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Tuesday, April 04, 2023

04/04 Links Pt1: Biden's Anti-Israel Policy Empowers Iran, Palestinian Terrorists; Left-wing Israeli group provides legal aid to PA terrorists; U.S., Iran Reportedly Discussing New Interim Nuclear Deal

From Ian:

Biden spares Iran and scolds Israel
The reference to “a fielded nuclear weapon” makes it clear that Biden will not use force to stop Iran from breaking its nonproliferation commitments and producing one or more nuclear weapons. He just wants Iran’s nuclear file off his agenda and out of the way—in other words, he seeks to kick the can down the road.

The Biden administration is certainly not going to let Israeli or other critics get in its way. It does not want Israel to strike Iran. The best route to ensuring Israeli compliance with U.S. policy on Iran, in practice if not in declaration, is by threatening U.S. distancing from Israel on matters of “democratic principle” or matters related to the Palestinians.

What is particularly sad here is that there are ways of halting Iran’s inexorable march toward a nuclear bomb and regional hegemony without necessarily arriving at war.

In an important article published this week in Newsweek, two top Israeli security experts (Meir Ben Shabbat of the Misgav Institute for Zionist Strategy & National Security and Eran Lerman of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy & Security) argued that a credible U.S. military threat against the regime of the ayatollahs would reduce the risk of actual war. It also could reverse the drift of regional players towards Russia and China. Without such a U.S. threat, the likelihood of a violent eruption in the Middle East will significantly increase, they say.

A real Biden administration roadmap for countering Iran would include the following, according to Ben Shabbat and Lerman: Snapback sanctions on Iran with tight supervision (especially of Iranian oil exports and dual-use technologies), terrorist designation of the IRGC across Europe, suspension of Iranian membership in international forums, sanctions and economic pressure on individuals and organizations involved in repressing human rights, penalties on key Iranian industries, covert disruptive measures against Iran’s nuclear program and, most saliently, articulation and demonstration of a credible military threat against the Iranian regime.

Making this even more precise, Mark Dubowitz and Orde Kittrie of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington have outlined more than 200 specific measures (in the military, cyber, financial, energy, legal and diplomatic spheres) that U.S. government agencies can take in “deploying multiple elements of national power” to confront threats from Iran.

Taken together, these measures will enhance American deterrence and prevent war. They will obviate the need for Israel to strike Iran. Alas, Biden prefers to make allowances for Iran and reprimand Israel—to spare the ayatollahs and scold Netanyahu.
Bassam Tawil: Biden's Anti-Israel Policy Empowers Iran, Palestinian Terrorists
US President Joe Biden appears more worried about the Israeli government's plan for judicial reform than the growing support among Palestinians for terrorism against Israel.

He seems more concerned about a plan to fix the deeply broken judicial system in Israel than about Palestinian threats to destroy Israel and kill as many Jews as possible.

We did not see Biden raise any objection over the Palestinians' "Pay for Slay" policy, which rewards terrorists and their families for the murder of Jews. We did not see Biden raise any objection over the Palestinian leaders' glorification of terrorists, who are being celebrated as "martyrs" by a majority of Palestinians. We did not see Biden raise any objection over the thousands of Palestinians who regularly take to the streets to celebrate the murder of Jews in terror attacks perpetrated by Palestinian terrorists.

As Biden was criticizing the democratically elected prime minister of Israel, senior (unelected) Palestinian officials were continuing to use every available podium to spread more libels against Israel.

Has Biden ever shown any concern that the Palestinians are living under highly undemocratic regimes, with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and Hamas in the Gaza Strip? Has Biden or anyone from his administration ever asked the Palestinians why they do not have a functioning parliament?

The crisis Biden has triggered with Israel because of his recurring criticism of a badly-needed judicial reform plan is great news for Iran and its Palestinian proxies, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), two of the many Islamist terror groups that openly call for the elimination of Israel.

By sparking a crisis with Netanyahu and the Israeli government, Biden has succeeded in bringing happiness to the enemies of both Israel and the US, perhaps in an effort that will be fruitless, to appease them. The message the Biden Administration is sending is that you are rewarded if you are an enemy of the US but punished if you are a friend.

