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Thursday, May 18, 2023

05/18 Links Pt1: Deborah Lipstadt slams Mahmoud Abbas: 'An affront to Holocaust victims'; Israel to complain to CNN about claim that Dee family killed in ‘shootout’

From Ian:

'An affront to Holocaust victims': Deborah Lipstadt slams Mahmoud Abbas
Deborah Lipstadt, the State Department’s top envoy combating antisemitism, condemned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for comparing Israel to Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propaganda chief.

“PA President Abbas’s equating Israel with the lies of top Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels is an affront to Holocaust victims and survivors,” Lipstadt wrote Wednesday on Twitter. “Especially during a time of rising antisemitic violence throughout the world, such rhetoric about the world’s only Jewish state is entirely unacceptable.”

Abbas spoke Monday at a United Nations event commemorating the 75th anniversary of what Palestinians call the “Nakba,” the word meaning “catastrophe” that denotes the displacement of Palestinians during and after Israel’s establishment. It was the first-ever event at the UN General Assembly commemorating the Nakba.

“Israeli and Zionist claims continue by saying that Israel made the desert bloom. As if Palestine was a desert and they made the desert bloom,” Abbas told the event in New York. “These are lies. They continue to lie, like Goebbels, and they continue to lie until people believe their lies.”

Abbas also said at the event that the United Nations should suspend Israel’s membership at the body until it allows the establishment of a Palestinian state and recognizes a Palestinian right of return.
JPost Editorial: Abbas' Hate Speech at the UN Shows He Is Not Interested in Peace with Israel
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' speech on Monday at the UN commemorating the "catastrophe" of Israel's creation was a text full of hate and lies. There is no proof of Jewish ties to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem, Abbas claimed, referring to the ancient Temple Mount, where overwhelming archaeological and textual evidence proves that the First and Second Jewish Temples once stood there. He accused the U.S. and UK of being responsible for the displacement of Palestinians during the 1948 War of Independence for "their own colonial goals and objectives."

Abbas also repeated his claim that the Palestinians were descendants of the biblical Canaanites, who lived centuries before the birth of Islam. But they certainly didn't make Jerusalem their capital. Only the Jews have ever made Jerusalem their capital.

"The biggest lie is the claim that Israel is the only democratic state in the Middle East," said Abbas, who has just completed the 18th year of his four-year term. Abbas' reiteration of old lies and libels against Israel and the Jewish people is proof that the head of the PA is simply not interested in peace with Israel.
Jonathan Tobin: Joe Biden’s empty words about antisemitism
Just as important is the fact that far from setting an example of opposing the tropes of left-wing antisemitism, the Biden administration is itself a main supporter of its ideology and core beliefs.

The main source of the left’s delegitimization of Jews is the woke catechism of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), as well as critical race theory (CRT) studies. DEI is a toxic force in contemporary America because by substituting the notion of equity—or equal outcomes—for equality, it maintains that equality and equal opportunity is not just attainable but also undesirable. In this way, race is seen as always trumping merit, something that works to destroy the primary method by which Jews gained acceptance in American society.

Along with the CRT belief that everyone must be primarily classified by race and ethnic group, rather than individuals, that sets up a permanent war of those who are labeled as the oppressed, and those who are designated as oppressors and beneficiaries of “white privilege.” And among those who fall into the latter categories are Jews and the State of Israel. In that way, DEI and CRT act not merely to embitter relations between the races but also grant a permission slip for antisemitism.

An administration that was serious about opposing all forms of antisemitism would have nothing to do with the likes of Omar and fellow “Squad” member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). Instead, they have become welcome guests at the White House and were even singled out recently for compliments by Biden.

It would also oppose efforts to impose DEI on the country. Again, Biden has taken up the cause of the woke catechism and made its promotion one of his chief priorities, forcing every government agency and department to submit its own DEI plan. That will substitute racial quotas for merit, something that always bodes ill for Jews.

It also lends legitimacy to those very forces that are pushing the hardest for BDS discrimination against Israel and its Jewish supporters. Indeed, underneath the push for official recognition of Jewish heritage is a desire to get in on the same intersectional victim racket that left-wing antisemites promote.

