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Tuesday, May 09, 2023

05/09 Links Pt1: Israel kills evil terror leaders; PA defends the murderers; Rashida Tlaib Will Host Congressional Event To Mourn 'Catastrophe' of Israel's Founding

From Ian:

PMW: Israel kills evil terror leaders; PA defends the murderers
Last night Israel attacked multiple terror locations of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror organization in the Gaza Strip, including 3 homes of terror leaders, terror infrastructures, weapon storehouses, and manufacturing sites.

The PA has once again sided with the terrorists.

In last night’s attacks, Israel killed three of the Islamic Jihad’s top leaders, Khalil Al-Bahtini, Tareq Izz Al-Din, and Jihad Al-Ghannam who are responsible for rocket attacks at Israel, including 104 rockets launched at Israeli civilian targets last week, and terror attacks in Judea and Samaria/West Bank. 10 others, primarily their relatives, were also killed.

Jihad Al-Ghannam was a terror leader for many years. Already in 2004, he was responsible for the murder of Tali Hatuel and her four daughters, Hila, Hadar, Roni, and Merav, among many others.

Tali Hatuel, and four daughters, Hila, Hadar, Roni, and Merav, murdered by PIJ

Despite these leaders’ terror responsibility, or possibly because of it, the PA has chosen to condemn Israel and not the terrorists. The PA leaders in their statements refer to “13 civilians” killed, which shows they are defending the terror leaders as innocent “civilians.”

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' official spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh:
"We condemn this dangerous Israeli escalation against our people, which targeted children, women, and homes in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem, the latest of which was the killing of 13 civilians, including women and children, in the Gaza Strip, and the injury of 13 people from bullets in Nablus, in addition to the ongoing storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque. We hold the Israeli government fully responsible for this dangerous escalation that drags the region into the square of violence, tension and instability."

[WAFA, official PA news agency, English edition, May 9, 2023]

PA Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh:
“The aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip is organized state terrorism and an attempt to export the internal crisis that the government of extremism in Israel suffers from… a practical translation of the doctrine of killing, incineration, and genocide, which those in power in Israel have long professed… [it is] an extension of the Nakba (catastrophe) that befell our people in 1948.”

[WAFA, official PA news agency, English edition, May 9, 2023]
Seth Frantzman: Operation Shield and Arrow may test Iran’s ‘unity of front’ plan
Now Iran is watching closely Operation Shield and Arrow. Iran has many ways to use its unity of “resistance.” It can create tensions in Syria or Lebanon or the West Bank. It can also look further afield such as the Gulf of Oman where Iran uses drones to attack ships. Iran recently waylaid two tankers in areas near the Straits of Hormuz. This was not connected to Israel, but shows Iran’s capabilities.

Iran also wants Syria back in the Arab League so that it can cement its role there. It suspects that once Syria is back in the League then the League members will be more reticent to see airstrikes in Syria. Iran can then entrench at will. However, Iran also knows that there were recent airstrikes ascribed by Jordan that targeted a drug dealer in southern Syria. The Arab states do not want Syria to be a chaos run by Iran. Therefore Tehran must tread carefully as it considers its next steps and how it wants to make moves relating to Israel’s operation.

In the past, Israel has conducted a number of similar operations to Shield and Arrow, such as House of Cards or Black Belt or Breaking Dawn. Israel has also carried out the long-term Break the Wave operation in the West Bank and also Northern Shield which was designed to pre-empt threats along the northern border.

In each case, Israel has tailor-made operations designed to counter Iran’s octopus-like threats. Last year Israel’s former Prime Minister even mentioned an “octopus doctrine” which was designed to confront Iran’s attempt to unify its fronts. In essence, then the deadly game of chess is afoot between Iran and Israel. Iran has to wonder whether it’s worth responding to the cutting off of several tentacles or whether it will wait.


UK, U.S. will not participate in Palestinian 'Nakba Day' hosted by UN
Last November, 90 countries out of 193 UN members voted to officially commemorate the event

The State of Israel’s establishment in 1948 has been considered a “Nakba” by Palestinians, translated as a 'catastrophe.' The United States and the United Kingdom, along with other countries, will not partake in an event organized by the United Nations’ General Assembly on May 15 to commemorate Nakba day.

"Israel will not be swayed by this slanderous campaign to rewrite history, and therefore call on all member states that genuinely support reconciliation not to attend this shameful and anti-Semitic event," said Gilad Erdan, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN.

Several prominent figures are expected to speak at the commemoration, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The speeches will take place during a morning session held by the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. The commemoration itself will be held in the UN General Assembly Hall.

