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Monday, March 27, 2023

03/27 Links Pt1: Netanyahu to announce halt to judicial reforms until after Knesset recess; Piers Morgan vs Benjamin Netanyahu; Fatah: “led 1,500” terror attacks while Hamas led none

From Ian:

Elliott Abrams: Obama Administration Disavowed Agreement that Biden Administration Claims Israel Violated
On March 21, the Biden administration denounced a recent move in the Israeli Knesset as "a clear contradiction of undertakings the Israeli government made to the United States." This statement is astonishing and Americans should understand why.

Between 2002 and early 2004, the George W. Bush administration found that all progress on Israeli-Palestinian issues was stopped dead by Yasser Arafat's corruption and his support of terrorism. I was serving at the time as the National Security Council's senior director for the Near East.

In an exchange of letters on April 14, 2004, President Bush gave Prime Minister Sharon the support he needed to complete the Gaza withdrawal. Bush's letter made several important statements: that the U.S. would impose no new peace plan on Israel beyond what was already agreed; that the U.S. would "preserve and strengthen Israel's capability to deter and defend itself, by itself, against any threat or possible combination of threats"; and that the Palestinian refugee problem would not be solved by moving Palestinians to Israel.

Bush also said that "in light of new realities on the ground, including already existing major Israeli populations centers, it is unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949." In other words, Israeli settlements were realities, and the U.S. understood that in any final status agreement, Israeli borders would reflect their location. This formal exchange of letters was endorsed by the Senate by a vote of 95-3 and by the House by 407-9.

Yet in 2009, the U.S., under the Obama-Biden administration, claimed that the 2004 exchange of letters and commitments was absolutely of no consequence and not binding. For the Biden administration to denounce Israeli action on the ground that it violates a commitment made by Israel to the U.S. is remarkably hypocritical. The Obama administration had already torn up any such commitment and turned the Bush-Sharon exchange into a pair of dead letters.

The Biden administration should not be free to bash Israel for breaking commitments that the U.S. itself dismissed years ago.
Alan Dershowitz: Bibi left out the most important part
It was an honor to be quoted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his statement about the proposed judicial reforms. He quoted my words accurately, but he omitted the thrust of my central message: That further compromise is absolutely necessary.

I remain opposed to both the original and revised proposals because they cross two red lines: 1) they permit the Knesset by a simple majority to override Supreme Court decisions guaranteeing fundamental minority rights, freedom of speech and due process; and 2) they empower a majority of politicians, rather than professionals, to select future justices.

The Prime Minister correctly quoted me as denying that, if enacted, these wrong-headed reforms would not turn Israel into an anti-Democratic authoritarian state. Israel will remain democratic as long as a majority of its citizens can elect its leaders in a fair vote. Israeli voters would never tolerate an autocracy. They are for too argumentative and opinionated to take orders from a dictator.

Although Israel will remain a vibrant democracy, it would be a far better democracy if the Supreme Court had the power to check and balance the majority regarding often unpopular basic rights. Recall that many of the most basic rights – such as freedom of speech and due process for hated people – are unpopular with a majority of voters, but essential to the rule of law.

It is important to remember that many western democracies do not have checks and balances based on the separation of powers. Nor do they authorize judicial review of legislative decisions. Parliamentary supremacy is the rule rather than the exception.

But Israel has had a better democracy than most, precisely because the Supreme Court has enforced basic minority rights even when a temporary majority has sought to violate them. So, it is important to try to maintain the benefits of the current Israeli system, while not exaggerating the likely implications of a negative change. Unfortunately, each side has overstated the dangers of the other side’s positions being accepted.
The IDF Must Be Kept Out of the Political Debate
Soldiers in uniform should not abuse their position to take a particular ideological stance. Reservists should not use their annual service as leverage in service of a political agenda.

If they do, then we will end up with half an army, its ideological makeup dependent on who is in political power at any given time.

Of course, this is an extreme scenario, but there are ominous signs that we could be heading in such a direction.

If even a fraction of soldiers or reservists make their service dependent on whether they are happy with government policy or not, it could severely weaken Israel militarily.

