Tuesday, September 05, 2023

09/05 Links Pt1: The Survival of the PA despite the Failure of the Oslo Accords; UNESCO to vote on Ancient Jericho joining Heritage list as site in Palestine

From Ian:

Biden cares no more than Obama did about the Sword of Damocles hanging over Israel
Enter Jack Lew, at one time Obama’s man and now Biden’s. Lew, currently a visiting professor at Columbia, served as White House Chief of Staff and then Treasury Secretary under Obama. Biden has plucked him from a New York private equity firm to put a gloss on some devilish diplomatic moves to give Iran whatever it wants, hang the Israeli government’s deep anguish. Lew was the obvious pick for the task of hoodwinking Biden’s oldest friend PM Netanyahu.

Back in June of 2015 Obama appointed Lew to sell his pet project, a deal with the devil, to Jewish Americans. “The final deal,” Lew told a Jerusalem Post conference, “will be built around an incredibly robust and intrusive inspections regime on Iran’s nuclear program. This deal will only be finalized if the connective tissue of the agreement meets a tough standard of intense verification and scrutiny.”

Here was the perfect case of Orwellian speak. The reality was that Obama had agreed to put Iran’s ‘military facilities’ off limits to IAEA inspectors, and to delay inspection of nuclear sites until such time as cleans ups or cover ups could be finished. Not good enough? Obama allowed, in good faith, Iran to submit the soil samples required by IAEA inspectors. All of these fine details his Jewish liaison man Lew forgot to tell. He did however tell that “we are not operating on an assumption that Iran will act in good faith.” Word for word that is the assumption on which Obama was operating. He himself alluded to trusting Iran in an interview with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg.

“There are deep strains of anti-Semitism in the core regime,” Obama conceded, “but they also are interested in maintaining power.” It left even Obama fan Goldberg wide-eyed. “It’s my belief,” he told the President, “that it is difficult to negotiate with parties that are captive to a conspiratorial anti-Semitic worldview; not because they hold offensive views, but because they hold ridiculous views… I don’t believe that the regime can be counted on to be entirely rational.”

Of course the regime was all too rational. It saw the treaty that wasn’t a treaty for what it really was: its green light to cheat all the way to the Bomb.

No denying he’s very brilliant, Jack Lew. One can trace much of the evil in modern history to brilliancy. America’s Covid Tsar Anthony Fauci is only the latest mass destroyer of life and livelihoods. “What we are doing,” Lew said, “is to effectively guarantee that Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon. Making sure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon is a national security priority of the highest order.” To which ZOA's Mort Klein accurately elucidated, "Never" actually meant ten years. Klein also recalled that Lew boasted at the same Conference that his boss had done more than anyone on behalf of Israel’s security.

Without doubt the brag marked the epitome of Jack Lew’s efficacious lying.

Fact is, the deal Lew’s boss cobbled together was more a swap than a deal of give and take. Obama swapped the blood of Jews for a reptilian ally. The sordid game began with the vilest act. President Obama’s fixers stopped Argentine’s wheels of justice turning – in the literal sense of the term. The law was taking its long course when Obama told it to stop. His pet project deal came first. A monumental investigation into the AMIA bombing had made Alberto Nisman, a government prosecutor, a Jew, into a world celebrity. By 2006 Nisman had managed to indict seven members of Iran’s government, one a former President and Foreign Minister.

Then he did one better. Nisman secured international arrest warrants for five of the seven Iranian suspects, thus locking them into Iran. The resolute Nisman had compiled a docket a million-pages thick, in addition to a secret 300- page docket against Argentine President de Kirschner and her cronies. They had invented Tehran’s innocence in order “to pursue commercial, political and geopolitical interests.” So a vixen and four international terrorists exchanged barrels of oil for sacks of grain, topping the deal with Jewish blood by the barrel.

At this point Biden’s boss – and Jack Lews’ – came into the despicable picture. Western diplomatic sources disclosed that the Obama Administration had twisted Argentine arms to end the investigation of Tehran’s complicity in the AMIA attack.

It was to be the reward for sitting at the Obama gambling table, to go through the motions of signing his signature deal. Obama’s fixers met with Argentine officials on different occasions. As the source close to Argentine leaders explained:

“One of the first demands by Iran to the Obama administration was that Argentine be pressed to drop arrest warrants,” said a source close to Argentine leaders. “Within months, the meeting was followed up with a higher level one where Argentine leaders were asked to lay off. They eventually complied.”
Biden Nominates Leader of Pro-China Think Tank as Ambassador to Israel
President Joe Biden on Tuesday announced former Treasury secretary Jack Lew as his nominee for ambassador to Israel, the White House said in a statement.

