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Thursday, April 14, 2022

04/14 Links Pt1: Palestinian Terrorism Meets Israeli Paralysis; Biden Koshers Iranian Terror; IDF Thwarts Attack Planned for Passover; ISIS linked Palestinian nabbed for 2019 killing of elderly couple

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: Palestinian Terrorism Meets Israeli Paralysis
As for the Palestinian Authority (PA), it has been actively sponsoring and inciting the terror offensive against Israel. The terrorist who killed three Israelis in a shooting attack last Thursday at a bar in Tel Aviv was the son of a brigadier general in the PA security services. His father greeted the crowd of well-wishers outside his palatial home in Jenin on Friday morning with a fiery tirade against the Jews, wherein he promised Israel's destruction "in this generation" to great applause.

The Bennett-Lapid government has taken no action against the PA, in response. It can't. Not only will Gantz not permit it. The far-left Meretz and Labor parties would bolt the coalition if the government takes any action that undermines the PA, even as the PA is acting as the main engine inciting, incentivizing and glorifying Palestinian terrorists and Arab-Israeli terrorism against Israeli Jews.

Mansour Abbas has worked hard over the past two years to present himself and his party as less interested in destroying Israel than in bettering the lives of Arab-Israelis. This is not the case with the majority of the Joint Arab List, a coalition of three Arab parties, whose members generally support Israel's destruction. Ayman Odeh, for instance, has advocated on behalf of Hezbollah. Earlier this week, Odeh called on Arab-Israelis serving in the Israeli police to resign their positions in a speech where he incited mass rebellion.

But in the days that followed Silman's desertion, members of Bennett's government have stated outright they will agree to work with the Joint Arab List to preserve their own power. Bennett's closest Knesset associate, Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana, said Monday the government would agree to cooperate with the Joint Arab List in order to stay afloat. If this does happen, it is likely other Yamina faction members will follow Silman's lead and vote in favor of a new round of elections.

Common hatred was enough to bring the Bennett-Lapid government together and sustain it to date. But hatred isn't a counter-terror strategy. And the ideological leanings of the majority of Bennett's coalition members ensure his government will remain chronically unstable and incapable of forging, much less executing, the type of counter-terror strategy needed to restore security to Israel.
Michael Doran: Biden Koshers Iranian Terror
In order to arm itself against questions such as Brennan’s, Biden asked the Iranians to commit to end assassination plots against American former officials, then leaked news of the request. Such a commitment would at least have allowed Blinken to respond by saying, “Margaret, the Iranians have given us solemn assurances that they will not kill my predecessor, or any other former official. Our intelligence indicates that we can trust the Iranians on this.” But Tehran refused to offer any such assurance. The negotiations stalled, temporarily, within arm’s length of the finish line.

The Brennan interview is the key to understanding the “Biden gets tough” message that Ignatius dutifully transcribed on behalf of the White House. Ignatius was not assisting the administration in announcing a major policy shift. He was helping it to camouflage the vulnerability that the Brennan interview highlighted.

This communications strategy repays further reflection. The president and his staffers were fully prepared to remove the IRGC from the terror list even with full knowledge that the organization was planning to kill former U.S. officials. Their qualms emerged only when reporters learned of the plots and refused to help the administration hide them. Even then, however, the administration sought only face-saving gestures from the IRGC. The lesson: The Biden team recognizes acts of Iranian aggression not as national security threats but only as PR challenges.

That’s a lesson to keep in mind when contemplating the penetration of the U.S. Secret Service by nefarious operatives. Last Wednesday, federal prosecutors accused Arian Taherzadeh, 40, and Haider Ali, 36, of posing as Department of Homeland Security employees in order to ingratiate themselves with Americans working in law enforcement and national defense. Over a period of two years, the duo managed to befriend Secret Service agents by providing them with gifts such as “rent-free apartments (with a total yearly rent of over $40,000 per apartment), iPhones, surveillance systems, a drone, a flat screen television, a case for storing an assault rifle, a generator, and law enforcement paraphernalia,” according to an FBI federal court filing.