We need to create a new social contract among all citizens of Israel that ensures there will be no more refusal to serve, or even the threat of refusal to serve, on ideological grounds. That there will be no more mass petitions calling on people to boycott their annual military service. That there will be no more calls for the IDF to solve political problems.

The IDF must remain above the debate, however vehement it may be.

Soldiers have one job: To achieve the goals set by those above them. Military leaders and strategists have one job: To win wars and ensure safety and security for all Israelis.

Everything the IDF does should be in service of these goals. Anything else is an unnecessary and potentially dangerous distraction.

Even when tempers are frayed, and anger and resentment come from every direction, we need to commit to creating a broad consensus that, above all, the IDF must be kept out of the political debate.


Commentary Podcast: Protests in Israel Come to a Head
Dan Senor joins the podcast to talk about the protests in Israel, how we got here, the firing of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and the choices now facing Benjamin Netanyahu and the government.


Netanyahu to announce halt to judicial reforms until after Knesset recess
On Monday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was scheduled to announce the freezing of the government’s judicial reform effort until May, when the Knesset reconvenes after its upcoming recess for the Passover holiday.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir revealed the prospective move on Monday evening and said that his Otzma Yehudit Party had agreed to the pause, seemingly preventing a collapse of the government.

“I agreed to remove my veto on the postponement of the legislation in exchange for a commitment [from Netanyahu] that the bills be brought to the Knesset for approval in the next session if no agreements are reached during the recess,” said Ben-Gvir in a statement.

He added that the coalition would attempt to engage in negotiations before attempting to pass the reforms.

For his part, Netanyahu also agreed to green-light the formation of a civilian national guard under Ben-Gvir’s authority during the next cabinet meeting.

Netanyahu was scheduled to address the country at 10 a.m. local time but delayed the speech after members of his coalition threatened to bring down the government.

The standoff over the reform package reached a critical juncture earlier in the day with the announcement of a worker walkout by the Histadrut labor federation, which set off a cascade of similar announcements, including the grounding of planes at Ben-Gurion International Airport.

Netanyahu on Monday afternoon called for calm ahead of opposing protests in Jerusalem over the reform initiative.
Netanyahu to Piers Morgan: 'Israelis just don't get the judicial reform'
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sat down with Piers Morgan for an interview during his visit to London last week.

In the interview, Morgan noted the recent difficulties that Israel has had to face, such as fears of a civil war or a third intifada. The Israeli prime minister stated his belief that Israel will overcome these difficulties.

Netanyahu admitted that "there is a lot of concern about the democratic judicial reform we wanted to move ahead with. But people will see in the end that Israel was a democracy, is a democracy and will even be a stronger democracy after the democratic reform." Netanyahu then told Morgan of his belief that "Israel has an imbalance between the three branches of government" and stated that "people who I used to think wanted the don't want to correct it."

After Morgan pointed out the many criticisms of the judicial reform, with many of the critics calling it a "regime change" with the weakening of the High Court of Justice.

To counter Morgan's statements, Netanyahu claimed that Israel's judiciary has become "all-powerful. It can nullify any decision of the Knesset. And it can be a legal decision. It can nullify any appointment of the government. It can intervene in military matters or our battle against terrorism. All these things aren't acceptable.

"There's one other thing that characterizes the judiciary in Israel. And that is the judges veto the appointment of judges. They effectively select themselves. That doesn't exist in any democracy. The reform we're dealing with corrects that."
Piers Morgan vs Benjamin Netanyahu | FULL Interview With Israeli Prime Minister
During one of the most tumultuous times of his career, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits down with Piers Morgan in a Piers Morgan Uncensored world exclusive.

The under-fire world leader insists he’s NOT trying to destroy democracy amid the worst protests in the country’s history over his controversial move to control judicial power.

Netanyahu also delivers a stinging attack on former US President Donald Trump, branding his dinner with anti-Semitic rapper Kanye West and white supremacist Nick Fuentes as ‘horrible’.