Lew is chairman of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, which advocates closer ties between the United States and China. The group has hosted senior CCP officials, and as head of the group Lew met in Beijing with China's foreign minister. One intelligence analyst described the group as "consistently soft on China."

Lew, if confirmed by the U.S. Senate, will face a complicated political situation, as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushes through a judicial overhaul opposed by the Biden administration.

He would succeed Ambassador Tom Nides in the post.

In addition to Treasury secretary, Lew served under former president Barack Obama as White House chief of staff and deputy secretary of state for management and resources.

Lew was director of the Office of Management and Budget, a position in President Bill Clinton's Cabinet, from 1998 to 2001. In both the Democratic Clinton and Obama administrations, Lew served on the National Security Council.
David Singer: King Abdullah and Abbas reject Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine
Jordan’s King Abdullah and PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas have broken their 15 months long silence by finally rejecting the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution - first published in Saudi Arabia on 8 June 2022 – that shredded the failed two-state solution pursued by Saudi Arabia and the Arab League since 2002 (Arab Peace Initiative).

The Arab Peace Initiative called for a sovereign independent Palestinian State to be created between Israel and Jordan in all of Judea and Samaria ('West Bank') and Gaza - with East Jerusalem as its capital - for the first time in recorded history

The Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution (HKOPS) called for the merger of Jordan, Gaza and part of Judea and Samaria ('West Bank') into one new territorial entity with Amman as its capital – mirroring a model that existed between 1950 and 1967 – when Transjordan and Judea and Samaria were merged and renamed “Jordan” – after 10000 Jews living in Judea and Samaria had been forcibly expelled in the 1948 War of Independence.

The Final Statement issued by the Egyptian-Jordanian-Palestinian Summit in El Alamein on 14 August leaves no room for doubt that King Abdullah and Mahmoud Abbas – supported by Egypt’s President - Abdel Fattah El-Sisi – are united in rejecting the Hashemite Kingdom of Palestine solution:

“The leaders emphasized that resolving the Palestinian issue and achieving just and comprehensive peace is a strategic choice, a regional and international necessity, and a matter of international peace and security. They stressed that the only way to achieve this peace is by implementing the relevant United Nations and Security Council resolutions, to enable the Palestinian people with their inalienable rights, to end the Israeli occupation, and to embody the independent and sovereign State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, in order to achieve the two-state solution based on the rules of international law, the agreed terms of reference, and the Arab peace initiative.”

These three leaders have chosen to prolong - not end - the conflict between Arabs and Jews started in 1897 that still remains unresolved today.

In stressing “that the only way to achieve this peace is by implementing the relevant United Nations and Security Council resolutions …and the Arab peace initiative” – Abdullah and Abbas have chosen to continue backing the UN Security Council attempting to implement Resolution 2334 – passed on 23 December 2016 as the defeated Obama-Biden Administration was vacating the White House and did not veto that resolution.


The Survival of the PA despite the Failure of the Oslo Accords
Although the Oslo Agreement faced considerable challenges and ultimately failed to achieve its intended goals, the PLO and Israel have refrained from canceling it, recognizing its historical significance and the complexities of the region’s security situation over the past three decades.

Israel, in particular, strategically decided to maintain the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) governance in Judea and Samaria, cooperating with PA security organs in the ongoing fight against terrorism. However, the PA has frequently refused to counter Jihadi groups in areas under its control, such as the case recently in Jenin and Nablus, infected by Iranian regime-affiliated terror cells. This places the entire counter-terrorism burden on Israel alone with its far-reaching security and diplomatic repercussions.

As we reflect on the 30 years since the signing of the Oslo Accords in September 1993 at the White House, it becomes apparent that while the accord aimed to establish a path towards an independent Palestinian state, the leadership of Yasser Arafat and later Mahmoud Abbas failed to halt acts of terrorism and incitement to violence, murder, and subversion of Israel.

This realization prompted successive Israeli governments to view the Oslo agreement as a “Trojan horse” that inadvertently facilitated the movement of armed PLO terrorists into Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip.

Regrettably, deception characterized Arafat’s approach toward counterterrorism efforts.

His tactic of releasing terrorists and permitting groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad to carry out suicide attacks against Israel further destabilized the situation.

