Barry Shaw: The False Premise of Palestine and Peace
The notion that the creation of a state of Palestine will herald everlasting peace is naïve in the extreme.
After 50 years of a two-state failure, the French and other diplomats, in their duplicitously-named "peace initiative," have no other idea for how to settle the Palestinian problem, except to behave like parched men trudging across a burning desert toward a distant mirage that they think is an oasis paradise. It is not, and the same diplomats will take no responsibility for cleaning up the dangerous outcome of such a disaster.
The international community is pressuring Israel to make wholesale concessions in territory and security, risking social and political upheaval, to grant the so-called Palestinians a state of their own.
The sole criterion for making this happen is for the international community to accept the Palestinian precondition of forcing Israel withdraw to pre-1967 lines, which are the 1949 armistice lines and not a defined border.
Whenever I approach a European diplomat with the following questions, none of them can give me an answer:
1) What happens when a new emboldened Palestinian government continues calls for the liberation of the "rest of Palestine"?
They call Haifa, Acre, Jaffa and the Galilee -- in fact, all of Israel -- "occupied Palestinian land". Just look at any Palestinian map: it is identical to Israel.
It is little known that members of the Palestinian Authority call Israeli Arabs "Palestinians of the Interior."
They also call Israeli Arabs the "Palestinians of '48." They have been joined in this by Arab Knesset Members, who also would not object to the eventual displacement of Jews by Arabs in Israel.
According to their ambition, these Israeli Arabs will be "liberated" by a new Palestine.
Caroline Glick: Amona and the rule of law
Following the initial High Court ruling, Yesh Din decided to take matters a step further. Based on the ruling it filed a separate civil suit against Israel’s military administration for damages in the name of the purported owners.
Yehuda Yifrach reported Friday in Makor Rishon that once the suit was filed, the Jerusalem District Court acted to ascertain the actual scope of the ownership rights under question. It was determined that a mere half-acre of Amona was built on lands to which the Palestinians made claim. The rest of their claims pertained to land outside of the community altogether.
In other words, once the actual claims of ownership were examined it worked out that a mere fraction of the community was built on privately owned land. It further worked out that the precise areas that were owned by claimants are non-contiguous and indiscernible, but all were generally located on smidgens of plots on the southern side of the community.
Others have disputed Yifrach’s findings. But that is part of the problem of ascertaining the validity of ownership claims.
At any rate, as Yifrach noted, rather than say that the owners would be compensated for the half acre, whose specific locations were unclear, the Attorney General’s office decided that all the plots that included privately owned land had to be destroyed. Thus the Attorney General’s lawyers magically transformed a half acre into 15 acres, covering the entire southern part of Amona.
The government then decided it would raze only the homes located on those 15 acres and move the families to new homes in Amona on undisputed plots in the northern half of the community.
The Supreme Court would have none of that, however.
The justices insisted that their initial decision that all 60 acres be razed to the ground still stands.
'Erdogan hasn't changed, he's still hostile to Israel and supports Hamas'
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has not decreased his hostility to Israel and continues to serve as a patron to Hamas and other terrorist groups despite having signed a reconciliation deal with Israel, former Interior Minister Gideon Sa'ar charged on Tuesday.'I don't agree with what Hitler did and I don't agree with what Israel did in Gaza'
Sa'ar's comments to Army Radio came a week after Israel and Turkey essentially resumed full diplomatic ties by mutually naming new ambassadors and a day after Erdogan gave an interview to Israel's Channel 2 in which he refused to back down from comparisons of Israel's actions in Gaza to those of the Nazis.
"Erdogan is the same Erdogan, and the interview yesterday was important because it showed those who believe we are truly turning a new page, as a result of the deal agreed to five months ago, that this is an illusion," Sa'ar said.
Sa'ar, a former Likud ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is now seen as a potential challenger to his rule, said that while rehabilitating ties with Turkey is important for Israel, it should not have been done at any cost. The former minister attacked Israel's decision to agree to pay compensation to the families of Turkish flotilla activists killed in clashes with IDF naval commandos aboard the Mavi Marmara vessel in May 2010.
