The Daily Signal - Biden Administration Pressures Israel to Ratchet Down High-Intensity Attacks in Gaza, Blackrock is Sued Over ESG Investments | Dec. 18

Starting point is 00:00:02 I'm Brian Gottstein, and this is the Daily Signal Top News for Monday, December 18th. Here are today's headlines. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is visiting Israel and pressuring the nation to ease off its intense offensive against Hamas in Gaza. Israel's ground campaign began on October 27th and has continued since. Any large-scale military operation will have phases, Austin said to reporters on Monday, according to the times of Israel. He noted that at some point, point, the military campaign should switch from aggressively targeting Hamas and other terrorist groups

Starting point is 00:00:48 to a more humanitarian mission. However, he said in a video via Sky News that the U.S. ultimately wouldn't dictate what Israel should do. This is Israel's operation, and I'm not here to dictate timelines or terms. Our support to Israel's right to defend itself is ironclad, as you've heard me say, a number of times and that's not going to change. It's critical, as I said earlier, that Hamas not be able to threaten Israel from Gaza or even threaten Gaza anymore. You know, that's an interest that we all share. It's a common interest with all of us.

Starting point is 00:01:35 And so today we had great discussions about the status of the campaign, about goals objectives and about how to reduce harm to civilians in the battle space and the need to ensure a sustained flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza. U.S.-based Human Rights Watch has accused Israel of cutting off the delivery of food, water, and other materials to Gaza. Israeli authorities say that while the war to destroy Hamas continues, Israel has not shut off the transmission of aid to Gaza's civilians. We placed zero restrictions on the amount of food and water that are being allowed into the Gaza Strip, Israeli government spokesperson Tal Heinrich said,

Starting point is 00:02:24 according to Reuters. The Israel Defense Force announced on Sunday that it's discovered the largest Hamas tunnel in Gaza, about 2.5 miles long. The vast tunnel is part of a large web of underground tunnels. Hamas is built underneath Gaza. The IDF said it discovered the tunnel a few weeks ago. It's large enough to drive vehicles through and extends about 160 feet underground. It's equipped with electrical and communications equipment. The tunnel stops about a quarter of a mile before Gaza's border with Israel. According to the IDF, the tunnel and others like it are used for moving militants and conducting attacks. According to CNN, the IDF says that it's exposed hundreds of terror tunnel shafts throughout the Gaza Strip and says it's looking to locate and destroy dozens of

Starting point is 00:03:13 attack tunnel roots. Pope Francis and the Vatican caused a stir on Monday when they released a document saying that priests can offer certain blessings to same-sex couples. While the document didn't change the church's view on same-sex marriage, it does lay out guidelines for what it calls irregular situations. The Daily Caller reports. It states that in certain circumstances, priests may bless couples, quote, in irregular situations and same-sex couples without official.

Starting point is 00:03:44 validating their status or changing in any way the church's perennial teaching on marriage. Several conservative Catholic bishops wrote to Pope Francis in July and August, asking that he explain the church's positions on same-sex marriage and female ordination. God never turns away anyone who approaches him. Ultimately, a blessing offers people a means to increase their trust in God, the document says. It goes on to say, the request for a blessing thus expresses and nurtures openness to the transcendence, mercy, and closeness to God in a thousand concrete circumstances of life, which is no small thing in the world in which we live. Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Scermetti sued the investment firm BlackRock for

Starting point is 00:04:31 deceptive practices on Monday. This comes from an exclusive report by Tyler O'Neill in The Daily Signal. Black Rock has said two things that can't be true, Scermetti told the Daily Signal on Monday. The first, is that they're taking investors money and investing it purely to maximize the return on investment. But they've also put out statements saying that they're committed to net zero carbon emissions to combat climate change by certain dates. He said that they've made lots of statements about working to use all the assets under their management to further the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. And both of those can't be true. Scermetti alleges that BlackRock

Starting point is 00:05:13 violates the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act by engaging in deceptive practices in its environmental, social, and governance, or ESG goals. BlackRock has helped lead the movement to force climate goals on companies in the name of ESG. While states have passed laws to restrict the use of ESG goals in making investment decisions, Scermetti's lawsuit represents the first civil enforcement action against Black Rock for ESG deception. Harvard University has scrubbed and changed the diversity, equity, and inclusion sections of the school's website. The Daily Caller reported that a web archive of the site shows that some parts have been deleted entirely. Daily Caller pointed to the sections called Heritage Months and Identity Recognitions and Gender Identity and Pronouns at Harvard.

Starting point is 00:06:06 These sections now divert to a diversity and inclusion homepage. An archive of what appears to be a now deleted section on affirming language defines various words like heteronormativity, womanist, and white fragility. Heteronormativity is defined as the assumption that everyone is heterosexual and that heterosexual is superior to other sexualities. And womanist is defined as a black feminist or feminist of color who appreciates and prefers women's culture, the Daily Caller noted. So far, Harvard hasn't been.

Starting point is 00:06:40 commented about the deletions. The university has been in the news recently following the October 7th terrorist attack on Israel that sparked anti-Israel protests and anti-Semitic incidents at Harvard and on other campuses. The university attracted even more attention after its president, Claudine Gay, appeared before a House committee on anti-Semitism. She wouldn't say if anti-Semitism and calls for genocide would be treated as harassment on her campus. And that'll do it for today's episode. Thank you for listening to The Daily Signal's top news. If you haven't gotten a chance, be sure to check out our morning show right here in this podcast feed,

Starting point is 00:07:20 where we interview lawmakers, experts, and leading conservative voices. Join us tomorrow morning for the Daily Signal interview edition, where Tyler O'Neill will interview Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Scermetti. And also make sure you subscribe to the Daily Signal wherever you get your podcasts. and help us to reach more listeners by leaving a five-star rating and review. We read all your feedback. Thanks again for listening. Have a great night, and we'll be back with you all tomorrow morning.

Starting point is 00:07:49 The Daily Signal podcast is brought to you by more than half a million members of the Heritage Foundation. Executive producers are Rob Louis and Kate Trinko. Producers are Virginia Allen and Samantha Asheras. Sound designed by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, and John Pop. To learn more, please visit DailySignal.com.

The Daily Signal - Biden Administration Pressures Israel to Ratchet Down High-Intensity Attacks in Gaza, Blackrock is Sued Over ESG Investments | Dec. 18

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