Monday, May 30, 2022
Israel to finalize UAE free trade agreement, a first with an Arab state
Israel is set to finalize its free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates in Dubai on Tuesday, marking the first time it has come to such a wide-ranging economic arrangement with an Arab state.Seth Frantzman: UAE $10 billion investment in Jordan and Egypt is a game-changer
First FTA with an Arab state
“This is a visit of strategic importance to the economic relations between the State of Israel and the United Arab Emirates, in which I will sign the free trade agreement and promote a number of economic partnerships,” said Economy and Industry Minister Orna Barbivai, who will be in Dubai to sign the document.
“Together we will remove barriers and promote comprehensive trade and new technologies,” she said.
“This is a free, full, first trade agreement with an Arab state, which takes place so soon after the establishment of diplomatic relations.”
The agreement comes less than two years after Israel and the UAE established full diplomatic ties under the rubric of the Abraham Accords. Based on the accords, Israel also normalized ties with Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
Israel also has a limited free-trade agreement with Jordan, but it does not reach the same level as this document, which is more along the lines of Israel’s FTAs with the United States and the European Union.
What does the FTA cover?
This agreement covers 96% of the trade between Israel and the UAE, which stood last year at $885 million.
That is more than double Israel’s $330m. in trade with Egypt in 2021, even though the two countries have had a peace agreement since 1979.
According to the Economy and Industry Ministry, the level of trade in 2020 stood at $120m. and at $1m. in 2010.
The UAE will allocate $10 billion to an investment fund linked to Egypt and Jordan, it was unveiled on Sunday. Khaleej Times reported that the fund will be called the Industrial Partnership for Sustainable Economic Growth.
Regional investment linking these countries together also relates to the larger context of peace and security in the region. This is because Egypt, the UAE and Jordan all have made peace with Israel. Insofar as those countries work together, it matters because they share interests in the region.
According to reports at The National, “a $10 billion investment fund has been allocated and managed by holding company ADQ to accelerate work on the partnership across five priority sectors, Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, said in a joint [press] conference on Sunday in Abu Dhabi.”
Further, the report says that “the partnership identified five sectors of mutual interest to the three countries including petrochemicals; metals, minerals and downstream products; textiles; pharmaceuticals and agriculture, food and fertilizers.” This will mean the possibility of joint large industrial projects, job opportunities and a view of diversifying the economies of those countries.
The decisions are based on the directives of UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan; there are a lot of potential game-changers here. This is because the discussion regarding the investments link to security, safety and prosperity in the region and is pegged to building capabilities and growth.
The reports noted that the three nations signed the partnership agreement in Abu Dhabi in the presence of UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs Sheikh Mansouri bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Prime Minister of Jordan Dr. Bisher Al-Khasawneh and Egyptian Prime Minister Dr. Mostafa Madbouly.
Caroline Glick | Tikvah Conference 2022
U.S. to Boost Ties with Palestinians after Shelving Jerusalem Consulate Reopening
The Biden administration has settled on a series of steps aimed at boosting its diplomatic ties to the Palestinians in lieu of reopening the US Consulate in Jerusalem — a move it reluctantly shelved amid Israeli opposition.Report: Suriname Plans to Open Embassy in Jerusalem
According to two US and Palestinian officials who spoke to The Times of Israel, US President Joe Biden will elevate Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs Hady Amr to the role of special envoy to the Palestinians. Amr will remain in Washington but will make regular trips to the region and work closely with the Palestinian Affairs Unit, which currently is a branch within the US Embassy to Israel and is housed in the old Jerusalem consulate building.
The unit’s diplomats used to serve independently from the embassy until former US president Donald Trump shuttered the de facto mission to the Palestinians in 2019.
While the Trump administration cited efficiency reasons for the decision — given that it had moved the US embassy to Jerusalem a year earlier — the step was seen by the Palestinian Authority as a downgrade of its ties with the US, and Ramallah has largely refused to engage with the PAU.
But in a move aimed at again setting apart the diplomats serving the Palestinians from those serving the Israelis, the PAU will officially begin reporting directly to Amr in Washington, rather than to the US ambassador in Israel, the US and Palestinian officials said.
A US diplomat told The Times of Israel last December that the PAU was already de facto reporting directly to Washington, but the move was never formalized or announced.
The two officials who spoke to The Times of Israel last week said the Biden administration is hoping to finalize the series of steps before the president’s trip to Israel and the West Bank that is expected to take place in late June.
Suriname plans to open an embassy in Jerusalem, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.Zionist and Egyptian make peace
The two countries have had diplomatic ties since February 24, 1976.