With five apartments, multiple passports, and copious cash at their disposal, Taherzadeh and Ali are almost certainly agents of a foreign power. Until we learn otherwise, Iran should be considered the prime suspect. Arian Taherzadeh is an obviously Iranian name. One of Haider Ali’s passports indicates multiple entries into Iran. And the IRGC has a history of planning brazen operations on U.S. soil. In 2011, it attempted to murder the Saudi and Israeli ambassadors in Washington, and last July it planned to kidnap Brooklyn-based journalist Masih Alinejad and smuggle her to Iran via Venezuela—to say nothing about the recently exposed plots against Pompeo, Bolton, and Hook.

To be sure, the public has seen no hard evidence that Taherzadeh and Ali are Iranian agents. While circumstantial, however, the evidence that has been revealed more than calls for the press and Congress to probe American officials about the prospect of an Iranian connection. But try to find news reports of the incident that even entertain the possibility that Iran is running these men. You won’t.

The administration professes to be utterly clueless about the motives of Taherzadeh and Ali. This is no defense. Either the Biden team truly has no idea who stands behind the duo, or it knows full well that Iran is the culprit but is playing dumb to shield its shabby nuclear deal diplomacy from public scrutiny. If it’s the former, then we are witnessing an intelligence fiasco, one that deserves a thorough investigation. If it’s the latter, then we are witnessing a political scandal wrapped in an intelligence fiasco tucked inside a foreign policy blunder.

But remember: For this administration, a plot to kill Americans that does not receive major press coverage is no real plot at all. Devoting scant attention to this incident, the press is following Ignatius’ example, telling us that Biden is getting tough on Iran. Give the president his due: He knows how to kosher creepy things.


Headlines With Haddads - Terror Wave, Iranian Football Matches, and Palestinian History
Emily and Yoseph discuss the recent wave of terror attacks, the Iranian regime’s attacks on women who bought tickets to a football match, and provide a brief Palestinian history lesson in this special edition of Headlines with the Haddads from New York!


MEMRI: Emirati Journalist Highlights UAE Role And Efforts To Foster Peace And Stability In The Middle East, Calls For Adopting New Approaches To Resolve Arab-Israeli Conflict: 'The Violence And Terrorism Directed Against Israel... Undermine The Chances Of Fostering Peace'
In two articles published on the Saudi website Elaph, Emirati journalist and political analyst Salem Al-Ketbi highlighted his country's role and efforts in fostering sustainable peace and stability in the region by adopting new approaches to resolve the ongoing conflict between the Arabs and Israel. The article titled "The Culture of Peace in the Middle East," published April 6, 2022, described the speech delivered by UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan at last month's Negev Summit as characterized by "transparency" and "courage," and argued that it "breaks through the wall of silence, maps the way towards building real regional peace and discloses what many have not been able to express." Al-Ketbi's second article, titled "The Palestinian Issue and the Changes in the International Scene," published April 11, 2022, defended the position of the Arab states that have normalized relations with Israel against the accusation that they have betrayed the Palestinian issue. It also argued that the hostility between the Arab countries and Israel has neither brought peace to the region nor resolved the conflict, and that it was now time to try new approaches that take into consideration the reshaping of international relations according to the realities resulting from the Ukrainian crisis.

The following are translated excerpts from Al-Ketbi's articles.
"The Culture of Peace in the Middle East," Al-Ketbi, April 6, 2022: At The Negev Summit, The UAE Foreign Minister Said That "Israel Is Part Of The Middle East... The Lack Of Communication Channels Between Israel And The Arabs... Does Not Mean That Israel Does Not Exist'

"The speech delivered by His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, during the Negev Summit, which took place recently, has received substantial attention by observers and experts around the world – notably, his expression of regret that 43 years have been wasted (since Egypt and Israel signed the peace treaty). He said: 'We lost those 43 years of knowing each other better, of working together and of changing the narrative that many generations of Israelis and Arabs have been living... I think what we are trying to achieve here today is changing the narrative and creating a different future.'