Over 100k at Knesset as PM delays planned speech; right organizes counter-protest
Masses rallied across Israel on Monday ahead of an expected announcement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he was halting judicial overhaul legislation in the face of skyrocketing opposition.

In Jerusalem, some 100,000 people protested outside the Knesset, as right-wingers organized a counter-protest which drew a few thousand people. In Tel Aviv, a group of demonstrators ran onto the Ayalon Highway, temporarily blocking traffic at Hashalom Interchange. Protests were also held in Haifa and Beersheba.

Police chief Kobi Shabtai arrived to the site of the protests outside the Knesset Monday afternoon, taking a tour of police activity at the site alongside Jerusalem District Commander Danny Levy.

Separately, a group of protesters briefly shut down the entrance to Jerusalem near the Chord Bridge junction. Police said that three demonstrators were arrested when they cleared the road.

As the nation waited for Netanyahu’s address, the premier offered a brief statement in which he called on “protesters in Jerusalem, from the right and left, to act responsibly and without violence.”

The prime minister had originally been expected to speak in the morning, but his address was delayed again and again as he huddled with coalition leaders, amid reported threats by Otzma Yehudit leader Itamar Ben Gvir to quit, and as Religious Zionism chief Bezalel Smotrich called on the right to show up in droves for the pro-overhaul rally. Justice Minister Yariv Levin, after fighting tooth and nail in recent weeks against a halt to the legislation he led, said it was now up to Netanyahu to decide how to proceed.

The fresh rallies came after Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant Sunday evening for publicly calling to pause the shakeup, a move that led to major overnight protests throughout the country and particularly in Tel Aviv, followed by declarations by the Histadrut labor federation and others of a general strike.
Ousted defense minister says overhaul rift is an opportunity for Israel’s enemies
Ousted Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned on Monday morning in a closed meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Israel’s security was in danger amid the judicial overhaul legislation.

“According to intelligence reports, there is a clear identification of the situation being an opportunity [for our enemies] to attack Israel,” Gallant was quoted as saying in reports.

“The rift in Israeli society can bring our enemies to a prime opportunity,” he reportedly added. “The Iranians are trying to erode relations between Israel and Arab countries.”

In a statement following the closed meeting, the chairman of the committee, Likud MK Yuli Edelstein said: “We have heard alarming things. This is not the time to replace the defense minister.”

On Sunday evening Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Gallant, a day after the Likud member called for pausing the advance of legislation in the government’s judicial overhaul.

Hours before Gallant was fired, a senior defense official speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity said the tensions over the judicial overhaul have led to Israel being viewed “as weak” in the eye of its foes. The official said his view was shared by military chief Herzi Halevi, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, and Mossad chief David Barnea.
High Court dismisses petition that sought to order Netanyahu to recuse himself
The High Court of Justice on Monday rejected outright a petition that requested it order Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recuse himself, writing that not all legal avenues have been exhausted to justify a petition to the court.

The Israel Democracy Watch organization petitioned the High Court on Sunday asking for it to force Netanyahu to step down, following the prime minister’s announcement that he had started to directly engage with the judicial overhaul legislation his government is advancing — in violation of a conflict of interest deal he had agreed to.

The petition claimed that Netanyahu has a clear conflict of interest in dealing with the radical reform agenda due to his criminal corruption trials.

In response, the court rejected the petition and scolded Israel Democracy Watch for failing to first turn either to Netanyahu himself or to the attorney general, and instead requesting the court order on the very next working day after the premier’s announcement.

The High Court therefore dismissed the petition outright without even requesting responses from Netanyahu or the attorney general.

Last week, Netanyahu declared that he would ignore his conflict of interest deal to jump into the ongoing controversy of the overhaul legislation.
i24NEWS English: Gallant fired over stance on reform, sparking mass protests
Ruthie Blum, Uri Zaki and Ben-Dror Yemini debate what can be expected and what should unfold in the wake of defense minister Gallant's dismissal.