Last November, 90 countries out of the 193 members of the UN voted in favor of commemorating the Nakba, and 30 states voted against, including the United Kingdom and the United States, and 47 abstained, which allowed the motion to be approved. Erdan called it "a new low for the United Nations."

"Instead of commemorating the real Nakba - the expulsion of nearly one million Jews from Arab countries following the creation of Israel - this biased organization distorts its own history, ignoring the creation of Israel and the Palestinian rejection of the 1947 UN partition plan," the ambassador said.
Rashida Tlaib Will Host Congressional Event To Mourn 'Catastrophe' of Israel's Founding
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.) will host a congressional event this week to mourn Israel's founding alongside an array of anti-Israel groups, some of which have defended terrorism.

The Wednesday event marks the "Nakba," a Palestinian term for the creation of Israel that loosely translates as "catastrophe." Though Tlaib is listed as a "special guest" on the invitation, the event will take place at the Capitol Visitor Center, whose event space can only be reserved by a sitting member of Congress.

Tlaib's cosponsors include Jewish Voice for Peace, a "radical anti-Israel activist group" that pushes the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and has come under fire for glorifying Palestinian terrorism. Other organizers include Emgage Action, another BDS supporter that claims Israel is an "apartheid state," and Americans for Justice in Palestine Action, an advocacy group that claims Jewish money is infecting politics.

The event is Tlaib's latest effort to give a mainstream platform to organizations long shunned by the majority of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. The Democratic "Squad" member has accused American Jews of having dual loyalties to Israel. Last year, she spoke at a Nakba rally with a pro-Hamas newspaper editor who has encouraged Palestinians to attack Israelis, the Washington Free Beacon reported.

Nakba celebrations are common among anti-Israel groups and supporters of the Palestinian government who seek to delegitimize the Jewish state.

The invitation for Wednesday's event accuses "Zionist militias" of violently expelling Palestinians from the region when Israel was created in 1948 and maintains that Israel continues to brutalize Palestinians.

"May 15th marks 75 years since the beginning of the Nakba, which means 'catastrophe,'" the invitation reads. "Seventy-five years ago, Zionist militias and the new Israeli military violently expelled approximately three-quarters of all Palestinians from their homes and homeland in what became the state of Israel."

The event aims to "uplift the experiences of Palestinians who underwent the Nakba, and educate members of Congress and their staff about this history and the ongoing Nakba to which Israel continues to subject Palestinians," according to the invitation.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which combats anti-Semitism, expressed alarm that an event of this nature would be held inside Congress.

"The real Nakba is [that Tlaib] got elected to represent her district and the American people in Congress. She could have been and should have been someone who would work tirelessly to bring Palestinians and Israelis together to make peace," Cooper said. "Instead, she continues to serve as a cheerleader for demonization and delegitimization of the Jewish state."


US ambassador to Israel Tom Nides is resigning
Tom Nides, the gregarious U.S. ambassador to Israel, is resigning this summer, at a time of unresolved tensions in the U.S.-Israel relationship he strove to uphold.

An administration official confirmed to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that Nides would be gone by this summer. The report first appeared in Axios on Tuesday morning. Axios quoted Secretary of State Antony Blinken as saying that Nides wanted to spend more time with his family.

“Tom has worked with characteristic energy and skill to further strengthen the special bond between the United States and Israel, and to advance U.S. diplomatic, economic, and security interests,” Blinken told the online political news site. “We will all miss having him represent us in Israel, but I know he is looking forward to some well-deserved time with his family.”

Nides, a former executive at Morgan Stanley who was a senior State Department official in the Obama administration and who had deep Democratic Party ties, brought an easygoing sensibility to the role, especially to ties between Israel and the U.S. Jewish community.

Nides’ efforts to advance an impression of a conflict-free relationship were undercut by tensions stoked after the election last year of the most far-right government in Israel’s history, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The ambassador was at the center of one expression of the tensions when he said in March that he expected President Joe Biden to invite Netanyahu to the White House sometime after Passover. Biden, who sees Netanyahu’s planned weakening of Israel’s judiciary as a threat to Israel’s democracy, immediately poured cold water on that prediction.

“No,” Biden said when asked about a potential invitation to Netanyahu, although Israeli prime ministers routinely visit Washington within months of their election. “Not in the near term.”


Israel officially mum after European Union cancels event to avoid Ben Gvir speech
The Israeli government has so far remained silent over the European decision on Monday to cancel a scheduled Europe Day reception in Tel Aviv in order to prevent far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir from speaking there.

Neither the Foreign Ministry nor the Prime Minister’s Office had issued any statements on the incident as of Tuesday morning.

