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Monday, January 25, 2021

01/25 Links Pt1: Palestinians Need to Rethink the Way They Treat Israel; The Jordan Valley as Israel’s Strategic Line of Defense; 75% of Jailed PA Terrorists Vaccinated by Israel

From Ian:

Peres Center for Peace Chairman Chemi Peres: Palestinians Need to Rethink the Way They Treat Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promoted: "peace for peace," a rejection of the traditional paradigm of land for peace. He says the UAE deal sets a precedent: Israel doesn't need to cede land to the Palestinians in order to win friends in the Arab world. In the Persian Gulf, a new generation of Arabs is less consumed by the never-ending Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"This is a model of how the peace needs to be with the Palestinians. Mutual respect and acceptance...looking forward to doing business together and living together," said Israeli investor Simcha Fulda after business meetings in Dubai.

"I think that the Palestinians need to rethink the way they treat Israel," said Chemi Peres, son of the late Israeli President Shimon Peres, who won a Nobel Peace Prize for peace efforts with Palestinians. Peres' son runs the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation, which is prioritizing Israeli business ties with the Emiratis, an approach he wants Palestinians to adopt in forging peaceful ties with Israelis.

"Their point of view has been, let's first solve the political issues and then we can start normalizing things and move forward. I believe those days are gone," Peres said. "I believe that the only way for us to really, really achieve peace, comprehensive peace, and save the region from backwardness, is to focus on moving forward together."
In Focus: The Jordan Valley as Israel’s Strategic Line of Defense
Following the 1967 Six Day War initiated by Arab countries, Israel, by virtue of its resounding victory, expanded the territory under its control. While the Sinai Peninsula was subsequently returned to Egypt as part of the 1979 peace agreement, and whereas Israel in 2005 fully withdrew from the Gaza Strip, the Jewish State has to date not fully relinquished the West Bank (also known by its biblical name, Judea and Samaria), which for two decades beginning in 1948 was administered by Jordan and, crucially, includes the Jordan Valley.

Historical, religious and legal claims aside, successive Israeli governments have often cited security considerations as a reason for retaining the area, which has been referred to as “Israel’s eastern line of defense.” As such, the issue has often featured prominently in US-mediated peace talks with the Palestinians, who claim the entire West Bank as part of a future state.

In this respect, while newly minted President Joe Biden’s exact policies regarding the West Bank are not yet known, his nominee for secretary of state secretary, Tony Blinken, has asserted that the current administration views Israel’s security as “sacrosanct.” At the same time, he said that the 46th American president would promote the two-state solution and oppose unilateral steps by both Israelis and Palestinians.

Israel’s Need for Strategic Depth
Defense experts have repeatedly acknowledged the need for so-called “strategic depth.” The 1921 journal of the US Infantry Association summarizes this military philosophy: “All essential elements of the defense should be organized in depth. If the forward defensive areas are captured, resistance is continued by those in rear.”

Before the UN Partition Plan of 1947, some prominent members of the Zionist movement warned against establishing a Jewish state in the absence of what they considered defensible borders. In a 1937 address to members of the British parliament, Ze’ev Jabotinsky described such a prospective country:
Most of it is lowland, whereas the Arab reserve is all hills. Guns can be placed on the Arab hills within 15 miles of Tel Aviv and 20 miles from Haifa; in a few hours these towns can be destroyed, the harbors made useless, and most of the places overrun, whatever the valor of their defenders.”

More recently, Israeli leaders have gone so far as to call the pre-1967 lines “Auschwitz borders,” pointing out that Israel is, by comparison, similar in size to New Jersey or Wales and therefore vulnerable to attack. Before the Six Day War, Israel proper at its narrowest measured only 15 kilometers (9 miles) wide across its middle.
Israel’s first ambassador to UAE ready for his historic mission
For Ambassador Eitan Na’eh, the excitement of being Israel’s first senior diplomat in the United Arab Emirates began even before he landed in the Gulf state this week.

Speaking from self-quarantine in Abu Dhabi on Monday, Na’eh spoke of “national and personal excitement mixed together,” which began “from the first time the foreign minister summoned me and asked me to come here.” That continued on Sunday, when Na’eh “got on a flight going east, over Saudi Arabia and landing in Dubai,” something that, as an Israeli, he still did not take for granted.