The Camp David summit of 2000 marked a critical turning point, as Arafat’s outright rejection of Israel’s proposals and President Clinton’s plan led to armed conflict.

Despite continued waves of terrorism and subsequent unrest, the PA, now under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, has managed to sustain its position.
How the Oslo Accords failed at Joseph's Tomb
Thirty years after the signing of the Oslo Accords, perhaps nothing exemplifies the outcome of the agreements better than last week's explosives hurled by Palestinian terrorists in Nablus at Israeli forces securing the route for Jewish worshippers to Joseph's Tomb.

The media barrage of fire and brimstone directed at those who dared to travel to the holy site was second only to the actual barrage directed at the soldiers. "Why did these lunatics travel there?" "This is not what the IDF was created for!" "Why take such a risk to pray at Joseph's Tomb?"

Perhaps the question should have been addressed to Yitzhak Rabin, the architect of the Oslo II Accord, under which the Palestinian Authority would assume responsibility for the site while guaranteeing free and safe passage for Jews.

Although there is no archaeological evidence to support this, the site is believed to be the burial place of the Biblical patriarch Joseph and as such, carries religious significance. And not only for Jews – for whom it's a symbol of their connection to the land – but Christians and Muslims as well.

The Palestinians understand this well, which is why mere months after the signing of the accords, they torched the tomb and have continued attacking – and killing – Israelis and soldiers visiting the site ever since.

Israel withdrew from Nablus and agreed to the establishment of a Palestinian Authority on the condition that it would guarantee free access to Joseph's Tomb, among other things.

Rabin was the one who signed the agreement, not any current lawmaker. The Palestinians never honored the deal, while the Jews – or should I use the hijacked term "settlers – are condemned for daring to attempt to continue to visit. It seems that in 2023, the only civil right respected by some in Israel is the right to protest.

Were any soldiers injured while protecting the lunatics who pray at the site? Let's not forget that just recently a municipal security guard was killed while protecting lunatics in Tel Aviv. Don't roll your eyes. The Palestinian enemy sees both as "settlers."
UNESCO to vote on Ancient Jericho joining World Heritage list as site in Palestine
The United Nations’ Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is set to vote on a proposal later this month that would see Ancient Jericho declared as a “World Heritage Site in Palestine.”

According to the agenda for the vote at the UN body’s conference in Saudi Arabia, “Ancient Jericho/Tell es-Sultan” could be declared as a cultural site during a event, September 10-25.

If the vote passes, the ancient city will join three other “UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Palestine”: the Church of the Nativity and the pilgrimage route in Bethlehem, the cultural landscape of southern Jerusalem and Battir, and the Old City in Hebron.

Likud MK Dan Illouz wrote on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, that he had written to UNESCO head Audrey Azoulay.

“Jericho is first and foremost a city of Biblical significance,” Illouz said.

“Blurring this fact is an insult to the millions of Jews and Christians all over the world,” he said in a statement.

“Such a decision would constitute a blatant interference by UNESCO in a conflict in which it is not its role to intervene,” Illouz charged. “It is our duty to stop the Palestinian Authority’s subversion, and insist on our right to our land.”
Top aide to first gentleman Emhoff set to lead US back into UNESCO
President Joe Biden will nominate a longtime aide, whose responsibilities include dealing with antisemitism issues, to represent the United States at the United Nations agency devoted to education, science and culture, a White House official said Monday.

The US recently rejoined the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization after a five-year hiatus initiated by former President Donald Trump over the agency’s alleged anti-Israel bias.

Biden’s choice to become the US permanent representative to the Paris-based UNESCO, with the rank of ambassador, is longtime aide Courtney O’Donnell, according to the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the nomination before a formal announcement.

O’Donnell currently wears two hats in the administration: She’s a senior adviser in Vice President Kamala Harris’ office and acting chief of staff for Harris’ husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff.

She lends her expertise to a range of national and global issues, including gender equity and countering antisemitism, a top issue for Emhoff, who is Jewish.

O’Donnell also was communications director for Jill Biden, when she was second lady during Joe Biden’s vice presidency when Barack Obama was president. O’Donnell helped Jill Biden raise awareness and support for US military families and promote community colleges.
Why won't Palestinian Arab leaders recognize Israel's right to exist?
Despite offers of statehood ever since the Oslo Accords in 1993 and 1995, amplified by then-prime ministers Ehud Barak and, even more by Ehud Olmert, Palestinian Arab leaders have consistently refused to recognize Israel’s right to exist. The question is, why?

