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Wednesday, August 16, 2023

08/16 Links Pt1: Biden Admin Knew Palestinian Aid Would Boost Hamas. Did It Anyway; Biden's bad Iran deal and dire Israeli concerns; Rob Malley teaching at Princeton

From Ian:

Australia's government has taken an anti-Israel stance
THIS IS THE first Australian government in nearly 50 years that has been dominated by the left wing of the Australian Labor party. While it has generally striven, with overall success, to present itself as centrist and responsible, the party’s Left does expect some wins from its new control over the party.

Two of the main causes of the left-wing, judging by motions that have come up at the party’s various state conferences, have been questioning Australia’s AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine deal with the US and UK, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, also a preoccupation for some on the Right, particularly in Australia’s largest state New South Wales.

The government continues to support the AUKUS deal negotiated by the previous Liberal government. Labor’s National Conference, which occurs every three years, will be held from August 17 to 19. The government seems determined to avoid any controversies at the conference, especially regarding AUKUS. For several months, there had been speculation that it might do a trade-off with the Left’s power brokers to give further ground on Israel in exchange for consensus on AUKUS, or even just for quiet on the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Now it appears the government has preempted the conference with this latest decision. Of course, it remains to be seen whether this will hold off the Left and their allies from further hostile moves regarding Israel. Many are likely to now argue that, given the government has – in their view correctly – identified the proper legal status of the land and settlements, recognizing “Palestine” as a state would be the obvious moral next step.

When the Jerusalem decision was announced last year, the Israeli government’s reaction was appropriately strong. This time, however, while the Australian Jewish community has been overwhelmingly vocal in its disapproval, little has been reported from official Israeli sources.

The Palestinian Authority, on the other hand, reacted quickly, with Australian newspapers reporting on August 10 that the Palestinian Authority’s Foreign Ministry had released a statement welcoming this “significant and important development” and calling on the Australian government to now “recognize the State of Palestine without delay or hesitation” thus reflecting “the position of the Labor party and its members.”

Accordingly, we sincerely hope Israel’s government is seriously considering making public its undoubted reservations regarding Australia’s actions, aiming to discourage the Australian government from taking further counter-productive steps, such as recognizing “Palestine.”
Biden Admin Raised Concerns Palestinian Aid Would Boost Hamas. It Went Ahead With Aid Anyway.
The Biden administration pushed through plans to distribute hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer aid to the Palestinians despite internal assessments that those plans could boost the Iran-backed terrorist group Hamas, according to internal documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.

State Department officials in 2021 outlined the concerns in private communications, asking the Treasury Department to exempt them from laws that bar the U.S. government from injecting taxpayer aid into territories controlled by Palestinian terror groups. The Biden administration needed this authorization in order to move forward with its plans to unfreeze more than $360 million in U.S. funds for the Palestinian Authority that were cut off during the Trump administration due to the authority's support for terrorists.

"We assess there is a high risk Hamas could potentially derive indirect, unintentional benefit from U.S. assistance to Gaza. There is less but still some risk U.S. assistance would benefit other designated groups," the State Department wrote in a draft sanctions exemption request circulated internally in March 2021, shortly after Biden took office. "Notwithstanding this risk, State believes it is in our national security interest to provide assistance in the West Bank and Gaza to support the foreign policy objectives."

The documents—obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the watchdog group Protect the Public’s Trust—show the Biden administration was privately worried its efforts to restart Palestinian aid could benefit Hamas and other terror factions operating in the Gaza Strip. As officials publicly provided assurances to Congress and the press that this aid would be doled out "consistent with U.S. law," the State Department was scrambling to secure a sanctions exemption that would let it skirt anti-terrorism laws.

The State Department claimed it needed broad authorities to conduct work in the West Bank and Gaza Strip "that would otherwise be prohibited by the Global Terrorist Sanctions Regulations and the Foreign Terrorist Organization Sanctions Regulations," according to a draft version of the request.

"Such authorization would enable activities, including assistance activities, that are critical to support the administration's efforts to advance prosperity, security, and freedom for both Israelis and Palestinians and to advance and preserve the prospects of a negotiated solution in which Israel lives in peace and security alongside a viable Palestinian state," according to the draft request.

