing states.

According to year-end reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) this week, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) holds nearly three times the cash on hand reported by the Republican National Committee (RNC), and brought in nearly three times as much fundraising in the final month of 2023.

The RNC reported its worst fundraising year since 2013 raising just $87.2 million in 2023, and starting 2024 with just over $8 million in cash on hand. If adjusted for inflation, the RNC’s fundraising was last this low in 1993 — before the 2002 McCain Feingold Act restricted political committee fundraising from corporations and capped donations from individuals.

The DNC reported $120 million raised in 2023, and a record $21 million in cash on hand, marking a massive $13 million gap between the two committees. It also reported raising $14.7 million in December to the RNC’s $5.3 million.

Although the RNC brought in more direct contributions than the DNC throughout the year, the latter enjoys a joint fundraising agreement with incumbent President Biden’s re-election campaign, as well as its other joint fundraising committees, and overall outpaced the RNC, which does not have a joint fundraising agreement, for much of that period.

Republicans are also dealing with disarray in a number of their party organizations in multiple swing states that will be crucial to the party maintaining, or growing, its majority in the House, winning a majority in the Senate and retaking the White House.

Last week, the now-former chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, Jeff DeWitt, suddenly resigned from the role amid allegations he unsuccessfully tried to bribe GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake not to launch a campaign. The state party also struggled financially throughout last year amid lower contribution levels and hundreds of thousands in legal costs related to the 2020 presidential election.

In Michigan, newly elected state GOP chairman Pete Hoekstra and ousted former chairwoman Kristina Karamo have been battling over who is actually in control of the party, while a number of other state party officials are facing felony charges for their alleged role in a fake electors scheme attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state.

In Nevada, Republican Party Chairman Michael McDonald was indicted in a similar fake electors scheme, and in North Carolina, the state Republican Party’s FEC report shows that it burned through cash and is now $72,000 in debt.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on advertising by Republican presidential candidates in an effort to secure the party’s nomination, delaying the party an opportunity to coalesce around a single candidate and focus on the general election.

‘The Republican National Committee has become a financial dumpster fire at a time when they literally cannot afford it,’ DNC spokesperson Alex Floyd told Fox News Digital. 

‘With the 2024 field already having blown through millions attacking each other and GOP state parties descending into infighting and heading toward bankruptcy, Republican donors may want to consider just lighting their money on fire themselves rather than wasting time giving it to the RNC,’ he added.

A source familiar with the RNC’s fundraising told Fox News Digital that it raised more than any other Democrat or Republican committee in 2023 except for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) when accounting for direct fundraising and not including transfers from other joint fundraising groups.

The source also said the RNC has already made significant financial investments in staff buildups across 15 battleground states, as well as in early voting and ballot-harvesting initiatives, but did not say whether that was directly related to the party’s low cash on hand.

Fox News reported this week that the RNC raised $12 million in January, more than any month in 2023.

‘The RNC is not only raising the necessary funds, but we’re making strategic investments early in battlegrounds to win up and down the ballot this Fall,’ an RNC spokesperson told Fox News Digital after publication. ‘Meanwhile, Democrats have an extremely unpopular agenda, no ground game, and a President sleepwalking his way to defeat in November.’

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is putting legislation on the House floor next week to give Israel $17.6 billion in emergency funding.

The timing is notable given that Senate and White House negotiators are expected to release legislative text this weekend for a border security compromise in addition to President Biden’s $106 billion supplemental funding request for Ukraine, Israel, humanitarian causes and other issues.

In a letter sent to Republican colleagues on Saturday, Johnson criticized the House GOP majority’s exclusion from those talks and argued they were not moving fast enough to help Israel in its war against Hamas.

‘While the Senate appears poised to finally release text of their supplemental package after months of behind closed doors negotiations, their leadership is aware that by failing to include the House in their negotiations, they have eliminated the ability for swift consideration of any legislation,’ Johnson warned.

‘Given the Senate’s failure to move appropriate legislation in a timely fashion, and the perilous circumstances currently facing Israel, the House will continue to lead. Next week, we will take up and pass a clean, standalone Israel supplemental package.’