The Haaretz daily quoted a senior Israeli official as saying the incident was a “stupid crisis” that could have easily been prevented, lambasting the decision made by the cabinet secretary to list Ben Gvir as the official government representative.

Israeli officials had indicated in recent days that due to protocol, Ben Gvir couldn’t be replaced unless he opted to back out, and there was little chance that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could convince him to step aside amid an ongoing spat between the two.

The official who spoke to Haaretz suggested that Israel would make no comment on the cancellation as it was seeking to quickly put the incident in its rearview mirror: “No minister in the government is going to cancel meetings or visits in Europe because the Europeans don’t want to meet Ben Gvir. This is the clearest sign that we want to put this whole thing behind us.”

On Monday the European Union said it was canceling the Europe Day diplomatic reception over Ben Gvir’s plans to attend and deliver an address.

“The EU Delegation to Israel is looking forward to celebrating Europe Day on May 9, as it does every year,” said the EU in a statement. “Regrettably, this year we have decided to cancel the diplomatic reception, as we do not want to offer a platform to someone whose views contradict the values the European Union stands for.”


IDF has been ready for Gaza operation since last week, Gallant confirms
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had issued instructions regarding the overnight airstrikes in Gaza last week on Tuesday,

The IDF and Shin Bet has been ready for an operation with Gaza since Tuesday last week, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant confirmed on Tuesday afternoon, hours after the IDF launched Operation Shield and Arrow.

"The IDF and Shin Bet carried out a precise and successful operation against the leadership of the Islamic Jihad organization in the Gaza Strip last night," he said in a meeting with council leaders and officials in southern Israel. "We will not tolerate shooting that threatens the residents of Israel, this is not only an act of terrorism, but a challenge to our presence."

He continued, confirming that the IDF had been prepared for the operation for the last week, saying: "Already on Tuesday, I instructed the IDF and the Shin Bet to be ready to thwart the three terrorists who were killed last night, who are responsible for firing rockets into Israel and for directing numerous attacks in Israel.

"We must be ready for any scenario, including a prolonged campaign and expanding the firing ranges. It is very important that the citizens, under your leadership, be disciplined, attentive and listen to life-saving instructions. The IDF and the security forces are prepared by all means on all fronts."

The IDF struck a number of senior terrorists in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist movement in airstrikes in the Gaza Strip early Tuesday morning, declaring the launch of Operation Shield and Arrow.
Seth Frantzman: Iran fears for its Gaza proxies after Israel's surprise op.
Iran now has tried to spin this operation as one in which PIJ and Hamas could respond. It says that the Hamas leaders have condemned the operation as “cowardly.” Iran is very focused on this operation and will likely consider how best to respond.

The operation was widely covered in the region. It is a top story in Turkish media amid the Turkish election campaign. It is a top story in the UAE and the Gulf as well. This means that the region is watching this development closely. Turkey’s state TRT media headlined the attack operation as “Israel kills armed group commanders, civilians in deadly Gaza air strikes.” Meanwhile, the same Turkish state media claimed that Turkey had vowed to “drain terror swamp” by attacking armed groups in Iraq and Syria.

“Türkiye will resolutely continue to fight against terrorist organizations both at home and in northern Syria and Iraq, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday.” Turkey’s TRT said “Israeli aircraft have conducted strikes on Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza, the Israeli military said, and the armed group said three senior commanders were killed in the attacks.”

Turkey refers to Islamic Jihad, which is a terrorist group, as an “armed group,” while claiming to fight its own war on terrorism. This is an illustration of how some media in the region do not see groups such as the Iranian-backed PIJ as terrorist organizations.

Iran has recently signed a new reconciliation deal with Saudi Arabia, while at the same time, the Arab states have invited Syria to return to the Arab League. This could mean that Iran could try to exploit the situation in Gaza to create tensions and threats to Israel from Syria. Iran has done this in the past. Over the Passover holiday Iran likely coordinated with Hamas to fire rockets from Lebanon with Hezbollah’s permission, and then to have rockets fired by Liwa al-Quds from Syria.


Guardian grossly misleads in report on Gaza anti-terror op
The Guardian’s deceptive coverage of the IDF’s attack on Gaza terrorists early Tuesday morning, which killed three senior leaders of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), begins in the headline:
Israel bombs Gaza Strip, killing three Islamic Jihad leaders and nine civilians

The claim, in an article by the outlet’s Jerusalem correspondent Bethan McKernan, that “nine civilians” were killed is based entirely on statements by the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry, and so shouldn’t be reported in the headline as if it was a fact. Indeed, later in the article, it’s acknowledged that “an Israeli military spokesperson said the army was looking into reports of civilian deaths but had no immediate comment”.