During the meeting on Monday between Foreign Minister Yair Lapid Suriname Foreign Minister Albert Ramdin, the Surinamese foreign minister announced that his country plans to open an embassy soon in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel.
During their meeting, the two ministers signed an agreement on political consultations between the Israeli and Surinamese foreign ministries.
Suriname is located on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America, sandwiched between Guyana and French Guiana, bordering Brazil to its south.
In addition to its association with the European Union through the Lome Convention, Suriname is also a member of the UN, the OAS, and the Non-Aligned Movement, as well as being a member of the Caribbean Community and Common Market and the Association of Caribbean States.
UN Security Council's European Members Prioritize Lambasting Israel
After Thursday's UN Security Council session, council members France and Ireland, joined by Albania and former member Estonia, called a press conference to denounce Israel. They failed to mention the recent string of terror attacks against Israelis, including on Israel's Independence Day, when Palestinian terrorists brutally murdered three Israelis with axes.Florida Islamic Jihad at the Dead Sea
Israeli Deputy UN Ambassador Noa Furman responded: "Since the beginning of 2022, nearly 800 Palestinian terror attacks have been committed against Israelis, in which over 100 [people] were wounded, and 19 were murdered....What is it that drives a 19-year-old terrorist to take up an ax and murder innocents in cold blood? To hack another human being to death with animal-like brutality? Well, let me tell you. Words. Inciteful, hateful, venomous words."
"This poison that is rotting the minds of an entire generation - both at the hands of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority - is directly causing innocent Israeli blood to be spilled while destroying the future of young Palestinians....I am disturbed to see that not only is this incitement and the lies that support it not condemned, it is spread, often by members of this body."
Hatem Fariz’s trips to Israel seem to be becoming more frequent. He was just there in March, and now he is back, only two months later. This time, he is on tour with New Orleans resident and fellow ex-convict Ahmad Hindi. But regardless of who he is with, what is important to understand is that Fariz, a man who went to prison for providing material support to Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), is traveling through Israel, the nation whose Jewish citizens PIJ targets with death, via such repulsive acts as rocket attacks and suicide bombings. No doubt, given his background, Fariz should be banned from entering Israel and arrested upon doing so.Bereaved Families Sue Hamas for $18 Million
In February 2003, the FBI announced the arrests of four individuals whom the law enforcement agency described as being members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a group recognized by the US government as being a terrorist organization. One of the individuals was Tampa-area resident Hatem Naji Fariz, a then-manager of a medical clinic. After a lengthy trial, Fariz pled guilty to providing material support to PIJ. Following his jail sentence, Fariz became managing director of Al-Qassam, the mosque founded by his PIJ co-defendant, Sami al-Arian, and named after one of the main inspirations for PIJ, deceased Palestinian militant icon, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam.
On May 5th, Fariz arrived in the Ramallah town of Turmus Ayya. Less than a week later, he showed up with a group of people in the Golan Heights, or as he put it, “the occupied Golan.” One of those accompanying Fariz was Ramallah resident, Ziad Arori. In January 2014, Arori posted a photo of Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin holding hands with then-PLO leader Yasser Arafat with the caption, “May God have mercy on the leaders. How much the homeland misses you.” In July 2014, Arori wrote, “[W]e bleed one, we are one, we have one goal, and the sons of Hamas are our brothers, and resistance is a crown on the heads of all bidders and climbers.”
On May 13th, Fariz visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and then Jaffa/Yafo in Tel Aviv, both with Ahmad Hindi, a New Orleans, Louisiana resident connected to family-run New Orleans convenience stores. In October 2001, Hindi along with his older siblings and others received prison sentences for underreporting massive amounts of income from the stores and shipping the missing income to family in Ramallah in the form of checks made to cash.
The family of an Israeli police officer who was killed in a terror attack in southern Israel in 2011 has filed an $18 million lawsuit against the Hamas terrorist organization.Coalition MKs granted free vote on banning Palestinian flag at state institutions
Pascal Avrahami, 49, a decorated police counterterror unit sniper, was one of eight people killed in a Hamas shooting that targeted Israeli vehicles traveling on Highway 12, near the Israel-Egypt border, on Aug. 18, 2011. Forty others were wounded in the attack.
The families of several other victims have also joined the suit.
“Previous rulings in Israel recognize the authority of the Israeli court to award punitive damages in a case such as these, which involve intentional or malicious infliction of injustice,” the lawsuit stated.