Biden has placed himself alongside the mullahs of Iran who are expressing hope that the protests against the Netanyahu government will lead to the "collapse of the Zionist regime."
Report: Left-wing Israeli group provides legal aid to PA terrorists
A watchdog organization on Sunday released undercover hidden camera footage showing senior Palestinian Authority officials referring families of terrorists who murdered Jews to HaMoked, an Israeli organization, for legal assistance.

The undercover footage was released by the group Ad Kan, which works to expose far-left organizations which work against the IDF and the State of Israel.

HaMoked’s budget is based primarily on funding from European governments and the New Israel Fund.

Ad Kan also revealed Sunday that families of terrorists and terrorists themselves claim that when they decide to carry out an attack, they feel supported by the assistance of HaMoked, which allows them to make the decision to commit a terrorist attack.

The report showed that every year, thousands of Palestinian Arabs turn to HaMoked and receive free legal assistance and representation from the organization. The vast majority of applications come from terrorists, terrorist suspects and their families. HaMoked doesn’t differentiate between the terrorists to whom it gives free legal counsel even if the applicant is a mass murderer of Israeli children.

In an in-depth audit conducted into the activities of HaMoked in 2017, it was determined that the organization helps Palestinian Arabs only, and therefore does not meet its stated objectives (which enable it to be classified as a charity) - assistance to every person in need. As a result, the objective and mission of the organization were changed to include aid to Palestinian Arabs only.

The absolute majority of funding for HaMoked's activities comes from abroad, from foreign funds and political entities that transfer millions of dollars and Euros a year to HaMoked. Between the years 2007 and 2018, HaMoked for the Protection of Individuals received a total of 20 million dollars, mostly from foreign entities and governments. Among the countries funding HaMoked between the years 2007 - 2018 are Norway, Spain, Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain, Finland, Switzerland, the European Union and United Nations. In addition, the New Israel Fund, and the Ford Foundation donated more than a million dollars to HaMoked during those years.


FDD: U.S., Iran Reportedly Discussing New Interim Nuclear Deal
Latest Developments
Axios reported today that the Biden administration has been discussing the contours of a new nuclear deal with Tehran since January. The prospective agreement would lift some U.S. sanctions on Iran in exchange for the regime freezing some parts of its nuclear program. Tehran thus far has reportedly rejected the U.S. offer. The potential accord comes despite public U.S. assurances as recently as last month that a return to the Iran nuclear deal “hasn’t been on the agenda for months now.”

Expert Analysis
“Under this ‘less for more’ deal, Tehran will give up few nuclear concessions, keep most of its important nuclear advancements, and get billions of dollars to rescue its failing economy. Too many will see the hope of a longer and stronger agreement. But they will be like pilgrims in the desert looking at the horizon and seeing a mirage.” — Mark Dubowitz, FDD CEO

“President Biden risks undermining American support for the war in Ukraine by asking Congress to approve billions of taxpayer dollars to support Kyiv while offering Iran billions of dollars to help resupply Moscow. In light of Tehran’s assassination threats against U.S. officials and ongoing protests inside Iran, the administration will likely face stiff bipartisan resistance to this plan.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor

What Could a Deal Look Like?
The Axios report fails to specify the sanctions that the prospective deal would lift, but it says that Tehran’s main concession would be a halt to the production of 60-percent enriched uranium – potentially leaving a turn-key nuclear weapons-capability intact. Last year, the Biden administration offered to provide Iran upfront non-statutory sanctions relief as part of a deal in exchange for a similar halt. In particular, the offer would have rescinded three executive orders sanctioning Iran’s petrochemical, automotive, construction, iron, steel, aluminum, copper, mining, manufacturing, textiles, and financial sectors, including 17 Iranian banks. Many of these sectors are tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization. FDD previously estimated that rescinding these executive orders could provide Iran with sanctions-free access to least $30 billion in annual export revenue.