Tom Gross: Israel in turmoil: Ten percent of Israelis take to streets after Netanyahu fires defense minister
* Tom Gross (interviewed in the night): Netanyahu may freeze Israel’s judicial reform plans later today, but protests may continue anyway.

* Opposition leader Benny Gantz says at least 80 percent of Israelis agree on 80 percent of the judicial reforms.

* Tom Gross: the problem for many is the other 20 percent of the proposed reforms, which many fear will give the executive branch of government too much power.


Tom Gross: Has Netanyahu, one of the world’s most skillful political operators, lost control of his government?



PreOccupiedTerritory: Opposition To Judicial Reform A Pretty Handy Pretext Not To Work (satire)
Students, faculty, public sector workers, and other members of Israel’s largest labor union agreed today that the ongoing protests against the Netanyahu government’s proposed changes to various elements of the justice system have provided excellent cover for refusing to do their jobs.

Reports emerged today and over the last several weeks of numerous Israelis happy to sleep in or veg out instead of showing up to work, all with the noble excuse of striking in opposition to a judicial reform package that proponents insist would repair egregious violations of the doctrine of separation of powers by the judiciary, and opponents decry as an attempt to emasculate a judicial system that stands between the Right and its dictatorial ambitions.

“Democracy yes, I’m defending democracy,” yawned Al Betzaroff, a switchboard operator for one of Israel’s sick funds, as he rolled over this morning instead of getting out of bed at 6:30. “Democracy is very impowwmmm…nhhnnhh…”

“We won’t let Bib and Ben-Gvir do this,” asserted Dafna Shoham from her chaise longue at Bograshov Beach in Tel Aviv, referring to the prime minster and his far-right Minister of Public Security, respectively. “Right, Nitza?” Her companion and ostensible coworker at Tel Aviv University held up a fist in firm assent without looking up from her paperback novel.
Knesset member marches through Huwara displaying Israeli flag
Religious Zionism parliamentarian Tzvi Sukkot marched on Sunday through the Arab village of Huwara in Samaria, where hours earlier two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were wounded in a drive-by terrorist shooting.

Carrying an Israeli flag, Sukkot walked along one of the main roads in the Palestinian Authority-controlled town, where three terrorist attacks have taken place in the last month.

On Saturday, terrorists shot at a military post from a passing vehicle in Huwara. The wounded soldiers were evacuated to the hospital, with one in serious and the other in moderate condition. The IDF said a hunt for the terrorist was underway that included roadblocks to inspect vehicles entering and exiting the village.

On Feb. 26, Israeli brothers Hallel Menachem and Yagel Yaakov Yaniv were killed in Huwara, shot while sitting in their car at a junction on the Route 60 highway. This was followed by another shooting on March 19 at the same junction, which seriously wounded a dual Israeli-U.S. citizen, David Stern, 41.

“Here on this road, which is on the way to all the settlements in the area, there were three serious shooting attacks in the past month. Unfortunately, nothing significant seems to be being done to prevent the fourth attack,” said Sukkot on Sunday.

“I am calling on Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to immediately restore the checkpoints around the city of Shechem [Nablus]. It doesn’t matter if it’s Ramadan or not, you have to go to war with the enemy. This is your job, Yoav Gallant, we are here to strengthen the Jewish residents of the area. We will continue to drive here on our way home [to communities elsewhere in Samaria],” added Sukkot.


PMW: Fatah official brags: Fatah and PA Security Forces “led 1,500” terror attacks while Hamas led none
Secretary of Fatah’s Nablus branch, Muhammad Hamdan, stated last week that during the recent confrontations members of Fatah and the PA’s Security Forces have “led” “more than 1,500 military operations” against Israel, using the PA’s terminology for terror attacks:
Fatah Nablus Secretary Muhammad Hamdan: “Hamas is accusing the West Bank of security coordination [with Israel]. I think that the entire Palestinian people and the whole world has [recently] seen that more than 1,500 military operations (i.e., terror attacks) against the Israeli occupation were led by the Fatah Movement members and the [PA] Security Forces members, while in the Gaza Strip - ‘the oasis of the resistance’ - the number is zero operations.”