“The defendant’s conduct had a sole purpose: to murder and terrorize. … [A]nd we hereby appeal to the court to award the plaintiffs punitive and/or deterrent and/or exemplary compensation.”
Avrahami’s mother told Israel Hayom, “When I see what’s going on in the news—I can’t believe what has become of us. We give them [terrorists] luxury conditions in prison—they even get to earn a [college] degree—but what about the bereaved families? The orphaned and the parents? If every family demands compensation from the organization that sent them to murder women and children, maybe that will help.”
Ministers decided on Sunday that lawmakers will be able to vote their conscience on a controversial bill that would outlaw the display of enemy flags — including the Palestinian flag — at universities or government institutions.Ben Gurion University President Says PA Flags Can’t Be Banned From Campus
The Ministerial Committee on Legislation decided to grant coalition lawmakers freedom to vote as they choose when the bill comes up for a reading in the Knesset plenum on Wednesday. Generally, coalition MKs are expected to maintain discipline in votes.
According to MK Eli Cohen of the opposition Likud party, who sponsored the bill, “The hypocrisy and the incitement from some Arab Israelis must stop. They want to enjoy the budget of the State of Israel and at the same time defy the State of Israel and harm its sovereignty.”
Added Cohen, “Anyone, by the way, who sees themselves as Palestinian, will get any help they need from us for a one-way trip to Gaza.”
According to leaks from the ministers’ meeting during the debate over the bill, Housing and Construction Minister Ze’ev Elkin (New Hope) clashed with Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg (Meretz), after the latter declared that flag-waving did not disturb anyone.
“It deeply disturbs students and bereaved families whose families were murdered, plus the Palestinian Authority continues to pay those murderers a huge salary,” Elkin noted.
The president of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev told a Knesset committee on Sunday that if they wished to ban the display of Palestinian Authority flags on campus, then they should pass a law to outlaw the practice.
Appearing before the Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee, professor Daniel Chamovitz said that the government could not expect universities to ban pro-Palestinian rallies. The flying of PA flags, while troubling, he said, was not illegal.
“The Palestinian flag threatens many of Jews. I understand and feel this pain—but that doesn’t mean there’s violence on campus,” said Chamovitz.
Last Monday, hundreds of Bedouin students flew PA flags during a demonstration on campus to mark “Nakba Day,” the Palestinian day of mourning over Israel’s establishment in 1948.
The demonstration sparked widespread criticism, including from from Beersheva Mayor Reuven Danilovich, who called on Chamovitz to take action against students who participated, according to Ynet. Israeli Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman called for the university’s funding to be cut over the incident, according to the report.
Two busses carrying Israelis was attacked when it accidentally entered al-Isawiyya this evening. pic.twitter.com/M0qVhhz9Vi
— Joe Truzman (@JoeTruzman) May 29, 2022
CNN’S farce of an ‘investigation’
CNN’s “investigation” of the death of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh did not, as it claims, show that Israeli forces intentionally murdered her. Instead, CNN only showed the world how far the news company has fallen from serious journalism.BBC News parrots Palestinian Authority’s Abu Akleh probe
CNN’s incendiary accusation against Israel piles assumptions on top of assumptions. It relies not so much on objective, incontrovertible evidence, but on the feelings of biased eyewitnesses. All the while, plausible alternative explanations are not only cast aside, but effectively covered up by CNN’s reporting.
These are the acts of a partisan organization, not a serious news agency.
Below are just some of the major shortcomings of the CNN investigation.
Concealing assumptions and caveats
CNN relies on Robert Maher, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Montana State University and who specializes in forensic audio analysis, to suggest that the gunfire that killed Abu Akleh originated at a distance “between 177 and 197 meters.” This, CNN goes on to claim, “corresponds almost exactly with the Israeli sniper’s position.”
CNN presents Maher’s analysis without including the important assumptions and caveats that Maher provided elsewhere. For example, in a separate interview with Bellingcat, Maher explained some of the ways this analysis could be wrong:
“Maher added a note of caution and caveats to these calculations. ‘The estimate of the distance depends upon the air temperature, since this affects the speed of sound,’ he said.
“While the calibre of bullet analysed is also consistent with reports that the bullet which killed Abu Akleh was 5.56mm, it is also important to note that this calculation does not account for the possibility that another weapon not visible or captured in videos from the scene could have been used.
“On top of this, Maher noted that even a slight difference in the assumed speed of the bullet could result in change to the calculations: ‘Probably the bigger question is my assumption about the bullet’s speed. If the bullet were travelling at a slower supersonic speed, the distance estimate would be longer. If the bullet were travelling at a faster supersonic speed, the distance estimate would be shorter.’”