McKernan continues:
The Israeli attack came despite a fragile ceasefire in place since a day of cross-frontier exchanges of fire last week triggered by the death on hunger strike of Khader Adnan, a prominent political figure affiliated with Islamic Jihad held in Israeli custody.

What’s referred to by McKernan as a “cross-frontier exchange of fire” was a PIJ initiated attack – an unprovoked volley of over 100 rockets fired into Israel which injured three foreign workers. The language used by the Guardian obfuscates the vital question of who started the “exchange of fire”.

McKernan’s misinformation on the broader context behind today’s hostilities continues:
Tensions in the protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict have soared over the past year: more than 100 Palestinians and at least 19 Israelis and foreigners have been killed in 2023 so far across Israel and the West Bank and Gaza Strip, leading to fears of wider escalation.

The Guardian fails to clarify that while all but one of the Israelis killed this year were civilians, the overwhelming majority of the Palestinians killed have either been either terrorists or males involved in violent clashes at the time of their deaths – a fact we demonstrate on this page.


The Israel Guys: Israel DESTROYS Illegal Palestinian School in the WEST BANK
The IDF is tracking down and catching the terrorists responsible for the recent attacks in Israel. Unfortunately, twitter showed it doesn’t like those who speak out against terrorists, when the spokesperson for Hebron was suspended from Twitter for suggesting that Israel shouldn’t allow terrorists to be honored after their deaths.

The good news of the day is that Israel just demolished an illegal Arab school which was built in an attempt to steal Jewish land in Judea.


Israeli soldier lightly wounded by IED during Nablus operation
An Israeli soldier was lightly wounded on Tuesday when a roadside bomb detonated during a counter-terror operation in Nablus, according to Israeli media reports.

The Israel Defense Forces did not confirm the reports, having stated earlier only that there were no Israeli casualties during the operation.

Video appeared to show a large explosion while a convoy of Israeli military vehicles was passing through the city in northern Samaria.

Two terror suspects were arrested during the raid, and two M-16 rifles and ammunition were also seized.

Rioters stoned Israeli forces during the operation, who responded with riot dispersal means and live ammunition. The force came under terrorist fire as they withdrew from the city, and explosives were also thrown at them, according to the military.


Lebanon bans Cypriot airline over Israeli shareholder
Lebanon has banned Cyprus’s largest airline because it is partly owned by an Israeli shareholder.

Fadi al-Hassan, director general of the Lebanese Civil Aviation Authority, barred the Larnaca-based TUS Airways from entering Lebanese airspace because the Ramat Gan-based company Knafaim Holdings Ltd., controlled by Tami Mozes-Borovitz, owns 49.9% of the company’s shares.

The airline, which was established after the dissolution of Cyprus Airways in 2015 with a focus on the eastern Mediterranean, offers flights to Israel, the Greek islands and various European cities with its fleet of five Airbus A320s.

The demand to ban the airline came to the fore after TUS Airways was awarded the right to operate regularly scheduled flights between Cyprus and Lebanon.

The Lebanese decision was taken in light of the Arab boycott of Israel that dates back to pre-state days.

TUS Airways operated charter flights between Tel Aviv and Doha during last year’s soccer World Cup in Qatar. The two countries do not have diplomatic ties.

A spokesman for TUS Airways was not immediately available for comment.

The Lebanese boycott comes amid burgeoning relations between Israel and Cyprus over the last decade and a half in a variety of fields including tourism, medicine, cybersecurity, energy and security cooperation.
Fighting Hizballah Should Be on the U.S. Anti-Corruption Agenda
In 2021, the Biden administration announced that countering corruption abroad should be considered a “core United States national-security interest,” and mobilized a variety of government resources to advance this agenda. Emanuele Ottolenghi finds this initiative laudable, but takes the White House to task for failing to connect it to the fight on terrorism and on the international drug trade, all of which are inextricably linked. Nowhere is this nexus more evident than in the activities of Hizballah:

Outside of Lebanon, Hizballah buys impunity from local scrutiny and prosecution for its illicit networks through bribery and corruption at the highest levels of government and local public administration. In Lebanon, it uses its influence and political power to buy impunity—through bribes—for those running illicit businesses. Such extensive corruption contributes to the erosion of good governance, weakens democratic institutions, undermines the rule of law, and empowers corrupt officials and politicians.

Corruption, then, is a critical tool in Hizballah’s strategy of funding itself through illicit activities, which has been underscored by previous Treasury Department designations against Hizballah operations in the Gambia, Guinea, and Paraguay. Since it is also a top foreign-policy priority for the Biden White House, the president should recognize that corruption is an integral element of Hizballah’s modus operandi, and target, through [sanctions], both sides of the corruption equation.