The previously unknown draft request adds credibility to warnings from Republicans at the time that aid would bolster terror groups. In April 2021, 18 Republicans led by Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) sent a letter to the administration calling for Palestinian aid to be halted until measures could be put in place to prevent it from benefiting terrorists.
Barry Shaw: Biden's bad Iran deal and dire Israeli concerns
The Biden Administration must be told clearly that, for Israel, the Iran problem is not a can to be kicked down the road until 2025.

By the end of 2024, and certainly by the Spring of 2025 when a new President will be in the White House, Iran will be a nuclear threshold state and the money gifted to them by the Biden Administration, would have made this possible.

It would also have strengthened its regional military grip by funding and arming its Islamic proxies, including Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, who are armed to the teeth with ever more sophisticated Iranian weaponry across the northern, southern, and eastern borders of Israel, as well as among the Palestinian population in towns and villages occupied by the Palestinian Authority.

The fact that this deal was a sidebar deal and has zero relevance to Tehran’s advance to a nuclear weapon was confirmed by Ali Vaez, the Iran Director to the International Crisis Group who said, “Nothing of this deal is aimed at reaching a groundbreaking agreement.”

It could, however, result in it being a “groundbreaking” agreement for Israel in the most catastrophic meaning of the word groundbreaking.

Israel has nothing against innocent hostages being released from Tehran prisons, but not if the price of this blackmail deal risks a regional war that would be more devastating than that between Putin and Zelensky.

The way to confront hostage taking is by confronting and sanctioning Iran at the United National Security Council and by instigating a prosecution at the international Criminal Court against Iran’s President Raisi who should have been brought there years ago for his role as the head of the 1988 Death Commission in which he executed tens of thousands of his own people. The world, certainly the region, is paying for this lapse of judgment.

Now we have the new bad unofficial Biden deal.

Israel cannot be seen as a tacit participant of this terrible deal by maintaining a diplomatic or public silence. It must speak out against the very real dangers this insidious side deal imposes on Israel.

The region expects to see more decisive measures taken by the US Administration against Iran. Anything else looks like yet another Iranian victory, a weakening of America, and a growing existential threat to Israel and the region.


The Caroline Glick Show: How the US 6 billion dollar ransom is green-lighting the next Iran Deal
Is the Biden administration secretly taking steps to solidify the next deal with Iran?

To talk about the latest developments in Iran, Caroline’s guest on the Caroline Glick Show this week is Richard Goldberg, a senior fellow at the Washington, DC-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Goldberg was the point person in the National Security Council on Iran’s nuclear program during the Trump administration.

They discuss
- several steps such as easing of sanctions that have been taken by the Biden administration to move an agreement forward
- The subterfuge at the heart of the administration’s efforts to shield its nuclear appeasement from Congress
- What Congress can do to fight back


Who is Jack Lew, the rumored next US ambassador to Israel?
Lew, 67, is one of the few Orthodox Jews to have served in the US cabinet. He speaks Hebrew, has relatives in Israel, and is an active member of the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in the Bronx, in New York City.

Before being appointed Treasury secretary, Lew was White House chief of staff for then-president Barack Obama and director of the Office of Management and Budget under Obama and former president Bill Clinton.

Those roles put him in contact with the top echelons of Israel’s government on a variety of issues during the tense Obama administration years. As Treasury secretary, Lew took part in the talks to reach a 10-year memorandum of understanding for US aid to Israel and sanctions on Iran.

In a 2017 interview at Columbia University, Lew lamented that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “identifying on a partisan basis [with Republicans] when for most of the past 70 years there was no question that both parties could be pro-Israel” and called Netanyahu’s 2015 speech before Congress opposing the Iran deal a “provocation.”

Lew also said he doesn’t think Israel should be reliant on US vetoes in the UN Security Council, defended the 2016 decision not to veto a UNSC condemnation of settlements, and pointed out that the Obama administration had always opposed settlements.

In addition, Lew said that “if you care, as I do, about having permanent security for a democratic state of Israel, there is no pathway other than a two-state solution. The more you hear talk about a one-state solution, the more it means it’s not a democratic state. That is not the Israel that I want for my grandchildren to love.”

Former Israeli ambassador to the US Michael Oren, who wrote Ally, a book that was very critical of the Obama administration’s approach to Israel, nonetheless heaped praise on Lew on Tuesday, calling him “amazing, brilliant, a mensch…an excellent choice.”


Who is Javier Milei, Argentina's 'Trump' who studies Torah and loves Israel
Javier Milei, the firebrand rightwing candidate for the presidency of Argentina made headlines this week after he unexpectedly took the lead in the country's primary elections.

