Tuesday, June 27, 2023

06/27 Links Pt1: Israel is the second-most pro-America country in the world, poll finds; Ariel University decries ‘racist and BDS-like’ State Department; The Palestinians No One Talks About

From Ian:

Israel is the second-most pro-America country in the world, poll finds
Israel is the second-most pro-America country in the world and Israelis have a more positive view of the US than Americans by some measures, according to a Pew Research poll released on Tuesday.

Eighty-seven percent of Israelis have a positive view of the US; the only country in which the US has a higher favorability rating is Poland, at 93%. The lowest score was from Hungary, at 44%.

Israel's current view of the US is the most positive since 2000, and improved slightly from last year, at 83%.

That 68% of Israelis have confidence in US President Joe Biden's "leadership of world affairs," is similar to how he is viewed in Sweden, Kenya, Nigeria, Germany, and the Netherlands. Biden's highest score came from Poland and the lowest from Hungary.

Israelis' view of Biden improved eight percentage points since last year but has not yet reached former president Donald Trump's peak at 71%. Trump's high score tied with former president Barack Obama's in 2013, but they are also tied for the lowest score since 2000, 56%, which they received in 2009 and 2017. The US president with the best score among Israelis in the last 20 years was George W. Bush, with 83% approval in 2003.
Biden Administration Defends Controversial Move to Slash Israeli Research Funding
The Biden administration is defending its decision to end taxpayer funding for Israeli research projects, a move critics say alienates one of the United States' strongest allies.

The White House earlier this month moved to formally boycott all scientific cooperation with Jewish Israelis living in so-called Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Golan Heights. A State Department spokesman confirmed the policy shift in comments to the Free Beacon, saying it is "simply reflective of the longstanding U.S. position" on disputed areas of Israel.

"The Department of State recently circulated foreign policy guidance to relevant agencies advising that engaging in bilateral scientific and technological cooperation with Israel in geographic areas which came under the administration of Israel after June 5, 1967, and which remain subject to final status negotiations, is inconsistent with U.S. foreign policy," the spokesman said.

Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen said on Sunday, "I object to the decision and think it is wrong," according to the Times of Israel.

When grilled about the move during a press briefing on Monday, the State Department would not rule out declaring all so-called Israeli settlements as illegal. The United States, the State Department maintains, cannot fund programs that are being carried out in areas the administration considers to be part of negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. Republicans disagree.

"Biden boycotting Israeli scientific projects does nothing to promote peace and is no way to treat an ally," said former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley. Haley, a Republican presidential candidate and vocal opponent of the anti-Semitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, slammed the Biden administration for what she sees as foreign policy hypocrisy.

"If this was scientific projects in China, Biden would be for it," Haley told the Washington Free Beacon Monday, calling the plan "Ridiculous."
Ariel University decries ‘racist and BDS-like’ State Department
A U.S. State Department decision to cease scientific and technological cooperation with Israeli entities over the 1949 armistice line, commonly known as the Green Line, is racist and smacks of a BDS-like double standard, Ariel University said on Monday.

The harsh reaction comes after the U.S. administration announced that it was reverting to a longstanding policy of restricting funding to Israeli institutions located over the Green Line, rescinding a decision by the Trump administration three years ago which removed geographical limitations as criteria for applying for U.S. government funding.

“There should be no political limitations on research that benefits society and the health, safety and wellbeing of the world’s population,” Bobby Brown, senior vice president of Ariel University, told JNS. “The State Department has revised this disgusting and anti-Jewish practice, which in effect reinstates BDS and racism,” he said.

While the U.S. administration was trying to impose peace top-down according to their political worldview, the university’s universal medical research promotes peace from society upwards, he added.

“It is time to rid the world of the racist and BDS mentality in the State Department,” Brown said. “Research, cooperation and joint projects that benefit mankind should be accepted with two hands.”
The Biden Administration’s Self-Defeating Snub of Benjamin Netanyahu
On June 18, the State Department declared that it is “deeply troubled” by Jerusalem’s decision to allow the construction of 4,000 new housing units in the West Bank. It appears that some or all of these units will be built outside the major settlement blocs, a deviation from Prime Minister Netanyahu’s longstanding policy preference. Elliott Abrams comments:

Why would Netanyahu agree to this? Because the far-right parties representing the settlers have more power in his government today than they have ever had before. Or to put that equation backwards, because Netanyahu is weaker than he was previously.