One of the first House votes Johnson held as speaker was a standalone Israel funding bill for roughly $14 billion, the amount requested by Biden in his supplemental aid package. However, that bill would have offset the funds by taking them from money allocated toward the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) — a move lauded by GOP hardliners.

But Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., refused to take the bill up and accused Johnson of mixing ‘a poison pill’ with Israel aid. 

‘During debate in the House and in numerous subsequent statements, Democrats made clear that their primary objection to the original House bill was with its offsets,’ Johnson wrote on Saturday. ‘The Senate will no longer have excuses, however misguided, against swift passage of this critical support for our ally.’

He said the legislative text would be released on Saturday afternoon by Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif., chairman of the House Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on defense spending.

Republicans have demanded strict border and immigration policy changes in exchange for supporting funds for Ukraine, an issue a growing number of GOP lawmakers have been wary of. Biden’s supplemental funding request includes roughly $60 billion to help Kyiv fight off Russia’s invasion. 

But Johnson and dozens of members of his conference have suggested they’ll likely oppose the compromise. Most have signaled they will not accept less than the measures in H.R. 2, the House GOP border bill that Democrats called a nonstarter. 

Johnson and others have also called on Biden to use his executive authority to shut down the border, while the White House has insisted a legislative fix is necessary and have accused the House GOP of using the border as an election issue.

Schumer said earlier this week that he aims to have a vote on the Senate’s package by Wednesday.

The White House stressed Friday evening that the United States is ‘not looking for a war with Iran,’ saying the retaliatory strikes carried out in Syria and Iraq were designed to ‘de-escalate’ tensions and ‘put an end’ to attacks on U.S. troops in the region.

The United States began retaliatory strikes on more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups and proxies.

The strikes come in response to the deaths of three U.S. service members last Sunday on a U.S. base in Jordan.

White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby stressed that the United States is not seeking conflict with Iran or in the Middle East, but explained that the strikes that began Friday evening ‘will not end’ tonight.

Kirby said the targets were carefully selected to avoid civilian casualties and based on irrefutable evidence they were connected to attacks on U.S. troops in the region, adding that the Iraqi government was informed before the strikes were launched. 

Kirby and Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Sims II said the strikes were initiated Friday, and not sooner, due to weather, explaining that U.S. officials have been ‘waiting for the weather to cooperate,’ and saying that Friday posed ‘the best opportunity’ with regard to conditions.

‘We feel really confident about the precision of those targets,’ Sims said during a call with reporters. ‘We hit exactly what we meant to hit.’

Sims explained that waiting for the right timing with the weather allowed the U.S. to avoid ‘any unnecessary casualties.’

‘The weather did turn today to allow us to conduct these strikes and as a result, we’re very confident in the targets that we struck today,’ Sims said.

When asked if the timing of the strikes had anything to do with Friday’s dignified transfer of the remains of three troops killed in the Iran-backed militia attack in Jordan at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, Kirby said no.

‘It had no connection whatsoever with the dignified transfer at Dover,’ Kirby said.

But Kirby explained the strikes were meant to ‘send a signal,’ and that signal was to those who ‘seek to bring Americans harm.’ 

‘We do not seek a conflict with Iran,’ Kirby said. ‘These targets were chosen to degrade and disrupt capabilities of IRGC and groups they sponsor and support.’

Kirby said ‘the goal’ of the strikes is ‘to get these attacks’ on U.S. service members in the region ‘to stop.’

‘The signal is the attacks have to stop,’ he continued. ‘These facilities were being used by IRGC and their proxy groups to conduct attacks on U.S. personnel in the region.’

He added: ‘These responses began tonight—they are not going to end tonight. There will be additional responses, additional action we will take, all designed to put an end to these attacks.’

When pressed, Kirby said: ‘We are not looking for a war with Iran.’

‘If you are taking away capability of an adversary who is trying to kill your troops and act against your interest in the region—if you are trying to take away their capability then, you are, by default, working to de-escalate tensions and that is our approach here,’ Kirby explained.