Milei, a former tantric sex coach, self-described admirer of Donald Trump, and anti-abortion activist has shot to popularity promising radical changes to Argentina's economy, education system and environmental policy.

Voting in Argentina's nationwide primaries is mandatory in the country, which gives an additional significance ahead of this year's October election.

While Milei's rock-star strutting and mod haircut are widely recognised, what's less discussed is his connection to Judaism.

Milei is a strong supporter of Israel, last year pledging to move Argentina's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, mirroring one of the first moves by President Trump when he took office in early 2017.

And the economist also has a strong tie to the Jewish faith as well as Israel. According to an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais from earlier this year, Milei reads the Torah every single day and regularly converses on Whatsapp with Rabbi Shimon Axel Wahnish, the Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Sephardi Moroccan Community of Argentina.
Paraguay leader says he is 'Israel's greatest friend,' to reopen Jerusalem embassy
Some five years after Paraguay closed its embassy in Jerusalem, its new president, Santiago Peña announced Tuesday that the South American country will reopen it in the coming months. This would make it the fifth country to have relocated its embassy to the Israeli capital, after the US, Kosovo, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Peña, who was sworn in on Tuesday, met with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen just hours after his inauguration. Cohen said that he invited the leader "to make a presidential visit this year, during which he could rededicate the Paraguayan Embassy in Jerusalem." He added that Israel would also reciprocate by opening its embassy in Asunción, the country's capital. Peña said in response, "I am Israel's greatest friend."

According to Cohen the reopening of the embassy in Jerusalem "will bolster Israel's standing and the important ties between the two nations," adding that "we will continue strengthening the historical bond with Latin American countries, who have stood by Israel and the Jewish people."

Paraguay moved its embassy to the capital in 2018 but several months later closed it after it elected a left-wing president. Israel was outraged and shut down its embassy in the country in response.
For Ilhan Omar, not all foreign influence spending is bad
During her time in Congress, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has frequently voiced concern over the influence of foreign interests on American politics — most controversially with regard to the pro-Israel community in the U.S.

But when she visited Qatar last November to watch the World Cup, it was unclear who had paid for the trip, which the progressive lawmaker neglected to clarify. Her office did not answer questions from The New York Times in December about the funding source after she had returned.

It turns out that the trip was funded by the Qatari government, according to an annual House financial disclosure filed in May. The new statement, which has not previously been reported, shows Qatar paid for the four-day visit to Doha that overlapped with the U.S. men’s team’s opening match against Wales. Both “food” and “lodging” were covered by the Gulf nation, the disclosure indicates.

The Qatari Embassy in Washington, D.C., confirmed it had paid for Omar’s visit to the Gulf kingdom last year. The congresswoman “accepted an invitation from the Embassy of Qatar to attend events in Doha in November 2022,” a spokesperson told Jewish Insider last week, “as part of a program authorized under the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act,” or MECEA, which allows House members to take trips funded by foreign governments provided that the travel is later disclosed in their annual financial statements.

The embassy did not share an exact figure for the cost of the trip, which was not listed in Omar’s financial report.

Omar was not alone among congressional lawmakers who quietly accepted funding from Qatar to attend the World Cup last year, recent disclosures show. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, according to Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which has been critical of Qatar. “We see a huge amount of Qatari influence in the halls of Congress on a regular basis,” he said in an interview with JI. “I don’t think that Ilhan Omar is unique in that sense.”

Still, Schanzer suggested that Omar’s visit stands out in particular because of her outspoken criticism of the pro-Israel lobby and its involvement in American politics — underscoring what he characterized as a kind of “selective outrage.”


Inside Israel’s unique radar unit, a peak at the future of multi-domain ops
When rockets are launched towards Israel, a variety of military radars trace the incoming munition either to help intercept it or to predict where it might land. But one specialized unit in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) is tasked with a different job: seeing where the rocket was fired from and quickly getting that information to other Israeli units that can respond, perhaps with lethal force.

“My unit detects where the missile launch is from. We know how to defeat the enemy, doing that in the most best way possible, without collateral damage. We detect the LP (launch point) while other radars may also focus on the IP (Impact point), ” Lt. Col. B, the commander of Israel’s 611 ‘Eagle’ Battalion, told Breaking Defense in a rare interview recently at the unit’s base in northern Israel. His full name cannot be provided for security reasons, the IDF said.