"Indeed, that speech deserves all the attention – not only because it included transparency, courage, openness and clarity, but also because it breaks through the wall of silence, maps the way towards building real regional peace, and discloses what many have not been able to express.

"The speech of Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan at the historic summit comprised hard facts that no one can deny. Actually, Israel is part of the Middle East and the lack of communication channels between Israel and the Arabs does not negate that fact and does not mean that Israel does not exist and those who say so are deceiving themselves and others. Therefore, to continue betting on the slogans of the past and pleasing the masses with the resistance discourse means underestimating the suffering of millions inside Palestine, and also a political gain which many regional forces are seeking. Acknowledging facts and using them as a starting point towards finding genuine resources for peace is the only way out from this absurdity, which has been exhausting a just cause.

"One of the important facts included in the speech is that changing the future requires changing the present, and that any attempts to building real peace in the Middle East must start with modifying the rigid stereotypes with which the generations in the region have grown up, and planting a culture of coexistence that is different from the culture of marginalization, exclusion and violence upon which radical and terrorist groups which use the Palestinian issue to score religious or political gain thrive."
What the UAE Taught Egypt about Doing Business with Israel
It took more than 40 years, but Egypt is waking up to the potential of economic ties with Israel. Signs abound that President al-Sissi wants to strengthen economic ties beyond the $15 billion natural gas deal the two countries reached four years ago. Last October, state-owned EgyptAir began flying to Tel Aviv under its own name rather than through its unflagged Air Sinai affiliate, and in April the first direct flights between Ben-Gurion Airport and the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh took place. Earlier in the year, the leader of Egypt's Coptic Church gave official imprimatur to pilgrimages to Jerusalem.

"The government of Egypt and the elite now realize that economic ties with Israel are a net positive. They have seen the success of the UAE and Israel, and they think they should jump on board," says Hussain Abdul-Hussain, a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington.

At the same time, "Within Egypt, public sentiment against Israel is very high - that's not going to change in the foreseeable future, as much as Sissi would like to make the change," says Gabriel Mitchell, of the University of Notre Dame's Tantur Center in Jerusalem. The powerful professional syndicates, which organize doctors, lawyers and even artists, are a major source of anti-Israel feelings. Anyone doing anything that smacks of normalization with Israel is likely to be called out.
After 50 days of war: UN says more than 4.7 million Ukrainians have fled
More than 4.7 million Ukrainians have fled their country in the 50 days since Russia invaded, the United Nations said Thursday, in Europe’s fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR said 4,736,471 Ukrainians had fled since Russia’s assault began on February 24 — a figure up 79,962 on Wednesday’s update.

Women and children account for 90 percent of those who have left Ukraine, with men aged 18 to 60 eligible for military call-up and unable to leave.

Nearly two-thirds of all Ukrainian children have been forced from their homes, including those still inside the country.

Beyond the refugees, the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates 7.1 million people have fled their homes but are still in Ukraine.

“The humanitarian needs of people internally displaced in Ukraine continue to grow,” the IOM said.
Unpacked: Who is Responsible For Absorbing Ukrainian Refugees?
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, thousands of people have fled their homes, sparking an international conversation surrounding refugee absorption into other countries. One of the countries debating the issue is Israel, a country where refugee absorption is part of the national discourse.

With Ukraine being the world’s fifth-largest Jewish community, many Ukrainian Jews have sought asylum in Israel. Under Israel’s Law of Return, anyone with a Jewish grandparent can automatically receive citizenship to Israel. However, not all Ukrainian refugees who have arrived in Israel are eligible for citizenship.

While Israel has always been a safe haven for Jews, should that apply to non-Jewish refugees too?


In the Middle East, People Are Realizing Russia's Relative Weakness
Israeli Mideast expert Ehud Yaari told the Europe Israel Press Association last week:

"The amazing poor performance of the Russian army in Ukraine is reverberating all over the Middle East...also the poor performance of their weapon systems."

"Everyone in the region I spoke with has second thoughts about Russia. Russian prestige suffered an enormous blow."

