Friday, March 31, 2023

03/31 Links Pt1: Melanie Phillips: America’s outrageous attack on Netanyahu’s right to govern; IDF: 1 year of Operation Break the Wave; Arabs Chant in Support of Hamas at Temple Mount

From Ian:

Melanie Phillips: America’s outrageous attack on Netanyahu’s right to govern
Whatever one thinks about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, any true Israeli patriot will surely react viscerally to U.S. President Joe Biden’s outrageous attack on Israel’s right to govern itself without foreign interference.

On Monday, Netanyahu announced he was suspending his coalition’s judicial reform legislation in order to negotiate a compromise with the opposition.

The next day, Biden told Netanyahu to “walk away” from the legislation, saying he was “very concerned” about the health of Israeli democracy. Warning that Israel “cannot continue down this road,” he added for good measure that he wouldn’t be inviting Netanyahu to the White House “in the near term.”

It is deeply disturbing that the U.S. should brazenly and insultingly interfere in the internal affairs of another country and tell its prime minister how to behave. Biden was supposedly speaking as Israel’s friend, but he sounded like a colonial administrator barking at the natives to fall into line.

While Likud politicians hit the roof, left-wing and centrist politicians and commentators got behind Biden and kicked Netanyahu even more viciously in the head.

After three months of mass protests, incitement to hysteria and ludicrous hyperbole about the end of democracy that have caused Israel untold social, financial and reputational damage, those who shared responsibility for the crisis took their cue from Biden and blamed Netanyahu instead.

Benny Gantz, leader of the National Unity party, called Biden’s comments “an urgent wake-up call for the Israeli government,” which he accused of delivering a “strategic blow” to Israel’s ties with the U.S.

One of his MKs, Gideon Sa’ar, declared, “Never has any government caused such immense damage to the country in such a short time.” He called Likud politicians’ objection to Biden’s unprecedented foreign interference “a total loss of judgment.”

This is all straight out of the Palestinian Arabs’ Orwellian playbook: Subject Israel to aggression and then blame Israel for causing that aggression by choosing to exist.
Matthew Continetti: Biden’s Mideast Mess
Think it’s impossible to screw up two countries at once? You’ve never seen President Joe Biden in action.

On March 27, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his government would pause the progress through the Knesset of a controversial judicial bill until later this spring. Netanyahu’s decision came after weeks of mounting street protests over the reform, which would allow the legislature to rein in the judiciary. Military reservists stopped reporting for duty. Israel’s largest union declared a general strike. U.S. officials were critical.

So, when Netanyahu suspended the measure, U.S. ambassador to Israel Tom Nides welcomed the move. Asked when Netanyahu might visit President Biden in the White House, Nides said: "I’m sure he’ll be coming relatively soon."

Nides didn’t check with his boss. He extended an open hand to Israel’s elected leader. Biden slapped it down. On March 28, during a visit to North Carolina, the president spoke to reporters. Calling himself a "strong supporter of Israel," Biden said he was nonetheless concerned that Israelis "get this straight. They can’t continue down this road"—the road, presumably, of a democratic majority following due process of law. A reporter asked Biden if he’d be welcoming Netanyahu in Washington. "Not in the near term," Biden replied.

Some friend. No matter your opinion of the judicial reform—and there are plenty of committed Zionists who are leery of it—there is no question that Biden’s rebuke of Netanyahu was a breach in U.S.-Israel relations. Americans and Israelis scrambled to repair the damage. Netanyahu posted a Twitter thread underscoring his commitment to the alliance, while reminding Biden that Israel is a sovereign nation that will determine its own course. Or, as National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir put it: "Israel is an independent country, not another star in the American flag." On March 29, White House national security spokesman John Kirby played down the differences as best he could.
Caroline Glick: A new phase in U.S.-Israel relations
Israel may be better off paying for U.S. military platforms out of its own pocket and transforming its relationship from that of a client into one of a partner in defense technology development. On March 13, the U.S. Air Force conducted another unsuccessful test of one of the two hypersonic missiles it is developing. Washington may or may not want Israel’s help with its hypersonic missile program, which is lagging far behind China and Russia’s programs. But Israel is probably the only U.S. ally capable of helping. Certainly, under the present circumstances, Israel’s relationship with the United States will be more secure if it is based on collaboration in areas of mutual interest rather than dependence.

