Harris’ alarming anti-Israel stance would endanger its very survival

 To avoid alienating voters, Kamala Harris is staying mum on the details of her presidential agenda. Yet she’s already left enough clues about her intentions toward Israel for its supporters to be highly alarmed.

Her interview Tuesday at the National Association of Black Journalists made that clear yet again.

Harris would stick 100% to her team’s current approach, which has dragged out the war by impeding Israeli military progress.

She’s blasting Israel and pushing a “cease-fire” that would set up another horrifying round of warfare.

She’s proud of the Harris-Biden halt on US weapons to Israel: “I am entirely supportive of . . . the pause that we put on the 2,000-pound bombs,” Harris boasted. “So, there is some leverage we have had and used.”

It all conforms to her team’s obscene view that the Hamas terrorists and their Israeli victims are moral equals.

“This war has to end,” she lectures — by “getting a hostage deal and a cease-fire deal.”

Deal? How about an Israeli victory?

“Israel has a right to defend itself,” she allowed, but “how it does so matters, and far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”

Harris is pushing a “two-state solution” to “ensure that Israelis have security, and Palestinians, in equal measure, have security, self-determination and dignity.”

To that end, she’s “putting pressure on all parties.” 

Where to start?

Hello? Everyone wants the war to “end.” Except Hamas.

The terror group openly says that if it survives, it’ll launch more Oct. 7-style slay-fests and continue its war on Israel.

A cease-fire, then — even a supposedly permanent one — won’t “end” the war. Only a full defeat of Hamas will ensure Israel’s future security.

So why does Harris think both sides need to be pressured?

(For the record, Israel has agreed to most cease-fire plans on offer; Hamas rejected them.)

The veep’s plea that “far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed” is one form of her pressure on the Jewish state.

But how does Kamala know how many “innocent” Palestinians have died? By relying on casualty figures from Hamas, which notoriously lies about them?

Nor does it distinguish Hamas casualties from those of non-fighters — maybe because it regards (with good reason) all Palestinians to be anti-Israel fighters.

Many “civilians,” recall, took part in Oct. 7 and harbored hostages.

Overwhelming majorities of Gazans back the war on Israel, want it destroyed and would re-elect Hamas in a heartbeat.

Yet even if you assume thousands of innocents have been killed, remember:

• Hamas started the war and is the one prolonging it — it can surrender whenever it chooses.

• Hamas purposely embeds itself among civilians to maximize non-combatant deaths.

• Israel has done more to protect civilians than any other military in any recent war.

Harris’ demand for a two-state solution that ensures Israel’s security while providing Palestinians with “self-determination and dignity” is pure Loo-Loo Land thinking: A Palestinian state would jeopardize Israeli security, which is why most Israelis oppose it.

And Gaza essentially had “self-determination” when Israel withdrew from it in 2005. It was Hamas that denied Gazans dignity, using billions meant for peaceful infrastructure to instead build a tunnel network from which to launch attacks.

It’s easy to dismiss Harris’ words as mere campaign rhetoric, crafted to maximize votes but not necessarily to reflect actual policy.

Yet in the meantime, her both-sides-ism plays directly into Hamas’ hands, emboldening it to demand more in negotiations and to hold out until it’s assured it will survive.

That’s costing lives, including those of Americans.

Indeed, Hamas might’ve been defeated already if the Harris-Biden team’s support for Israel were as “ironclad” as they claim — or if (perish the thought!) the White House had sent US forces to help Israel rescue American hostages.

Finally, look at the aides Harris has tapped for national security, Mideast and Jewish issues.

Like Philip Gordon, an Iran appeaser with troubling ties to people close to Tehran who helped draw up the disastrous 2015 Iran nuclear deal and opposed the killing of top Iranian terror thug Qasem Soleimani.

Or Ilan Goldenberg, who also backed the Iran-deal fiasco and reportedly helped get sanctions slapped on Israelis — the veep’s “golden boy” who “should alarm every friend of Israel,” Jerusalem Post editor-in-chief Zvika Kelin has warned.

And Tim Walz, her running mate, is head-over-heels for antisemitic Israel-hater Rep. Ilhan Omar and once praised a Muslim imam who allegedly backed Hamas.

That Harris won’t disclose her broader agenda should trouble all voters.

When it comes to the Jewish state, though, she’s made her views all too clear — and they’re far more than troubling for Israel’s supporters.

https://nypost.com/2024/09/18/opinion/harris-alarming-pro-hamas-stance-would-endanger-israel/

Daniel Penny trial DA wants to ban testimony on Jordan Neely’s psych history, K-2 abuse

 Prosecutors are trying to ban testimony at Daniel Penny’s upcoming trial that would detail Jordan Neely’s psychiatric history and chronic abuse of the drug K2 — something Penny’s lawyers argued “goes to the heart of any justification defense” in the lightning-rod subway chokehold case.