The Russian army has "tested in Syria no less than 320 new weapon systems including their new tank, their best new helicopters, Kalibr cruise missiles which they fired from the Caspian Sea."

"There was no capable adversary confronting them, only different sorts of rebel militias not armed with heavy weapons, and probably the Russians are paying a price, a heavy one, for relying on the military lessons that they have been drawing from Syria."


Libyan Fencing Team Withdraws From Competition to Avoid Israeli Athletes
Libya’s national fencing team has pulled out of the World Fencing Championships in the United Arab Emirates to avoid facing Israeli opponents in the competition, reported Middle East Monitor.

The team was scheduled to go head-to-head against Israel, according to an official draw, but athletes and staff withdrew their participation from the championship’s final competition on Sunday to avoid the matchup.

Libya is currently ranked second in Africa and 19 globally in fencing, according to Middle East Monitor.

The team’s withdrawal comes after Kuwaiti fencer Mohamed al-Fadli also pulled out of the world championships for refusing to face an Israeli opponent in the group stage of the competition. In September 2019, he withdrew from an international tournament in Amsterdam after he was placed in a group set to compete against an Israeli athlete.

Jordanian fencer Eyas Al-Zamer recently withdrew from the World Junior Fencing Championship in Dubai after being drawn to play against an athlete from Israel. Israel’s national junior women’s team went on to win the gold medal at the same championship on Sunday.
IS-linked Palestinian nabbed for 2019 killing of elderly couple that stumped police
Police on Thursday announced they had solved the 2019 double homicide of an elderly couple in Jerusalem, as well as the killing of a Moldovan foreign worker, also in the capital last month.

Wasim a-Sayed, a 34-year-old Palestinian from Hebron, was arrested by officers shortly after Ivan Tarnovski was stabbed to death in Jerusalem on March 22. A second Moldovan man was also wounded.

In a joint statement with the Shin Bet security agency, police said a-Sayed is also responsible for the murders of Yehuda and Tamar Kaduri in their apartment in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv neighborhood in January 2019, a day after allegedly stabbing a teenage girl nearby.

The case was previously regarded by officials as “one of the hardest to solve in Jerusalem over the past few years.” Police initially investigated the killings as a terror case, but later pursued a domestic criminal motive.

After hitting a dead end in the investigation in 2020, police released security camera footage from the night of the murders and asked for the public’s help in identifying the suspect. The following year, they released a sketch of him.

When he was arrested by Border Police officers in March, police did not know he was linked to either of the cases. According to police, he was detained with a knife on his person while trying to cross the West Bank security barrier.
Israel’s Military Thwarts Attack Planned for Passover
Israel’s military reportedly thwarted a major attack planned for the eve of Passover that was set to take place in Jerusalem, Hebrew media reported Wednesday night.

Multiple people were arrested in the West Bank village of Silwad, near Ramallah, who were planning on carrying out the attack, Israel’s military said.

According to reports, Israeli forces used a loudspeaker to demand that suspects located in a house surrender. Crowds threw stones at Israeli security vehicles and clashes broke out in neighborhoods in the surrounding area.

One of the arrested was 33-year-old Maad Hamed, a member of the Hamas terror organization, Israel’s internal security service (Shin Bet) announced. According to the Shin Bet, Hamed was a member of a terror cell that carried out a shooting attack near Kida in 2015, killing one and wounding three others.

Hamed was being held by Palestinian Authority security forces since the attack, but escaped on Wednesday and had intent to carry out attacks against Israelis, according to a statement from the Shin Bet.

All those arrested were transferred to the Shin Bet for interrogation.
Israel once defeated terrorism. Here’s how
Yaakov and Lahav speak to former general Gal Hirsch who was one of the architects for Operation Defensive Shield, launched 20 years ago after the devastating Park Hotel suicide attack on the Passover Seder night.
Israeli Counter-Terror Operation Continues With Arrests, Clashes
he Israeli army made several arrests in the West Bank on Thursday morning, while two Palestinians were killed in clashes, adding to three killed in security operations a day earlier.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) arrested Mu’ad Hamed, a terrorist who took part in an attack that killed Malachi Rosenfeld in 2015.