Meanwhile, Kirby said he would not ‘telegraph future operations,’ but stressed that there will be ‘additional response actions taken in coming days.’

‘Today, we saw the first set of responses,’ he said. ‘It will not be the last set of responses that you see.’

Kirby again stressed that the United States ‘does not want to see a single more attack on U.S. troops or facilities in the region. We don’t want to see a single one more.’

‘We want attacks to stop,’ he said. ‘We want them to stop right now.’ 

There have been at least 160 attacks on U.S. troops in the Middle East since mid-October.

President Biden previously said that he holds Iran responsible for the most recent attack last week because they supplied the weapons to the people who perpetrated it, but he also noted that he does not wish to escalate tensions with the Islamic Republic.

The 85 targets included command and control operations, intelligence centers, militia group’s rockets, missiles, unmanned vehicle storages and supply chain facilities, CENTCOM said.

The fallen troops after last weekend’s attacks were Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46; Spc. Kennedy Landon Sanders, 24; and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, all of whom were from Georgia.

Former President Trump’s trial stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 2020 election interference investigation has been delayed indefinitely, Fox News has learned.

The trial was set to begin on March 4 — a day before the critical Super Tuesday primary contests, when Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Vermont vote to select a GOP nominee.

Washington, D.C., federal Judge Tanya Chutkan on Friday formally vacated the March 4 trial date, saying the court will ‘set a new schedule if and when the mandate is returned.’

A federal appeals court is considering Trump’s claim of presidential immunity from prosecution for his actions in office. A ruling from that court is expected, and the Supreme Court may eventually review the issue.

The delay comes after Smith in December asked the Supreme Court to rule on whether Trump can be prosecuted on charges relating to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

Additionally, lawyers for Trump filed a motion urging Chutkan to pause proceedings against Trump in the Jan. 6 case while his appeal is pending. 

Chutkan said in December that she does not have jurisdiction over the matter while it is pending before the Supreme Court, and she put a pause on the case against the Republican 2024 front-runner until the high court determines its involvement.

Smith charged the former president with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Those charges stemmed from Smith’s investigation into whether Trump was involved in the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, and any alleged interference in the 2020 election result.

Trump pleaded not guilty to all charges in August 2023.

The U.S. has begun retaliatory strikes on Middle East targets from multiple platforms, a U.S Defense official has told Fox News. 

The strikes are in response to the deaths of three U.S. service members last Sunday on a U.S. base in Jordan.  

The initial strikes by manned and unmanned aircraft hit command and control headquarters.

In a statement, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said that forces conducted airstrikes on more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militia groups.

CENTCOM said that the attack came at 4 p.m. EST on Feb. 2.

President Biden put out a statement shortly after the strikes were confirmed on Friday, warning, ‘If you harm an American, we will respond.’ 

‘This past Sunday, three American soldiers were killed in Jordan by a drone launched by militant groups backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). Earlier today, I attended the dignified return of these brave Americans at Dover Airforce Base, and I have spoken with each of their families.’

He added, ‘This afternoon, at my direction, U.S. military forces struck targets at facilities in Iraq and Syria that the IRGC and affiliated militia use to attack U.S. forces. Our response began today. It will continue at times and places of our choosing. The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. But let all those who might seek to do us harm know this: If you harm an American, we will respond.’

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin echoed Biden in his statement: ‘Following the attack on U.S. and Coalition Forces in northeastern Jordan this past Sunday that killed three U.S. service members, at President Biden’s direction, U.S. military forces today conducted strikes on seven facilities, which included more than 85 targets in Iraq and Syria, that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and affiliated militias use to attack U.S. forces.’

He continued, ‘This is the start of our response. The President has directed additional actions to hold the IRGC and affiliated militias accountable for their attacks on U.S. and Coalition Forces. These will unfold at times and places of our choosing. We do not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else, but the President and I will not tolerate attacks on American forces. We will take all necessary actions to defend the United States, our forces, and our interests.’

The agency said that forces conducted the strikes with numerous aircraft, including two B1-B bombers. The airstrike also used more than 125 precision munitions. 