Just a week after Israel and Turkey resumed full diplomatic ties by mutually naming new ambassadors, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sounded anything but conciliatory in an interview aired Monday in which he refused to back down from comments equating Israel's actions in Gaza in 2014 with Nazi atrocities.FBI: New York Man Arrested After Attempting to Plan Nice-Style Attack on Times Square
Erdogan, in an interview with Ilana Dayan of Channel 2's "Uvda" program, was asked whether he regretted those remarks.
"I don't agree with what Hitler did and I don't agree with what Israel did in Gaza."
Instead of walking back his his previous statements comparing Hitler and Israel's actions in the 2014 conflict with Hamas in Gaza, Erdogan deflected the conversation from the reference to the systematic murder of more than six million Jews by the Nazis to the Palestinian death count in Operation Protective Edge.
"There is no point in comparing and asking who is more barbaric," he concluded.
A New York man was arrested Monday for attempting to join the Islamic State and planning a Nice-style terrorist attack on Times Square, according to the FBI.State Department Issues Travel Alert for Europe Ahead of Holiday Season
Mohammed Rafik Naji, 37, traveled to Turkey and Yemen in an effort to join the terrorist group before returning to his home in Brooklyn, N.Y., in September 2015, Reuters reported, citing court documents. He was charged with attempting to provide support to ISIS.
In a Facebook message sent to a U.S.-based informant on July 19, five days after the ISIS-claimed attack in Nice that killed 84 people, Naji advocated a similar attack in New York’s Times Square.
“They want an operation in Times Square, reconnaissance group already put out a scene, the Islamic State already put up scenes of Times Square, you understand,” Naji said, according to court papers. “I said that was an indication for whoever is smart to know.”
Naji, who was born in Yemen, revealed his support for ISIS in a number of Facebook posts that included a photo of the militant group’s black flag, videos of jihadists fighting, and a YouTube video of an ISIS spokesman encouraging attacks on the West, the New York Daily News reported.
The State Department on Monday warned Americans traveling to Europe of an increased risk of terrorist attacks, particularly over the holiday season.A White House that is for settling the Land Of Israel
"Credible information indicates the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL the U.S. gov't acronym for ISIS or Da'esh), al-Qaeda, and their affiliates continue to plan terrorist attacks in Europe, with a focus on the upcoming holiday season and associated events," the travel advisory read.
The State Department urged travelers to avoid large crowds and exercise caution at tourist sites, festivals, large holiday events and outdoor markets. The agency also warned that these attacks can come with little or no warning
Terrorists have already carried out attacks in Belgium, France, Germany, and Turkey this year but the advisory warns of the potential for attacks throughout the continent.
Related: Turkey Issues Travel Warning About U.S., Citing Protests
The State Department issued a similar alert in May warning that the larger number of tourists visiting Europe in summer months presented greater targets for potential terrorist attacks in public locations including, "major events, tourist sites, restaurants, commercial centers and transportation."
In 2008, Barack Obama said: “I think there is a strain within the pro-Israel community that says unless you adopt a unwavering pro-Likud approach to Israel that you’re anti-Israel and that can’t be the measure of our friendship with Israel.”Ruthie Blum: Why Abbas does not emulate Sadat
Obama reportedly described Israel’s elected government as “extreme right”, and told Peter Beinart, the American Jewish journalist who supports a boycott of Israel to “hang in there.”
In a 2015 speech at the White House, he noted “I came to know Israel as a young man through these incredible images of kibbutzim, and Moshe Dayan, and Golda Meir, and Israel overcoming incredible odds in the ’67 war. The notion of pioneers who set out not only to safeguard a nation, but to remake the world. Not only to make the desert bloom, but to allow their values to flourish; to ensure that the best of Judaism would thrive.”
But the reality is that Obama has consistently been hostile towards Israel.
If the Obama White House viewed Israel through the prism of kibbutzim, Moshe Dayan and Golda Meir, the Trump White House is shaping up to be one that is comfortable with the ways of Rav Kook, Menachem Begin and Ze’ev Jabotinsky. Free market values, a whole Land of Israel and a stand against radical terrorists.