The army and border police also surrounded a house in the village of Silwad and arrested three wanted people suspected of planning an attack with Hamed.

Clashes also broke out between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian rioters overnight in Nablus.

Two Palestinians were killed during an exchange of gunfire with Israeli soldiers during overnight clashes — one in Husan near Bethlehem and the other in Silwad near Ramallah.

Also on Wednesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said that human rights lawyer Muhammad Hassan Muhammad Assaf, 34, died from a gunshot wound.

Two Palestinians were killed and one Palestinian was critically wounded during clashes with Israeli forces in Jenin on Thursday morning, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry


PMW: PA honors 16 terrorist murderers at boys’ school
To honor 16 terrorists serving one or numerous life sentences for murdering Israelis, Jenin District Governor Akram Rajoub and Salam Al-Taher, who serves as Head of the Educational Directorate in Jenin - a branch of the PA Ministry of Education - established the “Freedom to the Life Sentence Prisoners Garden” at the Izz A-Din Elementary School for Boys.

At the event, in which representatives from Fatah and “official institutions, security institutions, non-governmental institutions… the [PA-funded] Prisoners’ Club, and the [PLO] Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs” participated, olive tree seedlings “named after the life sentence prisoners” were planted. Reporting on the inauguration, the official PA daily noted that “the speakers emphasized that there is one message in inaugurating the garden: We adhere to the prisoners’ cause and stand alongside them.” [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 22, 2022] – In other words: The PA condones and encourages terror and murder of Israelis!

The terrorists glorified by the PA in the new garden either directly murdered Israelis, planned attacks, recruited, aided, and primed suicide bombers, or prepared bombs. All terrorists are praised as “heroic prisoners” on signs with their names by the olive tree saplings.

This is not the first PA school at which kids are taught to honor and admire murderers through an innocent looking garden with olive trees. Palestinian Media Watch has documented a similar initiative at a girls’ school in Jenin. At the inauguration of this garden, the same PA education official, Salam Al-Taher, explained the importance of teaching Palestinian children about “freedom” and “our heroic prisoners” such as Karim and Maher Younes who kidnapped and murdered an Israeli soldier.

Photos from the recent event at the boys’ school posted on Facebook, show the olive tree seedlings and the names of some of the terrorist murderers the PA Ministry of Education found suitable for being honored in the garden: (All the following photos are from the Facebook page of the Izz A-Din Elementary School for Boys, March 21, 2022)
MEMRI: Article In Qatari Daily Glorifies Mother Of Six Palestinian Terrorists Who Were Involved In The Murder Of Israelis
An April 7, 2022 article in the Qatari daily Al-Sharq glorifies Latifa Abu Hmeid, the mother of six Fatah and Hamas terrorists who were involved in deadly suicide and shooting attacks against Israelis.[1] In the article Abu Hmeid praises her sons and the path of terror they chose to follow, and says, for example, that "Palestine will only be liberated through resistance and defiance, for Palestine and Jerusalem are dear [to us] and we will redeem them with our souls."

As stated, Abu Hmeid's six sons were involved in terror activity. One of them, 'Abd Al-Mun'im, was active in the Hamas military wing, the 'Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, and was killed by the Israeli armed forces. He assisted in the murder of three Israelis in the West Bank in 1990, and in the murder of another Israeli in 1994. Five other sons are serving life sentences in Israeli prisons: Nasser, one of the founders of Fatah's military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, took an active part in the lynching of two Israeli soldiers in Ramallah in October 2000. He was convicted of the murder of seven Israelis and the attempted murder of 12 others. Sharif was active in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and supplied weapons and assistance for the perpetration of terror attacks in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in February and March 2002. Muhammad and Nasr, also active in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, were convicted of planning suicide attacks. The sixth son, Islam, is serving a life sentence for killing an Israeli soldier by dropping a marble slab on him from a building at the Al-'Am'ari refugee camp in May 2018. In 2004-2009 he served time for involvement in Hamas shooting attacks.