The sort of lip service given to the threat of antisemitism at the White House party is to be welcomed. But honoring Jewish heritage means nothing if, at the same time, the Biden administration is enabling and empowering the same forces that are seeking to legitimize left-wing antisemitism.


Israel to complain to CNN about claim that Dee family killed in ‘shootout’
The Israeli Consulate in Atlanta plans to send a letter of complaint to CNN after host Christiane Amanpour said last week that members of the Dee family were “killed in a shootout.”

“The mother and two Israel-British sisters – they were killed in a shootout,” Amanpour said, seemingly implying that the victims of terror were also shooting.

The Foreign Ministry confirmed that it is working on a complaint, after a source saw a draft of the letter.

The murder of Lucy, Maia and Rina Dee

Lucy Dee, 48, and daughters Maia, 20, and Rina, 15, were murdered on Passover by Palestinian terrorists who opened fire at their car in the Jordan Valley, shooting them over 20 times.

Rabbi Leo Dee, husband and father of the victims, told media watchdog HonestReporting on Tuesday that he demands an apology.

“This is the perfect example of ‘terror journalism,’ where you have moral equivalence between the terrorist and victim,” Dee said.

“This type of journalism perpetuates the conflict in the Middle East,” he said. “The real cycle of violence is a comment like this followed by a terrorist atrocity and then more of the same.”
The Caroline Glick Show: The West is blind to the Jihad against Israel
Caroline Glick’s guest this week in the Caroline Glick Show was IDF Maj. Gen. (reserves) Gershon Hacohen. Gen. Hacohen and Glick analyzed Israel’s achievements in the last round of warfare with the Islamic Jihad terror group in Gaza. They discussed the significance of this second-tier terror group in the overall global jihad and how its position in the axis of jihad both constrains Israel’s actions and renders larger importance to Israel’s actions last week than it may appear.

Hacohen and Glick expanded the discussion to a consideration of the Afghan roots of the current jihad. They analyzed the nature of Islamist societies grounded in jihad, the strains in the Islamic world over the cause of jihad and the requirements for defeating the forces of jihad against Israel and against the world as a whole.


The State Department’s problem with Israel
Meanwhile, having lost nearly every battle since partition, the Arabists remain unbowed. Their Alamo may now be Jerusalem. Even after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and moved the embassy, the State Department has remained determined to undermine the decision and reignite Palestinian hopes to establish a capital there as part of the mythical two-state solution. This fantasy should have been extinguished.

To that end, State wants to reopen the Jerusalem consulate—the de facto U.S. embassy to “Palestine”—rather than establish one where it belongs in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority. Unable to overcome Israeli objections, State has made an end-run by returning to the pre-Trump policy of having the official responsible for Palestinian affairs report directly to State rather than the ambassador to Israel. Though it is not called a consulate, the Office of Palestinian Affairs conducts consular activities in the exact location of the old consulate.

Nides announced plans to leave his post and, reflecting on his two years of service, what was most striking was his statement: “I probably spend more time on Palestinian-related issues. I would say 60 percent of my time is spent on Palestinian [issues].” This is the ambassador to Israel.

Given his focus, it is less surprising that even the embassy caters more to Palestinians than Israelis. If you go to its website and look at the Business, Education & Culture, News & Events and Embassy pages, you will find the pages written in English with a translation only in Arabic. In recent years, the Charge d’Affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission positions were listed as speaking multiple languages other than Hebrew.

State fought tooth and nail to prevent American citizens born in Jerusalem from listing Israel as their country of birth even after Congress passed a law requiring it to do so. The Obama administration took the case to the Supreme Court, which ruled that only the president could recognize foreign governments. Unfortunately for State, this meant that Trump could decide to issue passports with Israel as the place of birth, and in 2020, the man whose case went to the Supreme Court, Menachem Zivotofsky, received the first such passport.