They insist that all of what was “Palestine” belongs to them and that Israel must be destroyed; it’s explicit in the PLO Covenant and the Hamas Charter. Still, logically they could take whatever Israel offered, and do whatever they wanted later. The answer is provided by Henry Kissinger’s perspective of the war in Vietnam.

“The North Vietnamese and Vietcong, fighting in their own country, needed merely to keep on being forces sufficiently strong to dominate the population after the United States tired of the war. We fought a military war; our opponents fought a political one. We sought physical attrition; our opponents aimed for our psychological exhaustion. In the process, we lost sight of one of the cardinal maxims of guerrilla war: the guerrilla wins if he does not lose. The conventional army loses if it does not win.”

That is the strategy of the PLO, Hamas, and Jihadists. As they see it, they are in a war of attrition which requires constant terrorism and no compromises. As long as Israel does not destroy them – and instead negotiates with them – they see this as winning. And they continue to receive support.

Israeli Arab political parties, despite their alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood, decided to become members of the Knesset not only for the financial rewards, but also to support Israeli concessions in the Oslo Accords, and legitimize the arch-terrorist, Yasser Arafat. Although criticized by Hamas, the PLO argued that they should take advantage of every opportunity to consolidate power as a tactical move, while continuing to support terrorism and promote antisemitism as a strategy.

In their view, the Arab population in Israel will increase and become more powerful and influential in Israeli politics and society. They will continue to demand “ending the occupation of Palestine” and the removal of Jewish communities from “West Bank settlements” that are “illegal according to international law” as well as their “right to self-determination” as a sovereign state; the “two-state-solution (2SS)” and the “Right of Return” (to Israel) for Arabs in UNRWA facilities in Lebanon, Syria, and Israel.

The PA/PLO continues its “pay-for-slay” policy, and all of this is supported by America, Canada, the EU, United Nations agencies, and others around the world.
Bassam Tawil: How Terrorist Leaders, Backed by Iran, Exploit Palestinians
"Iran stands by the Palestinian people and their resistance." — Ali Akbar Velayati, senior Iranian official, to leaders of the Palestinian terror groups, almayadeen.net. August 22, 2023.

"The victories that have been achieved are the result of the support of friendly peoples, especially Iran." — Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, thanking senior Iranian official Velayati for Iran's support for the terror attacks against Israel, almayadeen.net, August 22, 2023.

When Iran, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad talk about the "resistance," they are referring to a series of terrorist attacks, including stabbings, shootings and car-rammings that have claimed the lives of five Israelis in August alone.

Recently, the leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad have been encouraging Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to launch protests near the border with Israel. The request came days after thousands of Palestinians took to the streets of the Gaza Strip to protest economic hardship under the rule of Hamas.

"We are a generation that grew up under difficult circumstances, and we did not have a single good day. I am 24 years old and have never traveled in my life. We want to live in dignity, this is our goal. We may not achieve that through these protests, but at least we raised our voice." — Shadi, a protestor against Hamas, dw.com, August 7, 2023.

Instead of heeding the calls of young Palestinians to solve the economic crisis, the Palestinian terror groups, with the help of Iran's mullahs, are sending them to attack Israeli soldiers with explosive devices and deadly stones.

Evidently, the leaders of Iran, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad do not care about the high rate of poverty and unemployment in the Gaza Strip. Why should these leaders care when they and their families are living in comfort in Qatar, Lebanon and Turkey?

"[Iran] adheres to the strategy of supporting the Palestinian people and their resistance and the cause of liberating the land. Iran will continue to support the resistance strongly." — Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, assuring the leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad that Tehran's mullahs will continue to support their terrorist activities against Israel, i24news.tv, September 1, 2023.

According to Al-Mayadeen, a Hezbollah-affiliated news website, the high-level Iranian-Palestinian discussions are not protocol meetings. Instead, it said, the meeting aims to foil efforts to achieve normalization between Israel and some Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia and Libya.
American defense pact at forefront of Saudi talks, says senior Israeli official
Any progress on normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia currently hinges on defense guarantees, which the latter is seeking from the United States, said a senior Israeli official traveling with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s delegation to Cyprus.

The senior official, deeply involved in the diplomatic process, estimated there are another “four to five” non-resolved issues upon which the negotiations turn, but they are “not as complicated.”

