Monday, August 07, 2023

08/07 Links Pt1: Reuven Rivlin: Israel must draw common rules, before it's too late; The Pro-America Case for Ending Aid; J Street is crossing a bright red line

From Ian:

The Pro-America Case for Ending Aid
Indeed, even 3% of a state budget is no trivial matter and would presumably come at the expense of other things. But in absolute terms, Israel’s budget itself has been growing every year by sums of this magnitude, in line with GDP growth. It is hard to believe that given its current trajectory of growth, Israel could not shoulder a gradual drawdown of aid. It has enough wealth to do without Uncle Sam’s pocketbook.

We disagree with Goldberg’s claim that “Taking away that $3.8 billion would not increase Israel’s freedom of action.” Israel used to make policy decisions independently of the United States. In 1956, when it received no American military aid, Israel together with the United Kingdom and France invaded Egypt, much to the chagrin of the Americans. And the Eisenhower administration used economic aid as leverage in compelling Israeli withdrawal.

After it started taking military assistance, Israel grew much more deferential to Washington. For instance, the George H.W. Bush administration successfully pressured Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir not to retaliate after Iraq launched Scud missiles into Israel during the Gulf War. The aid has also made Israel more reluctant to take forceful action against Iran’s nuclear program when faced with an American red light, such as that given by the Obama administration in 2012. There is no question that Israel has taken American dollars at the expense of its independence.

Indeed, an IDF less dependent on the United States would have more freedom of action against Iran and its Arab proxies, and this would redound to the advantage of both countries. Israel would be better prepared to handle its most acute threats and the United States its own, making each country more secure.

Ending military aid is not meant to punish or weaken Israel. On the contrary, it’s meant to reward and strengthen it. As has been the case for decades, assistance makes the United States Israel’s patron and Israel the United States’ client. Rather, they should be two independent, but nonetheless closely aligned, peers. Paring back aid will modernize their relationship.

There is no question that Israel has taken American dollars at the expense of its independence.

Another objection was raised by Yadlin and Golov, who argue that “More than anything, the aid symbolizes America’s commitment to Israel’s security …” Perhaps the aid is a symbol, but we argue that Israel’s enemies are best deterred when it demonstrates its willingness to use decisive force to protect itself. At the same time, U.S. policies in the past few years have done much to provoke Israel’s enemies and undermine its deterrence. For example, when Washington courts Tehran, American officials implore the mullahs for a nuclear deal and float the idea of a “reassessment” of relations with Israel. Stronger policies in practice against real threats would increase deterrence much more than any symbolism of military aid can. On the contrary, an Israeli initiative to phase out aid, making it clear that Israel feels confident and independent, would itself be of strong symbolic value.

Finally, doing so will further discredit the claim that Israel is a strategic liability. Once Israel receives no more American tax dollars, Americans will consider it an even stronger partner that costs the United States nothing. This will be especially so on the right, which admires countries that are powerful and self-sufficient, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, both of which receive no military aid. As long as Israel remains a dependent, it will never make it into this elite club.

More and more Americans who are fundamentally sympathetic to Israel are increasingly antagonistic to the idea of foreign aid in general. They do not understand why a rich country like Israel is receiving so much. The reverse is also true: It is precisely Israel’s image as a strong and independent nation that takes care of itself that attracts the admiration and political support of Americans.

So far congressional calls to cut aid have been limited to progressive “Squad” members like Rashida Tlaib, other left-wing Democrats, and libertarians like Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky. Yet reducing Israel’s annual appropriation doesn’t have to be retaliation for killing Palestinian terrorists or part of a knee-jerk aversion to foreign aid. It should be a joint decision, preferably initiated by an Israeli proposal.

U.S. officials should understand that the best way to ensure a peaceful, secure Israel and a strong America is to make sure both countries spend money sensibly and strengthen their own military capabilities. Right now, the status quo is lacking.
J Street is crossing a bright red line
Last week, I joined more than 1,000 Jewish community leaders for an emergency briefing hosted by the Union for Reform Judaism following the Knesset’s passage of the “reasonableness” bill.