The 85 targets included command and control operations, intelligence centers, militia group’s rockets, missiles, unmanned vehicle storages and supply chain facilities, CENTCOM said.

The strikes come after drone strikes killed three U.S. troops in Jordan last weekend.

The fallen troops were Sgt. William Jerome Rivers, 46; Spc. Kennedy Landon Sanders, 24; and Spc. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, all of whom were from Georgia.

President Joe Biden previously said that he holds Iran responsible for the attack because they supplied the weapons to the people who perpetrated the attack, but he also noted that he does not wish to escalate tensions with the Islamic Republic.

‘I don’t think we need a wider war in the Middle East,’ he told reporters on Tuesday, Jan. 30. ‘That’s not what I’m looking for.’

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters to expect a ‘tiered approach’ and not a single strike.

‘It’s very possible that what you’ll see is a tiered approach here, not just a single action, but potentially multiple actions over a period of time,’ he said.

Kirby said the targets were carefully selected to avoid civilian casualties and based on irrefutable evidence they were connected to attacks on U.S. troops in the region, adding that the Iraqi government was informed before the strikes were launched. 

He stressed that operations began Friday but will not end on Friday. 

Lt. Gen. Douglas A. Sims II added, ‘We feel confident– 85 individual targets within each location, we feel really confident about the precision of those targets…strong military targets.’

‘we hit exactly what we meant to hit,’ he said. 

Early Thursday morning, U.S. Central Command forces shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over the Gulf of Aden. 

There were no injuries and later Thursday morning, U.S. forces conducted strikes and destroyed an Iranian-backed Houthi explosive un-crewed surface vehicle (USV) in the Red Sea. 

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Fox News’ Bradford Betz and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

I’d like to begin by thanking you for reading this piece about my new book, ‘Cancel Culture Dictionary.’ I have to admit I’m a bit embarrassed by the amount of press it’s getting on TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, and even Times Square billboards. That being said, if you saw my grades in high school, you’d understand why people are a little worked up about the idea of a guy like me becoming a published author. This is the literary equivalent of O.J. becoming a marriage counselor.

I kid, which was a thing we did with more regularity when I was growing up in Levittown, N.Y. in the 1980s. It was a simpler time when people just wanted their MTV and the only one who obsessed about using their phone was E.T. Although if that movie were made today, he wouldn’t phone home he’d probably text home and get back to fighting about politics with his fellow aliens on Twitter.

I mention social media because cancel culture wouldn’t be possible without it. Don’t get me wrong, we always had people who’d go after comedians like Dave Chappelle, but in the 80’s we didn’t call them ‘cancel culture’ we called them LOSERS.

Back then we all knew the difference between a joke and a hate crime and everyone rightfully treated comedy like a buffet: if you see a joke you like, you throw it on your tray. If you don’t like a joke, you simply ignore it and keep walking. There’s no need to hold up the line and argue with the chef because everyone gets their own tray. Besides, who the hell cares who laughs at what? 

They’re just JOKES!

Unfortunately, people today are not only arguing with the chefs, they’re filming it and posting the confrontations online in hopes of scoring the digital dopamine we call likes.

Comedy, music and movies used to be places Americans could go to put their differences aside but we’ve lost that sense of escapism because everything you consume these days gets you trampled in a social justice stampede.

That’s cancel culture in a nutshell. A group of grievance hunters who police traditional sources of joy for potential offenses that will allow them to weaponize your outrage into their clout.

They’re cultural arsonists but the one thing every cancel has in common is that fact that once the outrage mob gets its way they move on without achieving any tangible progress for anyone but themselves.

When you go after superficial items like the Aunt Jemima syrup bottle it doesn’t improve the lives of anyone, least of all the black family who received 130 years of royalty checks because their relative portrayed Aunt Jemima. That’s right, Aunt Jemima was ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY. Same age as Mitch McConnell.

Sending the Pancake Lady off to that big breakfast nook in the sky hasn’t raised test scores at failing city schools and the only thing higher than the crime rates are the people who think woke bail reforms are working.

Prior to cancel culture nobody had an issue with Native American mascots because we all knew they weren’t being chosen to mock the culture but to celebrate it. After all, there’s a certain nobility to calling yourself a chief or a brave. And if you don’t believe me ask Elizabeth Warren.