Congressional Review
The Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA) of 2015 prohibits the president from suspending statutory sanctions as part of any nuclear agreement with Iran until Congress has reviewed and possibly voted on the deal over a 30-day period. The Biden administration’s new agreement would likely face congressional concerns that providing sanctions relief to Tehran will subsidize Iran’s sponsorship of terrorism against Americans, fund Russia’s war in Ukraine, and abandon Iran’s popular uprising — all while leaving Iran on the brink of a nuclear breakout. However, if President Biden limits U.S. sanctions relief to rescinding the three executive orders, he may have no legal obligation to submit the deal for congressional review pursuant to INARA.


Caroline Glick: Israel is holding the line on Iran, despite Biden
This brings us to Israel, whose leader Biden effectively declared persona non grata last week when he said he has no intention of inviting Prime Minister Netanyahu to visit him at the White House any time soon.

Throughout their tenure in office, former Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid insisted that through his opposition to President Barack Obama’s nuclear diplomacy with Tehran, Benjamin Netanyahu drove a wedge between Jerusalem and Washington.

Lapid and Bennett adopted the opposite policy. They chose to trust Biden to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Even before they entered office, together with then-Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Bennett and Lapid committed to a policy of “zero surprises” for the Biden administration in relation to Iran. That is they gave the administration veto power over Israel’s operations against Iran’s nuclear installations.

Bennett and Lapid crowed that it was their smart diplomacy that caused Biden to temporarily walk away from the negotiating table with Iran last year. But the Vienna talks failed because Iran refused to reach a deal. And Biden’s envoy Robert Malley continued negotiating with Iran after the talks failed in Vienna. Malley’s unceasing efforts to appease Iran showed that the Biden team’s policy remained unchanged despite Iran’s refusal to accept limits on its nuclear operations.

The previous government’s approach was predicated on the political left’s willful blindness to the rigid ideological nature of the Biden administration’s Iran policy. Bennett, Lapid and Gantz didn’t want to accept that Biden was politically and ideologically committed to realigning the U.S. towards Iran and away from Israel and Saudi Arabia even at the cost of Iran becoming a nuclear power, because that would require them to admit that Netanyahu was right. They had a political interest in believing Netanyahu was the problem and that Biden and his team were trusted allies.

To advance this political agenda, Bennett, Lapid and Gantz based their Iran policy on trusting Biden’s promises over Netanyahu’s facts. The practical effect of their decision was that Israel gave Biden credibility before a less politically driven American public and congressional oversight bodies. More devastatingly, by giving Biden veto power over its operations, Israel stopped most of its operations, and so allowed Iran to expand its nuclear enrichment and other nuclear proliferation activities with little concern that Israel would attack.
State Department Denies Canceling NASA Scientist’s Israel Trip Over Israel Protests
The US State Department has denied canceling a NASA astrophysicist’s trip to Israel for a physics conference on Monday due to unrest in the wake of Israel’s judicial reform.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Thursday reported that NASA scientist Dr. Amber Straughn had canceled a scheduled appearance at the Israel Physical Society’s annual conference due to instructions from the State Department, a claim that the State Department denies.

“The State Department did not order the cancellation of the trip,” a State Department spokesperson told The Algemeiner.

Straughn is an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and serves as the Deputy Project Scientist for James Webb Space Telescope Science Communications. The James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021 as a successor to the Hubble Telescope and is the largest optical telescope in space.

In a now-deleted tweet, Straughn wrote that her travel authorization had been “revoked” on 27 March without specifying who had revoked it. Asked by a twitter user if it was “because of all the unrest and protests going on there,” Straughn replied, “Yes.”

Prof. Jonathan Ruhman, a physicist at Bar-Ilan University and the organizer of the conference, said in an email to The Algemeiner that Straughn had blamed the State Department for the cancellation in her communications with him.

“Her exact words were that the State Department revoked her travel permit. She did not provide an explanation,” he said. “We were really sad she had to cancel.”
US-Israel tensions will pass; Netanyahu knows Biden won't win in 2024 - opinion
Netanyahu knows Biden won't be re-elected and that the US is divided

Netanyahu has almost certainly determined that he can weather the storm. He has calculated that Biden cannot and will not be re-elected. No matter which victor emerges in the 2024 US election for president – Republican or Democrat – it will not be Biden. That realization gives Netanyahu peace of mind. He will be friendly to the sitting US president, but Netanyahu is behaving as if Biden is a lame duck.