Among the presenters was Rabbi Gilad Kariv, a current Knesset member from the Labor Party – the first Reform rabbi to serve in Knesset – and a trusted voice on core issues that matter to the Reform Jewish community.

Kariv didn’t mince words and passionately urged us to stand resolutely with Israelis protesting the judicial overhaul.

Then he was asked a question that many American rabbis have fielded from congregants, and has recently appeared in various op-ed pieces: Should America condition foreign aid to Israel?

Kariv’s message was clear. “Leave the foreign aid aside.”

“We are not allowed to forget the existential threats…We need to understand that there are a few red lines that we cannot cross. Conditioning foreign aid is one of those bright red lines.”

This is a critical distinction for pro-Israel Americans to internalize. There are many ways we can oppose dangerous moves by this government and stand with our Israeli friends. But the security challenges facing Israel are dire, and conditioning the aid that protects Israelis from those threats will not help them – it will only put them in greater danger.

Kariv is not alone in this perspective. President Biden and Israel’s strongest supporters in Congress have expressed their frustration over the overhaul while opposing efforts to jeopardize security aid. In fact, Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Democrat from New York, recently published the affirmative case for security assistance.

Yet not everyone agrees.

J Street sees America’s lifesaving aid as a lever to punish the Israeli government and is fighting against Gilad Kariv, President Biden, and the overwhelming majority of the Democratic party on this most critical point.

In fact, J Street is currently lobbying for a bill to add conditions on how and where Israel can use security aid.

Bernie Sanders, a top J Street endorsee, proposed an amendment in July to condition all security funding for Israel.

J Street endorsees are consistently among the most vocal proponents of conditioning aid.

Jeopardizing Israel’s security jeopardizes Israeli lives. As Kariv points out, this is “a bright red line” that J Street has crossed.

But that is only half the equation. A strong Israel is vital for America. This aid is an investment that helps them and helps us in countless ways, as Rep. Torres detailed in his piece.
Reuven Rivlin: Israel must draw common rules, before it's too late
Indeed, were we not shocked when Basic Laws were changed for political needs, sometimes to increase the number of acting ministers, sometimes to create a rotation in the prime ministerial position and sometimes to form a rotation government?

If your constitutional change is deemed legitimate, but my constitutional change is a non-starter, and if your violent protest is a legitimate democratic demonstration, where all detained protestors are released, whereas my violent protest is a criminal act of rebellion, with dozens arrested even before it starts and hundreds arrested by its end – then we have no rules to play by, and the point of no return is growing closer.

Therefore, before we argue or even agree to hold honest dialog, let's first agree on the rules to which we must abide. Let's hold firm as we did in the past. When each side is convinced that the police work for the other side - let's establish legal agreements on the right to protest and its limits, on what’s allowed and prohibited in a demonstration and primarily on uniform standards of law enforcement.

When the core issue of constitutional laws, including the concept of separation of powers and the interaction between them, is disputed, let's at least establish procedural agreements (supermajority, safeguards to Basic Laws, special legislative procedures, etc.) for the Basic Law: The Judiciary so that we can better manage the debate.

Even in days when we were most divided, during the Oslo Accords or the disengagement from Gaza, we sat in the Knesset as rival members of parliament and managed to reach agreements, sometimes only on procedures but often also on important decisions.

Political rivals like Yitzhak Levy, Moshe Shahal, Dov Khenin, Aryeh Eldad, Mohammad Barakeh, Uri Ariel, Chaim Oron and even myself, as well as many other good people, reached agreements without giving up our ideological positions.

Perhaps a "rule forum" is needed, a group of former politicians who know how to communicate and negotiate with the opposing political side, even during times of deep divisions.

Together with a group of seasoned jurists (from the Knesset, government offices and even research institutions), who specialize in shaping political procedures into legal tools, this forum could help all of us crawl back from the edge.

Such a forum would not deal with ideological decisions, but only with the rules according to which things should be held; it wouldn’t produce reports no one reads, but would prepare 2-3 practical legislative proposals that would help bring us back to common ground before it’s too late.


Netanyahu on U.S. media blitz says judicial overhaul will stop soon
Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu told Bloomberg in an interview on Sunday that the judicial overhaul process will "probably stop" after a reform is made to the judicial selection committee.