However, even Trump’s State Department would not fully recognize that Jerusalem is in Israel. Citizens born in Jerusalem can also list the city as their place of birth, which is also the designation for citizens who do not specify their place of birth. Similarly, if you go to the State Department’s appointment system, you are asked to select a Consulate/Embassy Country, and one of the choices is Jerusalem. Thus, State maintains the illusion that Jerusalem is floating in the ether, unattached to any country.

Amazingly, even after 75 years, the State Department hasn’t completely abandoned the fight against the Jewish state.
Are Two States Really a Solution?
In his new book Two States for Two Peoples: The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, International Law and European Union Policy, Prof. Andrew Tucker, director of Thinc., the Hague Initiative for International Cooperation, examines the EU assumption that the much-invoked two-state solution will provide relief for the ills of the Middle East by establishing a fully sovereign Palestinian state along the 1967 Green Line.

Tucker and co-authors Profs. Wolfgang Bock and Gregory Rose assert that the Europeans propose a "utopian" solution disconnected from international legal norms, history, and the region's political realities.

"Despite decades of strenuous EU efforts, expending tens of billions of euros, the reality is that we are still light years away from either a negotiated settlement of the conflict or an independent, democratic and peaceful Palestinian state," Tucker told the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs on May 14.

Tucker said that Europeans feel they have invested a great deal of effort and money in a resolution of the conflict, while enjoying very little transparency regarding the funds they funnel to blatantly anti-Israel Palestinian NGOs.

The book raises the question of whether a Palestinian state is required by international law, whether such a state is practically achievable, and what can be done to solve the conflict. Former Israel Foreign Ministry legal adviser Amb. Alan Baker emphasized that the very concept of "occupied Palestinian territory" is a legal fiction, as are "1967 borders." "No binding document has agreed upon" the two-state solution, and though the Quartet's 2003 recommendations called for negotiations, they did not require a two-state solution.

Tucker pointed out that the EU has ignored the fundamentally religious and cultural nature of the Arab rejection of the Jewish state - which began decades before Israel's establishment - and the continued rejection of peace and land-sharing by the Palestinians over the past century.
In the Spotlight- Daniel Gordis
American-born Israeli author, speaker, Koret Distinguished Fellow at Shalem College, and passionate Israel advocate Daniel Gordis joins Abigail Pogrebin to discuss this difficult inflection point for the country he loves, and his latest book, Impossible Takes Longer: 75 Years After Its Creation, Has Israel Fulfilled its Founders’ Dreams? (h/t jzaik)


Germany's advice to its diplomats: No photos of Jerusalem's Old City
Germany is suspected of instructing its diplomats in Israel not to take photographs in the Old City of Jerusalem, which they consider "occupied Palestinian territory."

Israel Hayom has learned that on two occasions in the recent past, diplomats staying at the King David Hotel in the capital refused to take photographs with the walls of the Old City in the background.

The hotel is located in the heart of Jerusalem and sits along what used to be the demarcation line before the 1967 Six-Day War. The walls of the Old City are well visible from the location and diplomats usually make a point to include them in photographs.

On both occasions, the German diplomats said the matter went against instructions and preferred a different background.

Germany recognizes Israel according to the 1949 borders following the War of Independence and considers land seized in the Six-Day War – which includes Jerusalem's Old City, the Western Wall, the Temple Mount, east Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the Golan Heights – "occupied territory."

German diplomats are instructed not to visit these sites, considered "occupied under international law."
NYC terrorist Sayfullo Saipov goes on hour-long rant before being hit with 8 life sentences
West Side Highway terrorist Sayfullo Saipov received over eight life sentences Wednesday — after going on an unrepentant hour-long rant insinuating his victims’ tears pale in comparison to the blood and tears of the Muslim people.

After victims spoke for over two hours about the horrors they endured and blasted Saipov as a “waste of space,” “garbage” and a “monster,” Manhattan federal Judge Vernon Broderick handed down the maximum sentence of eight lifetimes in prison, to be followed by another 260 years behind bars.

The judge also doled out an additional two life sentences to run at the same time as the rest.