The crime-terror finance nexus is nothing new. Across the span of history and geography, terrorism has been self-financed, at least in part, through criminal activities. The Bolsheviks in tsarist Russia funded their subversive activities through crime—which catapulted a young Joseph Stalin to center stage in the party machine. More recently, Ireland’s Irish Republican Army, the Italian Red Brigades, the Basque ETA, Colombia’s FARC, the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and Islamic State all engaged in criminal activities to fundraise—including the illicit drug trade, human trafficking and organ harvesting, and trafficking in antiquities. Hizballah continues to be involved in a multiplicity of criminal activities, including, critically, money laundering on behalf of international criminal syndicates.
Hezbollah builds 27 new bases in Lebanon under cover of fake NGO
Israel’s Foreign Ministry revealed on Monday that Hezbollah has in the past year constructed no fewer than 27 military posts along the Blue Line, a demarcation separating Israel and Lebanon.

The posts were built under the guise of Green without Borders, a Hezbollah-affiliated organization that poses as an environmental NGO.

Hezbollah launched the project in parallel to Israel’s construction of a fortified perimeter fence along the 140-kilometer border.

According to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War, the terrorist group is forbidden from operating near the frontier.

Israeli media reported last June that Iranian-backed Hezbollah had built more than a dozen outposts on the border, with each such site containing an outlook position or tower, two to three housing units and storage facilities.

“The problem is that as soon as Hezbollah builds a post like this, the Lebanese army and UNIFIL [the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon] no longer arrive [in the area],” the reports quoted a senior Israel Defense Forces Northern Command source as saying at the time.

The same month, the IDF said that the Lebanese terrorist group had established an intelligence-gathering outpost on the border disguised as an environmental protection facility.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan has demanded that the United Nations take action against Hezbollah.
To Counter Iran, We Must Counter Its Propaganda Arms Like ‘Press TV’
The Islamic Republic of Iran remains the world’s leading state-sponsor of terrorism, antisemitism, and Holocaust denial. Besides threatening the State of Israel with genocide, Tehran and its armed proxies have for decades targeted Israelis, Jewish communities around the world, and Western nationals with indiscriminate terrorist attacks. But the Iranian regime’s murderous aggression doesn’t end there.

Besides mobilizing terrorist proxies like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, the Iranian regime also invests in traditional and social media to wage information warfare around the world. Hence, Tehran’s long arm abroad includes state-funded propaganda units masquerading as media outlets that push out hate content in multiple languages globally.

To this end, Press TV, founded by a media corporation controlled by the Iranian regime, has amplified not only antisemitism and Holocaust denial and distortion — while claiming it “respects and values all ethnicities and nationalities and the followers of all religions” — but also hate against other minorities, including women and LGBTQ+ individuals.

As our new report “State Hate” — from ADL and the Center for Countering Digital Hate — shows, we should remain vigilant about the harmful impact that Press TV and other regime outlets have on unsuspecting viewers in the West and around the world. Viewers who stumble upon the systematic hate and disinformation campaigns on Press TV, including those pushed out by well-known antisemites and conspiracy theorists, are at the risk of being pulled into a spiral of lies and incitement.
Biden Admin Won't Let Authorities Seize Sanctioned Iranian Oil Tankers
The Biden administration is blocking authorities from seizing ships carrying sanctioned Iranian oil, a move lawmakers say helps fund the hardline regime's terrorist activities.

The Department of Homeland Security says it has been unable to seize tankers carrying sanctioned oil for a year, thanks to "policy limitations" enacted by the Treasury Department. This has contributed to the 35 percent increase in Iranian oil exports over the past year, according to a bipartisan group of lawmakers demanding the Biden administration rectify its contradictory approach.

"United States sanctions should be enforced to the fullest extent of the law," a group of 12 senators led by Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa), wrote to President Joe Biden in April. "As Iranian oil sales continue to rise, and the [Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps] continues to target U.S. citizens and service members, including inside the U.S., it is imperative that we use all available government assets to limit the activities of the Iranian regime."

The bipartisan support for the letter signals that members of both parties are increasingly frustrated by the Biden administration’s soft approach towards Tehran. Iran has sold nearly $50 billion worth of oil since the Biden administration took office and began relaxing sanctions on the Islamic Republic’s illicit oil trade as part of efforts to cajole the hardline regime into inking a new nuclear deal.

Crude oil is a primary source of revenue for Iran’s hardline regime, fundings its massive regional terrorism enterprise helmed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), a paramilitary fighting force that has killed hundreds of Americans.




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