Senior correspondent Owen Alterman explains what this latest comment signals, and adds some much needed context.


‘Bet on it’: Netanyahu says Israel about to make history with Saudis
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is confident his government can achieve some form of normalization with Saudi Arabia in the coming months, Netanyahu said in an interview with Bloomberg Television broadcasted on Monday.

“I think that we are about to witness a pivot of history,” he told Bloomberg’s Francine Lacqua. “First, there is an economic corridor of energy, transport and communications that naturally goes through our geography from Asia through the Arabian Peninsula to Europe.

“We are going to realize that,” vowed the prime minister, adding, “Saudi Arabia is one of the exceptional things that tells you why I’m very optimistic about Israel.”

In recent weeks, officials in Jerusalem and Washington have hinted at progress in normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia. Earlier this month, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said that Israel is closer than it has ever been to a peace deal with the kingdom.

However, even without a formal agreement, Jerusalem can still develop an “economic corridor” with Riyadh, Netanyahu told Bloomberg on Monday.

“If there is a political will, there will be a political way to achieve normalization and formal peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia. That has enormous economic consequences for the investors and if they have to bet on it right now, I’d bet on it, but I can’t guarantee it,” he said.

Persian Gulf sources close to Saudi decision-makers and sources close to Netanyahu have voiced conflicting views regarding the Palestinian linkage. According to the sources in the Gulf, the Saudis are conditioning normalization with progress on the Palestinian front, but the Israeli sources say Riyadh has made no such stipulations.

Netanyahu on Monday downplayed claims that the Palestinian issue played a significant role in negotiations. “Is that what’s being said in corridors? Is that what’s being said in discreet negotiations? The answer is a lot less than you think,” he said.

Asked what concessions Israel would be willing to make to the Palestinians, the prime minister refused to give specific examples.
Saudi-Israeli Normalization Won’t Hurt Palestinians
Last week, U.S. media reported that the head of the Mossad came to Washington in July and met with senior American officials about the possibility of establishing formal diplomatic relations between Jerusalem and Riyadh—also the apparent subject of National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s recent visit to the kingdom. The response to these developments from some quarters, including pro-Israel ones, is that such an agreement might “throw the Palestinians under the bus,” as one headline put it. Hussain Abdul-Hussain strongly disagrees:
Saudi Arabia has come to recognize a basic truth about the Israel-Palestinian conflict: the Arab world can do little to help Palestinians unless they are willing to help themselves. Palestinian salvation starts from within and requires a clear vision of peace with Israel that Palestinian leaders have thus far spurned.

Last week, Palestinian factions held a conference in Egypt. In their final statement, the factions said that the Palestine Liberation Organization was the sole representative of all Palestinians and that its vision for a two-state solution was their only plan. Such a position guarantees that Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and many other armed factions will remain at odds with the Palestinian Authority. Palestinians still have no credible representative or interlocutor who can negotiate peace with Israel, let alone uphold any agreements with the Jewish state.

With all tools of confrontation against Israel exhausted, and with Palestinians’ inability to speak with one voice and agree on one vision, Arab countries are left with two choices: either continue boycotting Israel, at a considerable economic cost and without a clear objective or outcome, or normalize with the Jewish state.

Neither an Arab boycott nor Arab peace with Israel will affect Palestinians. The Arabs have tried boycott and war for 75 years and have achieved little. Perhaps signing [an agreement] and reasoning with Israel over the best way to mitigate Palestinian misery can help.
Netanyahu meets with 24 Democratic members of Congress
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday welcomed a delegation of 24 Democrats from the U.S. House of Representatives to his Jerusalem office.

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and previous House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland are leading the trip to Israel this week to discuss the Iranian threat and judicial reform, among other topics.

Netanyahu set forth Israel’s position regarding a possible Iranian nuclear agreement for the Congress members.

“The most important thing is to create a credible military threat to Iran, and the second thing is to exploit it if all else fails,” the premier said. “We do not want a world where Iran can threaten New York, Washington, Los Angeles or anywhere in between with nuclear weapons.

“We certainly don’t want a world where they can destroy Israel, which they call a ‘one-bomb state,’ an abominable statement in itself, but it explains where Iran is. We will do everything we can, with or without an agreement, to protect ourselves,” Netanyahu said.