That brings me to the Netanyahu invitation to visit the White House. Presumably the Biden administration believes it is achieving something important by refusing to invite Netanyahu. What it is actually achieving, however, is to weaken him against those in the governing coalition who seek the kinds of things the Biden administration opposes—judicial reform and settlement expansion. The White House is thereby truly biting its nose to spite its face—weakening Netanyahu to somehow punish him and thereby leading to exactly the results it least wants. On these issues of settlement expansion and judicial reform, Netanyahu has long been a moderating force. Weakening him aids more extreme voices.

Perhaps denying him an invitation gives the president and White House staff some personal satisfaction, but doing so undermines U.S. policy goals. It’s a foolish, even childish, position, and reversing it will advance administration policy. It is remarkable that administration “experts” on Israel don’t or won’t see that.
Netanyahu to Visit China Next Month Amid Deteriorating Relations With Biden Administration
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit China next month, in a move that is likely to both worsen relations with the United States and open the door to a Chinese initiative for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

No official plans for the visit have yet been announced, but it is understood that Netanyahu will meet with Chinese President Xi Jingping and other leaders of the Communist Party regime. An Israeli government source told the Hebrew news outlet Zman Yisrael that Netanyahu’s arrival in Beijing signaled the Israeli leader’s desire to expand the Jewish state’s diplomatic partners.

“Netanyahu is not going to stand and wait for an invitation that is not forthcoming to visit the White House. He is also working in parallel channels,” the source said.

The election of Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition government last year has resulted in a deterioration in relations with US President Joe Biden’s Administration, which has voiced criticism of the government’s attempt to overhaul Israel’s independent judiciary as well as its settlement policies in the West Bank. In March, Biden argued that Israel could not “continue down this road” with regard to judicial reform while ruling out a Netanyahu visit to the White House in the near future.

However, historical precedent suggests that China — traditionally aligned with the Arab states in their conflict with Israel and one of the first countries to recognize the “State of Palestine” — may well be resistant to Israeli concerns during any negotiations. Moreover, the Palestinian leadership is understood to be favorably inclined towards a Chinese peace plan which Xi discussed with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas during the latter’s visit to Beijing last week.


Saudi Princess Reema says kingdom wants integration with Israel
Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Princess Reema bint Bandar Al Saud said on Saturday afternoon that Israeli-Palestinian peace was in line with Vision 2030, the kingdom’s massive social reform project. “We want to see a thriving Israel,” she said. “We want to see a thriving Palestine. Vision 2030 talks about a unified, integrated, thriving Middle East and last I checked, Israel was there. We want a thriving Red Sea economy.”

The ambassador, speaking in conversation with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colo., said that the Saudi kingdom focuses on integration over normalized relations with Israel. “We don’t say normalization, we talk about an integrated Middle East, unified [as] a bloc like Europe, where we all have sovereign rights and sovereign states, but we have a shared and common interest,” she explained. “So that’s not normalization. Normalization is you’re sitting there, and I’m sitting here, and we kind of coexist, but separately. Integration means our people collaborate, our businesses collaborate, and our youth thrive.”

Princess Reema added that the policies of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government toward the Palestinians are complicating efforts to reach a broader peace in the region. Prompted by a question from Mitchell, Princess Reema said the Israeli government’s current approach in the West Bank is “so terrible,” calling settlements in particular “problematic” and “something that we’re trying to solve.”

“I think the conflict has gone [on] for so long, that these walls have been built psychologically and emotionally that are very hard to overcome,” she said. “And call me naive, I think it’s time for people to have faith and hope in humanity and to address conflict with that spirit, and I don’t think we are.”

Any resolution to the conflict, she added, “has to come with equitable peace and dignity of living for both parties. I don’t think there’s any Israeli mother that wakes up every morning, celebrating rockets coming over. I don’t think there’s one Palestinian mother that celebrates her son or daughter losing their life for this conflict. It’s been too long.”
Bassam Tawil: The Palestinians No One Talks About
Even if the anti-Israel activists are made aware that Palestinian students living under the Palestinian Authority are being hauled off and tortured by their own leaders, they are not likely to speak out because there is no way to blame Israel or hold it responsible.

The Palestinian Authority crackdown on students is also being ignored by the international media and human rights organizations that regularly attack Israel but indefatigably refuse to see any wrongdoing on the part of Palestinians. Many foreign journalists covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict make it their business actually to hunt for any story that reflects badly on Israel.