Now, Na’eh is the charge d’affaires of Israel’s new embassy in the UAE, opened five months after the countries announced the peace and normalization agreement called the Abraham Accords. Na’eh is in charge of the embassy until a permanent ambassador is chosen after the next government is formed, which will likely take at least three months.

Na’eh said he is in Abu Dhabi “with clear instructions to expand the ties,” because previously, Israel only had diplomatic representatives to the International Renewable Energy Agency based in the UAE, and not to the country itself.

“We need to build relations for the long term,” he said.


The White House: U.S. to Work with Israel to Build on Normalization Deals
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke by phone yesterday with Israeli National Security Advisor Meir Ben Shabbat. Mr. Sullivan reaffirmed President Biden’s unwavering commitment to Israel’s security and expressed appreciation for Ben Shabbat’s contributions to our bilateral partnership. They discussed opportunities to enhance the partnership over the coming months, including by building on the success of Israel’s normalization arrangements with UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. Mr. Sullivan confirmed the United States will closely consult with Israel on all matters of regional security. He also extended an invitation to begin a strategic dialogue in the near term to continue substantive discussions.
'I fear we're headed into a dangerous chapter with Biden-Harris administration'
Cruz, for his part, is now focusing on how to cement his position as the head of the opposition to the Biden administration, and he his unfazed by the fact that Trump continued to dominate the discourse in the Republican Party even post-presidency.

First elected to the Senate in 2012, Cruz has made a reputation form himself as a conservative legislator who defends the constitution even at a political cost, and as one who at times evokes harsh antagonism. He was, for example, lambasted for opposing President Barack Obama's healthcare reform in 2013, in a move that triggered a federal shutdown.

Q: Now that the Democrats are essentially in control of both chambers of Congress, what does that mean for Israel?
"I believe America will continue to stand alongside Israel. There is to be sure, an anti-Israel and an anti-Semitic far Left in the Democratic Party. And with Democratic majorities, that extreme faction will have greater influence.

"That being said, for eight years, I have endeavored to be the leading defender of Israel, in the United States Senate, and I intend to continue to do so. And I am hopeful that there will remain a significant bipartisan coalition to stand alongside Israel.

"I am reminded of a little over a year ago when several members of the extreme anti-Israel Left in the House made ugly anti-Semitic comments and the House of Representatives tried to find a resolution condemning anti-Semitism. Speaker Pelosi tried to pass it. She discovered that the resolution could not pass in the Democratic conference, that the anti-Israel Left blocked it so instead the House passed a watered-down resolution condemning bigotry of all kinds, rather than clearly and specifically condemning anti-Semitism."
Anarchy in Bnei Brak as ultra-Orthodox vandals run riot
Violent riots continued late into the night in Bnei Brak against the background of police enforcing COVID-19 regulations in the ultra-Orthodox city and the intense opposition to such measures by radical elements in the community.

A bus driver was assaulted and chased off his bus, which was then set on fire and went up in flames in the middle of the city, causing damage to the apartment buildings adjacent to the conflagration.

The Fire Service did not respond to the fire for a significant period of time, leading to several dozen people being evacuated from their homes.

Electric cables caught fire as a result of the arson in the city, resulting in dozens if not hundreds of homes losing their electricity supply. Other acts of vandalism, including the toppling of a traffic light and burning of rubbish bins, were also carried out by the rioters, while they continued to block roads in the city until after 1:30 a.m.

Riot police were called in to quell the unrest, deploying stun grenades to disperse the rioters.
Police made secret deal not to enforce lockdown in Bnei Brak - report
Police reportedly have reached an understanding with the heads of various Bnei Brak yeshivas that COVID-19 regulations will not be enforced so long as yeshiva students refrain from attacking police, yeshiva heads told Haaretz on Saturday night.

According to the yeshiva heads, the deal was supposedly made back in September, after several instances of police officers being attacked while trying to enforce the coronavirus lockdown.

This secret arrangement is not entirely without precedent. Haaretz reported in October similar deals made with haredim (ultra-Orthodox) in Jerusalem, which eventually resulted in an investigation opened by the Justice Ministry. Israel Police have denied the existence of such an arrangement.

And, according to the yeshiva heads, the deal would have remained a secret, had police not come into Bnei Brak on Thursday, which resulted in police officers and residents sustaining injuries, with at least six arrests made as officers confronted thousands of members of the Vizhnitz Hassidic sect.