Beforehand, Saipov, 35, through a translator, recited a history of Islam going back to its inception. After nearly an hour he said: “I was here in the court during the three-month trial, and I saw and I heard the victims’ families and friends.

“Tears of those families of the victims — maybe one handkerchief would hold their tears … the courtroom would be filled up with the tears and blood of the Muslim population.”

When Saipov concluded a woman cried out from the courtroom gallery: “The only act of the devil here, is the act you did!”

Broderick said Saipov’s conduct was among the worst he’d ever seen as a judge, “in terms of the impact it had on the victims and the sheer unrepentant nature of the defendant.”

Broderick said Saipov’s “homicidal rage” left emotional and physical “wreckage” in the lives of the victims and of Saipov’s own family.

“The eight people you murdered in cold blood were living their best lives,” Broderick said. “You snatched their lives from them.”
PMW: Why are the Palestinians hiding 2 Palestinian victims of the recent war in Gaza?
On May 2, 2023, terrorists from Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in the Gaza Strip fired 104 rockets at Israel, indiscriminately targeting Israel’s civilian population. On May 9, Israel responded, launching “Operation Shield and Arrow,” which continued until a ceasefire was reached on May 14. During the course of the hostilities, according to statistics issued by the Israeli army, the Gazan terrorists fired 1,468 rockets at Israel. Of them, 1,139 of the rockets reached Israel while 290 of the rockets fell in Gaza.

While the operation once again exposed the irrelevance of the Palestinian Authority regarding anything happening in Gaza, the PA did nonetheless report on the number of Palestinian fatalities and casualties during the operation:
“The Israeli aggression killed 33 Palestinians, including six children and three women, and resulted in the injury of 150 others, the majority of them are children and women.”

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

As Palestinian Media Watch will show, this PA report was false! In reality, 35 Palestinians were killed during the hostilities, but the PA is hiding two of them. For its own propaganda purposes, the PA is also inflating the number of Palestinians killed as a result of Israeli airstrikes.

Furthermore, as PMW will show, the majority of Palestinians killed in the operation were terrorists, who belonged, inter alia, to terror groups that are part of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), headed by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Fatalities 34 and 35
The carefully worded, but nonetheless deceitful, PA report explains part of the PA’s deception.

By claiming that “The Israeli aggression killed 33 Palestinians”, the PA was intentionally hiding two additional Palestinian victims. What distinguishes these two additional victims from the other 33 (also not accurate, as PMW will show) is the fact that they were killed by the rockets fired by the terrorists and not by Israel.

Victim number 34 was Ahmed Abu Gabe, aged 35. Gabe was one of over 18,000 Gazans who regularly enter Israel to work in agriculture. He was badly injured, on May 13, by a terrorist rocket that fell in Shokeda, an Israeli village situated close to the Gaza Strip. Despite being rushed to an Israeli hospital to undergo surgery, Abu Gabe died of the wounds he sustained.

Despite being Palestinian, Israel has recognized Abu Gabe as a “victim of terror” because he was killed while in Israel. This recognition will now entitle his family to receive substantial monthly social security payments from Israel.

Victim number 35 was Ahmed Al-Shebaki, aged 50, killed on May 10. Al-Shebaki, from Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip, was also killed, and his wife injured, by one of the 290 terrorist rockets that landed in Gaza, according to a Palestinian source.
“Jihad is necessary” – PA TV plays song encouraging holy war during Gaza confrontation
Official PA TV, broadcast from the PA TV studio in the Gaza Strip

The song “Brother, the oppressors have gone too far” is played while images are shown of the Gaza Strip and those wounded in 2023 Operation Shield and Arrow


MEMRI: In Preparation For Post-'Abbas Era, Calls In Jordan For Increased Involvement In Palestinian Politics, Openness To Hamas
The Kingdom of Jordan has lately increased the level of its involvement in the Palestinian Authority (PA). There seem to be two main reasons for this. One is the security escalation that has occurred in the absence of any progress towards a resolution to the Palestinian problem, and the other is Jordan's fear that chaos may erupt in the West Bank after the departure of 87-year-old PA President Mahmoud 'Abbas, especially given the poor performance of the PA and the absence of a clear mechanism for the transfer of power, as well as the deep intra-Palestinian schism. [1]