Nowhere, in either the CNN article or the TV segment, were these important qualifications provided.
The BBC did not bother to explain how Al Jazeera – which is obviously neither a state party to the Rome Statute, an ICC Prosecutor or the United Nations Security Council – could refer any case to the ICC. Neither did it clarify that Qatar – the totalitarian state behind that media organisation – is not party to the Rome Statute.
In contrast to the absence of qualification of the Palestinian Authority’s unevidenced claim that Abu Akleh was shot “deliberately”, the BBC did consider it appropriate to use superfluous qualifying punctuation in relation to the mission of the IDF forces operating in Jenin on that day.
“The Israeli military said its forces had gone into Jenin to apprehend “terrorist suspects” following a wave of deadly attacks against Israelis by Palestinians, two of whom came from the Jenin district.”
The BBC’s report re-promotes several of the corporation’s previous reports on the story, including a video and a tribute from the BBC’s chief international correspondent.
With the Palestinian Authority president having given his ‘verdict’ just hours after the incident occurred, it is hardly surprising that an ‘investigation’ lacking complete ballistics analysis by that authority arrived at an identical conclusion.
Nevertheless, we see that – as it has been doing ever since news of the incident broke – the BBC is once again quite happy to provide uncritical worldwide amplification for unproven claims from interested parties about the circumstances of the death of Shireen Abu Akleh.
.@PrivateEyeNews not only declares Israel guilty (and Palestinians innocent) of killing Shireen Abu Akleh, but couldn't resist depicting IDF soldiers as malevolent barbarians, replete with oversized noses, and animal-like hands pic.twitter.com/Y4B2iXEFoC
— CAMERA UK (Formerly UK Media Watch and BBC Watch) (@CAMERAorgUK) May 30, 2022
Contrary to @FranceskAlbs' specious portrayal of Fayed as an innocent child, and a victim of an Israeli crime, in fact he belonged to an Iranian-backed terrorist organization and was killed while attacking Israeli soldiers. She hid numerous photos of Fayed with assault rifles. /2 pic.twitter.com/7myIOpVzJH
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) May 29, 2022
International Law Expert Samir Zaher to Palestine TV: Israel Steals Organs from Dead Palestinians, Gives Them to Zionists, Wounded Soldiers; The Rabbinate Sanctions This #Palestinians #PalestinianAuthority #Antisemitism pic.twitter.com/Doq8oCR5mH
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) May 30, 2022
Fatah Publishes Video Glorifying Members of the Palestinian Security Services Who Are "Fedayeen By Night" #Palestinians #Fatah #Terrorism pic.twitter.com/OfqX5O96iS
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) May 30, 2022
On Iran, Biden’s Minimum Pressure Campaign Comes Home To Roost
The mullahs in Tehran are now only weeks away from producing weapons grade uranium as Iran's proxies menace our Middle Eastern allies.Seth Frantzman: Why is Iran showing off a 'secret' drone base? - analysis
A hearing with the Biden administration's special envoy for Iran, Rob Malley, shed light this week on how we've arrived here. In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, Malley's exchanges with lawmakers made clear that while the Treasury Department has sanctioned individuals and entities for a variety of bad behavior, it has not enforced so-called secondary sanctions—which remain in force—against China, the largest purchaser of Iranian oil, allowing money to continue to flow into the mullahs' coffers.
Iran can survive without access to the U.S. economy, but China would never take that risk: A U.S. crackdown would compel swift compliance by the Chinese. The Trump administration weighed this get-out-of-jail free card for China and decided against it. The Biden administration has taken a different tack: That's why, in April, as Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Menendez pointed out, Iran sold on average 650,000 barrels of oil to China per day. The result, he said, has been "a flood of cash for the regime—tens of millions of dollars a day."
But Malley is passing the buck. He would like Congress to believe that Iran's predations are the result of the Trump’s administration and its policy of "maximum pressure."
"Rather than compelling Iran to make concessions, the prior administration's maximum-pressure campaign resulted in Iran's maximum non-nuclear violations," Malley said this week, referring to the spike in Iranian-orchestrated attacks on oil tankers, Saudi infrastructure, and U.S. bases that began a year after Trump withdrew the United States from Obama's nuclear deal.
What he left out is that those operations largely stopped after Trump ordered the killing of Iran's top general, Qassem Soleimani, in 2020, and that Iran only began the process of producing the highly enriched uranium suitable for a weapon after Biden assumed office in 2021. The mullahs also withdrew from an agreement with the United Nations' atomic watchdog to allow full access for the agency's inspectors to its program, fired ballistic missiles dangerously close to the U.S. consulate in northern Iraq, and dropped a drone on a U.S. outpost in Syria.