A Fox News op-ed asked half-seriously today, “Did we just elect our first Jewish President?”
This weekend marked the 39th anniversary of slain Egyptian President Anwar Sadat's historic visit to Jerusalem -- a move spurred by the late Arab leader's decision to switch from the Soviet axis to that of the United States.Did Obama’s “Daylight” with Israel Bring Peace?
Instead of facilitating this monumental Mideast shift, U.S. President Jimmy Carter -- the Democrat whose mixture of leftism and incompetence led to the election of Republican contender Ronald Reagan -- did his best to botch it up.
Because he was delusional about the nature of global politics and the concept of peace, Carter attempted to prevent Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin from working out the delicate process by themselves, and pushed for the involvement of the Soviet Union, his country's sworn enemy, in the negotiations.
This made it necessary for Sadat and Begin to go behind the back of the very person who should have been championing their effort to block Moscow.
This is why the iconic photo of Sadat, Begin and Carter shaking hands on the White House lawn at the completion of the treaty -- which would result in Sadat's assassination -- is nausea-inducing. If anyone should have been left out of that picture, it was Carter. And in fact, within less than a year, his single term in office would be terminated by the American public for his outlandish efforts at weakening the country's international standing. Even his wide grin could not camouflage the fact that U.S. diplomats had been taken hostage in Tehran by the Islamic revolutionaries who ousted the Shah of Iran, while Carter sat back and did nothing.
Early on in his first term, President Barack Obama suggested that in order to achieve peace between Israeli and the Palestinians, there needed to be more “daylight” between the United States and Israel.Bennett met Trump aides, urged alternative to two-state plan
Obama, according to a report on a meeting between the president and American Jewish leaders, said, referring to the Bush administration, “During those eight years, there was no space between us and Israel, and what did we get from that? When there is no daylight, Israel just sits on the sidelines, and that erodes our credibility with the Arab states.”
During Obama’s two terms in office, he made efforts to put daylight between his administration and Israel, and not just in terms of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: in 2010 the administration harangued Netanyahu over a plan to build apartments in Jerusalem, the administration pursued the nuclear deal with Iran over Israeli objections, senior administration officials, on and off the record, have disparaged Netanyahu, and Obama is said to be considering a move in the UN to support Palestinian statehood.
Despite all this a final peace agreement does not appear any closer than it did in 2009.
Presumably, ties between Israel and a Trump administration would be warmer.
But two experts tell us that that may not be a good thing for Israel, or at least Netanyahu.
Education Minister Naftali Bennett met recently with members of US President-elect Donald Trump’s team, likely prompting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to issue his ban on ministers directly contacting the incoming president’s staff, sources said Tuesday.Taskforce to explore outpost regulation based on Cyprus model
Bennett reportedly urged that the future Trump administration look at alternatives to the two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including his own plan to annex some parts of the West Bank while giving Palestinians increased autonomy in others areas of the territory.
Bennett’s Jewish Home party confirmed on Tuesday that the minister held two sit-down meetings with “Trump officials from various levels.”
Party sources added that it was very likely that it was when Netanyahu found out about the meetings that he decided to lay down his blanket ban on ministers talking with Trump officials.
Bennett, who has been visiting the US in his capacity as Diaspora minister, was on his way back to Israel and was expected to address the matter during a Wednesday conference he was scheduled to attend, the sources said.
Israel will explore the possibility of regulating outposts based on a model that was adopted to resolve land disputes between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, Israel Hayom learned Sunday.Analysis: Why is ICC allegedly in contact with Hamas terrorists’ families?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has recently met with Professor Joseph Weiler, an international law expert who helped devise the Cyprus arbitration mechanism, as part of his ongoing effort to find a legal footing to Judea and Samaria outposts and avoid the forceful eviction of their residents.
The mechanism that Weiler devised, which operates under the auspices of the European Court of Human Rights, has helped resolve disputes between Greek and Turkish Cypriot landowners, who claimed their land was used without their consent following the partition of the island in the mid-1970s. Many cases culminated in financial compensation being awarded to the landowners, without the residents being evicted.