With the U.S. position on issues of critical importance to Israel—first and foremost, Iran and the Palestinians, changing completely depending on the president’s partisan affiliation— Israel needs to stop relying on America on issues that require continuous, high-intensity cooperation.

Building interest-based partnerships with other nations
This brings us to the second difference between the new phase we have entered in U.S.-Israel ties and de Gaulle’s breach of Franco-Israeli ties in the 1960s. When the French leader turned on Israel, Israel had the United States more or less at the ready, willing to replace France as Israel’s superpower ally. Today, Israel has no alternative waiting in the wings.

But it may not need one. Israel is much more powerful today than it was in the 1960s. It doesn’t need a protector; it needs partners. Beginning in 2013, Netanyahu began a process of building interest-based partnerships with nations across the region and across the world. These relationships with states in the region and worldwide already form the nucleus of a strategic posture that can secure Israel’s position.

Biden’s statement on Tuesday was roundly applauded by Israeli leftists hell-bent on overthrowing Netanyahu’s government. They would do well to think this through. Sure, Biden has issues with Netanyahu. But the policies Biden pursues vis-à-vis Iran and the Palestinians work to Israel’s strategic disadvantage regardless of who is in power, as his strong-arming of Lapid on the Hezbollah gas deal made clear.

Biden is not de Gaulle, in stature or in influence. American support for Israel is diminishing in some quarters. Still, it remains strong overall. Much can be done to change the situation for the better. And Israel is a powerful, wealthy nation with viable alternatives to strategic dependence on the United States.

This has been a bad week for Israel-U.S. relations, but it isn’t cause for despair. Rather, it is cause for a sober-minded reassessment and rearrangement of Israel’s relations with America to bring them in line with current realities.


Phyllis Chesler: Questions without answers
We have just seen an insurrection that shut Israel down being hailed as a “peaceful” pro-democracy movement. A movement that is proud of having used BDS/antifa tactics against their own state in order to further “de-Judaize” the country.

Israel is the one and only Jewish state, but what does that mean? What is “Jewish” about Israel? Is it protecting gay rights, trans rights, Arab rights, women’s rights, refugee rights, the rights of a Supreme Court over and above the rights of a democratically elected government? Is this what is meant by democracy?

I suppose one could argue that such values can be found in the Torah, Talmud and commentaries if one interprets them in a creative, politically correct, 21st century way. There are always “strangers at our gates” whom we are commanded to rescue, women and children in danger whom we are commanded to protect.

Is leading a secular, assimilated lifestyle, free from rabbinic encroachments (we’ve been here before, over and over again), particularly “Jewish?” Or does “Jewishness” consist of obeying rabbinic authority or at least studying, even respecting, Jewish law and Jewish history?

I do not have the answer to these questions. I can only answer them for myself.
Despite setbacks, Israeli judicial reform is inevitable
The man who leads the Israeli think tank at the center of the debate about Israeli judicial reform joined JNS editor-in-chief Jonathan Tobin on the latest episode of “Top Story” to discuss the controversy. Kohelet Policy Forum founding chairman Moshe Koppel explained that, unlike the U.S. Supreme Court, which is constrained by the principles of justiciability and standing, there are currently virtually no limits on the powers of the Israeli Supreme Court. And unlike virtually every other Western democracy, the members of the court are not named by the executive and legislative branches.

As Koppel, whose group is widely credited as being behind the push for reform noted: “In Israel, absolutely none of these limitations on the court’s power exist. Zero.”