The non-invite to Washington, aka the invite which will come whenever it comes, does not trouble Jerusalem. If it did, Jerusalem would be lobbying hard for the meeting. And they are not lobbying at all.

This White House does not understand that Israel today is a divided country. It is split nearly perfectly in half. The division is not just about judicial reform, it is about almost everything. And it is certainly split – especially split, about Netanyahu.

And this is where Israel has the upper hand. The US is also split, right down the middle, and not just about former president Donald Trump and his indictment. You see it in the television ratings war, where it is Fox vs the others. Congress is split, with the House of Representatives for the Republicans; the Senate for the Democrats. The US is wrenched right down the middle.

Israel understands the United States. The Prime Minister’s Office is feeling secure. They see these divisions in the US. Most importantly, they know that their real friendships rest in Congress and not the White House. And they know that regardless of what happens regarding judicial reform, the friendship, the family ties between the US and Israel will remain intact.

Despite the division in Israel, and the division in the US, the one issue unifying Washington is the bipartisan, almost unanimous, support of Israel. And that’s all that matters.
Trump: US Jews disloyal to Israel; Biden: Israel disloyal to US Jews - analysis
Remember the “how-dare-he” brouhaha caused when Netanyahu was accused of interfering in US politics by seemingly appearing to favor Mitt Romney over Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential race? The irritation that caused in some circles in the US paled in comparison to the anger that still lingers among some Democrats at Netanyahu for speaking to a joint session of Congress in 2015 against the Iranian nuclear deal and trying to impact US domestic opinion on that matter.

Washington’s interference now in Israeli policy – despite its anger then at Israel’s interference in American affairs – is further proof that the US is the US, the most powerful nation in the world upon which Israel still heavily relies, and Israel is Israel, still a small country in the Mideast in need of a powerful ally. What is permitted to the US – blatant interference in Israeli domestic affairs – is not allowed to Israel: blatant interference in American domestic matters.

The second thing to keep in mind is that if US interference now is justified using the argument that all America is trying to do is save Israel from itself, then that same argument can be used in the future as well to force Israel’s hands on issues that have far-reaching security consequences for Israelis: such as compelling Jerusalem to make territorial concessions to enable the establishment of a Palestinian state.

If it is okay for the US to interfere regarding the judicial overhaul to save Israel’s soul, then why not when it comes to the conflict with the Palestinians?

What made Biden’s remarks even more extraordinary was that they were made with the US about to enter the maelstrom of a presidential election. Even though the 2024 presidential election is still some 20 months away, posturing, positioning and fundraising are already beginning in earnest.

Generally, presidents want to take on the Israeli government in the first half of their term if they are up for reelection, not the second half when the elections are just around the corner. Because who wants to anger the American Jewish community – with its voters centered in some swing states like Florida, Georgia and Pennsylvania and whose members contribute a disproportionate amount of money to political campaigns – by picking a fight with the Israeli government? Historically this has been viewed as politically unwise.

But by evoking the name of the American Jewish community in his statement, Biden made clear that he thinks that taking on Netanyahu at this time will not only not hurt him politically with US Jews, but it may actually help him.

Based on what he is hearing from the American Jewish community, Biden’s reading is that his stand on this matter corresponds to what America’s Jews – a not insignificant part of his constituency and donor base – want. Biden apparently believes that taking Netanyahu on over this issue is not a liability in trying to win over US Jews, but could actually be an asset.

And that is new, unchartered water. When was the last time a candidate thought he could win points with American Jewry, not lose them, by snubbing the Israeli prime minister and publicly opposing his policies?


A crisis of judicial proportions explained, Part III: Anatomy of the protest movement
No-holds-barred opposition
From the moment the election results were in, Lapid, who had hoped to turn his brief, transitional premiership into a permanent one, vowed that the opposition would be fierce, and that Netanyahu had seen nothing yet. He was right.

It is quite likely that any policies the government advanced would have been met with staunch opposition—and Netanyahu handed the opposition a gift. The issue of judicial reform was focus tested and resonated powerfully not only with government opponents, but also those in the skeptical middle. The left had found an issue that would propel the anti-Netanyahu protests of the country’s successive election campaigns into something much larger.