Following the incident, the Vizhnitz grand rabbi, Rabbi Yisroel Hager, announced on Saturday that schools would be reopened, describing Torah study as "an essential service."
Settler attacked by Palestinians while jogging – medics
A resident of the Har Bracha settlement in the northern West Bank who was out jogging was attacked by Palestinians near the village of Burin, medics said Monday.

The man was taken to Meir hospital in Kfar Saba with mild injuries, according to Magen David Adom.

There were no immediate arrests announced following the assault. The Palestinian news site Ma’an reported that Israeli troops had placed roadblocks close to al-Burin and were preventing residents from entering or leaving the village.

Palestinians in Burin were subject to an alleged stone-throwing attack by settlers on Saturday from the nearby outpost of Givat Ronen. In a video widely circulated on social media, so-called hilltop youth can be seen hurling rocks as Israeli soldiers apparently stand by.

A spokesperson for the Israel Police’s West Bank division told The Times of Israel that one Jewish suspect had been arrested in connection with the stone-throwing. The same suspect was later conditionally released. Esther Horgen, 52, who was found dead in the northern West Bank in a suspected terror attack on December 20, 2020. (Courtesy)

The incidents come a month after Esther Horgen, 52, a mother of six, was murdered after she went for a run in the Reihan forest near her home in the settlement of Tal Menashe. A Palestinian man suspected of the murder has been arrested.
13 years after bolting, 6 since arrest, Malka Leifer extradited to Australia
Israeli authorities extradited alleged sex abuser Malka Leifer to Australia early Monday morning, nearly 13 years after she fled Melbourne as allegations against her were coming to light and after a six-year legal process during which a court determined that she had feigned mental illness in order to avoid facing justice.

Not unlike the manner in which the former school principal was ushered out of Melbourne by board members of the Adass Israel Haredi girls’ school in 2008, the Israel Prisons Service operation that transferred her from Neve Tirza women’s prison to Ben Gurion Airport took place in the middle of the night.

Leifer was photographed climbing up a metal staircase onto a plane that will take her to Australia via Frankfurt, Germany.

The extradition was confirmed to The Times of Israel by Leifer’s lawyer Nick Kaufman, as well as by Israeli and Australian officials.
75% of Jailed Palestinian Authority Terrorists Vaccinated by Israel
Left wing media sites and other anti-Semites are attacking Israel for not taking over responsibility for the Palestinian Authority’s failure to vaccinate their own citizens, despite it being the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority to do so in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, per the Oslo Accords.

And when Israel does send vaccinations to the Palestinian Authority, the PA denies they even received them. Of course, if the Palestinian Authority would stop paying salaries and giving jobs to murderous terrorists, they’d have more than enough money to take care of the health of those that voted them in some 17 years ago.

Unfortunately, it once again pays to be a Palestinian Authority (Hamas, PFLP, etc.) terrorist. After much internal debate and outrage in Israel, it was decided that Israel would vaccinate all the PA terrorists it has in jail. The program is a success, and some 75% of the PA’s terrorists in Israeli jails have already been vaccinated, according to Qadura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, as reported by Khaled Abu Toameh.

Unfortunately, this may also start a new epidemic of “lone wolf terror attacks” by those looking to attack and kill Jews to get arrested and receive Covid-19 vaccinations and Israeli medical treatment, on top of their salaries from the Palestinian Authority.

No good deed goes unpunished.
PMW: “Those representing Palestine must be prepared to sacrifice blood” – Fatah official
Fatah chooses the path of violence and encourages Palestinians to die as “Martyrs” for ‎‎“Palestine.” That message was cemented by Fatah Revolutionary Council member ‎Raed Radwan, who stressed that Palestinians must be prepared “to sacrifice blood”:‎
Fatah Revolutionary Council member Raed Radwan: “All the activities will be ‎directed towards popular resistance… Palestine is the center of the universe ‎religiously, politically, and even geographically… Those representing it must ‎be prepared to make a sacrifice and to sacrifice blood for the sake of this ‎cause. Therefore, these young people (i.e., founders of Fatah in 1965) who ‎believed in their cause and the certainty of their victory against this enemy (i.e., ‎Israel) succeeded… Fatah carried the rifle and succeeded in realizing a long ‎journey of giving adorned with blood, Martyrs, and prisoners. Therefore, ‎Fatah today has a mighty heritage of Martyrs and prisoners.” ‎