The Israeli officer discussed his unit’s unique role from an office, where outside the heat was sweltering. This area overlooks the Golan Heights and the Sea of Galilee, a strategic triangle of landscape during Israel’s War of Independence, though the base has a relaxed atmosphere to it. Tall and limber, Lt. Col. B speaks fluently in English and is passionate and proud of his unit, eager to show off commendations the unit has received. He’s excited by the role of artillery in warfare and how Israel uses the latest technology to confront emerging threats.

Driving into the base where the 611 is located the sense of the unit’s history can be felt from a coterie of older artillery pieces and radars that line the entrance, along with a plaque commemorating fallen members of the brigade. But the role of the 611, a ground forces unit within the 282nd fire brigade, is a critical one on the more modern battlefield, in which key data — for example a rocket’s launch point — must be assessed and urgently passed through the IDF’s network to the right commanders for immediate action. It’s a microcosm of the kind of sensor-to-shooter loop that the American Pentagon is spending billions to achieve through its Joint All Domain Command and Control initiative.

“We are multi-branch,” the commander said. “Everyone is talking about being networked, but who really does it is my unit. This is multi-domain and multi-arms [combined arms] working with the air force to see anything that flies or [everything that] is on the ground.”


The Israel Guys: These MYTHS About Israel Are Particularly Dangerous | See Why
There’s been a lot of news coming out of Israel lately, including a lot of controversy regarding protests, judicial reforms, and if you saw yesterday’s program, misinformation about terrorist attacks, and supposed settler violence and extremism.

On today’s program, Luke absolutely obliterates some myths, and instead, gives you the real stories of what is happening in the land of Israel.


Terrorist arrested, explosives seized after attack on IDF post
Israeli forces have arrested one member of the terror cell responsible for a drive-by shooting at a military post near Shechem (Nablus) in Samaria on Wednesday night.

The vehicle used in the attack was also seized, along with the M-16 rifle used in the attack, improvised explosives, a grenade, military equipment and over 10 shell casings, the military said. A search was launched for additional suspects, who fled the scene.

The IDF statement said that soldiers had opened fire on the cell, but provided no information on their condition.

No Israeli casualties were reported.

In a separate incident on Wednesday night, Palestinian sources reported that eight people were wounded, one seriously, by IDF fire during clashes that erupted when Israeli forces protecting a group of Jewish worshippers visiting Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem were attacked by local Palestinians with live fire and explosives.

The IDF confirmed that the seriously wounded person was shot during an exchange of fire with Israeli forces..

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, more than 85 people suffered from exposure to tear gas.

Hours later, IDF and Border Police forces led by the Combat Engineering Corps’ elite Yahalom unit destroyed an explosives laboratory and warehouse in Shechem’s Balata camp.

The lab and warehouse contained 15 “ready-to-use explosive devices,” the IDF said in a statement.


Mezuzah scrolls in Israeli hospital replaced with paper saying 'Death to Jews'
'This is an event that damages the delicate fabric between all religions here in the region,' said the local mayor

“Death to Jews” was found written on paper inside mezuzah scrolls during a routine inspection of the Nahariya Medical Center in Israel, replacing the traditional parchment scroll inscribed with verses from the Hebrew Bible.

"All Jews are liars and have no religion; they are murderers and terrorists. Death to the Jews,” was written Hebrew in the front of the paper. Written on the back, in Arabic, was “There is no God but Allah. Muhammad is God's messenger. Islam is the solution."

More shocking, the call to kill Jews was placed on the doors of an oncology ward, replacing the central Jewish “Shema” prayer. The management of the medical center, which cares for around 600,000 residents in the north of the country, was horrified by the incident.

The hospital's director, Professor Masad Barhoum, ordered an inspection of all the mezuzahs affixed in the building, and a complaint was lodged with the police.


‘Al-Quds’ reporter: Colony on Mars probably easier than Palestinian state
Said Arikat, Washington bureau chief of the Palestinian daily Al-Quds, often smears Israel during his ostensible questions at U.S. State Department press briefings. Tuesday was no different.

“It is probably easier to establish a colony on Mars than—at least—than a state for the Palestinians,” Arikat told Vedant Patel, the State Department’s principal deputy spokesman.

“What practical steps has the United States taken in the past few months to reverse the settlement process, the balance that the Israeli occupation is inflicting on the Palestinians, the stealing of the land, terrorists that you call terrorists [in a reference to Jewish suspects] that are being let out the following day, and so on?” Arikat asked.