AIPAC President Michael Tuchin also attended the meeting. This week’s trip is being organized by the American Israel Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization affiliated with AIPAC. It is the second such trip to the Jewish state by a Democratic delegation during the 118th Congress, according to a press release from Hoyer’s office.

The delegation will meet with Israeli and Palestinian officials and activists and also talk about the prospects for a two-state solution, combating terrorism and the development of the Abraham Accords.
U.S. Presses Israel to Help the Palestinian Authority Financially
Israel's Diplomatic-Security Cabinet met on Sunday and discussed a request made by the Biden administration to help the Palestinian Authority financially.

The forum decided to suspend debt collection from Ramallah for another year.

Ministers were presented with a host of other steps that would prevent the PA from collapsing financially, including the transfer of tax revenue Israel collects on its behalf, expanding the Taraqomia Industrial Zone, and expanding the operating hours of the Allenby Crossing from Jordan. Some of the measures were approved.


Israel to include Gaza Strip in US Visa Waiver pilot
Israel plans to further ease travel for Palestinian Americans living in the Gaza Strip next month, an official told Reuters on Monday, marking the next step in the country’s bid to join the United States Visa Waiver Program.

By Sept. 15, Palestinian Americans from Gaza who satisfy certain security criteria will be able to enter the Jewish state on a tourist visa and fly out of Ben-Gurion Airport, said Gil Bringer, who manages the Visa Waiver pilot at Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority.

Israel’s chances of joining the program, which would allow Israeli citizens to travel to the United States without applying for a visa, hinge on a six-week trial period during which Israeli authorities will offer free passage to most Palestinian Americans.

The pilot, launched on July 20, has already allowed some 2,500 Palestinian Americans to travel through Ben-Gurion Airport instead of using land crossings with Jordan and flying in and out of Amman.

Over the past weeks, State Department and Homeland Security Department officials have visited Ben-Gurion Airport and crossings into the Judea and Samaria region to monitor whether Arab Americans are subjected to “selective grilling” by border control officers.

Reuters reported positive reactions to the pilot program so far.

However, Washington has reportedly insisted on full reciprocity, demanding that all its citizens entering Israel receive the same treatment as Israelis entering the United States. This would include Palestinian Americans living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as citizens of other countries— including dual nationals from enemy states like Iran and Lebanon.


JPost Editorial: Attacks in Tel Aviv and Burka reveal failures of Israeli authorities
In a statement on Twitter, the US State Department called the incident at Burka a “terror attack,” and – while noting that Israel has carried out several arrests – demanded “full responsibility and justice.”

Data from Israeli security agencies indicate that 25 attacks by Jewish Israelis against Palestinians took place in the West Bank in the first half of this year – the same number as were carried out in the whole of 2022. UN humanitarian agency OCHA recorded 591 settler-related incidents resulting in Palestinian casualties, property damage, or both, during the same period.

In addition to being morally repugnant and manifestly wrong, attacks such as these can lead to revenge attacks by Palestinians and cause the situation in the West Bank to spiral out of control.

Israeli security forces admit that they have struggled to get a handle on the widening scope and increasing frequency of violence between Israeli settlers and Palestinians and are ill-equipped to do so. In the latest case, IDF soldiers went on something of a wild goose chase after having initially been given an incorrect location.

They arrived at the scene approximately two hours after the clashes started and long after the gunfire that killed Ma’atan.

The failure in Tel Aviv is no less troubling, as it represents the latest in a string of recent incidents in which Palestinians from the West Bank have managed to carry out terrorist attacks in the heart of Israel’s second-largest city. What was once rare has become all too common and Israeli security forces appear to be unable to prevent these horrific attacks from taking place.

While the two incidents differ significantly from one another, they are bound by a common thread: official helplessness in the face of a rising tide of unlawful violence.

Itamar Ben-Gvir is the minister responsible for public security, but he seems to be spending much of his time doling out gun permits, monitoring Palestinian prisoners’ bread consumption, and praising individuals suspected of complicity in the violence. It’s high time he did his job – or lost it.
Five Palestinians arrested over deadly clashes near Burqa
Five Palestinians were arrested on Monday for suspected involvement in a deadly confrontation over the weekend with Israelis near the Arab village of Burqa.