Defense attorneys for the ex-Marine — who faces manslaughter charges for allegedly choking Neely to death on a Manhattan train car in May 2023 — want forensic psychiatrist Dr. Alexander Bardey to testify about Neely’s abuse of the synthetic cannabinoid at next month’s trial.

They also want to introduce Neely’s voluminous psychiatric records, which include 6,000 pages’ worth of material that detail the homeless man’s family history, surgeries, prior “bad acts” and more, according to court documents.

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Daniel Penny choking homeless man Jordan Neely on a Manhattan subway car in May 2023.

Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said in a recent filing that the testimony and records would only serve to batter Neely’s reputation before the jury.

“Their suggested introduction is a transparent attempt by the defense to smear the victim’s character so that the jury will devalue his life,” Assistant District Attorney Dafna Yoran wrote about the defense’s request.

The doctor’s proposed testimony about Neely’s past volatile behavior and aggressive tendencies is “clearly impermissible” because it’s not related to the fatal encounter, the prosecutor wrote.

“The only thing relevant to the justification defense is the victim’s behavior at the time of the incident,” Yoran continued.

“Numerous witnesses will testify regarding Mr. Neely’s aggressive behavior on the date of the incident. The jury does not need and cannot be permitted to hear Dr. Bardey’s opine as to why Mr. Neely was aggressive.”

In a response dated Tuesday, Penny’s attorney, Thomas Kenniff, wrote that the defense had no intention of trying to smear Neely’s reputation in open court.

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Penny’s defense attorneys want to detail Neely’s drug use and psychiatric history during the trial — a move the prosecution opposes.Matthew McDermott for NY Post

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Neely had a long history of mental illness and was allegedly a frequent abuser of the synthetic cannibiod called K2.Provided by Carolyn Neely

“Instead … it is the Government’s motives that should be examined, as they seek to impede the jury’s truth-seeking function by suggesting that jurors be barred from considering facts relevant to issues material to this case,” Kenniff wrote in the filing.

The attorney also argued that the testimony and evidence would “demonstrate that Mr. Neely was likely under the influence of K2 and experiencing a psychotic episode when he boarded the Queens-bound F train on May of last year, the manifestations of which made his appearance and affect more pronounced and hence more threatening to Mr. Penny and his fellow riders.”

That information, he continued, would “inform the jurors’ understanding as to the plausibility of the witness accounts and the degree of hostility that Mr. Neely exhibited.”

Neely’s toxicology reports confirmed he had K2 in his system when he died, Kenniff said. But the report didn’t say how much was present.

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Penny has said he didn’t mean to kill the homeless man.William Farrington

The expert testimony would show that Neely was using the drug right before his fatal encounter with Penny, and that he was showing the same behavioral traits of someone mired in the throes of a K2 high, the attorney said.

“Mr. Neely’s actions at the time of this incident, when viewed through the lens of his treatment history, suggest that he was off his medications, abusing K2, and experiencing a psychotic episode,” the attorney wrote.

“Concepts like proportionality, de-escalation and, of course, reasonableness, are woven into the very fabric of this case,” Kenniff continued.

“It is impossible for the jury to fairly weigh the evidence, and to afford Mr. Penny the fair trial he is constitutionally guaranteed, unless permitted a full understanding of the aggression, irrationality and terror that Mr. Neely was manifesting.”

Penny, a former infantry squad leader, was indicted on charges of second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide for the caught-on-camera confrontation that left Neely dead on the floor of a Manhattan F train.

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The Post’s front page after Neely’s death.

Penny’s attorneys had tried to get the case dismissed in October, claiming there were issues with the prosecutors’ instructions to the grand jury and that the city medical examiner never conclusively established that Penny’s actions killed the homeless man during the struggle.

But Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley waved that off, ruling the examiner’s testimony and Neely’s death certificate were more than enough to “establish that [the] defendant’s actions caused the death of Neely.”

Penny — who is free on $100,000 bail — faces up to 19 years behind bars if convicted of killing Neely, who witnesses say launched into an explosive tirade during a train ride on May 1, 2023.

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EMS workers tried to help Neely, but he didn’t make it.Paul Martinka for NY Post

A former Michael Jackson impersonator, Neely had a lengthy history of mental illness and was allegedly threatening other straphangers before Penny stepped behind him and sunk the chokehold that eventually killed him, according to the medical examiner.

Penny has said he didn’t mean to do it.

But he thought he needed to step in and shield his fellow subway riders from Neely, who witnesses say was tossing trash and screaming that he was willing to “kill a motherf—er” and go to jail.

A lawyer for Neely’s family said earlier this year that Neely was riding the train unarmed and asking for food that day.

“He had no gun, he had no knife, he was hungry,” attorney Lennon Edwards said. “In his desperation, he was emotional. But distress does not mean dangerous.”

“So we’re asking you to keep an open mind — and remember the pain that this family is suffering.”