If these activists really cared about Palestinians, they would be speaking out against the arrest and torture of Palestinian students at the hands of Palestinian security forces, the need for better education, jobs and above all better, less corrupt governance for Palestinians. They would also be insisting on freedom of speech and of the press for Palestinians, and protesting the reported forcible closing of human rights groups such as Lawyers for Justice, instead of denouncing Israel day and night.

The crackdown is part of an ongoing effort by the Palestinian Authority to silence and intimidate its political rivals and deter others from speaking out against Abbas and senior Palestinian officials.

In May, the Islamic Bloc won the elections for the student council at Birzeit University, defeating the Palestinian Authority-affiliated student list.

The Palestinian Authority, plainly speaking, which is rapidly losing credibility among its youths, appears to have difficulty accepting the results of the elections in which its supporters were defeated. That is most likely the real reason the newly-elected chairman of the student council was arrested.

Hassan, in recent weeks, was not the only student from Birzeit University to be arrested by the PA security services. At least another four students have been taken into custody for unknown reasons: Yahya Qassem, Fawzi Abu Kweik, Omar Kiswani and Obaida Qatouseh.


PreOccupiedTerritory: Country That Left Lights On So Luftwaffe Could Find UK Cities Has Thoughts On Israel-Palestine (satire)
The government and citizens of a republic that during the Second World War claimed neutrality but in practice facilitated Nazi bomber aircraft raids on the British Isles by refusing to maintain nighttime blackouts in the capital while knowing that Dublin, on the eastern Irish coast, helped the pilots of those aircraft orient themselves and navigate toward targets in Britain, continued its trend this week of criticizing the Jewish State for its policies and likening it to the Nazis.

Irish officials and NGOs lashed out at Israel again over the weekend and yesterday, following reports that Israeli forces had apprehended a Palestinian minor who had carried a weapon into an Israeli town and planed to murder Jews. Several legislators signed a statement deeming Israel’s actions “fascist” and “at home in Hitler’s Germany,” while human rights activists called on their government to implement a Boycott, Divest, Sanctions policy toward Israel in response.

“It’s imperialism, colonialism, and Nazims all rolled into one,” declared Thissegan O’Helno, a member of the Oireachtas. Ms. O’Helno’s predecessors abetted Nazi air force strikes on England and Wales during WWII.

“We cannot stand idly by while innocent Palestinians suffer,” proclaimed Amnesty International chapter president Kilda Heebs, whose own grandfather purchased extra lamps to place in the family home to illuminate his Dublin residence even more. facilitating German bombing runs on British innocents.
Twenty House progressives argue against Israel’s inclusion in Visa Waiver Program
Twenty House progressives argued in a new letter late last week that Israel remains ineligible for the Visa Waiver Program, and urged the Biden administration to “address… discriminatory restrictions” on U.S. citizen travel to the West Bank.

The lawmakers, led by Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA), wrote to Secretary of State Tony Blinken last week to highlight restrictions on U.S. citizens traveling to the West Bank and arguing against Israel’s inclusion in the program.

Israel does not currently meet the strict standards necessary for inclusion in the program. Talks on the issue between the Biden administration and the Israeli government are ongoing. Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary for Policy Rob Silvers told Jewish Insider in December 2021 there are “no timelines announced” for the project.

“It is incumbent on Israel as a key U.S. ally and beneficiary of significant aid to treat U.S. citizens with dignity and respect regardless of race, religion and ethnicity and it is especially pertinent at this time,” in light of the VWP discussions, the letter reads. “Israel has consistently refused to extend fair treatment to U.S. Palestinian-American visitors attempting to travel through Israeli controlled entry points.”

The letter was also signed by Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Chuy Garcia (D-IL), Betty McCollum (D-MN), Marie Newman (D-IL), Jackie Speier (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Ron Kind (D-WI), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Jennifer Wexton (D-VA), Peter Welch (D-VT), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), John Yarmuth (D-KY), James McGovern (D-MA), Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) and André Carson (D-IN), as well as Washington, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes-Norton.


Rabbi Yaakov Medan: No tenet of Judaism justifies ransacking Arab villages
The tragic killing of four Jewish individuals in the West Bank settlement of Eli, along with a string of similar incidents across the West Bank and the nation, forcefully emphasizes the urgent call to combat terrorism uncompromisingly. Simultaneously, it underscores the imperative of mobilizing support for the affected families.