Moreover, he explained that as a result of former Chief Justice Aharon Barak’s “judicial revolution,” the court also gave itself the right to rule unconstitutional basic laws that are akin to constitutional provisions in the Israeli system, something he described as “insane.”

As to what was really behind the mass demonstrations against judicial reform that brought Israeli society to a standstill until Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a halt to the effort, Koppel said it was about politics. The court is dominated by progressives, while the right wins most of the elections.

According to Koppel, “The fact that the court is extremely powerful and gets involved in everything is something that is exactly to the liking of Israel’s progressives. So when they say that the proposed reforms, which are going to shift power from the court to elected officials, is undemocratic, what they mean to say is it’s likely to weaken the authority of progressives.”


Typically thought a ‘silent majority,’ government supporters rally in Tel Aviv
On Thursday evening in Tel Aviv, supporters of judicial reform—about 30,000 by some estimates—rallied in Tel Aviv. Photos and videos on social media depicted masses of people and seas of Israeli flags.

Although judicial reform has been shelved until the beginning of May, those in favor of the effort nonetheless gathered publicly to express support for the government.

Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin wrote in Hebrew on Facebook that “photos of throngs of dear citizens demonstrating in favor of judicial reform strengthen me and warm my heart.” He encouraged those rallying to remain peaceful.

“Our justice and truth are stronger than anything,” he added.

Attorney and political commentator Daniel Tauber told JNS “the fact that supporters of the government, who would typically be thought of as the silent majority, are coming out to the streets is a real show of support for the reforms.”


Is the Information Domain the key to reducing Ramadan violence? - opinion
Ramadan has arrived, once again. A month that holds significant religious and communal meaning for many people in Israel. However, it routinely overlaps with national, Jewish and Christian holidays, which can lead to increased sensitivity and tension. This is an ideal opening for terrorist organizations seeking to sow chaos, which is why it comes as no surprise that we have seen a surge in incitement and fake news in recent weeks. Accordingly, the number of alerts in all of Israel’s borders has also risen.

Israel’s security agencies have been dealing with the challenges of this sensitive period for years, using various tools and tactics to thwart and deter potential threats while ensuring freedom of worship and civil gestures aimed at promoting peace and stability. Over the past year, another tool was added to the state’s arsenal. In professional parlance, it is given the dry nickname “Information Domain,” but it is something that we more commonly know as hasbara.

It is important to understand that hasbara is no longer what it used to be. The use of information has become just as potent as a real weapon. Certain words and data can either inflame an area or prevent escalation. In this context, Operation Guardians of the Walls in 2021 was an example of the repercussions of ineffective use of this domain.

It’s not that Israel didn’t have spokespeople; it did and they were great in their own right. The problem was that their message wasn’t coordinated. And when the noise threshold is so high, an uncoordinated message will likely go unheard and fail to achieve its intended purpose.

The lessons learned from that operation were applied successfully last year. Almost 20 different bodies worked jointly in a level of coordination that in real-time was recognized as unprecedented. The police, the IDF, the Defense Ministry, the Foreign Ministry, the Coordinator of Activities in the Territories, Shin Bet, Israel’s Prisons Service and the National Public Diplomacy Directorate and the National Public Diplomacy Unit in it, to name a few, managed to work together in a manner vis-a-vis the various target audiences.
Israel Defense Forces: 1 year of Operation Break the Wave.
WATCH as Major Nir speaks on how exactly 1 year ago today, the IDF initiated Operation Break the Wave— a counterterrorism operation.

As terrorists threaten the lives of our people, the IDF will continue operating to secure their safety.




Over 100,000 hold Ramadan prayers on Temple Mount; security forces on alert
Security forces were on alert in Jerusalem and the West Bank as tens of thousands of Muslims took part in mass prayers on the second Friday of Ramadan, including at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount.

Border Police deployed 2,300 soldiers in Jerusalem and its surroundings and in the West Bank, the force said in a statement.