He added that there is an envoy for normalization (between Israel and Arab states) but not a peace envoy, “which the United States has had for decades, where you sort of started negotiations, brought people together, talked about this issue.”

Patel replied, “The particular designation of somebody in a specific role or a personnel decision to assign someone to a specific portfolio is not necessarily indicative of the weight that our government places on an issue,” he said.

“We have been quite clear from every corner of this administration from day one of how integral we see a negotiated two-state solution as a peaceful resolution to the current situation,” Patel added. “I will also note that part of this, Said, is not having some sort of glitzy rollout of major policy steps or steps that we’ve taken.”

“Yet not one settlement has been rolled back,” Arikat interjected, before launching into an unrelated question.
US Palestinian Affairs Office mum on Abbas sacking 12 governors
The U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs, whose offices are located at the American Embassy to Israel in Jerusalem but which is an entirely separate institution, had “no comment” on Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas’s firing this month of 12 regional governors.

“We don’t have a comment on this. Please reach out to the Palestinian Authority officials/bodies directly,” the office stated in response to a query by JNS.

On Aug. 10, Abbas issued a decree removing 12 of his 16 regional governors from their posts, the P.A.’s Wafa news agency reported.

In Judea and Samaria, Abbas ordered the forced retirement of the heads of the P.A.’s governorates of Jenin, Nablus, Qalqilya, Tulkarm, Bethlehem, Hebron, Tubas and Jericho (the latter includes a large section of the Jordan Valley).

In the Gaza Strip, which has been ruled by the Hamas terrorist organization since 2007, Abbas fired the P.A. representatives for North Gaza, Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah.

Only the governors of Jerusalem, Salfit and Ramallah/al-Bireh remain in their posts. The governor of Deir el-Balah in Gaza, Abdullah Abu Samhadana, died in 2020, and Abbas has yet to appoint a successor.
MEMRI: At Fatah Youth Summer Camp in Salfit, Held In Coordination With Palestinian Authority Security Forces, Children Receive Firearms Training, Visit Graves of Terrorists
During the summer break, Fatah held a youth summer camp in the West Bank town of Salfit in coordination with the Palestinian Authority’s National Security Forces (NSF). Called "Al-'Asifa"[1], the ten-day camp was attended by 70 members of the Fatah’s Shabiba youth movement.[2]

In addition to culture and sports activities, the camp featured activities of a military nature, such as practice in assembling and disassembling firearms, seizing weapons from an opponent, clearing out injured persons during clashes, and lessons on "the history of the [Palestinian] people’s struggle."[3]

The campers also visited the cemetery in the Jenin refugee camp, where they learned about, and visited the graves of Fatah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) members who were killed in Israel's July 2023 counterterrorism operation in the camp.

At the camp’s closing ceremony the attendees demonstrated some of the skills they had learned, such as assembling and disassembling weapons and seizing firearms. The PA governor in Salfit, 'Abdallah Kamil, said at the ceremony that Fatah “emphasizes its pledge to the martyrs to continue on the path of establishing a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital”, and added that the educational programs in the camp are very important for Fatah’s youth.[4]

This report presents details about the activities at the Al-'Asifa camp in Salfit, as well as photos of these activities posted on the Facebook pages of the NSF and of Fatah’s Salfit branch.

Assembling and Disassembling Firearms, Taught By NSF Officers

NSF officers taught the campers how to assemble and disassemble AK-47 rifles. The program also included a competition in doing this while blindfolded.

Closing Ceremony Showcasing Handling And Seizure Of Weapons

At the closing ceremony, the camp graduates – with their faces masked and wearing yellow Fatah headbands – showcased the skills they had learned in handling firearms, clearing away injured fighters during simulated clashes, and seizing weapons from opponents. The ceremony also included a lineup, at which the graduates received copies of the Quran from Fatah's secretary in Salfit, 'Abd Al-Sattar 'Awwad.

Visiting the Graves of Jenin Refugee Camp "Martyrs"
On July 28, 2023, the Fatah branch in Salfit shared on its Facebook page a short video showing the campers visiting the cemetery at the Jenin refugee camp as part of a camp activity. In the video, Fatah secretary in Jenin, Ata Abu Rumeileh, who is known for his support for terrorism and armed struggle,[11] can be seen explaining about the graves of fighters who “were martyred during the recent [Israeli] aggression against the camp [on July 3-5, 2023, in which 12 Fatah and PIJ operatives were killed].”
Palestinian Militias in Jenin Deployed Teenage Girls to Report on Israeli Troop Movements during Combat
On April 10, 2022, The Telegram channel “Jenin Al-Qassam,” which serves armed Palestinian groups in the Jenin region, published instructions for “Jihad fighters” that deal with the use of children “to conduct visual observation and information gathering.”