Iranian media claimed over the weekend to show off a “secret” Iranian drone base. It can’t be that secret if they are showing it to everyone. However, what is being kept secret is its location. Apparently, a kind of “drone city” this complex houses numerous drones that are part of Iran’s emerging drone program and the drones now have more advanced weapons.Iran fails to answer questions on nuclear program, IAEA reports
The reports of the drone base focus mostly on video and photos of the base that Iran has showcased. Supposedly located in the mountains, the facility includes an underground bunker that is large enough to drive through, which is organized so that drones can be moved into and out of it.
Reports said that the trip to the site began in Kermanshah in the western part of Iran and that the base may not be there, but rather in the mountains somewhere.
The revelation about the drone bunker base comes days after reports that a drone was used to strike a military site in Parchin in Iran. This also comes a week after the killing of an Iranian IRGC officer who was involved in plots against Israel. Tehran wants to show off its high-level military equipment to advertise that despite suffering losses, it is also continuing to develop drones that can threaten the region.
The Islamic Republic has been accused of using drones recently in the region. It has exported the technology to the Houthis in Yemen and to Hamas in Gaza, as well as to Syria, Iraqi-based militias and Hezbollah. This has enabled all these groups to build up an arsenal of drones, primarily kamikaze ones but also surveillance ones. Iran’s recent videos and photos published on media like Fars News or Tasnim News show a plethora of drones, many of which are already known about.
Iran has done little to answer the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s long-standing questions on the origin of uranium particles found at three undeclared sites despite a fresh push for a breakthrough, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a report seen by Reuters on Monday.Iranian media threatens Israelis, lists those it claims 'live in hiding'
The lack of progress could set up a new diplomatic clash with the West when the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation Board of Governors meets next week. If western powers seek a resolution criticizing Tehran it could deal a further blow to stalled efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal.
The fresh quarterly IAEA report detailing Iran's continued failure to provide satisfactory answers raises pressure on the United States and its allies to take action against Iran at the board meeting since Tehran and the IAEA announced a renewed push in March to clear things up by now.
"The safeguards issues related to these three locations remain outstanding," the report noted.
IAEA report: Iran's stockpile of uranium enriched to 60%
A separate quarterly IAEA report seen by Reuters said Iran's stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% - close to the roughly 90% that is weapons-grade, in the form that can be fed into uranium-enriching centrifuges - is estimated to have grown by 9.9 kg. to 43.1 kg.
That amounts to more than what the IAEA calls a "significant quantity", defined as "the approximate amount of nuclear material for which the possibility of manufacturing a nuclear explosive device cannot be excluded" - or theoretically enough material, if enriched further, to make a nuclear bomb.
At 60% purity, a significant quantity would be around 42 kg of uranium.
Western powers fear Iran is getting closer to being able to sprint towards producing a nuclear bomb if it chose to, though Iran says its intentions are entirely peaceful.
The Iranian Fars News Agency published a list on Sunday of Israeli businessmen who it claimed have to "live in hiding" due to their being followed by Iranian and pro-Iranian security and intelligence services.
Fars described the listed Israelis as "experts in the field of military, security, defense, cyber and technology of the interim Zionist regime," adding that they were "involved in sabotage against Islamic countries and the assassination of activists of the Islamic Resistance."
The publication of the list comes as Iran blames Israel for the assassination of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Col. Hassan Sayad Khodayari and threatens revenge. In recent years, Tehran has also threatened revenge for the assassination of IRGC Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani and of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh.
The people listed by Fars were Amos Malka, founder and chairman of Nyotron Information Security and Spire Security Solutions; Amir Levintal, CEO at Cylus; Gal Genut, CEO at Analiza Education Center; Inbal Arieli, founder and CEO of Synthesis; and Amit Meltzer, a technology advisor.
Nearly all of the information reported by Fars as intelligence "obtained about the activities" of these people was available on their public LinkedIn pages, although the article did make mistakes, including writing that Levintal is a VP at IntSight despite his LinkedIn saying that he left that position last year.
The report claimed that Iranian and pro-Iranian groups had additional details about the Israelis' family members, photos and videos, addresses, phone numbers, emails and other information, but this information was not included in the report. The news agency also claimed that "far more" people are under surveillance as well and that their information would be published over time.
Fars warned that the information shows that "the hand of the resistance is not closed with regard to planning for various, intelligent and innovative actions in the near future."
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