Our primary focus should be to engage fully in the second mission, leaving no room for any inclination to engage in rioting or causing harm to Arab communities near the crime scenes. It is crucial to respect the presumption of innocence, refrain from damaging property and avoid any form of public humiliation or disrespect toward their religious beliefs, such as burning the Quran.

We must take immediate and decisive action to put an end to this unacceptable situation, regardless of the cost. It is essential to condemn these acts unequivocally and consider providing compensation to the victims. While the righteous anger toward the terrorists and their enablers is understandable, it must never justify the aforementioned riots, as they harm innocent Arabs who should be presumed innocent until proven otherwise.

The damage caused by these riots is immeasurable and deeply troubling. Three significant aspects highlight the severity of this situation.

First, there is the profound desecration that occurs when individuals who claim to uphold religious commandments and possess a love for the Torah and the land engage in such actions. True love for God, the Torah and the country inherently involves a resolute and unwavering fight against terrorists and their supporters.

However, causing harm to those who may not be guilty solely because they are "under the spotlight" goes against the teachings of God. There is no Jewish law, commandment or custom to justify such behavior. In fact, these acts may be even more serious than other transgressions and violations.
Netanyahu: The law applies everywhere — the Golan, West Bank and Ayalon Highway
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday reiterated his condemnation of settler rampages in Palestinian towns following a deadly terror shooting in the West Bank last week, while again lumping the rioting together with other recent unrest and not issuing a standalone rebuke.

“We are a country of laws and this applies everywhere — in the Golan, Judea and Samaria and the Ayalon,” Netanyahu told the Knesset, using the West Bank’s biblical name and also referring to Druze rioting over a wind farm project in the Golan Heights and to anti-government protesters blocking Tel Aviv’s main highway during months of demonstrations against the judicial overhaul plan.

Netanyahu last week similarly paired the settler violence with the clashes between Druze and police, denouncing both and stressing Israel is a “country governed by laws.”

The settler riots over the past week have drawn international censures and also been condemned by security chiefs, who issued a joint statement — after another attack over the weekend — denouncing the violence as “nationalist terror.” That denunciation, in turn, has drawn fire from Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners, one of whom likened the heads of the military, Shin Bet and police to the mutinous Russian mercenary group Wagner.

Minister Orit Strock later apologized for the comparison after it was roundly condemned, with Netanyahu saying “there is no place” for such a remark while also ordering an investigation into “allegations of the use of excessive force by the security forces” against settlers in the West Bank.

Opposition leaders have urged Netanyahu to fire Strock over the comment, which he has not done.
Herzog calls Abbas to urge fight against terror, condemn settler violence
President Isaac Herzog called Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday ahead of this week’s Eid al-Adha Muslim holiday and stressed the need to fight terrorism and incitement, following a string of deadly attacks on Israelis in the West Bank.

Herzog also condemned vigilante attacks by Israelis on Palestinian civilians in the wake of the past week’s rampages in Turmus Ayya and other West Bank locations.

Also Tuesday, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant spoke with senior Palestinian Authority official Hussein al-Sheikh about recent incidents in the West Bank, including the settler attacks on Palestinians, his office said.

In the wake of a deadly Palestinian terror attack on June 20, in which four Israelis were killed by Hamas-affiliated gunmen, hundreds of settlers rampaged in Palestinian towns and villages for five days, setting fire to homes, cars, and even opening fire in some cases. One Palestinian was killed Wednesday in unclear circumstances.

According to a readout from the Defense Ministry, Gallant told al-Sheikh — who holds the Civil Affairs portfolio — that Israel “views the violence used by extremist elements against Palestinian citizens in recent days with severity, and emphasized that Israel will work to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

Gallant told al-Sheikh that Israeli security forces would “work to thwart terror wherever required,” and asked to convey a message to the Palestinian Authority to take “quick and powerful action against the centers of terrorism, which work to destabilize the area,” according to the readout.
Israel's President Herzog talks West Bank violence with Palestinian Authority chief Abbas



Probe launched after IDF soldier killed by friendly fire in training accident
An Israeli soldier was killed overnight by friendly fire during a military exercise, the IDF spokesperson said on Tuesday.