The following are translated excerpts from the article:[2]
"When the 75-year-old Latifa Abu Hmeid sits down to her iftar meal [the meal to break the daily Ramadan fast], she places the pictures of her five sons around her, on five chairs. She hears the mu'azin calling 'Allah akbar,' and echoes him, saying: 'Allah is greater than the Zionists, and greater than the occupation'...

"Latifa is a Palestinian who lives in the Al-'Am'ari refugee camp, near Al-Bireh in the Ramallah [area] in the occupied West Bank, and she is the mother of one martyr and five prisoners serving life sentences [in Israeli prisons]. The occupation has demolished her home five times, most recently in 2019.[3] She has been patiently bearing the pain of missing [her sons] for almost 35 years – so much so that she has been dubbed the Oak Tree of Palestine. She says: 'I am strong. Let them demolish [the house]; we will rebuild. We will fight the occupation until it disappears'…

"She adds: 'I hope and I am convinced that Allah will liberate them. The inconceivable sentences imposed [on them] by the occupation are just numbers. As time goes by, I grow more and more confident in Allah's salvation, not in the numbers of the occupation.'


Iran Is Opening New Centrifuge-Parts Workshop at Natanz: IAEA Report
Iran is starting to operate a new workshop at Natanz that will make parts for uranium-enriching centrifuges with machines moved there from its now-closed Karaj facility, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a report on Thursday seen by Reuters.

The new workshop raises questions about Iran’s plans for the manufacturing of advanced centrifuges — machines that produce enriched uranium much faster than the first-generation machines it was restricted to using for that purpose by its 2015 deal with major powers.

It is now enriching with hundreds of advanced centrifuges, some of them enriching to a purity of up to 60%, close to the 90% that is weapons-grade. That is far above the 3.67% cap imposed by the deal and the 20% it had achieved before the deal.

In its confidential report to member states the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it had finished installing surveillance cameras at the location on April 12 and had then removed the seals from the machines. The agency did not say where at Natanz that location was.

The workshop’s precise location is of particular interest to Western powers and Iran’s arch foe Israel because Karaj was struck by what Tehran says was a sabotage attack by Israel. Tehran has since been seeking to ensure greater security for such sites.

The sprawling Natanz site includes a commercial-scale enrichment plant that is underground, which could offer some protection from any potential airstrikes.
WaPo: Israeli Ambassador: "Iran Is Not an 800-Pound Gorilla that Cannot Be Deterred"
Israel's ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog told the Washington Post on Monday: "Our government was very clear about its concern regarding the possibility of a new deal with Iran, the reason being, we have no illusion about Iranian...nuclear ambitions, regional ambitions. We have no illusions about their anti-Western and anti-Israel ideology, and the fact that they've been working to build the tools, including nuclear tools, to realize their ambitions....So, for all of these reasons, we are very much concerned that this deal will not add stability but may be counterproductive."

"In a few years, given this deal, all limitations on the Iranian nuclear program will be lifted. Iran would be able to enrich at will to any level of enrichment, with any number of centrifuges on an industrial scale, and be legitimized as a nuclear threshold state. This is intolerable to Israel, and I think it's also intolerable to some of our neighbors in the region....We are not going to sit idly by or be indifferent to a situation where Iran is legitimized as a nuclear threshold state."

"Iran is a predator state. Iran is a destabilizing factor in the region, and no deal would put Iran in the box unless there is serious deterrence vis-a-vis Iran....I do believe that if you reinstate deterrence, you prevent war. I certainly believe that if you show assertiveness vis-a-vis Iran, as Israel has shown in the last few years in the region, you will deter Iran. Iran, with all due respect, is not an 800-pound gorilla that cannot be deterred."

Regarding Ukraine, "from the beginning of this war, Israel unequivocally stated that it is against the Russian attack on Ukraine, against upsetting international norms, and against going against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine....I disagree with those who say that Israel hasn't decided about taking sides. That's absolutely not true....We have very clearly and have unequivocally taken sides, my government, myself, and all of Israel....We do everything we can to help the Ukrainian people."


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