According to official estimates, over 100,000 people took part in the prayers on the Temple Mount, including some 52,000 Palestinians who entered Israel from the West Bank.

The Muslim holy month, which began Thursday and will end April 21, often sees elevated Israeli-Palestinian tensions, with frictions already high this year in Jerusalem and across the West Bank following months of deadly violence.

While there were no reports of violence at the Old City holy site, videos showed Palestinian worshipers chanting their support for shadowy Hamas military wing chief Muhammad Deif during morning prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

For Palestinian Muslims, worship at the mosque — the third-holiest site in Islam — is a central part of the festival. Jews revere the same site as the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism as the location of the ancient Temples.


Palestinians Chant in Support of Hamas at Temple Mount
Palestinian worshippers chanted slogans in praise of “martyrs” and in support of Hamas chief Mohammad Deif at the end of morning prayers on Friday at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount.

A video circulating on social media showed an imam calling on the crowd to “protect the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque” before chanting slogans extolling “martyrs,” with the audience shouting in response: “We are the people of Mohammad Deif.”

Deif is the supreme commander of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Gaza’s Hamas terror group. He appears on the U.S. list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists and has been Israel’s ‘most wanted’ man since 1995 for orchestrating multiple terror attacks.

A banner in support of Hamas and its military arm, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was raised on the Temple Mount. The symbol of the Nablus terrorist group Lions’ Den was also hung from one of the arches of the esplanade. One person was apprehended in connection with the events, with police indicating further arrests in connection with the banners expressing support for terrorism were to be expected.
Thousands march to commemorate Palestinian Land Day in Israel, Gaza
Thousands rallied Thursday across Israel, the West Bank and Gaza for Land Day, commemorating a deadly crackdown in 1976 on protests against Israeli plans to seize land owned by Arab citizens.

Two people were wounded by Israeli army fire during a march along the Gaza Strip border, a Palestinian medical source said without elaborating on their condition.

At the main rally in Sakhnin, an Arab city in northen Israel, AFP journalists saw many people wearing the traditional keffiyeh scarf as they waved Palestinian flags and chanted: “Freedom! Freedom!”

“This demonstration is happening under a fascist government and against the backdrop of growing racism, which has become mainstream in Israel,” Hadash-Ta’al MK Ahmed Tibi told AFP.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned to office in December at the head of a hard-right administration, including extremist coalition partners with a history of anti-Arab rhetoric.

Each year on March 30, Arab Israelis, as well as Palestinians throughout the West Bank and Gaza, commemorate Land Day. In years past, the protests have been marked by sometimes violent demonstrations.

In March 1976, the Israeli government decided to expropriate 20,000 dunams (4,940 acres) of land in the Galilee, a third of which was owned by Arab Israelis, to build Jewish towns.

On March 30 of that year, Arab Israelis held strikes and demonstrated against the decision. During the riots that followed, six protesters were killed by Israeli troops. The government plan was subsequently annulled.

Hayat Hammoud, 29, said she had joined the Sakhnin march in “solidarity” with the families of the “martyrs” of the 1976 events.


Suspects in alleged Iranian plot to target Chabad house remanded into custody
Two men accused of planning a Passover attack on a Jewish center in central Athens appeared in court Friday to answer to terrorism charges and were ordered to remain in pre-trial detention, authorities said.

Greek officials announced the suspects’ arrests earlier this week and described the Iran-born men, aged 29 and 27, as being of Pakistani origin.

They are charged with participation in a terrorist organization, a crime that carries a possible life sentence.

Police alleged they were planning to attack the Chabad of Athens center, which is part of Judaism’s international Chabad-Lubavitch movement. The center hosts religious services, as well as a kosher restaurant and grocery.

Passover, one of the most important Jewish holidays, starts next Wednesday at sundown.

Investigators are trying to determine whether the suspects were planning attacks at other locations. Police have searched multiple sites in Athens as well as in southern Greece and on the western island of Zakynthos.