Why Did They Die?
Naghnaghia’s funeral began with her lying in a mosque with an M-16 on her body. She was wrapped in a Palestinian Islamic Jihad shroud.

Naghnaghia’s cellphone camera screenshot shows Israeli military vehicles outside her home. She “used her phone to record Israeli military vehicles on a street near her home,” according to Electronic Intifada and the Defense for Children in Palestine.

According to the Abu Dhabi journalist Nada Al Taher of CNNI and the National News, “This is what 15-year-old Palestinian Sadil Naghnaghia was filming when Israeli soldiers shot her.”

A screenshot from Jana Zakarna’s last video, taken from the roof of her apartment building after 10 pm on December 12, 2022, shows Israeli vehicles below. The picture was released on Palestinian media.3 Palestinian spokespersons claim she was on the roof looking for Lulu, her cat.

Militia Instructions to Its Jihadi Fighters in Jenin
According to Middle East analyst Jonathan Halevi, the Telegram channel “Jenin Al-Qassam” is a central source of communication and information for the armed groups in the area of Jenin. On April 10, 2022, the Telegram published instructions for the mujahideen (“Jihad fighters”), which included a section dealing with the “use of children and residents to conduct visual observation and information-gathering.” (Emphasis added) 4

Instructions for “Jihad fighters”
The Telegram channel “Jenin Al-Qassam,” which serves armed Palestinian groups in the Jenin region, published instructions for “Jihad fighters” that deal with the use of children “to conduct visual observation and information gathering.”

The Telegram channel also noted that Jenin has a network of observation units staffed by “young people” assisting terrorist groups by “documenting on video and delivering reports about the activities of IDF forces.”


US-Iran deal doesn’t mean full nuclear pact is next — but it shows Israel’s limits
Under the tentative agreement, the US has given its blessing to South Korea to convert frozen Iranian assets held there from the South Korean currency, the won, to euros.

That money then would be sent to Qatar, a small, energy-rich nation on the Arabian Peninsula that has been a mediator in the talks.

The Qatari role is notable, Moran Zaga, an expert on the Gulf region at Mitvim – The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, told The Times of Israel.

“Qatar is Biden’s Cinderella,” she said. “Biden has decided to bet on Qatar as the Gulf state he trusts, as the state he invests his diplomatic energy in.”

Doha has emerged as a trusted mediator for the US since Biden came to power in 2021. It helped the US reach the Doha Agreement with the Taliban in Afghanistan, and has been working as a go-between for Washington and Tehran for most of Biden’s tenure.

Its importance as a supplier of liquefied natural gas has grown in the same period, as it replaces Russian supply to Europe.

In March 2022, Biden rewarded Doha by designating it a Major Non-NATO Ally, giving it increased access to US weapons and security cooperation.

Israel — along with regional partners Egypt and Bahrain, as well as Kuwait — enjoys the same status, though, notably, pro-Western Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates do not.

That fact is not particularly comfortable for Israel.

“We have an interest that the US pushes moderate states forward, in the Middle East and especially in the Gulf,” said Zaga, referring to the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

But the same ties that make Israel wary of Doha make it useful to Washington.

“Qatar has a much closer relationship to Iran, to Hamas, to the Muslim Brotherhood, which the UAE and Saudi Arabia don’t have,” Zaga explained.

At the same time, those ties have occasionally been useful for Israel. Qatar has become Gaza’s economic patron, giving $30 million a month for fuel, salaries, and welfare.

Paralysis
Perhaps the most worrying part of the Iran-US deal, however, is what it says about Israel’s ability to prevent a larger nuclear agreement.

“There’s a policy paralysis in Israel on Iran,” said the European diplomat.

Netanyahu and his government have been less vocal about Iran of late. While the ongoing domestic row over sweeping judicial reform has something to do with it, Jerusalem seems to be unable to offer a realistic alternative to Biden’s de-escalation drive.

“Even Netanyahu’s statement last week sounded performative,” said the official. “He hasn’t been able to influence US policy.”

