ISIS looters of Jonah's tomb in Nineveh inadvertently made a whale of a discovery. Now that the terror group has been driven from the site, archaeologists in Iraq are confirming discovery of a palace that a notorious enemy of ancient Israel called his home.

It sometimes seems that Israelis are more concerned about persecuted Christians in the Middle East than Christians in the West. Instead of arguing about Christmas, Seth Frantzman, op-ed editor of the Jerusalem Post, wonders how the radically dwindled community of Christians in Iraq are going to celebrate it.

With ISIS under attack by the Russian coalition in Syria and the US coalition in Iraq, it should be on the run. Instead it is on the offense, launching a terror attack in Cairo yesterday. That attack could be the first strike in Islamic State's promised holiday terror campaign throughout the Middle East - and beyond.

The US-led coalition to liberate Mosul from ISIS has petered out. ISIS leaders and troops are strolling back into town without a fight. Meanwhile in Aleppo, ISIS is on the run from a Moscow-Tehran coalition. Why has the US op failed? And when Trump inherits the problem, Jerusalem wonders, will he turn the entire fight against Islamic State over to Putin, and by default Iran?

Iran's agenda is to expand its borders, and it is openly saying so. Yesterday a high ranking general bragged that Iran is extending its boundaries "from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean." It is a boundary reminiscent of the First Syrian Empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BCE.