Jordan is concerned that security and/or political chaos in the PA may threaten its security, stability and future identity. Two concerns often expressed in Jordan are that a severe crisis in the West Bank could cause mass migration of Palestinians to Jordan and also threaten the Hashemite custodianship of the holy sites in Jerusalem.[2] This is in addition to Jordan's permanent concern that, in the absence of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, the solution of the Palestinian problem may ultimately be at Jordan's expense, namely by turning Jordan into the Palestinian homeland. This is the so-called "Jordanian option," which the kingdom regards as an existential threat.[3]

Therefore, following a long period in which it limited its involvement and influence in the Palestinian arena – especially after the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020 – Jordan is seeking to play a more significant role in this arena, in particular on the political-diplomatic level. In contrast to its traditional policy of supporting the Palestinians and the PA without intervening in their internal political affairs, it is now acting to broaden and deepen its influence in the West Bank, in order to prevent the collapse of the PA – a possibility that seems likely due to the decline in the PA's popularity, the erosion of its authority and the internal schism within the Palestinian arena.[4]

In light of the above, Jordanian intellectuals and journalists have called for the kingdom to be involved in shaping the Palestinian political map and in selecting Abbas' successor, and for drafting a clear plan for the day after the president's departure. One unprecedented article did not even rule out reviving the Jordanian-Palestinian discussion about the option of annexing the West Bank to Jordan.

Jordan's concerns about the instability in the West Bank and about the murky future of the PA and the Palestinian cause also gave rise to unprecedented criticism of the PA's performance and policies. In addition, there were calls for Jordan to show openness to other Palestinian political players, such as Hamas, in light of the latter's growing power in the Palestinian arena and due to the changing power-balance in the region following the agreement recently signed by Saudi Arabia and Iran to renew the relations between them.

This report reviews the public discourse on these issues.
PMW: Who was Abbas’ honored guest and dinner partner at fast-breaking meal during the Ramadan?
At a fast-breaking meal at the PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ “presidential headquarters” in Ramallah during the Ramadan, Abbas entertained many dignitaries from the PA top. These included:
“Leadership members, Muslim and Christian religious figures, a number of ambassadors and consuls in the State of Palestine, [PA] government members, [PA] Security Forces commanders, families of Martyrs, prisoners, and wounded, judges, academics, publicists, journalists, and businessmen.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 16, 2023]

In other words - a lot of important people.

But who did Abbas choose to sit next to him at high table?

A fellow PA leader? A PA ambassador? Or a judge?

No.

He chose Um Nasser Abu Hmeid – the mother of 6 terrorists responsible for at least 10 murders.

This choice underscores PA ideology that Palestinian Media Watch has exposed again and again: That terrorists and terrorist murderers are honored and put on a pedestal and so too the family members of those terrorists who die – the “Martyrs” - either while attacking Israelis or of illnesses in prison.

The romance between the PA and Um Nasser Abu Hmeid has long since turned into a real relationship, lasting more than a decade. PMW first reported on the glorification of Um Nasser Abu Hmeid in 2011 when the PA chose her to launch the PA statehood campaign with the UN. Since then the PA’s terror mom has been mentioned, honored, and presented more and more frequently, recently as reported above as Abbas’ dinner partner. The following are the highlights of Um Nasser Abu Hmeid’s “career” as celebrated terror mom, exposed by PMW:
Fatah Leaders Glorify ‘Martyrdom,’ Emphasize Unity with Other Palestinian Factions
On May 12, 2023, Fatah held a ceremony at An-Najah University in Nablus commemorating a Fatah fighter named Muhammad Abu Bakr (also known as “Al-Sankuh”), a member of Fatah Deputy chairman Mahmoud Al-Aloul’s entourage, who was killed in clashes with Israeli forces in Nablus a few months ago. At the event, masked Fatah members marched in full battle fear, brandishing weapons and Fatah banners. Fatah deputy chairman Mahmoud Al-Aloul expressed solidarity with other Palestinian armed factions, saying that the blood of Palestinians in Gaza, in Nablus, in the Galilee, in Jerusalem, and in “the diaspora” is the same.