The meeting comes ahead of the Dec. 25 deadline for the removal of Amona, an illegal Samaria outpost that the High Court of Justice ruled was built on private Palestinian property. The government has considered a variety of solutions to avoid Amona's eviction -- in part because of the political ramifications this could have on the coalition -- while simultaneously moving forward on a bill to regulate other outposts.
Following the meeting with Weiler, Netanyahu decided to set up a special taskforce to explore the possibility of adopting his model.
While the full picture still is unclear, indications have begun to suggest the existence of back channel contact between the International Criminal Court prosecutor and Hamas.Deputy FM hopes to break the international West Bank paradigm
The first sign came from Hamas itself. On October 10, former Hamas health minister Bassem Naim distributed a picture of himself, allegedly talking with the ICC delegation via video conference, during one of its visits to Israel and the West Bank, a visit in which Gaza was notably skipped.
That is interesting, because the delegation leader, Phakiso Mochochoko, in an October 7 interview with The Jerusalem Post, claimed that the Gaza visit was canceled over safety concerns, and no contact with the armed group was made.
The next sign of a back channels came on November 9, when sources told the Post and an Italian publication, that ICC staff held off-book meetings with families of Hamas terrorists.
When confronted with the two different versions of ICC contact with Hamas, the Foreign Ministry, and sources which normally have something to say, at least off-the-record, were utterly silent.
Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) has big plans for next year, the 50th anniversary of the Six Day War. She seeks to alter what she terms “the false paradigm” that has taken root in the international community, claiming that Israel is an illegal occupier.AP Corrects: US Does Not Consider Settlements 'Illegal'
The false paradigm has developed over the decades following the war in light of Israel’s continued presence in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), east Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and, until 2005, Gaza.
Israel, however, has always maintained that it is not an occupying force. The territory is disputed, and Hotovely, who will be addressing the Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference on Wednesday, wants to drive home that point, as well highlighting the millennia of Jewish history in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
“The Foreign Ministry needs to lead the battle against the term ‘occupation,’” she said. “It is my flagship project to try to break this myth.”
This flagship project is part of a broader initiative by Hotovely to reverse years of Israeli diplomats avoiding discussing the Israeli-Arab conflict.
CAMERA's Israel office has prompted correction of a Nov. 16 Associated Press article which wrongly reported that the United States views Israeli settlements as illegal. The AP correction has so far appeared in The New York Times, ABC News, The Montreal Gazette, The Los Angeles Times and The Palm Beach Post, all of which published the error. CAMERA is in communication with the remaining AP clients who have not yet corrected the erroneous item.UN ambassador Danon reveals how Iran is arming Hezbollah
The Nov. 16 article by Tia Goldbenberg had erroneously referred to "Israel's West Bank settlement construction, which the U.S. and much of the international community view as illegal and an obstacle to peace."
Since the Reagan administration, which explicitly said it did not believe the settlements were illegal, U.S. administrations have instead characterized the settlements as an obstacle to peace and illegitimate. The current U.S. government, and numerous preceding American administrations, have not characterized the settlements as "illegal."
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon revealed newly released intelligence today to the Security Council which shows that Iran is using civilian flights to Lebanon to send arms and ammunition to Hezbollah, according to a report by Israeli media representatives in the UN.The Har Nof attack – two years later
In a letter to Security Council members, Ambassador Danon outlined the smuggling route of the Iranian Republican Guard. “Iran is using airlines such as ‘Mahan Air’, to supply Hezbollah with the capacity to enhance its missile arsenal. The arms and related materials are packed in suitcases by the Quds Force in Iran and transferred directly to Hezbollah operatives,” wrote Ambassador Danon. The Ambassador added that the arms are either flown by “commercial flights to Beirut,” or flown to “Damascus and then transferred by land,” to Hezbollah.