"An IDF soldier was killed overnight by IDF fire during a military exercise at an IDF base in southern Israel. The details of the incident are under examination by the commanders and the military police have begun investigating the incident; the family of the soldier has been notified," the spokesperson's statement said.

"The IDF expresses its heartfelt condolences to the family of the soldier and will continue to support them," it added. The soldier, which was training at the Paratroopers Brigade dedicated drill base, was apparently targeted from a distance of about 800 feet after commanders had instructed the troops to simulate a real battle, but apparently without realizing that he would be caught in the crossfire.

These accidents are relatively rare. Earlier in January, an Israeli soldier was killed in a firearm incident at a military base in the central part of the country.


Jenin’s threat to Israel and the region - analysis
The similarities to 2002 are clear. This Week in Palestine ran a report in 2021 about how Jenin was now returning to the spotlight after 20 years. Shireen Abu Aqleh, who would become a victim of clashes in Jenin in May 2022, wrote in October 2021: “It was like going back to 2002 when Jenin lived something unique, unlike any other city in the West Bank. Toward the end of al-Aqsa Intifada, armed citizens spread out all over the city and publicly dared the occupation forces to raid the camp.”

Jenin is different, she wrote, adding: “At first sight, life in Jenin may appear normal, with restaurants, hotels, and shops that open their doors every morning. But in Jenin we have the feeling that we are in a small village that monitors every stranger that comes in.”

This is now the city and the region that presents the greatest challenge to Israel in the West Bank in 20 years. First it was clashes with PIJ and other gunmen. These groups are fueled by arms that flood the West Bank. The arms trade has increased, and even if hundreds of firearms have been found by the IDF, there are many more M-4s and M-16 variants out there, with modern sights and accessories.

PIJ is backed by Iran and encouraged to expand its attacks and use new tactics. Israel is also increasing the types of methods it must employ. A Hermes 450 Zik drone was recently used to take out a terrorist cell. However, the use of rockets on June 26 presents a new potential front against Israel.

As Jerusalem Post reporter Khaled Abu Toameh pointed out last week, the images from Jenin “create the impression that certain parts of the West Bank, particularly Jenin, are beginning to resemble the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, where the IDF faced similar tactics by Palestinian terror groups and Hezbollah.”

Rocket fire, explosives targeting vehicles and the need to use armed drones and helicopters reflects a serious escalation. Iran is watching. It tried in 2018 to fly munitions from Syria to the West Bank via a drone. It has recently hosted Hamas, and it would like to spread the instability from Jenin to other areas – all while pushing a diplomatic offensive in the Gulf.

The PA will have to crack down on the threats in Jenin. The US and the West, which have backed the Palestinian Security Forces, will need to take the emerging threat seriously.
‘Iran is already in the West Bank,’ Palestinian Authority official says
Following their recent visit to Iran, leaders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization, the second largest terror group in the Gaza Strip after Hamas, on Monday called for stepping up armed attacks against Israel.

Leaders of PIJ’s political bureau held a series of consultations over the past few days to discuss the latest developments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the outcome of its leaders’ recent visit to the Islamic Republic.

The consultations came days after a senior PIJ delegation headed by the organization’s secretary general, Ziyad al-Nakhaleh, visited Tehran, where they held meetings with Iranian leaders on ways of escalating the fight against Israel. Nakhaleh is based in Lebanon, while other members of the organization live in the Gaza Strip and Syria. A Hamas delegation led by Ismail Haniyeh also held talks in Iran about ways of enhancing Palestinian “resistance” groups in the West Bank.

After meeting with Nakhaleh, Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei wrote on Twitter: “Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian resistance movements have found the main key to fighting the Zionist regime. The continually growing authority of resistance groups in the West Bank is the key to bringing the Zionist enemy to its knees, and this of course must be continued.”

In the past 18 months, PIJ has managed to establish several armed cells and recruit dozens of gunmen in the northern West Bank, specifically in the areas of Jenin and Nablus, a Palestinian security source said.

Palestinian Islamic Jihad received financial support from Iran
The source said PIJ has become a dominant force in the northern West Bank, largely thanks to the financial aid it receives from Iran.

“Islamic Jihad is using Iranian money to buy weapons and loyalty in the West Bank,” the source said. “The organization is paying high salaries to its members.”