He added: “We must never give [the occupation] the opportunity to isolate any one of us.” It is noteworthy that Abu Bakr had been a member of Al-Aloul’s entourage. Fathi Hazem, who is a former commander in the Palestinian Security Forces and the father of two Palestinian terrorists killed by Israeli military, including Tel Aviv shooter Raad Hazem, said at the event that he cannot be sad while his sons are “with Allah” and are enjoying the pleasures of Paradise. He praised the “brave” fighters of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which at the time of the event was engaged in a conflict with Israel in the Gaza Strip. The event was aired on Awda TV (Palestinian Authority).


22-year-old dead terrorist’s “prime goal or main dream was Martyrdom”
Official PA TV, live broadcast of the funeral of terrorist Sharif Rabba’, who attempted to stab Israeli soldiers

Sister-in-law of terrorist Sharif Rabba’: “He was always laughing. He loved life. He had a lot of dreams and aspirations. Perhaps the prime goal or main dream was Martyrdom. Every young person wants to get married and raise a family, but his dream was Martyrdom.” [Official PA TV, May 7, 2023]

Sharif Rabba’ – 22-year-old Palestinian terrorist who attempted to stab Israeli soldiers near the Al-Fawwar refugee camp south of Hebron on Feb. 9, 2023. The soldiers responded by shooting and killing Rabba’ in self defense.


Anger at Hamas Growing after Tax Increases in Gaza
Last summer, Hamas, which controls Gaza, imposed a 10-shekel tax on some imported clothing items, including jeans and abayas for women. In February, clothing merchants across Gaza went on strike in protest.

In March, Hamas increased the duties on fruits and vegetables coming from Israel by 120% to 230%. Merchants suspended imports in protest.

In April, the Hamas government imposed a new tax of five shekels ($1.50) on every kilogram of Egyptian fish that arrives in Gaza and is then exported to the West Bank. A tax of three shekels ($0.90) was imposed on every kilogram of fish produced on local farms.

On Feb. 2, the Hamas government imposed a 12.5% tax on imported cars. In July 2022, new taxes were imposed on 24 imported commodities such as mineral water, juices and biscuits. In May 2022, a 16% VAT was imposed on all products entering Gaza from the West Bank.

Talal Okal, a political writer for the Palestinian al-Ayyam newspaper, asked: "Why are Gazans forced to pay higher taxes while their government does not meet their basic needs?" Residents are not seeing government services as a result of the taxes, he added.


PreOccupiedTerritory: Israel Offers To Mediate Fatah-Hamas Talks (satire)
Discord between rival Palestinian factions has grown so acrimonious that high-level Israeli officials have proposed that the two parties dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish State come together under Israeli auspices to reconcile, a Ministry of Regional Cooperation spokesman disclosed today.

Nu Daikvar, a ministry representative, told reporters that Israeli mediation provides numerous advantages to both parties, not least of which involves proximity. “Fatah-Hamas relations have deteriorated to the point where it’s too urgent to get together in some place like Doha,” Daikvar explained. “Enough is enough. It’s past time for these two factions to grow up and learn to coexist. Neither one is going to get everything it wants or demands. We have to find a workable compromise.”

The Islamist Hamas and the more secular Fatah have long vied for supremacy in the realm of Palestinian leadership. Public opinion surveys point to Hamas’s greater popularity, owing both to its perceived lack of corruption in contrast to Fatah cronyism, and to Hamas’s uncompromising stance on the elimination of Israel by any means possible as soon as possible, contrasted with Fatah’s long-term strategy of political, diplomatic, and demographic pressure to render Jewish sovereignty untenable – a strategy that also, in the popular Palestinian eye, involves policies and decisions that smack of collaboration with Israel.