Ambassador Danon cautioned the Security Council that Iran is “in blatant violation of numerous Security Council resolutions,” including resolutions 2231 and 1701. Resolution 2231 endorsed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear agreement while putting in place additional restrictions on Iran, while resolution 1701 put in place the ceasefire ending the Second Lebanon War with Hezbollah.
Two years ago, two terrorists from East Jerusalem came into a synagogue on Agassi Street in Har Nof during morning prayers and attacked the unarmed worshipers with guns, knives, and axes, murdering four and wounding another seven, one of which died later of his wounds. Two policemen who were near the scene ran to the synagogue and had a shootout with the terrorists in which the terrorists and one policeman were killed.Doctor becomes first Ethiopian colonel in IDF history
Rabbi Eliyahu Feldman spoke to Arutz Sheva about his brother-in-law, Rabbi Moshe Twersky, who was among the worshipers murdered two years ago.
“After two years, you can see more clearly what we lost, said Rabbi Feldman. “He was modest, talented, full of kindness, exacting in his performance of mitzvot, and frequently accompanied his children as they delivered baskets of food to the needy.”
“Apparently, he had completed his mission in this world. Every time I met with my sister-in-law, I could see how hard it was for her and how challenging it was to find comfort. But it wasn’t a punishment. He had apparently finished his purpose here and left us groaning.”
Concerning the Druze policeman who was killed fighting the terrorists, he said, “This is someone who gave up his life to protect Jews. He’s among the righteous gentiles of the world.”
The Israel Defense Forces has its first colonel of Ethiopian descent: Lt. Col. Dr. Avraham Yitzhak has been appointed chief medical officer for the Southern Command and will be promoted to the rank of colonel.Israel’s Coordinator of Gov’t Activities in West Bank, Gaza to Hold First-Ever Live Facebook Chat in Arabic to Answer Palestinians’ Questions
Yitzhak completed high school in Addis Ababa at age 15 and was the first Ethiopian immigrant to earn a medical degree in Israel. He graduated from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 1999 and was valedictorian of his class. Yitzhak was also the first Ethiopian Israeli to serve as an IDF physician.
The groundbreaking appointment was made Monday in a discussion of promotions led by IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot.
The forum also decided that Military Judge Lt. Col. Carmel Wahabi -- currently a member of the three-judge panel presiding over the trial of Sgt. Elor Azaria who is accused of shooting an immobilized terrorist in Hebron -- will be promoted to colonel and appointed president of the Special Military Court and president of the General Staff and Homefront Command Court.
Three women were also promoted to the rank of colonel, one of whom, Lt. Col. Liron Donal, will be the first woman to command a district in the Homefront Command.
IDF Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai will conduct the live Q+A on COGAT’s Arabic Facebook page – Al-Munassiq (the coordinator) — with residents of the West Bank and Gaza StripPalestinian killed while trying to stab guard at crossing — police
The event, to take place on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Israel-time, was advertised via a video clip, in which Mordechai urged Palestinians to participate.
More than 76,000 Palestinians and Arabs from elsewhere in the Middle East follow the Arabic COGAT page, which was created eight months ago, with the aim of engaging in direct dialogue with the Palestinians and to convey reliable information about Israeli policy.
As The Algemeiner reported in August, just as news broke of Hamas’s theft of millions of dollars in humanitarian aid sent to Gaza by the American NGO World Vision, Mordechai posted a video message on the Al-Munassiq page, in which he said:
I am addressing you today to talk about the terrorist organization, Hamas, which steals your money in order to promote terrorism…Millions of dollars — which were intended for initiating projects, providing financial assistance for residents, and even for food packages for the needy — were transferred by Hamas to its military wing to build [terror] bases, to pay bonuses and salaries and to dig the death tunnels that will bring about your destruction and Gaza’s – something that cannot be. Hamas is burying you and your hopes of living like everyone else…
A Palestinian man armed with a knife was shot and killed by Israeli security forces as he attempted to stab a guard at a crossing outside Jerusalem Tuesday morning, police said.Jerusalem Police arrest 2 Arab minors for Facebook terrorism incitement
The incident occurred at the Qalandiya Crossing north of Jerusalem, which links the capital to the Palestinian refugee camp of the same name.