[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, March 19, 2023]

Palestinian Media Watch has exposed the PA Security Forces’ double role as cops by day and terrorists by night. In one instance, Fatah praised a murderer for being “a security member by day” and “one of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades members by night.” Senior PA official Jibril Rajoub has openly taken pride in the fact that at least “12%” of terrorist prisoners are members of the PA Security Forces. One such PA Security Forces’ terrorist left a “message for the Zionist enemy.” In it he threatened Israelis that he would “plant disasters in your homes” and “fear will prevail among you and [my] actions will torment you and send you to a place where your blood will drip.”

Despite these disclosures by PMW of the blatant pride by the PA and Fatah in the terror role taken on by the PA Security Forces, the Canadian government just gave them a grant of $450,000. According to Head of the PA Security Forces’ Scientific Committee Bilal Abu Hamed, the grant is to “provide help and aid and to renovate buildings of those who need us and who meet the conditions for renovation, such as needy and poor families that have no one who will support them.”

[Official PA TV, Aspiration of Free People, March 16, 2023]


Top PLO official calls for continued terror against Israel
PLO Executive Committee Secretary Hussein Al-Sheikh: “[Fatah] called on all the Palestinian national action factions (i.e., Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad) to create a broad front against the Israeli aggression. It is no secret that there is a quiet and calm dialogue between us and Hamas. I hope that this dialogue will succeed… You need to fight this enemy [Israel] on all fronts, in all arenas, without exception. You need to fight it on the ground and in the international organizations and authorities… The central topic in all the leadership’s meetings is strengthening the Palestinian popular resistance against the occupation’s army and the settler herds… This strengthens the Palestinian negotiator and doesn’t weaken him. I said this before: Are we stopping anyone [from resisting]? Are we tying anyone’s hands?”

[Official PA TV, Topic of the Day, Feb. 27, 2023]

Hussein Al-Sheikh also serves as Head of the PLO Negotiations Affairs Department, Fatah Central Committee member, and Head of Civil Affairs in the PA.


“The criminal Zionists will leave as corpses to hell” says Fatah official
Fatah Jenin Secretary Ata Abu Rmeileh: “Just as all the invaders have left the land of Palestine, so too the criminal Zionists will leave as corpses to hell, Allah willing, and as quickly as possible.” [Official PA TV, March 16, 2023]

Abu Rmeileh made this statement during a special broadcast on the deaths of terrorists Nidal Hazem, Yusuf Shreim, Luay Al-Saghir, and Omar Al-Awawdeh – Palestinian terrorists aged 28, 29, 37, and 16 respectively, who were killed during an Israeli counter-terror operation in Jenin on March 16, 2023. The operation targeted Hazem, a member of Islamic Jihad, and Shreim, a member of Hamas, who were involved in several terror attacks. Al-Saghir attempted to attack the Israeli forces with a crowbar, at which they shot and killed him in self-defense, while Al-Awawdeh participated in violent riots against the forces.


PLO summer camp slogan 2023 highlights dead terrorists as “Moons” in the skies of Palestine
Fatah-run Awdah TV host: “We are talking about these important summer camps… There is a very large number of young people, and every year there is a certain slogan… This year it is ‘Moons and Not Numbers.’ …”

Director-General of the PLO Supreme Council for Youth and Sports’ General Administration of Youth Affairs Muhammad Sbeihat: “It is always the [PLO] Supreme Commission for Youth and Sports’ instructions that there be a national aspect, whether it’s the slogan or even the content of the summer camps... This year … it is the bodies of the Martyrs (i.e., dead terrorists) that are being held by the Israeli occupation... [Israel calls them] “the Martyrs of the numbered cemeteries”, so we thought the slogan this year should be a slogan that has a connection to these Martyrs: “Moons and Not Numbers.” “Moons” as you know, and especially in this period, symbolize the Martyrs. The Martyrs whose bodies are being held will be part of the program that will be utilized during this [summer’s camp] program.” [Fatah-run Awdah TV, Facebook page, March 14, 2023]

The sentence “‘Moons’ as you know, and especially in this period, symbolize the Martyrs” refers to an upsurge in Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis in the preceding months. Many of the terrorists who were killed during their attacks – so-called “Martyrs” - have been praised as “moons” by the PA and Fatah.