Judea and Samaria District Military Police and IDF forces arrested three adults and two minors, all residents of Burqa. They were detained on suspicion of aggravated assault and serious damage during the Friday incident, police said in a statement.

Further arrests are expected as the investigation continues, police said.

According to the IDF, the incident began when “Israeli civilians” herded their sheep near Burqa, residents of which exited the town to push the herd away from the area.

“There, verbal confrontations ensued which were followed by the hurling of rocks by both sides, and the firing of fireworks by Palestinians,” the army said.

“During the confrontation, Israeli civilians fired towards the Palestinians. As a result of the confrontation, a Palestinian was killed, four others were injured, and a Palestinian vehicle was found burned Several Israeli civilians were injured from rocks hurled at them,” the IDF added.

Two Jewish suspects—Elisha Yered, 22, from the Ramat Migron outpost, and Yehiel Indore, 28, from the town of Ofra—are being held on suspicion of involvement in the killing of Kosai Ma’atan, 19, from Burqa.

The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court early Sunday ordered them to be held for an additional five days.

Indore, the primary suspect in the shooting, sustained a serious head wound at the hands of Arab attackers, for which he underwent an operation. Yered suffered an injury to his hand which required medical attention.

Israeli forces arrested 17 wanted suspects in total across Judea and Samaria on Sunday night.
Palestinian teen who hurled firebomb dies days after being shot by IDF troops
A Palestinian teenager who was shot by Israeli troops after hurling a firebomb at a settlement in the West Bank last week succumbed to his wounds on Monday, Palestinian health officials said.

The Palestinian Authority health ministry said 17-year-old Ramzi Fathi Hamed was shot and critically wounded near the West Bank town of Silwad early on August 3.

The teen’s father, Fatehi Hamed, told The Associated Press that his son was shot by Israeli troops after throwing firebombs at soldiers operating near Silwad.

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces told The Times of Israel that forces operating near Silwad identified a Palestinian suspect hurling a Molotov cocktail at the nearby settlement of Ofra.

“The force responded with gunfire,” the military spokesperson said, adding that the suspect was hit and later was reported to have died.

“The circumstances of the incident are under investigation,” the spokesperson added.
4 Syrian soldiers killed in alleged Israeli strike on Damascus
After another overnight airstrike in the Damascus area, Syria media reports 4 soldiers were killed.

Eran Lerman, vice president of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, explains why Israel maintains its policy of ambiguity when it comes to offensive actions taken in Syria.


The Israel Guys: The De-Facto Palestinian State Forming in the West Bank (Teaser #2)
The world is obsessed with creating a Palestinian State inside Israel’s Biblical Heartland.

President Joe Biben Said: “Palestinian people deserve a state of their own that is independent, sovereign, and contiguous.” What no one seems to realize, however, is that there is a growing illegal, undercover, Palestinian State in Judea and Samaria right now under Israel’s very nose.

Our new series EXPOSES this illegal takeover of Jewish land.

New episodes coming on August 13th & 20th!


What experts say: How serious is the rocket threat from Samaria?
Uzi Rubin is the winner of the Israel Defense Prize. In the various positions he has held in the defense establishment, he has been required to contend with the grave threats posed by ballistic missiles armed with heavy warheads and with ranges of hundreds of kilometers. He suggests that the IDF and the defense establishment would do well not to take lightly the few homemade rockets, some of which malfunctioned, that the Palestinians have in recent months tried to launch towards various Jewish communities bordering on northern Samaria and the adjacent Gilboa mountain range.

"That is precisely how it began in Gaza", recalls the man who headed the Homa (rampart) Administration, also referred to as the IMDO or Israel Missile Defense Organization (which was responsible for the development of the Arrow anti-ballistic missile system), and currently serves as an expert on the missile threat and defense against it at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS). Rubin's deja-vu is firmly embedded in the striking similarity between what is occurring now in Judea and Samaria and what happened in the Gaza Strip back in 2000-2002.