Most expensive campaign in Israel’s history
The protest movement is hands-down the most expensive political campaign in Israeli history. Tens of millions of shekels are being spent every week on signage, billboards, costumes, stages and busing protesters.

Billboards and signs feature the infamous “black fist” present in nearly all the well-funded “color revolutions” taking place around the world over the past two decades.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, one of the primary protest agitators, explained his protest strategy in an hour-long sitdown at the Chatham House. He described the government as “illegitimate,” although he does not dispute the election results. He openly explains that an ongoing protest by at least eight percent of a country’s adult population historically always leads a government to capitulate or resign—which is the true goal of the protests.

Barak, along with former foreign minister and Netanyahu challenger Tzippi Livni, appeared in interviews on CNN, violating an unofficial rule whereby current and former top officials will not oppose the policies of a sitting government in foreign media.

Movement for Quality Government
One of the organizations at the front of the protests has been the Movement for Quality Government (MQG). The “Movement” has protested against government corruption since the premiership of Yitzhak Rabin. The organization has campaigned heavily against Netanyahu’s continued ability to serve as prime minister, despite the law explicitly permitting him to do so, and more importantly, the voters continuing to give his party more mandates than any other.

But the MQG is not only a protest organizer. They are also the leading petitioner to Israel’s Supreme Court, which is often ready to accept its calls. In addition, it has been reported, and admitted by MQG, that the organization has received funds from the U.S. State Department for educational activities.
Jerusalem Post Publishes Op-ed Calling for Coup Against Netanyahu
The Jerusalem Post, once a reliably right-of-center newspaper, published an op-ed on Monday calling for a coup against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — to “rise up against Netanyahu and force him from power.”

The op-ed, written by Alon Ben-Meir, comes a week after Netanyahu paused his controversial judicial reforms to allow more time for negotiations between the government and the opposition. But the opposition has not let up, and continues to hold demonstrations — even invading the offices of a think tank that proposed the reforms.

Ben-Meir accuses Netanyahu of attempting a “de facto coup d’état under the guise of judicial reforms.” (As Breitbart News has noted, most of the reforms parallel existing institutions within the American judiciary.)

Ben-Meir also declares:
It’s time for Israel to rise up against Netanyahu and force him from power

It’s time for the Israelis to rise up – yes, rise up – as admirably as they have against Netanyahu’s sinister scheme to overtake the judiciary, again and again, to force him out of power and spare Israel from his ominously dire behavior. There is no way to make this clearer. The time is overdue for the Netanyahu government to realize that its approach to domestic policies that have torn the country apart and its discord with Israel’s closest ally, the US, is exactly what Israel’s enemies hope and wish for.

In his speech during this past week’s White House-hosted virtual Summit for Democracy, Netanyahu stated that US-Israel relations remain unshakable. That may be so but not as long as he is in power. Netanyahu is simply unfit to be the prime minister of Israel. He is a liar, a schemer and a fraud. If he has an ounce of integrity left in him, he should resign and save the country instead of stopping short of nothing, however evil, to save his skin.

The op-ed also praises President Joe Biden for pressuring Netanyahu by denying him a White House invitation.
'I'm moved to tears': Chabad display surprises anti-reform protesters
Thousands of protesters who gathered in Tel Aviv's Habima Square, as well as many passers-by from the city and beyond, stared in surprise at the open white boxes which were laid on the side of the road.

They were really excited when they realized what it was about: "I am moved to tears" said one of them.

The crowd that came out to demonstrate against the judicial reform, then realized to their astonishment what and who was hidden behind the anonymous boxes - a Kimcha Depischa (the traditional charity effort to help the poor fund the Passover holiday) initiative of the Tel Aviv Chabad center, and as part of it, the empty boxes were placed with basic food products next to them, while calling on the protesting crowd to participate in the packaging process.

The feedback was amazing: "At first I thought in my heart, well, just like they 'stole' the state from me, now they are stealing Habima Square from me" said a woman at the scene, "and then I said to myself: take a breath, and see what it is first, before you express preconceived opinions and stereotypes. Then they brought me to pack canned food boxes etc... It's so hard to see our people so divided, it's very hard. And here we are and all types of Am Israel are standing and packing together… I am moved to tears".