Yet the Washington Redskins logo was canceled despite the fact that it was donated to the NFL as a ‘forever gift’ by a tribe that wanted the team to be called the Redskins. The logo was meant to symbolize the highest level of elite warriors chosen to paint their faces red and lead the tribe into battle.

You can still tell me you don’t like the Redskins name but you absolutely can’t tell me that changing the halftime show has lead to any improvements in the quality of life on Native American reservations.

And therein lies the biggest fault with cancel culture: it’s not activism, it’s slacktivism, that allows superficial victories to masquerade as societal progress.

Sadly, it’s crushed our ability to coexist politically by creating division in areas that used to provide us with common culture. Comedy, music and movies used to be places Americans could go to put their differences aside but we’ve lost that sense of escapism because everything you consume these days gets you trampled in a social justice stampede.

When I was a kid, my white parents yelled at me for eating too much ice cream. Today my Ben & Jerry’s ice cream yells at me for having WHITE PARENTS. I promise it was never supposed to work this way.

Long story short, cancel culture and the age of weaponized censorship has broken our compass and left us fighting all the wrong battles. But in writing this book I am not issuing a call to arms. If anything, it’s a call for everyone to chill out and ignore these grievance-grifting clowns. Now THAT, would be addition by subtraction.

Thanks for reading and if you like my book, PLEASE tell a friend. Of course, if you have any complaints whatsoever, please forward them to Greg Gutfeld.

The Biden administration sent millions in government assistance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for FY24 amid allegations of terrorist ties against federal employees prior to the administration’s pause of new funding. 

The administration announced a pause on new funding would be enacted last week over allegations that some of its members were ‘involved’ in the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack in Israel. The U.S. government had already earmarked $51 million for FY24 prior to the pause.

The funds were a result of an emergency request for Gaza and the West Bank following the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, and the war that resulted.

‘The pause decision was well after the initial tranche to UNRWA’s oPt Flash Appeal of $51M,’ a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital. ‘That funding was obligated back in mid-November in the early part of the crisis, about 100 days before the Jan. 26 pause.’

Some politicians criticized the spending following the State Department’s pause in funding. Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell blasted President Biden on the floor on Tuesday for the aid, while calling for a stronger retaliatory response against Iranian proxies. 

‘As I’ve said before, there is no room for the tired cast of corruption and terrorism in the future of the Palestinian people. As such, Senate Republicans will not accept any legislation that allows taxpayer dollars to fund UNRWA,’ McConnell said. 

At the time the pause was implemented, about $300,000 had been approved for UNRWA but not yet obligated, the State Department spokesperson said. The approved funds were frozen as a result of the pause.

‘No further funds will be approved for UNRWA during the pause,’ the department said. ‘The majority of UNRWA’s funding comes from donors other than the United States.’

According to a USAID fact sheet, the funds were assigned to go toward food assistance, protection, shelter and settlements in the West Bank and Gaza. 

The Biden administration has sent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to UNRWA in recent years — arguing the agency provides much needed humanitarian aid to Palestinian territories — after reversing former President Trump’s decision to cut funding to the group. 

Critics have long argued that UNRWA is directly tied to Hamas terrorists. 

On Tuesday, New Jersey GOP Rep. Chris Smith introduced a bill, known as the ‘Stop Support United Nations Relief and Works Agency Act of 2024,’ that would cut off U.S. funding.

Twelve UNRWA employees were allegedly ‘involved’ in the Oct. 7 attack, and additional U.S. funding could resume subject to an investigation from the United Nations. 

UNRWA, citing information provided by Israeli authorities, fired the accused employees last week and announced an investigation ‘to protect the agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance’ and ‘establish the truth without delay,’ Reuters reported. 

Meanwhile, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters Tuesday the federal government supports ‘the work that UNRWA does’ and called it ‘critical’ to the region. 