American and Palestinian delegations are traveling to the Gulf state this week to continue talks that would include a US-brokered normalization between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a prospect deeply desired by Netanyahu.

The official assessed that Israeli concessions to the Palestinians were not the chief Saudi focus, with the Saudi-US defense pact the kingdom’s main concern.

While declining to elaborate on potential concessions, the senior official added that Netanyahu, who spent the past two days in Cyprus for trilateral talks with his Cypriot and Greek counterparts, felt confidant he would be able to rally his hardline coalition behind him. The coalition, including Netanyahu’s far-right partners and lawmakers in his Likud party, overwhelmingly oppose a Palestinian state and are committed to extending Jewish sovereignty over the West Bank.

The senior official vowed Netanyahu would not “take steps with the Palestinians” that would not “sit well” with him, asserting that if the premier is comfortable with a concession, then his coalition partners should “be okay” as well.
Will Israel normalization come out of US talks in Saudi Arabia?
Loay Al-Shareef, Dr. Fadi Essmaeel and Hussain Abdul-Hussain discuss the prospects of peace between Israel and Saudi Arabia, as US talks are held in the kingdom.


Palestinians promise ‘no embarrassment' in Saudi-Israel normalization talks
US diplomats have obtained assurances from Palestinian officials that they will neither publicly reject nor undermine the White House-promoted normalization talks between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

A diplomat from the US State Department told The Media Line that the Palestinian Authority has pledged not to publicly criticize any potential normalization deal with Israel, to avoid embarrassing Saudi Arabia.

An American official, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the subject, indicated that the Biden Administration was working closely with Saudi Arabia. They aim to develop a financial and political package intended to placate the Palestinians and prevent a response similar to that generated by the 2020 Abraham Accords, which established diplomatic ties between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain.

The diplomat confirmed that talks are centered around a “generous financial package that will lift the Palestinian economy out of its current state.”

“Saudi Arabia is a huge country with enormous political weight and massive natural resources, and we have no chance standing against it. Therefore, we’re requesting inclusion in their negotiations with the Americans,” a Palestinian Authority official in Ramallah familiar with the situation told The Media Line.


‘Catastrophic’: Top German Official Combating Antisemitism Attacks Decision to Allow Bavarian Deputy PM to Remain in Office
The German federal government’s top official tasked with combating antisemitism has strongly criticized the decision of Bavaria’s prime minister to allow his deputy — accused of authoring and distributing a leaflet demeaning the Holocaust while a schoolboy — to remain in office.

Felix Klein — the federal government’s commissioner for Jewish life and the fight against antisemitism — warned that the decision of Markus Söder, the prime minister of the southern state of Bavaria, to permit his deputy Hubert Aiwanger to stay in his post could result in “catastrophic consequences” for the ongoing tasks of combating Jew-hatred and commemorating the Holocaust.

“After Prime Minister Söder’s decision to leave Mr. Aiwanger in office, the Bavarian state government should not return to the political agenda,” Klein told German media outlets on Monday. “The matter has damaged the fight against antisemitism in our country.”

A report in the the Munich-based Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) news outlet ten days ago claimed that Aiwanger was behind a typewritten leaflet mocking the Holocaust distributed at the Burkhart Gymnasium in the town of Mallersdorf-Pfaffenberg in 1987, when he was 17. According to the SZ, members of staff and former students at the school confirmed that Aiwanger had been summoned before a school disciplinary committee over the leaflet and was sanctioned as a result.

The leaflet parodied national history competitions through demeaning references to the Holocaust. For example, the “prize” for the best answer to the question “Who is the greatest traitor to the fatherland?” was “a complimentary flight through the chimney at Auschwitz.”

Similar “prizes” were offered for answers to other questions, among them a “lifelong stay in a mass grave,” “a free shot in the back of the neck,” “a ticket … to the entertainment quarter Auschwitz,” and a “night’s stay in the Gestapo cellar, then a trip to Dachau.”


Hundreds gather for funeral of IDF lone soldier terror victim
Hundreds gathered on Tuesday at the Kiryat Shaul Military Cemetery in Tel Aviv for the funeral of Israel Defense Forces Sgt. Maksym Molchanov, who was murdered near Modi’in last week by a Palestinian terrorist.

Molchanov, 20, made aliyah from eastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv in 2017. His parents flew into Israel from the war-torn European country on Monday night.

The Foreign Ministry reportedly helped to facilitate the bereaved father’s travel given the ban on men leaving Ukraine amid the Russian invasion.