The attacker was declared dead of his wounds at the scene, a police spokesperson said. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the man as Jihad Mohammad Sa’id Khalil (48), from Beit Wazan, located west of Nablus.
According to police, the assailant walked toward guards manning an area meant for vehicular traffic. When asked for his ID, he drew a knife and “tussled” with a guard. He was then shot by responding forces.
Two Arab east Jerusalem teens were arrested for incitement on Sunday night after an undercover police unit found an inflammatory Facebook page created by both suspects praising a notorious terrorist, and calling on thousands of “friends” to continue his legacy.MEMRI: Israeli Intellectual On Israeli 'Muezzin Bill': Mosque Loudspeakers Disturb The Arab And Muslim Public Too
“The two 15-year-old Arab minors created a Facebook page to honor the terrorist, Baha Elian, who killed three Israeli men and wounded many others on a bus in Armon Hanatziv last year, before being shot and killed by police,” said Police Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld on Monday.
“They set up the page under the name of Elian and used it as a platform to transfer information to thousands of followers to praise the terrorist and terrorist activities. In fact, it was a platform used as a call to violence to carry out terrorist attacks.”
The bloody October 2015 Egged Bus gun and knife attack, which made international headlines and rattled the nation, took the lives of Haim Haviv, 78, Alon Govberg, 51, and Richard Lakin, 76, and seriously wounded 10 others.
In an article in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Hayat, Dr. Salman Masalha, a Druze Israeli-Arab intellectual, discussed an Israeli bill seeking to ban the use of loudspeakers by houses of worship, which would prevent mosques from using them to broadcast the call of the muezzin (i.e., the call for prayer). In contrast to the prevailing response to this bill in the Arab and Muslim world, that this is a declaration of war against Islam, Masalha noted that the mosque loudspeakers disturb many people, both Jews and Arabs. Moreover, he said, even in Arab countries there have been calls to ban the use of loudspeakers, and fatwas have been issued justifying such a ban. He called not to consider the bill from the populist perspective of the Arab-Israeli conflict, but to consider it objectively from the perspective of the public good.Anger as less than A THIRD of Muslim nations sign up to coalition against ISIS
The following are excerpts from the article:
"Since the situation that exists between the Jews and the Arabs, between Israel and Palestine, is unnatural, any demand by one side [automatically] causes much doubt and apprehension in the other. This has been evident recently following efforts by the Israeli government to promote a bill that limits the volume of the loudspeakers of mosques on the grounds that they disturb people living nearby. Since the character of this Israeli government – with its right-wing coalition and the racist behavior [it has exhibited] in many cases – is clear and known to all, this bill... has caused apprehension in the other side, namely the Muslim residents. Many of them say it is a racist bill, but none of them undertake to consider it from an objective perspective and to examine the [impact] of the loudspeakers not only on the Jewish sector but especially on Arab cities and villages.
It comes as it can be revealed just 18 out of 57 Muslim majority world states have signed up to a coalition against ISIS.ISIS publishes a ‘how to’ outfox Twitter guide
The UK's permanent representative to the UN, Matthew Rycroft, delivered a strongly worded speech blasting what he called "evil groups" and saying not enough is being done.
The comments came as the UN general assembly supported a plan by the Islamic Development Bank to invest £7.2bn to tackle the cause of terror.
Britain is using its muscle at the UN to encourage more cooperation and has also pledged to invest £20m of taxpayers' money to the Arab Women’s Enterprise Fund.
Mr Rycroft said: "One issue facing the OIC’s (Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) members, indeed all members of the UN, is the growing threat of extremist ideologies and violent extremism.
Islamic State’s presence on social media is here to stay even as it loses ground in Iraq and Syria and after a serious crackdown by Twitter. The terrorist entity has published a guide on how to outfox Twitter’s efforts, according to an advance copy of a report by the Jihadi Websites Monitoring Group of IDC’s International Institute for Counter-Terrorism obtained by The Jerusalem Post.Death toll among Iran's forces in Syrian war passes 1,000
The Amaq media group, which Islamic State uses to “raise awareness about safe and secure Internet use,” recently published several graphs on its Telegram instant messaging-service account regarding the organization’s activities on social networks, according to the report.