‘There is no other humanitarian player in Gaza who can provide food, medicine at the scale that UNRWA does,’ Miller said. ‘We want to see that work continued, which is why it is so important that the United Nations take this matter seriously, that they investigate it, that there is accountability for anyone who is found to engage in wrongdoing, and that they take whatever other measures are appropriate to ensure that this sort of thing cannot happen again.’

Fox News’ Peter Aitken contributed to this report. 

House Republicans have subpoenaed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis amid allegations of misconduct, Fox News has learned.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, subpoenaed Willis as she is accused of misusing federal funds in Georgia. She is also alleged to have fired a whistleblower from her office over the same issue.

Willis has made headlines over the past two years as she has charged former President Trump with allegedly attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The subpoena is for documents related to the Fulton County DA’s office receipt and use of federal funds. 

The subpoena requires Willis to turn over ‘all documents and communications referring or relating to the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office’s receipt and use of federal funds, including but not limited to, federal funds from the Department of Justice’s Office Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.’

In addition, she is being asked to turn over all documents from the same offices ‘referring to or relating to any allegations of the misuse of federal funds.’ 

Willis’s office responded to the subpoena Friday, shortly after it was made public.

‘These false allegations are included in baseless litigation filed by a holdover employee from the previous administration who was terminated for cause,’ she said in a statement obtained by Fox News. ‘The courts that have ruled found no merit in these claims. We expect the same result in any pending litigation.’

She added: ‘Any examination of the records of our grant programs will find that they are highly effective and conducted in cooperation with the Department of Justice and in compliance with all Department of Justice requirements. Our federal grant programs are focused on helping at-risk youth and seeking justice for sexual assault victims who were too long ignored. Our federal grant-funded Sexual Assault Kit Initiative has been cited by the United States Attorney General as a model program. We are proud of our grant programs and our partnership with the Department of Justice that makes Fulton County a safer, more just place.’

It comes after the Judiciary Committee requested the documents on three different occasions, in Aug. 2023, Sept. 2023, and Dec. 2023.

‘To date, you have failed to comply voluntarily with any of our requests,’ the committee wrote in a letter to Willis.

It added: ‘The Committee’s oversight of your office’s use of federal grant funds is particularly relevant in light of public whistleblower allegations that it has misused federal funding.’ 

She stands accused of using part a $488,000 federal grant allocated for the purpose of helping at-risk youths for ‘frivolous, unrelated expenses,’ the letter said. It went on to say the money was used for Macbooks, clothes, and travel.

Trump has pleaded not guilty in the Willis-led case.

Fox News’ Kelly Phares and Samantha Daigle contributed to this report.

The United Kingdom could recognize an independent Palestinian state before an official process creating one is agreed upon between Israel and the Palestinians, according to Britain’s top diplomat.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron told The Associated Press in Lebanon on Thursday that his country could move unilaterally to recognize a Palestinian state before what could be yearslong negotiations on a two-state solution, calling it ‘absolutely vital for the long-term peace and security of the region.’

‘What we need to do is give the Palestinian people a horizon towards a better future, the future of having a state of their own,’ added Cameron, also a former British prime minister. ‘It could be something that we consider as this process, as this advance to a solution, becomes more real.’

While the idea of a two-state solution has been floated in the past, there have been no substantive negotiations since 2009.

Western countries, including Britain and the U.S., support the idea of an independent Palestinian state existing alongside Israel, believing the two-state outcome could be a solution to hostilities across the region.

Cameron said the idea would only be pursued after a cease-fire in Gaza is implemented, saying the first step must be a ‘pause in the fighting’ in Gaza which could eventually turn into ‘a permanent, sustainable cease-fire.’

U.K. recognition of a Palestinian state ‘can’t come at the start of the process, but it doesn’t have to be at the very end of the process,’ he added. The U.K. would also recognize it in the United Nations, he said.

He clarified that no recognition could come while Hamas, which is designated a foreign terrorist group, continued to rule in Gaza ‘because you can’t have a two-state solution with Gaza still controlled by the people responsible for Oct. 7.’

The line was a reference to the Hamas-led terror attack on Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, 2023, that left more than 1,200 people in Israel dead.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the creation of an independent Palestinian state after the war.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.