The Cemeteries for Enemy Casualties (numbered cemeteries) are two burial sites maintained by the Israeli army for burying the bodies of enemy soldiers during wartime as well as terrorists. They are fenced and well-marked. Graves have markers instead of gravestones. Burial is temporary, as the bodies are eventually returned to their countries of origin. No ceremony is held. The bodies are buried in numbered caskets after their identities are documented.




In Gaza, 70% Youth Unemployment Leads to Despair
The people of Gaza can continue to believe that Israel is the source of all their woes, or they can face the truth. They are being held prisoner by the terrorist kleptocrats of Hamas, just two of whose leaders have stolen the colossal sum of five billion dollars from the aid money meant for the people of Gaza. They can see 600 Hamas big shots living in their million-dollar villas; not all of those Gazan villas are hidden inside gated communities. Theft of aid money is only one aspect of that corruption; another is rampant nepotism, where relatives and friends of the powerful get jobs while others, like the impoverished Saeed Lulu, go for years – in Lulu’s case, for sixteen years — without a job in the field for which they have trained. The sight of the well-connected with their safe government jobs, well-paid sinecures which are not terribly taxing, must infuriate all those – the vast majority of college graduates – who do not receive the jobs they have trained for and deserve.

It is not Israel that has forced Hamas to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on its vast network of underground tunnels, where it hides both its fighters and weapons – rockets, missiles, drones — that it hopes to someday unloose against the Jewish state. Hamas has made its choice; it chooses to spend much of what is left of the aid money after a handful of its leaders and their relatives, have helped themselves to the lion’s share, on preparations for war. That includes weapons and a vast network of very expensive terror tunnels. Hamas’ priorities are all wrong. It could be spending all that aid money on building housing, kindergartens, schools, hospitals, and other infrastructure to improve the lives of the Gazans who will live, study, work, and be healed, in them, and also will provide jobs for those engaged in building them. The terror tunnels that have been built by Hamas do not improve the lives of Gazans, but instead, become targets for the Israeli Air Force that, in destroying those tunnels, also inevitably destroys the infrastructure positioned on top of the tunnels.

Israel should broadcast to the Gazans the real source of their immiseration. Tell them about the five billion dollars stolen from donors’ aid by just two Hamas leaders, Khaled Meshaal and Mousa ibn Marzouk. Post on social media the names of the Hamas millionaires and pictures of their villas in Gaza. Publish videos of the now-destroyed network of terror tunnels and put a price tag on what they cost to build, so that Gazans will know how many hundreds of millions of dollars Hamas wasted on that project, so quickly reduced to smithereens by Israeli bombs. Publish the names, and the government job titles, of relatives of the leaders. Make the people of Gaza very angry, so that mass protests might be held, not against Israel but against their true tormentors.
Palestinian Journalists Syndicate Denounces Hamas' Arrest, Assault of Colleague
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate strongly condemned the arrest and assault of Hani Abu Rizk, a correspondent of Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda newspaper, by Hamas police during his filming of people marking Ramadan in Gaza City. The Syndicate said police were aware that Abu Rizk was a journalist when they assaulted him.

Abu Rizk was attacked for covering the story of a cancer patient living in a residential complex who refused to sell his home to a local businessman because of his medical condition. A Hamas court ruled in favor of the businessman and police demolished the home, forcibly evicting the owner.
Lebanon wakes up in two simultaneous time zones as government can't agree on daylight saving change
Nobody quite knows what time it is in Lebanon.

On Sunday, the Mediterranean country of roughly 6 million was scheduled to turn its clocks back an hour for daylight saving, as it does every year along with much of the wider region and Europe.

This time, however, there was a last-minute objection.

The holy month of Ramadan, practiced by a major proportion of Lebanon's population and during which Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, falls across March and April this year. Daylight saving would mean that sunset falls around 7 p.m. rather than 6 p.m., making practicing Muslims go an additional hour before they can break their fast and eat and drink again.