Journalist Dror Globerman also passed by and was fascinated. "I happened to pass by with my daughter on the way home from kindergarten," he said, "and I saw this beautiful thing. Today, especially these days, I think it's really important to do something together, something unifying. Bravo to Chabad for this initiative" said Globerman, adding: "There are people who need food, this is much more important than the issues that occupy us on a daily basis."

Many passersby joined the initiative and enthusiastically were packing the boxes for the needy people of Tel Aviv. "This is an opportunity to implement the well-known Hasidic saying: 'A little light repels a lot of darkness,' and we need a lot of light these days."
Man who stopped terrorist: The soldiers' lives were top priority
Two IDF soldiers in their twenties were injured in a stabbing attack near Tzrifin, close to Rishon Lezion on Tuesday morning, according to a statement from the Israel Police spokesperson which was later confirmed by the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.

Magen David Adom emergency teams treated one lightly injured and another seriously injured person at the scene before evacuating them to the nearby Shamir Medical Center (Assaf Harofeh).

Terrorist subdued by citizens
After attacking the soldiers, the terrorist tried to commandeer the weapon belonging to the seriously injured soldier. The soldier, according to the IDF, was able to maintain possession of the weapon by laying on top of it and fighting with the terrorist despite his injuries.

The terrorist was subdued by civilians at the scene and then arrested by the police. He is a 21-year-old Palestinian resident of the West Bank town of Hebron, a police spokesman said.

One of the actors at the scene, United Hatzalah emergency medical technician (EMT), Benny Meshulam, told the Jerusalem Post that he was on his way to work when he witnessed an altercation between civilians and IDF soldiers.

"I really do not know how I knew it was a terror attack," he told the Post. "At first it looked like a [regular] scuffle, but when I saw a civilian attacking soldiers, I think some part of me knew that something was very wrong."
2 Israeli soldiers wounded in stabbing attack



Terrorist Gunfire Targets Homes in Northern Israeli Kibbutz
Terrorist gunfire on Monday night damaged several homes in Kibbutz Ma’ale Gilboa, located on the northeast end of the ridge of the Samarian hills in Israel, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

There were no casualties reported, and troops were searching the area for suspects, the IDF said in a statement.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group released unverified footage allegedly showing its members firing at an Israeli community from beyond the Green Line.

“Terrorism in Samaria, Gush Etzion, Elad and Tel Aviv is the same terrorism which threatens the entire State of Israel,” said Yesha Council head and Gush Etzion Regional Council chairman Shlomo Ne’eman.

“Whoever draws an imaginary line and thinks the problems in Judea and Samaria only apply there, doesn’t understand that the terrorists seek to destroy all of Israel. The continued development of communities throughout Israel while halting the Palestinian Authority’s terror apparatus and hate education will bring back quiet to the area,” he added.
The Israel Guys: MIRACLE AFTER Arab Steals Police Officer's Gun On the Temple Mount
There was an attempted shooting attack on the Temple Mount on Friday when an Arab worshiper grabbed a police officer’s gun and fired at the officers.

Amnesty International Israel is calling for an investigation into the attack claiming that the police lied.

After Netanyahu capitulated to the protestors and put a freeze on the Judicial Reform, you would think that these protests would stop right?




Israel intercepting Iranian drones latest in emboldened Tehran



JCPA: The Battle for Succession in the Palestinian Authority
According to senior officials in the Fatah movement, the Abbas decision to extend Majed Faraj’s term indefinitely is resulted from a request from Israel, the Biden administration, and the European Union.

The Israeli and international concern is that the chairman of the PA, whose health is not stable, may unexpectedly enter a state of medical impotence, which requires the appointment of a temporary successor at the top of the PA who can take office immediately. Moderate Arab countries also support the candidacy of Majed Faraj as a possible successor because of his extensive security experience and desire to maintain regional stability.

Faraj is a figure accepted by international and regional players. He recently participated in the security meetings initiated by the United States in Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh. He supports the American plan of U.S. General Michael Fenzel to establish a Palestinian security force that will fight against the armed terrorist groups in the northern West Bank.