[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Dec. 28, 2020]‎

The PA has indoctrinated Palestinians with this message for decades. Therefore it is ‎not surprising to hear a Palestinian man – himself the father of a terrorist murderer – ‎paraphrase a statement attributed to arch-terrorist Abu Jihad that promotes death to ‎‎“liberate Palestine”:
Fatah member and father of terrorist murderer Anan Abu Habseh ‎Muhammad Abu Habseh: “Our heads will reach the sky and our feet will ‎continue to be planted in this good and pure land. With our skulls we will pave ‎the path to victory, until the liberation of Palestine.”‎

[Official PA TV, Good Morning Jerusalem, Jan. 1, 2021]‎


PreOccupiedTerritory: Jericho Casino Closed, Palestinian Leaders Forced To Gamble With Citizens’ Lives (satire)
The continuing shuttered state of a gambling house in this ancient city for more than two decades has left the autonomous authority governing the area no recourse to engage in organized games of chance other than risking the lives and welfare of the people under their rule in attempts to gain, extend, or retain political and economic power.

The Oasis Casino Hotel opened in 1998 to much fanfare and amid expectations of attracting Israeli and other foreign gambling money to infuse into the Palestinian economy, but closed just two years later as a wave of Palestinian terrorism endangered the premises and drove away tourists. Its operators still insist it will reopen as soon as political and security conditions permit, but in the intervening twenty years the Jericho site has languished. Palestinian National Authority law permits only holders of foreign passports to patronize the casino, leaving high-ranking officials who wish to gamble no choice but to do so with Palestinian lives, using the latter as sacrificial victims to various money-making schemes, anti-Israel propaganda drives, and political maneuvering.

A consortium of international investors saw the aftermath of the 1990’s Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization an opportunity to undergird the nascent Palestinian economy with an influx of tourist cash, with an eye toward attracting some of the many Israelis with a taste for casino gambling – a vice Israeli law does not permit. The Oasis began its operations three years after the Oslo Accords took effect and brought millions of dollars into Palestinian Authority coffers. However, terrorists operating from the grounds of the facility attracting IDF fire that caused damage, and the perils inherent in setting foot in Palestinian-controlled territory – Jericho is entirely under Palestinian Authority jurisdiction – during the Second Intifada forced the enterprise to close its doors until circumstances shift. That shift has yet to occur.
MEMRI: Russian Middle East Expert Magid: Corrupt System That Iran Installed In Iraq And Elsewhere Breeds Economic Chaos And Resentment, And Will Eventually Erode Iran's Influence
A Rosbalt article, featuring an interview with the Russian Middle East expert Mikhail Magid and titled "Things Are Heading Towards 'Arab Spring 2.0', argues that while the world is focused on the turbulence in the United States and the fight against Covid-19, the Middle East is headed towards another blowup. The blowup will be caused by class conflict rather than religious or national differences. A paradox has been created, the Iranians have outplayed the United States politically, but the corrupt system that they have installed in Iraq creates economic desperation that will find an outlet in violent protest and even in nostalgia for Saddam Hussein.

The article by Rosbalt's observer Alexander Zhelenin including his interview with Magid follows below:[1]
"The turbulent events in the United States and the ongoing pandemic in the world now occupy nearly the entire global information agenda. However, events no less important than before continue to take place in the Middle East. The social tension that periodically spills over to the streets of Iraqi cities is not decreasing. The other day, the police in the Iraqi city of Al-Nasiriyah tried – and not for the first time – to disperse the Shi'ite youth protesting there. But Iraqi army soldiers sided with the protesters and opened fire on the police, killing one of them.

"The class conflicts in Iraq are superimposed on the fact that today this country has come under neighboring Iran's enormous influence. Meanwhile, United States influence in Iraq is still perceived, although not to the previous extent.

"Mikhail Magid, an expert on the Middle East, told Rosbalt's 'observer' about the social processes now taking place in Iraq and other countries of the 'Shi'ite belt', as well as about the influence of major regional and world powers on these countries."

"What are the Iraqi protests?"