A few days before the clocks were to be set back, Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and parliament speaker Nabih Berri decided that daylight saving should be postponed until April 21, a move widely seen as an act of support for Muslims observing Ramadan. The country's leadership is divided between Sunni and Shia Muslims and Christians.

Lebanon's powerful Maronite church, the largest Christian institution in the country, objected, saying they were not consulted and that such a last-minute change would cause chaos in the country and put it at odds with international standards.

The result? For the first time ever, millions of people in one small country are suddenly going by two different time zones.
How Israel Should Respond to Hizballah’s Most Recent Provocation
Earlier this month, an operative working for, or in conjunction with, Hizballah snuck across the Israel-Lebanese border and planted a sophisticated explosive near the town of Megiddo, which killed a civilian when detonated. On Thursday, another Iranian proxy group launched a drone at a U.S. military base in Syria, killing a contractor and wounding five American soldiers. The former attack appears to be an attempt to change what Israeli officials and analysts call the “rules of the game”: the mutually understood redlines that keep the Jewish state and Hizballah from going to war. Nadav Pollak explains how he believes Jerusalem should respond:

Israel cannot stop at pointing fingers and issuing harsh statements. The Megiddo attack might have caused much more damage given the additional explosives and other weapons the terrorist was carrying; even the lone device detonated at Megiddo could have easily been used to destroy a larger target such as a bus. Moreover, Hizballah’s apparent effort to test (or shift) Jerusalem’s redlines on a dangerous frontier needs to be answered. If [the terrorist group’s leader Hassan] Nasrallah has misjudged Israel, then it is incumbent on Jerusalem to make this clear.

Unfortunately, the days of keeping the north quiet at any cost have passed, especially if Hizballah no longer believes Israel is willing to respond forcefully. The last time the organization perceived Israel to be weak was in 2006, and its resultant cross-border operations (e.g., kidnapping Israeli soldiers) led to a war that proved to be devastating, mostly to Lebanon. If Hizballah tries to challenge Israel again, Israel should be ready to take strong action such as targeting the group’s commanders and headquarters in Lebanon—even if this runs the risk of intense fire exchanges or war.

Relevant preparations for this option should include increased monitoring of Hizballah officials—overtly and covertly—and perhaps even the transfer of some military units to the north. Hizballah needs to know that Israel is no longer shying away from conflict, since this may be the only way of forcing the group to return to the old, accepted rules of the game and step down from the precipice of a war that it does not appear to want.


The System Is Blinking Red over Iran
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that its inspectors in Iran had discovered uranium particles enriched to 84% purity. This is just shy of the 90% considered to be "weapons grade." Uranium enriched to 80% fueled the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. Iran has no civilian need to enrich uranium in the first place.

Uranium enrichment remains part and parcel of the regime's effort to develop and maintain the ability to produce and deliver nuclear weapons on demand. Rather than dismantling Iran's illegally-built military enrichment program, the 2015 Iran deal decriminalized it.

The materials Israeli intelligence spirited out of a Tehran warehouse (the "Atomic Archive") in 2018, which Israel shared with the U.S., showed that the regime did not stop or suspend its weaponization program in 2003, but, in the Iranians' own words, modified it from a sprint to a marathon, though both have a nuclear weapons finish line. More broadly, the archive showed that the Iranian nuclear weapons program was more advanced and comprehensive than previously understood.
Saudi, Iranian foreign ministers to meet during Muslim holy month of Ramadan
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, have agreed to meet during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Saudi state news agency SPA said early on Monday.

Both ministers spoke by phone for the second time in a few days, SPA said.

"During the call, a number of common issues were discussed in light of the tripartite agreement that was signed in the People's Republic of China. The two ministers also agreed to hold a bilateral meeting between them during the ongoing month of Ramadan," SPA said.

Earlier this month, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to revive relations after years of hostility that had threatened stability and security in the Gulf and helped fuel conflicts in the Middle East from Yemen to Syria.




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