THE SHOW NOTES: Hamas Hostage Video, Biden Visits Israel, & Can Jim Jordan Win?
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Latest On Israel
Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Israel on Wednesday while Israel grapples with how to target Hamas terrorists while navigating a growing humanitarian crisis inside Gaza. The visit is aimed at pressuring the Egyptians to open the Rafah Crossing for humanitarian safe zones to be created in southern Gaza.
Hostage: Hamas released a video of Mia Schem, a 21-year-old hostage whom Hamas abducted at the infamous music festival where 260 of her fellow Israelis were murdered. Mia Schem is one of 200 captives held by Hamas while other terrorist factions claim to hold an additional 50 captives.
Ground offensive: The complicated nature of 250 hostages spread across Gaza has given Israel pause on launching a formal ground invasion. An Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson said, "Everyone is talking about a ground offensive, it might be something different.” The densely populated urban corridors of northern Gaza combined with the extensive network of Hamas-dug tunnels means a ground invasion's civilian and Israeli death toll could be significant. Hamas claimed this morning an Israeli airstrike killed one of its senior leaders.
Iran: The Iranian government issued an explicit threat claiming Israel would experience "another shockwave" if it didn’t cease its attack on Hamas militants in Gaza. While direct involvement from Iran would be unlikely, the multitude of Iran-directed proxy militias in neighboring countries could force Israel into a multi-front war.
US: The United States military is weighing the option of deploying 2,000 non-combat Marines to assist the Israelis. The US troops would join two US carrier strike groups stationed in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Speaker Jordan?
The House of Representatives is set to vote on whether Jim Jordan will be the next Speaker at 1 pm today. The narrowly divided caucus means Jordan can only afford to lose three GOP votes.
Context: On Friday, Jordan had 55 Republican members saying they would never vote for him. Now, according to CNN, there are 5 hard no’s, 4 lean no’s, and 3 undecideds. This matches Chip Roy’s statement to the Washington Examiner that there are 8-10 GOP holdouts.
Opposing Jordan: Many of those opposing Jordan simply believe he is too close to Donald Trump and would be doing his bidding while others claim Jordan would do nothing to punish Matt Gaetz for throwing the chamber into chaos. Still, others have grown increasingly resentful of Jordan’s high-pressure campaign that included roping in Sean Hannity to serve as an attack dog to pressure Jordan-leery House members to vote yes.
Quote from Jake Sherman: “Look past the speaker election for a moment: The House