The two men appeared before a public prosecutor, who ordered their detention in prison pending trial.

A third man, who is not in Greece, is wanted for questioning and has been charged with terrorism-related offenses in absentia.

Israel has thanked the Greek government for its response and said that its national intelligence agency, Mossad, had provided information about the suspects, including that they were part of an Iranian terror network.

Iran’s embassy in Greece has denied any connection to the alleged plot.
Australian-Israeli who was at Greece Chabad speaks out - exclusive
Australian-Israeli Selwyn Franklin was in complete shock and felt in profound danger when he heard that the Chabad in Athens he was praying at daily during a vacation this week had been targeted by Iran, he told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday.

“I came out of the Chabad and I suddenly stopped. I saw the cameras outside - eight teams of media and cameras and reporters,” said Franklin when the story about Iran’s terror plot broke Tuesday night.

The Mossad helped Greece crack an Iranian terror cell, according to a statement by the Prime Minister's Office that came out that night shortly after Greek media reported arrests.

The spy agency said that it had assisted Greece with analyzing and taking apart Iran's operating procedures to solve the puzzle of the underlying crime and method of operation of the terror organization involved.

"This is another example of Iran trying to use terror against Israeli and Jewish targets overseas," said the clandestine agency, referring to the arrests of two Pakistani men with Iranian connections who Greece had arrested for plans to target the Chabad.
IRGC adviser killed in alleged Israeli airstrike in Damascus
An Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) adviser to Syria was killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike in Damascus on Thursday night, with the IRGC warning that it would "undoubtedly" respond to the attack.

The adviser was identified as Milad Heydari. "The fake and criminal Zionist regime will undoubtedly receive a response to this crime," warned the IRGC.

This is the second airstrike in 24 hours. On Wednesday night, alleged Israeli airstrikes targeted the Damascus area as well, with Syrian state media reporting two Syrian soldiers were injured in the strikes.

Where were the strikes first reported?
The opposition Capital Voice news site reported that the strikes on Wednesday night targeted an air defense base and a moving target on a highway south of Damascus believed to be the convoy of a "foreign figure" on its way to the Kafr Souseh neighborhood. Iranian and Hezbollah forces are known to operate in that neighborhood.

After the strikes, fires were reported in the al-Midan and Kafr Souseh neighborhoods. It is unclear if the fires were caused directly by the strikes or by shrapnel from Syrian air defense missiles, as Syrian air defense missiles occasionally fall short.

Earlier this month, alleged Israeli airstrikes targeted an airport in Aleppo, damaging buildings at the site. A little over a week before that strike, alleged Israeli airstrikes targeted a structure in Masyaf.
Russia Is Winning the Information War in the Middle East
According to a recent survey, Arabs ages eighteen to twenty-four are more likely to hold the U.S. and NATO, not Russia, responsible for the ongoing war in Ukraine. Anna Borshchevskaya seeks to explain why:

Conversations with elite figures in many Middle East capitals—influential diplomats, government officials, journalists, and businesspeople—reveal a surprising appreciation for Russia’s position, including sympathy for Vladimir Putin’s argument that Russia was forced to [invade Ukraine] to avoid encirclement by NATO.

There are several reasons so many of Washington’s traditional friends in the Middle East are, at best, ambivalent about the Ukraine war. Some of this has to do with their own sense of abandonment by the United States in their hour of need, a common complaint of Saudis and Emiratis who, like Ukraine, have been on the receiving end of Iranian drones—but not, in their view, the same massive showing of U.S. support.