Amaq’s data includes some staggering statistics, namely that last month alone, 5,994 new Islamic State-linked accounts were opened, including 732 on Facebook, 5,162 on Twitter and 100 on Telegram, along with 50 virtual telephone numbers to be used to open fictitious accounts on social networks.
This means a 25% increase from September in its use of social networks.
Besides those published graphs, the ICT report said that Islamic State announced that it intends to expend “significant efforts on the wide distribution of the organization’s propaganda materials in light of the Twitter administration’s systematic removal of IS[IS] supporters’ accounts.”
More than 1,000 soldiers deployed by Iran to Syria to back the government side in its civil war have been killed, an Iranian official said, underlining Tehran's increasing presence on front lines of the conflict.Obama Admin Covering Up Key Iran Deal Details in Final Days
It was a major increase in the reported death toll from just four months ago, when the Islamic Republic announced that 400 of its soldiers had died on Syria's battlefields.
Iran has been sending fighters to Syria since the early stages of the more than five-year-old war to support its ally, President Bashar Assad, against rebels and Islamist militants including Islamic State trying to topple him.
Although many of the soldiers the Shi'ite Muslim Iran sends are its own nationals, it is casting its recruitment net wide, training and deploying Shi'ites from neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistan as well. Half of the death toll reported in August were Afghan citizens.
"Now the number of Iran's martyrs as defenders of shrine has exceeded 1,000," Mohammadali Shahidi Mahallati, head of Iran's Foundation of Martyrs, which offers financial support to the relatives of those killed fighting for Iran, was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.
Senior Obama administration officials in their final days in office are seeking to cover up key details of the Iran nuclear deal from Congress, according to documents and sources who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon about continued efforts by the White House to block formal investigations into secret diplomacy with Tehran that resulted in a $1.7 billion cash payment by the United States.Iranian commander: Israel will be gone in 10 years
As leading members of Congress petition the Obama administration for answers about what many describe as a $1.7 billion “ransom” payment to Iran, Obama administration officials are doubling down on their refusal to answer questions about the secret negotiations with Iran that led to this payment.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R., Fla.), a vocal opponent of last year’s nuclear deal with Iran, has been seeking answers from senior Obama administration officials since at least late September. However, officials continue to stonewall the senator’s inquiries, according to senior congressional sources and formal communications between Rubio and the State Department obtained by the Free Beacon.
Rubio and several other lawmakers have petitioned the Obama administration for documents and information about the secret negotiations that resulted in Tehran receiving $1.7 billion in cash and a promise from the United States to further roll back sanctions on an Iranian financial institution that helped finance the country’s illicit ballistic missile program.
A spokesman for Rubio told the Free Beacon that the administration’s continued obfuscation has motivated the senator to take steps to help President-elect Donald Trump kill the nuclear agreement once he enters office next year.
A senior Iranian military commander predicted on Monday that the Palestinian Arabs would “get rid of Israel” in the next 10 years.
Speaking to students near Tehran and quoted by the semiofficial Fars news agency, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi said the Palestinian territories will be “freed from Israel's occupation” within a decade, expressing hope that the notions, thoughts and ideology that led to Iran's Islamic Revolution would help the Arabs get rid of Israel.
Naqdi further claimed that the Islamic Revolution helped Iran get rid of the United States over 35 years ago, rescued the country from Saddam Hussein's aggression and helped the Lebanese to get rid of the Americans as well.
"Considering these developments, liberation of Palestine by the Islamic Revolution is not unlikely at all," he claimed, according to Fars.
Naqdi’s comments follow ones he made earlier this month when he predicted that the United States will collapse in less than 20 years and that President-elect Donald Trump will speed up the process.
"According to the analysis made by the behind-the-stage and shadow decision-makers of the establishment in the U.S., the United States will collapse in 2035 and I think that it is an optimistic analysis as this will take place much earlier," he told Fars.