Six other persons, including three soldiers, were wounded on Aug. 31 when a Palestinian terrorist drove into them with a truck at the Maccabim Crossing along Route 443.

The terrorist fled the scene but was tracked down and “neutralized” at the Hashmonaim Crossing some 10 kilometers (6 miles) away, according to the Israel Police.
Palestinian woman attempts to stab police officer in Jerusalem’s Old City
A Palestinian woman from the Jenin area in the northern West Bank was arrested after attempting to stab a police officer in Jerusalem’s Old City on Monday night, law enforcement officials said.

Police said the 44-year-old pulled out a knife in the Bab Hutta neighborhood, near the Lion’s Gate entrance to the Old City, and tried to stab an officer guarding the area.

The officer was unharmed, as the knife did not penetrate a protective vest he was wearing.

He subdued the assailant without gunfire, police said.

Other officers quickly reached the scene and detained her.

There were no injuries in the incident, police said.

The chief of police for Jerusalem, Deputy Commissioner Doron Turgeman, showed up to the scene to be briefed on the attack.


UN refugee agency warns Israel that expelling Eritreans en masse is unlawful
The UN urged Israel Tuesday to refrain from mass deportations of Eritreans following weekend clashes involving asylum seekers, warning it would “contravene international law” and could have dire human consequences.

The United Nations refugee agency said it was “deeply concerned” by the clashes that erupted on Saturday when a demonstration against an Eritrean government event turned violent, injuring at least 170 people.

The rioting began when hundreds of anti-government Eritreans came to prevent the event from taking place in Tel Aviv. Police responded with live fire to the skirmishes between migrant supporters and opponents of Eritrea’s government, leaving dozens hospitalized. Several officers were also hospitalized with wounds sustained in the incident.

“UNHCR calls for calm and restraint, and on all parties to refrain from taking any steps that could aggravate the situation further,” William Spindler told reporters in Geneva.

While stressing that it was “important to establish accountability” for the events, he warned Israel against taking broad measures against Eritreans in the country.

“Any decision impacting all Eritrean asylum-seekers, or instances of refoulement would contravene international law,” he said.


Palestinian terrorist wounds Israeli in Jordan Valley
An Israeli Border Police officer was lightly wounded on Tuesday when a terrorist opened fire near the Argaman Junction in the Jordan Valley.

Security forces were conducting searches in the area when they came across a suspect, who then attacked them.

The terrorist was subsequently “neutralized, according to the Israel Defense Forces.

The assailant reportedly died during an exchange of fire.


Israeli citizens caught smuggling explosives from Jordan for Islamic
Two Israeli citizens from the Tulkarm area were arrested while smuggling firearms and explosives for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist movement from Jordan in early August, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) said on Tuesday.

The two were identified as Samer Farid Ghanam Knoh and Osama Nissim Ghazi Harouf, the latter of whom is known for his connections to terrorist operatives.

Another unnamed individual from the same area was arrested as well.

On August 3, Knoh and Harouf were caught smuggling firearms and explosives at the Jordanian border, with four handguns and four explosive devices found in their possession. A photo of the devices showed that the explosive devices were MON-50 anti-personnel mines (similar to a Claymore mine) produced in Russia and Bulgaria. It is unclear where the weapons were being sourced from.

An investigation by the Shin Bet and police revealed that the two had been recruited by terrorist operatives in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Jenin refugee camp to smuggle weapons.

They were also found to be involved in transferring funds and weapons to terrorists in the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarm. The two admitted that they were handled by operatives in Nur Shams.


The Israel Guys: Hundreds of Palestinians RIOT at the GAZA Border in Israel
Last Friday, hundreds of Palestinians rioted at the Gaza Border, throwing explosives and trying to break through the fence. Why? We are going to talk about all that on today’s show.

Also, five Palestinian infiltrators were caught by a very special four-footed member of Israel’s security team. American & international pressure are now destroying memorials for terror victims in Judea & Samaria, and Israel’s Air Force is taking their defense to the next level.




Israel to deduct millions from PA funds to offset electricity debt
The Finance Ministry has found a legal solution that would enable Israel to deal with the Palestinian Authority's electricity debt in Judea and Samaria and East Jerusalem for the first time in three decades.

Under the outline, the government will deduct millions of shekels from funds collected on behalf of the PA to transfer to the Israel Electric Company monthly.

The PA's debt currently stands at two billion shekels, funds that Israel has had a hard time collecting even despite of previous debt payment agreements.