“It doesn’t sound like he especially wants to talk about Iran at the moment.”

Ben-Shabbat called on the Israeli government to speak more sharply on the issue: “It must formulate its position on this matter in accordance with what comes out of the secret dialogue taking place at the White House.”

“At the same time,” he said, “Israel must continue its efforts to improve its operational capabilities. Israel must stick to its public opposition to these agreements and concessions, and demand practical steps from the US against Iran.”
FDD: U.S. to Provide Iran Access to $16 Billion in Frozen Funds
“Congress should be worried about the money we don’t see as much as or more than the money we already see. The Treasury Department needs to come clean on the status of funds for Iran from the IMF, and the State Department needs to comment on whether it is negotiating the release of additional funds currently frozen in Japan.” — Richard Goldberg, FDD Senior Advisor

“Iran is making a play for its frozen funds to be released through an escalatory test of wills in the region and with hostage diplomacy against the country that created the lock-up provisions and sanctions architecture in the first place. Congress should see the moves to unlock these monies as an attempt to avoid oversight and deliver Tehran unearned sanctions relief.” — Behnam Ben Taleblu, FDD Senior Fellow

How Did the Funds End Up in Escrow?
The funds released from South Korean banks as part of the prisoner exchange agreement were payments owed by South Korea to Iran for purchases of oil. South Korea and a handful of other nations, including China, India, Italy, Greece, Japan, Taiwan, and Turkey, were granted waivers in 2018 to continue buying Iranian oil after the Trump administration left the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The Trump administration canceled these exemptions in 2019 and diverted payments for already delivered oil into escrow accounts.

Japan is the only country with a publicly reported amount — approximately $3 billion — of unreleased Iranian funds. Still, it is likely that other states that had been granted exemptions also hold undisclosed amounts.

What Are IMF SDRs?
Unlike Iran’s escrowed funds, which are debts owed to Iran, SDRs from the IMF are units of account that a holder can trade for an infusion of liquid cash into its economy equal to the value of the SDRs. Allowing Iran to trade in its SDRs at the IMF could mean an infusion of $7 billion into Iran’s economy. The United States blocked a $5 billion IMF emergency loan to Iran in 2020, and U.S. law mandates that the IMF’s American executive director oppose allocating any funds to a state sponsor of terror.
Blinken: ‘Significant oversight’ on funds transferred to Iran
Frozen assets that are to be released to Iran in the imminent prisoner exchange are Iranian funds that have been held for years in South Korean banks, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters on Tuesday.

“It’s important to be very, very clear about this. The funds in question are not American funds. They’re not American taxpayer money,” said Blinken. “From day one of our sanctions, there has always been an exemption for the use of funds for humanitarian purposes.”

Several countries were allowed to buy oil from the Islamic Republic under the previous U.S. administration, with the money placed in special accounts, Blinken noted.

“The dollars that are being made available—that is, Iranian funds that are being made now available to Iran—this is a way of actually facilitating their use strictly for humanitarian purposes and in a strictly controlled way,” the secretary added. “Iran will not have direct access to these funds. There will be significant oversight and visibility from the United States.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry referred to the funds in a statement as having been “illegally seized in South Korea by the United States for several years.”

“The decision on how to utilize these unfrozen resources and financial assets lies with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” it stated. “The competent authorities will allocate these resources to address the various needs of the country.”


Bipartisan group of lawmakers questions administration over seized Iranian oil
A bipartisan and bicameral group of lawmakers sent a letter to President Joe Biden and other administration officials on Wednesday, highlighting concerns that threats from the Iranian government have prevented the U.S. from taking possession of seized Iranian oil.

The letter is focused on the Suez Rajan, a tanker anchored off the coast of Texas. The U.S. seized the Iranian oil onboard the ship in April, in accordance with the U.S.’ sanctions, but the oil onboard has reportedly not yet been off-loaded. The senators link this delay to threats of violence by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps against any company involved in off-loading the cargo.

“The ability for a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) to prevent the transfer of seized assets within U.S. territorial waters is an unprecedented intimidation effort that threatens to undermine our Nation’s security,” the letter reads. “Current public reporting that such an operation cannot be completed due to Iranian threats against U.S. companies and persons undermines the success of this seizure and imperils the U.S. government’s ability to successfully complete future seizures.”

The letter was organized by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and signed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lindsay Graham (R-SC), Bill Hagerty (R-TN) and Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Jim Banks (R-IN), Don Davis (D-NC) and Max Miller (R-OH).