Fatah controls the West Bank autonomous Palestinian areas, while Hamas controls the Gaza Strip, having seized power there from Fatah in 2007 amid a brief war. Fatah chief and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has declined to hold even parliamentary elections in the decades since, let alone a presidential contest. Repeated attempts by outside parties in the Arab world to mediate between the parties have produced hopeful or bombastic proclamations, and the occasional pretense of cooperation, but little lasting impact.


Lebanese Politician: The Lebanese Government Are a Bunch of Idiots for Not Recognizing Israel
Lebanese MP Camille Chamoun, the President of the National Liberal Party, said in a May 10, 2023 interview on OTV (Lebanon) that the Lebanese people are a peaceful people and do not want to have enemies any longer. He said that if the Lebanese government were to collect Hizbullah’s weapons, a “large portion” of Lebanon’s problems would be resolved and Lebanon could become a neutral country that would attract tourists. Chamoun also said that it is not in Lebanon’s interests to fight Israel because Israel is much more advanced technologically and militarily, and he said that the Lebanese government are a “bunch of idiots” for failing to recognize Israel. In a May 15, 2023 interview with Voice of Lebanon, Chamoun said that he wants to build Lebanon while Hizbullah wants to destroy it. He also said that if things continue the way they are, then Lebanon is headed towards partition. In addition, he accused Hizbullah of leading Lebanese Shi’ites “like sheep.”




The Netanyahu Doctrine: Total War Only Against an Iranian Nuclear Breakout
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is all consumed by the worry of Jewish survival. The key singular feature of the Netanyahu Doctrine is avoidance of war at all costs, save for the direct and all-out confrontation with Iran and its proxies should Iran achieve a nuclear breakout. Iran's possession of nuclear weapons and the ballistic means to launch them serve to achieve Israel's destruction, and the rhetoric of its leaders is absolute proof of Iran's intentions. Netanyahu tries at all costs to avoid being waylaid by the lesser threats facing Israel to maintain the singular focus on Iran.

Oddly, Iran is in complete agreement with Netanyahu's doctrine. It also wants to avoid confrontation except when it achieves nuclear strike capability and is ready to strike or retaliate against an Israeli preemptive strike. For the very reason of avoiding a total war, Iran is increasing its coordination with Hamas and Islamic Jihad and enhancing their capabilities.

The long-term danger is that the doctrine enables the military buildup of Iran and its proxies in creating a missile siege around Israel. At some point, the danger of such a siege may become more significant than the threat of a nuclear Iran.
U.S. Proposes Joint Military Planning With Israel on Iran: Report
America offered joint military planning to Israel, in regards to Iran. But some officials in Jerusalem are hesitant to accept, according to some Israeli media.

On paper, what’s being offered sounds good. The reliable superpower repeatedly showed their support for the small Jewish nation that’s surrounded by enemies, but, apparently, the concern is that it might tie Israel’s hands if it decides to act while the U.S. opposes such action.

“One of the main concerns of the United States is that Israel might act alone militarily and this is something that the United States does not want to happen,” remarked Danny Ayalon, former Israeli ambassador to the United States, “being together neck to neck or shoulder to shoulder with Israel means they will know exactly if and when Israel will act.”

America is worried that other burning issues, such as Ukraine or China, could take higher priority for the U.S. during their election year. For Washington, joint planning might be made as a guarantee that there would be no surprises from Jerusalem.

It should be noted that even without such joint planning, Israel would need an American agreement, and even assistance, if it plans to strike Iran. The flight path to Tehran would have to be approved and go through Washington’s decision makers.

“Our commitment to Israel’s security is ironclad and we recognize Israel has a legitimate right to defend itself against all forms of aggression,” said Vedant Patel, a state department spokesperson.
Report: U.S proposes a joint plan with Israel on Iran
Biden administration has reportedly approached Israeli officials in recent weeks with the “unprecedented” proposal that would “significantly upgrade US-Israeli military cooperation.”

A US official said that the offer was “not about planning any kind of joint US-Israeli strike against Iran’s nuclear program” and that the planning would mostly center around sharing “different contingencies” and discussing ways to address Iran’s regional activities






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