The news comes three months after Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich ordered his advisers to find a solution to the matter. The move is legal under a law enacted following the Oslo Accords that allows Israel to deduct funds destined for the PA to offset its debt.
‘Axis of Resistance’ Leaders Backed by Iran Meet to Foment West Bank Terrorism
Leaders from the so-called “axis of resistance” — an Iran-led, anti-Western network of countries and non-state actors that span the Middle East — met in Beirut over the weekend as members of the alliance try to foment terror attacks in the West Bank.

According to Iranian media, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Friday conveyed a message to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), both widely designated as Palestinian terrorist groups, that his country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is committed to supporting their efforts in the West Bank.

On Saturday, PIJ Secretary-General Ziyad al-Nakhala and Hamas deputy politburo chief Saleh al-Arouri met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and issued a joint statement stressing their unity and coordination in confronting Israel.

“The firm position of all the forces of the axis of resistance in confronting the Zionist enemy, its occupation, and its arrogance was emphasized,” the statement said.

Several countries have designated Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon and Iran’s chief proxy force, as a terrorist organization.

The meetings came as Israel has faced a wave of violence emanating from the West Bank that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said is being “encouraged, directed, and financed by Iran and its proxies.”
Abbas blames America for Israeli counterterror raids
Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday said the United States is responsible for Israeli incursions into Palestinian towns in Judea and Samaria.

The P.A.’s Wafa news agency report quoted Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for the presidency, to that effect after a Palestinian terrorist was killed and another man was critically wounded during a raid by Israeli forces in the Nur Shams camp near Tulkarm in Samaria on Tuesday morning.

The P.A. Health Ministry said the slain gunman was Ayed Abu Harb, 21. The local wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group claimed him as a member.

Israeli forces entered the camp to destroy ready-to-use explosive devices in a building used as a headquarters for local terrorists. IDF combat engineers destroyed the cache of explosives.

“The continuation of these aggressive policies against our people and our land, and the continued storming of Al-Aqsa mosque [i.e., the Temple Mount] by Jewish extremists under the protection of the occupation army, in addition to the settlers’ terrorism and attacks on our people and other unilateral measures will have very dangerous repercussions for everyone,” Abu Rudeineh said.

“The U.S. must intervene immediately to stop the ongoing Israeli aggression, and not be content with issuing statements that do not change anything on the ground,” he said. “The situation is on the verge of exploding as a result of the dangerous Israeli escalation.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken telephoned Abbas on Monday, Wafa reported.
PMW: Abbas’ Fatah brags about its PA security officer terrorists - funded by the West
As part of its ongoing competition with the Hamas terror organization over who is leading the terror against Israel, Fatah has published the names and pictures of 23 terrorist members of the PA Security Forces, which is part of the Fatah-ruled PA. Palestinian Media Watch has exposed that in order to gain the people’s favor, the PA/Fatah have in the past year profiled themselves as leading the “resistance” against Israel, while blaming Hamas for doing nothing, and even accusing the Gaza-based terror organization of collaborating with Israel.

The poster above published by Fatah shows 30 “Martyrs of the Palestinian [PA] Security Forces.” One in the first row and all six in the last row were killed in clashes with Islamist terrorists at Ain Al-Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon in July-August 2023. PMW identified the remaining 23 as known terrorists who were killed while attacking Israelis – see listings below.

Fatah has previously bragged about this double role, stating they are PA Police and Security officers by day and terrorists by night. These are the very security forces who have been funded and even trained by Western donors to fight terror.

A recent video exposed by PMW shows photos of 24 armed terrorists who were salaried members of the PA Security Forces. To stress that the dual roles are not conflicting, each picture includes the logos of the terror organization and the branch of the PA military.

One such PA Security Forces terrorist left a “message for the Zionist enemy,” threatening that “fear will prevail among you and [my] actions will torment you and send you to a place where your blood will drip,” and that “the future will not bring you good or tranquillity, but rather death and humiliation.”

As part of the “terror competition,” Fatah has bragged that “more than 355 of our prisoners are from the Palestinian [PA] Security Forces – in other words, the PA’s soldiers.” In March 2023, Fatah boasted that Fatah and the PA Security Forces “led 1,500” terror attacks while Hamas led none.