"There too it began with shoddy homemade production, in garages and workshops. The locals in Gaza removed explosives from mines, mixed together makeshift explosives, which initially blew up on launch, and worked with hollow pipes from whatever materials they could lay their hands on. Gradually, they began to improve their capabilities and performance. The first Hamas rocket was launched at the town of Sderot on April 16, 2001."

In Gaza, recalls Rubin, they first began to manufacture propellants from a mixture of sugar and chemical fertilizers. The production process was fairly simple and was often carried out in domestic kitchens. They used irrigation pipes, traffic signal poles, or other similar tubular objects for the rocket airframe, which were readily available within the Gaza Strip. The rocket warhead was equipped with standard explosive material from the remains of munitions and mines collected in the field, or from improvised explosives. At the workshops in the Gaza Strip, they used lathes to produce stabilizer fins and nozzles from sheets of tin, and these parts were then welded together and painted.

The initial manufacture was improvised using any basic materials locally available. The rockets were named Qassam after Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, the radical Muslim preacher who led the local struggle against both the colonial mandate forces in the Levant in the 1920s and 1930s, as well as the fierce opposition to the nascent Zionist movement at the time. Israel encountered much difficulty in its efforts to contend with the initial Qassam rockets, as they were small, lightweight (up to 5kg), and at the time were more similar to shoulder-fired man-portable rockets, that were readily transported from place to place.

"Now a similar process might well be taking place in Judea and Samaria," warns Rubin. "Though it might currently appear to be extremely insignificant and not threatening, but that is exactly how it began there too. We need to be extremely alert and to kill it off at birth," he recommends and then refers back to Gaza: "Just look and see to what dimensions the rocket threat in the south has developed."


"Tomorrow's Martyrs": Inside a Palestinian Militant Cell in the West Bank
The Washington Post spent time in July at Nablus' Balata refugee camp, as well as Jenin and Askar refugee camps, which have turned into outposts of armed anarchy. Zoufi, 37, commands 15 fighters of the Balata branch of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, listed as a terrorist group by Israel and the U.S. He was active in the second intifada as a teenager and served six years in Israeli prison for shooting and wounding an Israeli. He was released in 2008 and joined a branch of the Palestinian Authority security services, but found he could make more money at building sites in Israel. He bought his M16 for $20,000 with the money he earned working construction in Tel Aviv.

Israel accuses Palestinian officials of letting militants operate freely and of allowing thousands of smuggled or homemade weapons to flood the West Bank. An Israeli military official said the recent terror wave is being driven by the feebleness of the PA, social media fervor, and the availability of illegal weapons. The Israel Defense Forces have made more than 1,340 arrests there this year. The Lions' Den cell in Nablus has been all but demolished by IDF raids and arrests.
PMW: 15-year-old terrorist proclaimed his choice to die for Allah just hours before his terror attack
15-year-old terrorist Muhammad Al-Za’arir tried to stab and kill two Israeli soldiers, just hours after he had praised death as a “Martyr” on Facebook:
“Only Martyrdom is fitting for the life of a Jihad fighter”

[Terrorist Muhammad Al-Za’arir, Facebook page, Aug. 1, 2023]

Terrorist stabber Al-Za’arir was shot and killed by the soldiers in self-defense, and thereby achieved the “Martyrdom” he had praised hours earlier. Palestinian Media Watch has proven how the PA successfully teaches Palestinian children and youth like Al-Za’arir to grow up seeing “Martyrdom-death” as an ideal.

Nevertheless, completely ignoring Al-Za’arir’s attack, the PA as is its policy, portrayed the terrorist stabber as an innocent victim “executed in cold blood” by “the occupation forces,” who “opened live fire on the child”:
Official PA TV host: “The occupation’s policy of murder and execution in cold blood still continues. Child [Muhammad] Farid Al-Za’arir died as a Martyr yesterday [Aug. 1, 2023] next to the town of Al-Samu’, near Hebron. The occupation forces opened live fire on the child Al-Za’arir and prevented the medical teams and residents from approaching him.”