Today’s active players today in the succession battle are Hussein al-Sheikh, Secretary General of the PLO Working Committee; General Majed Faraj; Mahmoud Al- Al-Aloul, Vice Chairman of the Fatah Movement; Fatah Secretary-General Jibril Rajoub, and Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Ishtayeh.

Each of them has armed militias in the field.

It is possible that to prevent bloodshed after the departure of Mahmoud Abbas from the political stage, the Palestinian regime will be divided between some of the senior players in the succession battle until presidential elections are held.

The move taken by the PA chairman is a move to express support for Majed Faraj, which strengthens his position in the succession battle.
PMW: Fatah celebrates its terror and murderer of Israeli brothers
In a propaganda video, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Movement profiled itself and the PA as the primary Palestinian terrorists - as opposed to Hamas - bragging about “2,750 acts of resistance” in 2023 alone. Categorizing the attacks, Fatah singled out the recent murder of two Israeli brothers – “a shooting operation… which led to the killing of 2 Zionists:”
Fatah-run Awdah TV narrator: “Since the start of the current year [2023], in the West Bank [there have been] more than 2,750 acts of resistance (i.e., terror attacks) against the occupation that have led to the killing of 12 Israelis,the latest of which was a shooting operation in Hawara, in southern Nablus, which led to the killing of 2 Zionists (i.e., murder of 2 Israelis). In January alone more than 1,448 acts of resistance were carried out, (“Allah is greatest!” is heard in the background -Ed.) including 159 shooting operations and armed confrontations with the occupation forces, while the number of operations of planting or throwing explosives reached 55…”

[Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Facebook page, Feb. 28, 2023]

Fatah’s branch celebrated the murder of the Yaniv brothers by posting this picture of them shot in their car at the scene of the attack. PMW has blurred the picture.
Text at bottom of image: “Fatah Movement – Bethlehem Branch”
Text on left of image: “The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades (i.e., Fatah’s military wing)”
Posted text: “O one who takes vengeance, take vengeance for us”
[Fatah Movement – Bethlehem Branch, Telegram channel, Feb. 26, 2023]

Fatah saw the murder of the two brothers as proof that “blasting bullets into heads” is the right “path”:
Posted text: “The Hawara operation teaches us that continuing the path and keeping its spark burning will be carried out by blasting bullets into heads, and not by blasting words and grinding out chatter.”
[Fatah Movement – Bethlehem Branch, Telegram channel, Feb. 26, 2023]

In its propaganda video, Fatah continued bragging, taking great pride in the fact that “the members of Fatah and the [PA] Security Forces form the core and thearms of theresistance groups in the West Bank” – i.e., they are at the forefront of Palestinian terror:


PreOccupiedTerritory: Palestine Refugee In Lebanon Hopes To Bequeath Useless, Symbolic Housekey To Descendants (satire)
A third-generation resident of the Ein-al-Hilweh Camp in southern Lebanon wants his children, grandchildren, and, if at all possible, his children’s grandchildren, to inherit the old iron key that he treasures as representative of his own ancestors’ long-gone home in what is now Israel and the futile dream of returning in triumph to a place neither he nor his progeny will ever see.

Najj Alhaf, 50, voiced the hope that his own descendants will carry on the family and community tradition of nurturing the pointless, destructive fantasy of reversing the shameful defeat of Arab Liberation Army forces in 1948 at the hands of the ragtag, undersupplied Haganah-cum-Israel Defense Force and the associated flight of hundreds of thousands of Arabs, some of whom took up residence here just inland from Sidon on the Mediterranean.

“My grandparents used to talk about pomegranate trees and some goats,” recalled Alhaf, who has grandchildren of his own. “As my parents retold it, those trees became orchards and the goats became a prosperous, bucolic dairy enterprise. When I regale the younger generations with our family lore, I must likewise embellish to keep them interested. So I’ve added cattle and a wheat farm to the mix. I expect my own children, if they choose to maintain this noble tradition, to supplement with other details my grandparents must have been too modest to mention themselves, such as ownership of a soccer team, or something. The details aren’t what’s important so much as the emotional resonance and sense of loss.”