The trial is expected to start Oct. 21.

https://nypost.com/2024/09/18/us-news/daniel-penny-manslaughter-trial-da-wants-to-ban-testimony-on-jordan-neelys-psych-history-k-2-abuse-before-subway-chokehold-death/

Judge keeps Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs behind bars pending trial as damning new texts revealed

 Damning new text messages were revealed Wednesday in the sex-trafficking case against Sean “Diddy” Combs — as a Manhattan judge ruled the hip-hop mogul would remain behind bars pending trial.

Manhattan federal Judge Andrew Carter, Jr. said Combs’ proposal for home detention and electronic monitoring on $50 million bail were “insufficient” – upholding a magistrate judge’s Tuesday ruling to remand him.

Prosecutor Emily Johnson, during the hearing on Combs’ bail request, used messages between the Bad Boy Records founder and his alleged victims to bolster her argument that he should remain jailed.

One victim allegedly messaged Combs on Nov. 19 after reading allegations in Cassie Ventura’s Nov. 16 lawsuit against the rapper, saying Ventura’s claims sounded like her own.

Combs was held without bail after pleading not guilty to sex-trafficking charges on Tuesday.AP

“I feel like I’m reading my own sexual trauma,” the message, read in court by the prosecutor, said.

“It makes me sick how three solid pages word for word is exactly my experiences and my anguish,” the alleged victim wrote.

Johnson said prosecutors have recordings in which Combs “gaslit” the woman and “attempted to convince her that she had willingly engaged in sex acts with him.”

She also read out messages Combs allegedly sent to Ventura after the infamous caught-on-video attack that he unleashed on his ex-girlfriend, an R&B singer once signed to his label.While Ventura’s name was not said in court, it was clear who the parties were referring to when referencing the March 5, 2016 assault, footage of which was made public by CNN in May.

“Call me, the cops are here,” Combs texted her, according to Johnson. “I got six kids. You, please call. I’m surrounded. You gonna abandon me all alone.”

She replied: “I have a black eye and a fat lip. You are sick for thinking it’s okay to do what you’ve done. I still have crazy bruising.”

Here's what we know about the allegations against Sean "Diddy" Combs

• Combs was arrested Monday evening at a New York hotel.
• Prosecutors allege Combs participated in sex trafficking and ‘freak off’ parties.
• Sean “Diddy” Combs’ homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by Homeland Security in March amid a possible ongoing sex-trafficking investigation.
• Authorities targeted the rapper’s homes to seize phones and computers, sources told The Post.
• In November 2023, the rapper was accused of drugging, filming and sexually assaulting a woman on a date in 1991.

Johnson also read messages an unnamed victim wrote to Combs that said, “You always want to show me that you have the power, and you knock me around. I’m not a rag doll. I’m someone’s child.”

If Combs were freed, it could keep witnesses from testifying against him, the prosecutor said.

“Witnesses have expressed to us their extreme fear of the defendant,” Johnson told the judge.

Combs’ defense attorney, Marc Agnifilo, assured the judge his client would make all of his court appearances and would abide by their proposed bail conditions — including the promise he wouldn’t have women over his Miami, Florida home where he proposed the detention take place.

“A jury of 12 New Yorkers found him not guilty,” Agnifilo said, referencing a 2001 shooting case in Manhattan. 

Combs seen in Central park the day before his arrest./ SWNS

“This is someone who actually has shown that when the chips are down, when the pressure is on, he doesn’t do anything that he’s not supposed to do,” the attorney continued. 

“He shows up on time, he shows up every day. He didn’t do anything with witnesses.”

But Carter ultimately said even with the slew of conditions that Combs’ lawyers offered to petition for his release to home detention, Combs could still “obstruct justice and intimidate witnesses” through other people — even through coded messages.

He ordered that Combs remain at the infamous Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Combs is due back in court on Oct. 9.

The judge also pressed Agnifilo, about the 2016 beating, calling it “quite disturbing.”

Agnifilo tried to write it off as a one-time occurence and insisted that Combs — who said he took “full responsibility” for his “inexcusable” behavior after the footage was released — was a reformed man after undergoing rehab.

“In the weeks and months after the video, Mr. Combs realized he has a problem with drug addiction and has a problem with anger. He went into a rehab program for a period of time,” Agnifilo said, and claimed that Ventura also sought treatment at a facility.

The attorney described their 10-year relationship — which began when Ventura was in her early 20s and Combs was around 40 — as loving but “toxic,” saying there had been cheating on both sides. 

But the judge said the video showed violence, kicking and screaming.

“What does love have to do with that?” he asked.

At the end of the hearing, which was attended by Combs’ three sons, the music producer, wearing a black t-shirt and dark grey sweatpants, put his hands behind his back and was escorted out of the courtroom by two federal agents.

https://nypost.com/2024/09/18/us-news/damning-new-texts-revealed-in-sean-diddy-combs-sex-crimes-case-as-judge-rules-to-keep-music-mogul-locked-up-pending-trial/