"In autumn 2019 - winter 2020, a gigantic protest wave of unemployed youth, the poor, workers and other strata covered Iran and the entire zone of Iranian influence (the 'Shi'ite belt'), including Iraq, as well as Syria and Lebanon. The movement transcended the borders of a single country and some participants realized this, in Beirut they sang: 'From Tehran to Beirut - one revolution!'


Seth Frantzman: Nukes, terror, Syria, Iraq, Hezbollah - Iran's tentacles are spreading
However, reports have also noted increased threats from Yemen. The US designated the Houthis as terrorists, which the new administration is expected to review, and similarly designated militias in Iraq and key figures, including Abu Fadak of Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq.

US officials also pressed to enable Israel more operational freedom to confront Iran’s militia presence.

This happened, to some extent, after James Mattis left his role as secretary of defense in 2018. It is believed that James Jeffrey and others at the State Department pressed for more support for Israel in its campaign against Iran in Syria.

That means that between 2018 and the end of 2020 there was a kind of hand-in-glove approach: Israel was the fist that hammered the Iranians in Syria, and the US was the glove around the fist, encouraging and supporting it. For the US, this was a win-win because the administration could say it didn’t start any new foreign wars – it just outsourced them to Israel.

For defense experts, some of whom were reportedly skeptical about the abilities of the F-35, there has been a boon as well, with three joint training exercises between US and Israeli F-35 pilots last year. According to an Al Arabiya report last May, Israel has used the F-35 against Iranian targets in Syria. The first reports of the F-35 being used in combat date back to 2018.

Iraq’s government and its pro-Iranian militias blame Israel for carrying out airstrikes in July and August 2019 against Iranian militia targets in Iraq. This caused tensions between Iraq and US air operations. It has also caused the pro-Iran militias to look skyward.

An explosion in Iraq earlier this month led militias to spread rumors of another mysterious strike. That was proven to be false, but the initial blame game illustrates how Israel is viewed. In the fall of 2017, Qais Khazali, an Iraqi pro-Iran militia leader, went to Lebanon and said Iraq’s militias would support Hezbollah if a war broke out with Israel.

Current and future discussions with the Biden administration will focus on the larger Iranian octopus spreading its tentacles across the region. How to deal with that octopus and all its threats is the real hurdle. The nuclear program is just the kind of distracting dress that the octopus wears to distract from the larger looming problem.
Biden official says US seeking direct dialogue with Iran – report
Newly inaugurated US President Joe Biden’s administration will launch an initiative through European mediators to open a direct dialogue with Tehran, a source in Washington told Sky News Arabia on Monday.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that “there will be a new approach that seeks to reassert US deterrence in the region and create a solution to the conflict with Tehran.”

The official said the new approach will be accompanied by contacts with the allies of the United States in the region, specifically with Gulf countries and Israel.

An unsourced report by Israel’s Channel 12 news said last week that officials in the Biden administration have already begun holding quiet talks with Iran on a return to the 2015 nuclear deal, and have updated Israel on those conversations. In this April 9, 2018 file photo, released by an official website of the office of the Iranian Presidency, President Hassan Rouhani listens to explanations on new nuclear achievements at a ceremony to mark “National Nuclear Day,” in Tehran, Iran.(Iranian Presidency Office via AP, File)

Biden has indicated his desire to return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the deal is known, while Israel has been pushing for any return to the agreement to include fresh limitations on Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for terror and destabilization around the world.
To meet the Iran nuclear challenge, the IAEA must remain apolitical
As tempting as it may be for the Biden administration, Grossi and the European parties to the deal (United Kingdom, France, and Germany) to look to the JCPOA as an immediate way to restrain Iran, the solution does not lie in the accord but in a stronger, different one yet to be reached.

For his part, President Biden should shift course from JCPOA reentry pledges. He should fully support the IAEA’s continuation of its NPT investigation to determine the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran. He should also seek far more from Tehran than compliance with the JCPOA in order for Iran to receive sanctions relief. Unless Iran negotiates a better agreement that permanently closes all its pathways to a bomb, including removing associated equipment and infrastructure, the Biden administration should maintain the US maximum economic-pressure campaign.

The IAEA, for its part, must recalibrate its critical role. As the world’s only neutral, technical nuclear monitor, it should avoid becoming a tool of Iran’s negotiating strategy. Upon assuming the position of IAEA chief in 2019, Director-General Grossi’s stated ambition was to eliminate agency politicization, thereby leading the IAEA back to a professional track. Maintaining that course will allow the IAEA to retain its role as an impartial organization for ensuring compliance with UN nuclear treaties and resolutions.