According to the source, the Palestinian Authority has noticed that there is increased cooperation between PIJ gunmen and members of al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the ruling Fatah faction headed by PA President Mahmoud Abbas.
An Expert Look at Israel’s Missile Defense
In addition to the much-vaunted Iron Dome, the IDF also employs two other groundbreaking pieces of technology, known as the Arrow and David’s Sling, to protect itself against enemy rockets, drones, and missiles. Thomas Karako, one of America’s foremost experts on missile defense, discusses these life-saving innovations—and the decisions that must be made by the young people who operate them—with Moshe Patel, director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization.


In first, Israel seizes crypto wallets tied to Iran’s Quds Force, Hezbollah
Israel has for the first time seized cryptocurrency wallets tied to Iran’s Quds Force and Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror proxy, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant revealed on Tuesday.

The “extensive and precedent-setting” effort over the past week resulted in the confiscation of millions of dollars worth of digital currency earmarked for terrorism, Gallant said.

The Quds Force is the branch of Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responsible for external operations.

“Whoever finances terror or maintains economic ties to terror groups are targets, just like those directing terrorism,” Gallant said.

“There is a clear connection to terror that originates in Iran, which is the financier and purveyor of terrorism against Israel and many countries around the world, both directly and through its proxies,” he added.

The Quds Force, Hezbollah and Syrian groups have since the beginning of the year used cryptocurrency supplied by third parties to fund their activities, according to Gallant.
Dutch arrest father, daughter for sending millions to Hamas
Dutch investigators arrested a father and daughter last week for “large-scale financing” of Hamas in breach of E.U. sanctions, prosecutors said Monday.

The man, 55, and his daughter, 25, from the town of Leidschendam near The Hague, were arrested on June 22, AFP reported.

“According to Dutch law, names of those arrested may not be released unless they are convicted and even then, only the first names are given out,” a Dutch source told JNS. “However, everyone knows who they are. It’s Amin Abu Rashid and his daughter Israa.”

Abu Rashid and his daughter are the only two who fit the few details that have been released so far. Abu Rashid turned 55 in October 2022. His daughter Israa became 25 in May 2023.

Amin Abu Rashid (right) with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Source: Facebook. Both have expressed support for Hamas. Abu Rashid has been photographed embracing Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and attending Hamas events. Israa posted to Facebook in 2014, “Thanks to Allah my Lord! The war on Gaza is finally over!!—Proud of Hamas?? ??”

Abu Rashid’s Facebook account lists him as living in The Hague. Leidschendam is near The Hague’s city center.


JPost Editorial: Iran has left bloodstained fingerprints through global terror
Over the years, the Mossad has become exceptionally well respected in the intelligence world. It maintains good relations with its international counterparts, including, reportedly, in some countries with which Israel does not have diplomatic ties. This is because the threat of terrorism is not limited to Israeli and Jewish targets.

Attacks by Sunni jihadist groups such as al-Qaeda and Islamic State and their offshoots have taken place around the world: in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia. The Mossad has helped prevent attacks on many occasions.

Similarly, it would be a mistake to see the plot that was frustrated in Cyprus as being a local matter, affecting only Israel, Cyprus and the Jewish community. The threats emanating from the Iranian regime – which funds and supports terrorist proxies including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis – spread far beyond the Middle East, and no country should consider itself safe from those threats.

Iran has already shown that it does not respect international borders or conventions. Hezbollah has operated in places as distant as Buenos Aires in Argentina and Burgas in Bulgaria, causing tremendous loss of life.Cyprus itself is a member of the EU. The fact that the IRGC violated its sovereignty should be another warning sign to the global community.

Earlier this month, Iran boasted that it had produced a hypersonic missile. Iranian drones have already been used in Russia’s attacks on Ukraine.

The international community must understand that a deal with Iran that fails to address its malign role around the world will be partial at best and destructive at worst; the lifting of sanctions will result in a flow of funds that will doubtless be used for pernicious purposes.

The bloodstained fingerprints of Iran’s IRGC have been found in terror attacks around the globe. Any deal that grants the Iranian regime an influx of money to further expand its global terrorist operations will only make the world more dangerous.
Iran's major escalation in Cyprus echoes aid for West Bank terror
Jason Brodsky, Meir Javendafar and Jonathan Conricus discuss Iran and the growing threat of terrorism, both at home and abroad, orchestrated by Tehran.