These ideas, however, did not take root all by themselves. . . . Years before the Ukraine invasion, the Russian state-owned media outlets RT Arabic and Sputnik Arabic emerged as major sources of legitimate regional news in the Middle East. . . . Russian state-run media have retained full access to airwaves throughout the Ukraine crisis, enabling the Kremlin to propagate its narrative on the war via regional media. And Moscow knows its audience in the Middle East well. It routinely frames the war as a Russian challenge to the U.S.-led hegemonic order, an argument that plays well in many Arab capitals.
MEMRI: Qatari Foreign Ministry Spokesman: Qatar Is Continuing Iran-U.S. Mediation For A Breakthrough In The Nuclear Issue – And Is Also Continuing Its Opposition To Normalization With Syria's Assad Regime And Its Return To The Arab League
At the Qatari Foreign Ministry's March 28, 2023 weekly press briefing, Majed Al-Ansari, ministry spokesman and advisor to the Qatari prime minister, spoke about Qatar's efforts at mediation between Iran and the U.S. on Iran's nuclear program. He said that Qatar was continuing these efforts, and liaising between them in indirect negotiations, with the aim of bringing the sides' positions closer together and arriving at a nuclear agreement. He added that despite the great challenges in this matter, Qatar was willing to play any role to advance such an agreement, and that achieving it would contribute to regional and global stability. He also explained that Qatari officials' frequent visits to Tehran were connected to these efforts at mediation between the West and Iran on the nuclear issue.

In his comments on the recent rapprochement between many Arab states and the regime of Bashar Al-Assad in Syria, and on reports on Syria's pending readmission to the Arab League after it was suspended in 2011, [1] Al-Ansari noted that Qatar had not changed its position on this matter. He said that at this stage there was no Arab consensus regarding normalization of relations with the Assad regime and its return to the Arab League, and clarified that Qatar was firm in its position. This position, he added, would change only with clear and positive developments in the Syrian arena, which were not evident at this time, stressing that Qatar was not going to betray the Syrian blood that had been spilled for these causes.

Also, in an interview on Qatar's Al-Jazeera channel, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian expressed appreciation for Qatar's role in supporting Iran's negotiations with the West, and especially with the U.S..[2]


Video Sheds Light On Iran’s Plot To Set Up Spy Cell In Tanzania
Iran International has obtained a video clip showing an agent of the Islamic Republic confessing to the regime’s plans to set up a network of spies in Tanzania.

In the video, which seems like an interrogation, or a confession session, an officer of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry’s 853 unit named Hamidreza Abraheh reveals the Islamic Republic’s efforts to recruit agents for a clandestine network from Africa's Baluch minority for terrorist operations.

Abraheh, who worked under the alias Hamid Salari, said that the Islamic Republic is trying to infiltrate the African country under the cover of economic cooperation. He stated that this is the new strategy of the regime’s intelligence operations in many other countries.

He was arrested and interrogated in Dar es Salaam -- the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania -- in December 2022 and was deported to Iran. Abraheh had been granted a visa to live in Tanzania after he misled the Immigration Department and forged documents to prove that he married a Tanzanian citizen in the country.

A joint meeting of trade officials and businesspeople from Iran and Tanzania in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, August 2022

Abraheh claimed that he had been sent to the country to recruit local Baluch people and train them for terror plots and infiltrating into local governments, adding that the regime’s operations also included plots to kidnap or kill Western targets in Africa.

There is a small but historic Baluch community in East Africa, left over from when the Sultanate of Muscat ruled over Zanzibar and the Swahili Coast. According to some accounts, Tanzania -- along with Kenya and Uganda -- is home to 30,000 Baluchis, who migrated to the African country 300 years ago. The migrants were largely from Iran’s Baluchistan region, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast.

Abraheh is originally from the city of Zabol in Iran’s Sistan-Baluchestan province and is reportedly from a Shiite Muslim family but introduced himself as a Sunni in order to better assimilate among Tanzania’s Sunni Baluch population.

"Two offices in Chabahar and Zahedan support us” in the operations in Tanzania, Abraheh says in the video, adding that he asked the offices “to find Baluch-speaking Iranian or Pakistani people who have some knowledge of Tanzania and are willing to stay here for a while."




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