Sampling results from the IAEA’s two recent nuclear site visits might help clarify more of what Iran accomplished in the past, but they will unfortunately leave open questions regarding which activities Tehran continues today. The IAEA must continue to seek answers to those questions.

Suggesting Iran’s case is not closed, Grossi wisely established a new phrase in safeguards-reporting, referring to Iran’s false or incomplete explanations as “not technically credible.” The IAEA should immediately clarify with Tehran that it will continue its investigation. World powers should support the IAEA’s efforts, which will help the agency maintain legitimacy and integrity, and not only with regard to the Iran case.

The IAEA must reclaim its place as an apolitical professional organ. The IAEA Board of Governors awaits a report, and Grossi should swiftly deliver. Iran’s commitment to resolving the agency’s questions must be a key factor in any US decision to return to the negotiating table.
Iran's regime executes second wrestler within 5 months
The Iranian regime's lethal assaults on decorated Iranian athletes continued unabated, with the execution of a second champion wrestler on Monday.

The Jerusalem Post reported two weeks ago that the execution of wrestler Mehdi Ali Hosseini was imminent. He is from Andimeshk in the province of Khuzestan, and was arrested in 2015 and charged with pre-meditated murder, supposedly committed during a group fight.

It is unclear whether the Islamic Republic authorities forced Hosseini to confess to a crime he did not commit.

Mariam Memarsadeghi, an Iranian-American expert on human rights, told the Post that the "[Iranian regime’s Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei and his henchmen want to numb everyone to their repression. By executing more and more in spite of global outrage, they hope to show the Iranian people and the Free World that they are powerless.”

She added that "But it's the regime that lacks real power. Force alone is its only means to survive but not for long; the Iranian people are more than ever refusing any prospect but a nonviolent overthrowing [of the regime].”
Indonesia seizes Iranian-flagged tankers over alleged illegal oil transfer
Indonesia said its coast guard seized the Iranian-flagged MT Horse and the Panamanian-flagged MT Freya vessels over suspected illegal oil transfer in the country's waters on Sunday.

Coast guard spokesman Wisnu Pramandita said the tankers, seized in waters off Kalimantan province, will be escorted to Batam island in Riau Island Province for further investigation.

"The tankers, first detected at 5:30 a.m. (local time) concealed their identity by not showing their national flags, turning off automatic identification systems and did not respond to a radio call," Wisnu said in a statement on Sunday.

Wisnu said that the ships were "caught red-handed" transferring oil from MT Horse to MT Freya when they were discovered by the authorities and there was an oil spill around the receiving tanker.

He added that 61 crew members from both vessels have been detained.


Iran Barely Conceals Its Delight with Robert Malley, Biden’s Possible Pick for Nuclear Talks
Last week, the Jewish Insider reported that Robert Malley, a former national security official in the Obama administration, is on President Biden’s shortlist for special envoy to the Iran nuclear negotiations. The scoop—not yet confirmed—has already caused a minor storm with folks on the right being aghast at the leaked appointment while the main culprit, the Islamic Republic, is having a hard time hiding its excitement.

Malley, whose Jewish mom worked for the UN delegation of the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN), and whose father was an Egyptian-born Jewish journalist and communist sympathizer, has not strayed much from his family roots. The family moved to France in 1969 and only returned to America after President ValΓ©ry Giscard d’Estaing expelled Robert’s dad because of his hostile punditry against the West in general and Israel in particular.

Robert Malley attended Yale University and was a 1984 Rhodes Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he earned a Ph.D. in political philosophy and has been writing extensively about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (naturally). He earned a J.D. at Harvard Law School, where his fellow law school student was Barack Obama.

According to JI, in the mid-2000s, Malley played on Washington’s Edlavitch Jewish Community Center indoor soccer team alongside Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-NJ) and Secretary of State-designate Tony Blinken. They won the league championship in 2005.

The New York Post published an editorial on Saturday, warning that even though President Biden is “eager to reengage with Iran and return to the nuclear deal,” the “murderous regime has no interest in changing its ways. It is boosting its nuclear-weapon development and its network of deadly militias across the Middle East in its continued drive for hegemony.”



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