The Urgency for the UK and EU to Proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) is mandated by Iran’s constitution to pursue “an ideological mission of jihad in the way of Allah, that is, extending sovereignty of Allah’s law throughout the world.” It was responsible for the bloodshed on the streets of Iran in November 2019 that left 1,500 people dead in less than two weeks.

The IRGC is responsible for kidnapping and the extraterritorial and extrajudicial execution of Iranian dissidents and opposition figures beyond Iran’s borders.

The IRGC has a long record of terror in the United Kingdom and Continental Europe, and has even penetrated the United States and Latin America.

On January 12, 2023, the House of Commons voted unanimously in favor of a measure calling for the UK to proscribe the IRGC as a terrorist organization. In February 2023, the chief of MI5 reported foiling or exposing at least 15 kidnapping or assassination plots by the IRGC targeting UK citizens since January 2022 alone.

Due to its active involvement in terrorist operations around the globe, the IRGC has been deemed illegal by the U.S. government, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Sweden. Great Britain and Europe should follow suit forthwith.


Why Did Israel Invite the Exiled Iranian Crown Prince to Visit?
The visit was seen in a positive light among a majority of the Iranian opposition. Many Iranians view the Islamic Republic’s hostility toward Israel as unprovoked and unjustified, used as a tool for maintaining power. The antagonism toward Israel is viewed by a majority of Iranians as a costly enterprise that drains Iran’s resources. They are tired of aggression toward Israel and want to have a constructive and peaceful relationship toward Israel, a relationship based on mutual respect and interests. In the eyes of many Iranians, the Crown Prince’s invitation to Israel was perceived as a positive trend in Israel’s strategy toward Iran. One of the Islamic Republic’s propaganda themes to justify its own hostility toward Israel is to paint Israel as a force for causing civil unrest and provoking ethnic conflicts within Iran. The regime, familiar with one of the greatest fears of the Iranian people, that is, civil war and secession within their country, portrays Israel as a country that tries to tear Iran apart. The regime tries to convince the Iranian people that Israel is not an enemy of only the regime, but it is an enemy of Iran as a whole. The goal of this message is to make the Iranian people believe that Israel opposes a strong, Islamic Iran, and that a weak democratic Iran in the future would serve Israel’s interests.

The Crown Prince’s visit to Israel and his meetings with the highest Israeli officials sent a strong message to Iranians that Israel is, in fact, in favor of a strong, democratic Iran in the future, and a friendly Iran that shares the same values with Israel also serves Israel’s long-term interests. Pahlavi’s invitation to Israel, as brave a breakthrough as it was, revived Iranians’ hope that someday Iran and Israel will be friends, and the two nations will benefit from mutual partnership.

As Pahlavi said during his visit to Israel, “The biblical relationship we have with Israel was long before it became a state.” In fact, the Iran-Israel relationship does not only have a biblical anchor, but it also has a precedence in recent history, before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Today, for a majority of Iran’s new generation, the revolution has lost popularity and is growingly known as a point of digression from a right path that former generations could not appreciate.

For many young Iranians, the revival of the Iran-Israel relationship is rooted in two nostalgic eras: Cyrus the Great’s era and the pre-revolutionary era. After Pahlavi’s visit, many Iranians view their dream of peace with Israel is within reach. Israelis and Iranians already have a name for that dream: the Cyrus Accords.


Belgian government in crisis over fate of foreign minister in Iran visas dispute
Belgium risks starting another episode of its well-known political turmoil. This time, it’s Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib who could upset things.

When Lahbib is grilled by Belgian lawmakers on Monday, some of her coalition partners hope for apologies for how she handled an Iranian delegation that attended a summit in Brussels earlier this month. If none are forthcoming, it would risk consequences beyond her own possible resignation.

“Hadja Lahbib’s survival is a question of the government’s survival,” said a Belgian official, who was granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue.

Lahbib is under fire over the delivery of visas to 14 Iranian officials, including Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani — a regime hard-liner — to attend the Brussels Urban Summit last week. The saga has already led to the resignation of Brussels Secretary of State Pascal Smet.

An earlier appearance by Lahbib in the Belgian parliament did not convince members from both the opposition and some of her own government partners, even though Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo tried to assure the legislature last week that “the incident was closed.”

For De Croo’s coalition partners, the issue at hand is no longer the Iranian visas as such, but the way Lahbib mishandled the fallout. The Greens and the Socialists especially accuse her of not being transparent enough with the parliament.




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Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For over 19 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

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