[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Aug. 2, 2023]

The Chairman of the Palestinian National Council Rawhi Fattouh also “condemned the execution of child Muhammad Al-Za’arir,” claiming that Israel murders Palestinian children in an “organized” way to “annihilate” them:
“Fattouh said that the murder of the children of Palestine is an organized process that Israel is carrying out for the purposes of racist annihilation [of Palestinians].”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 3, 2023]


MEMRI: PLO Summer Camps – Part II: Inculcating Non-Recognition Of Israel, Palestinian Refugees' Right Of Return To Homes Inside Israel
In July, 2023, some 650 summer camps were held in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. Operated by the PLO's Higher Council for Youth and Sports, which is headed by Fatah Central Committee member Jibril Rajoub, the camps were attended by some 65,000 boys and girls.[1] The camps are platforms for political indoctrination and incitement against Israel. This year, as in the past, the content they imparted included glorification of terrorists (see Part I of this report), non-recognition of Israel and calls for the return of the Palestinian refugees to their original homes, including inside Israel. As part of inculcating the narrative of the right of return, activities often included the motif of the key as a symbol of this right.[2]

It should be noted that the PLO's Higher Council for Youth and Sports, which operates the camps, has received funding in the past from the EU and from UN organizations, including the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).[3] Today it continues to be the official Palestinian organ that collaborates with international bodies on youth empowerment projects, including with the UN and EU, which provide it with mentoring and counseling services. [4]

This report presents photos of the camp activities and details on the messages imparted in these activities, including non-recognition of Israel and the refugees' right of return.

Palestine From The River To The Sea, Ignoring Israel's Existence

Maps shown and drawn at the PLO summer camps present Palestine as extending from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean sea, i.e., as including all the territory that is now Israel, except for the Golan Heights, claimed by Syria. This was evident, for example, in a lesson on "the map of Palestine" at a summer camp in Salfit. The text beneath the map described "the borders of the Palestinian state": " Lebanon and Syria in the north, Egypt and the Gulf of Akaba in the south, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in the east, and the Mediterranean in the west," making no mention of Israel. [5]


Hezbollah has reasons for its current pugnacity, beyond internal Israeli fighting
There is also the Iranian factor.

Tehran has enjoyed a hot streak of late, and feels it is an opportune time to apply pressure to Israel.

In March, Iran and Saudi Arabia announced they would be restoring their ambassadors for the first time in seven years. And in May, the Arab League voted to reinstate Tehran’s client state Syria.

Russia is also increasingly beholden to Iran, which has become a crucial supplier of drones and missiles for the war in Ukraine.

Now is the time, in Iran’s eyes, to gain some measure of deterrence against Israel, whose attacks on Iranian forces and proxies in Syria have blocked Tehran from turning Syria into another active front against the Jewish state.

The security barrier Israel is constructing on the disputed border with Lebanon is also something Hezbollah feels it must push back against.

“They see it as a provocation by Israel,” said Mizrahi. “It is problematic for them, because it effectively marks a border, and there are disagreements over the border.”

Finally, there are pressures in the domestic arena pushing Hezbollah to confront Israel on the border.

“Their situation is not that comfortable in the Lebanese theater,” said Harari, the former Israeli ambassador. “They are not succeeding in getting their candidate elected as president.”

In June, Hezbollah lawmakers pulled out of presidential voting in parliament after their preferred candidate, Sleiman Frangieh, the scion of a political family close to the ruling Assad dynasty in Syria, trailed his main rival.

In addition, in 2022 Hezbollah’s camp lost the majority it had enjoyed in parliament since 2018.

“There is far more criticism in the Lebanese system toward Hezbollah,” said Mizrahi. “One of Hezbollah’s interests is to show that they are still relevant in the conflict with Israel, that they are still operating as the Defender of Lebanon.”

“The resistance card is not a bad one to play,” she added, “as long as it doesn’t slip out of their hands.”
Iran "Now Biggest Threat to UK"
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is the biggest threat to Britain's national security, Home Secretary Suella Braverman believes, amid fresh evidence of its reach into Britain. Intelligence reports say Iranian spies are attempting to recruit members of organized crime gangs to target regime opponents. A source close to the home secretary said, "They are getting much more aggressive and their appetite is increasing."

MI5 warned last year that Tehran had been behind ten murder and kidnap plots and in February this year the Metropolitan Police said it had risen to 15.




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