The letter urges Biden to “work expeditiously to resolve the delay” and continue to enforce the law against FTOs, warning that sanctions enforcement “will become irrelevant if American citizens and companies involved live in fear of Iranian retaliation.”

The lawmakers request a briefing and other information from the administration by Sept. 15 on the status of the Suez Rajan shipment and U.S. oil sanctions against the IRGC, as well as the companies that have refused to assist with the offloading.


Iran arrests dozens of Baha’is, including 90-year-old, in fresh crackdown
A 90-year-old man is among dozens arrested in past weeks in a new crackdown by Iranian authorities against Baha’is, Iran’s largest non-Muslim religious minority, a group said Wednesday.

The Baha’is, whose faith is not recognized in the Islamic Republic, say they have been the victims of a new wave of repression over the past year.

In the latest crackdown, almost 60 Baha’is were reported to have been arrested in Iran in the last weeks, said the Baha’i International Community (BIC), which defends the interests of members of the faith.

Another 180 incidents of persecution, such as interrogations or raids against businesses, have been recorded in recent weeks, BIC said in a statement.

Those arrested include Jamaloddin Khanjani, a 90-year-old who had already served 10 years in prison.

Khanjani, a former member of a now disbanded informal leadership group for the Baha’is in Iran, was detained with his daughter Maria Khanjani on Sunday, it said.

Two other former members of the group, Mahvash Sabet and Fariba Kamalabadi, who were arrested in July 2022, received confirmation of their 10-year prison terms which were upheld this week on appeal, it said.

Acclaimed writer and poet Sabet, 70, suffers from significant health issues and has been transferred to hospital from prison numerous times in the past year, it added.


Tehran’s direct link to UK students’ association
There is a direct pipeline from Iran’s IRGC commanders to a student’s association, the Islamic Students Association of Britain, with the most extremist terrorist propaganda and direct exhortations for violence being piped in. It sounds pretty shocking and even worse, it was left to the Jewish Chronicle to reveal this disturbing and new development. The Times and the Independent have run articles on this but I have yet to find anything on the BBC and Guardian.

According to the JC:
Recordings obtained by this newspaper reveal that one commander, Saeed Ghasemi, told British students that the Holocaust was “fake”, boasted of training al-Qaeda terrorists, and urged his audience to join “the beautiful list of soldiers” who would fight and kill Jews in a coming apocalyptic war.

Another, Hossein Yekta, claimed Jews “created homosexuality” and urged his audience to “raise the flag of the Islamic revolution, Islam and martyrdom”. Students should see themselves as “holy warriors”, he said, promising that the “era of the Jews” would soon be at an end.

Talks by many of the IRGC’s most notorious leaders were livestreamed to tens of thousands of people by this student organisation which has a presence in British universities according to the Times, as well as a network of branches across the UK. Its facebook page has since gone private and it is not clear to me if it is an affiliate of FOSIS, the Federation of student Islamic Societies.

The disclosures by the JC have seen a swift response from politicians across the political divide, as well as former intelligence chief, Sir Richard Dearlove, who led calls to proscribe the IRGC to outlaw its propaganda activities. “The case for strong preventive action seems clear-cut,” he said. The Foreign Office seems resistant to these calls.

Labour to its credit has vowed to proscribe the IRGC as well as groups like the Wagner group from Russia.
Robert Malley secures teaching gig at Princeton
Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs announced on Tuesday that Robert Malley will be coming aboard in the fall as a visiting professor and lecturer. Malley will teach a foreign policy decision-making graduate course and two undergraduate courses in the spring on diplomacy, negotiation and foreign policy, according to Princeton.

The notice states merely that Malley is “currently on leave from his role as a special envoy for Iran in the State Department,” without noting that the former diplomat is reportedly under investigation for mishandling classified information.

If the university knows anything specific about the investigation, let alone that Malley has been cleared, it would know more than the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which the State Department has kept in the dark. If it does not know details, Princeton is hiring someone to teach about decision making, without knowing the gravity of the decisions that got that person suspended.

“Pitiful. Look who my alma mater just made a professor,” wrote Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). “Rob Malley was such a pro-Iran radical that he was fired from the Biden administration and had his security clearance stripped for ‘mishandling classified documents’ (the details are still hidden).”

The university has come under fire recently for a course whose assigned readings include a book that accuses Israel of harvesting Palestinian organs.




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