Alhaf admitted he does not actually know whether the key ever unlocked the family home. “A bunch of families here have identical keys,” he acknowledged. “That does seem kind of pointless. Also I seem to remember many fewer such keys on display in the camp in my youth. They definitely proliferated more when the PLO took over the camp. People must have suddenly found their long-lost keys that all look the same.”
CENTCOM says ISIS leader killed in Syria as Israel allegedly carries out 4th airstrike



Iran’s exploitation of quake aid ‘likely’ behind stepped up airstrikes
The series of airstrikes in Syria between March 30 to April 4, attributed by international media to Israel, is a reflection of intensified Iranian weapons smuggling, according to an Israeli defense research center.

Tehran has been attempting to use humanitarian aid shipments to Syria as cover for this smuggling effort, according to the Alma Center.

The latest strike occurred overnight Monday, with Syrian state media accusing Israel of striking targets in and around Damascus, killing two people.

According to the Alma Center, which specializes in Israel’s northern security challenges, the recent wave of attacks are part of a “cat and mouse game” underway between the radical Shi’ite axis in Syria, led by Iran, and Israel.

The Feb. 6 quakes that rocked northern Syria and southern Turkey, causing tens of thousands of casualties, “created an opportunity for the Iranians,” said Tal Beeri, Alma’s head of research. For the coming year, the Iranians have an ideal civilian cover story for their weapons smuggling activities, he added.

Beeri spoke on Monday, hours before reports emerged of a fourth round of airstrikes in Syria. Two members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed by the strikes, named by Iran as Milad Heydari and Meghdad Maghani, and identified as “advisers.”

A day earlier, an unmanned aerial vehicle intruded into Israeli airspace from Syria, and was brought down by the Israeli military over northern Israel. Soldiers retrieved its parts, and an initial military investigation suggests that the UAV was Iranian.
U.S. Lawmakers Have Lost Interest in Supporting Iranian Protesters, Activists Say
Iranian activists are worried U.S. lawmakers have lost interest in supporting Iranian protesters and holding the regime accountable for its torture and murder of more than 500 anti-regime demonstrators, Iranian-American activists say.

More than three months after a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers introduced the MAHSA Act, which would impose new sanctions on Tehran's government for its violent crackdown on democratic protesters, Congress has yet to push it forward. Activists are frustrated by the slow roll of the legislation, which was named after 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, who was killed by the country's morality police for improperly wearing her hijab.

"We are outraged that those most responsible for such atrocities and human rights abuses have not yet been met with any consequences," Sarah Raviani, an Iranian-American human rights activist, told the Free Beacon. "We will no longer accept empty statements of condemnation from our politicians. Rather, we are imploring that U.S. lawmakers take action by supporting the MAHSA Act."

Amini’s death on Sept. 22 sparked nationwide protests against Iran’s hardline regime, posing the most significant threat to its grip on power in years. Pressure on the regime is needed more than ever, according to activists, in the week since Iran launched an attack in Syria that killed one U.S. citizen and wounded six military members, leaving them with traumatic brain injuries.

Raviani is one of several Iranian community activists who spoke to the Free Beacon about their frustration over the MAHSA Act’s delay. The bill is currently stuck in the House Foreign Affairs Committee awaiting mark-up. Activists tracking the bill expected mark-up to take place last week. Without completion of this procedural hurdle, the bill cannot advance to a full vote in the Republican-controlled House, where it is expected to win bipartisan approval.
UN rights council decries surge in Iran executions
The UN Human Rights Council denounced Tuesday the rising numbers of executions in Iran, including of people who received the capital punishment in connection with protests that have rocked the country.

The top United Nations rights body approved a resolution voicing “deep concern at the reported surge in the number of executions, including of individuals sentenced to death in relation to their alleged involvement in the recent protests.”

The resolution, which also extended the mandate of the UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in Iran for another year, passed with 23 of the council’s 47 members voting in favour.

Another 16 abstained, and eight opposed the text, including China, Cuba, Pakistan and Vietnam.

Iran’s ambassador Ali Bahreini took the floor to slam the resolution as a “weaponization of human rights as a foreign policy tool.”

Iran has executed four people over the protests, sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress rule for women.

Rights groups have warned that executions on all kinds of charges are on the rise, arguing this seeks to intimidate society into not protesting




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