“My weapon is in my hand, awake day and night“ - PA TV song
Lyrics: “Keep the weapon awake, awake, awake
Even if the entire world slumbers
I wake up with my weapon
My weapon is in my hand, awake day and night,
And it calls out: Revolutionaries, our enemy is treacherous”
[Official PA TV, Moons of Palestine, Aug. 29, 2023]




What does the latest IAEA report mean for Iran nuke standoff?
For the Jewish state, Iran is not a general threat but represents an imminent threat and a potential existential threat.

So the EU and to some extent the Biden administration may view a slower pace of 60% uranium enrichment as major progress.

For them, without the JCPOA nuclear deal to bind Iran and without a willingness to unleash a military option against Tehran’s nuclear program, coaxing the ayatollahs to slow or freeze aspects of the nuclear program is the only option.

This means any progress is progress, even if a freeze, without a reduction in Iran’s existing enriched uranium stock, would leave the Islamic Republic with enough fissile material to potentially develop more than five nuclear weapons (between 60% and 20% enriched uranium.)

For Israel, slowing down uranium enrichment is close to meaningless, a freeze is a small achievement, only a heavy reduction would actually lower the severity of the nuclear threat, and only a full resolution of all outstanding nuclear suspicions would stabilize the situation.

Based on all of this, it seems that the West is hoping to use pressure from the IAEA about the two existing probes and Iran’s continued impeded access to the IAEA’s nuclear program surveillance cameras and footage to pressure the ayatollahs into a full freeze.

That the IAEA is keeping up any pressure on these issues is a positive from Israel’s perspective.

But once there is a full enrichment freeze, will the IAEA and the West at that point let up, rather than going the distance in getting Tehran to reduce its existing uranium stock and resolve the questions about its nuclear program’s military dimensions?

Reports will not answer that critical question, only decisions by the West’s leaders at decisive moments in the near future.
Iran says South Korea could release ‘Iranian funds’
Iran’s Fars News Agency reported on Tuesday that South Korea’s Foreign Minister has said that efforts are ongoing to “transfer Iranian funds that were blocked in South Korea are continuing.”

Iran has in the past targeted South Korean ships, and in early August, a deal by Iran to reportedly release several people it had detained was linked to Iran’s demands to unfreeze billions in assets.

Now South Korea foreign minister Park Jin said these efforts are proceeding. Reports from Asharq al-Awsat and other media said that Park told Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian that the countries are in communication to solve the issue.

“Park and the Iranian foreign minister agreed to expand cooperation between the two countries, The United States and Iran reached an agreement last month for the release of five US citizens detained in Iran while $6 billion of Iranian assets in South Korea would be unfrozen,” Reuters said. The assets have been moved to Switzerland.


Mahsa Amini's uncle arrested ahead of protest anniversary
Safa Aeli, the uncle of Mahsa Amini, was arrested on Tuesday, a little over a week ahead of the anniversary of Amini's killing by Tehran "morality police," the 1500tasvir account reported.

According to 1500tasvir, which has closely covered protest activity in Iran in recent years, a large number of Iranian forces stormed Aeli's house and arrested him.

The Hengaw Human Rights Organization reported that Aeli was transferred to an unknown location after being arrested in Saqqez.

Amini was arrested by "morality police" officers in Tehran in mid-September last year for allegedly incorrectly wearing her hijab, with her family saying that she was beaten by the officers in the van that brought her to the police station.

At the police station, she collapsed and was brought to the hospital where she later died. Her relatives have told foreign media that they were kept largely in the dark about the situation.

Amini’s death in September 2022 sparked nationwide protests often referred to as the "Women, Life, Freedom" protests that swept across Iran for months, only declining in January. Protests have periodically renewed in several locations in the months since then.
‘Say Her Name With Me’: Jewish-Led Indie Rock Band Releasing New Song Honoring Mahsa Amini, Symbol of Iranian Protest Movement
A new single commemorating the first anniversary of the death of Jina “Mahsa” Amini — the 22-year-old Kurdish woman arrested and allegedly tortured by the Iranian regime’s “Morality Police” for wearing her hijab, or head covering, inappropriately, sparking historic demonstrations across the country — is being released by the indie rock band Iraqis in Pajamas.

The band, whose music is based on traditional Iraqi Jewish song, will release the track, titled #MahsaAmini, on Sept. 16, when Jews around the world mark Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

In August, the band invited its fans to record themselves saying Amini’s name, along with names of the hundreds of people killed by Iranian security forces in the clashes that followed Amini’s death. Nineteen names of protesters will also be included in the song. The lyrics reflect the defiance of the demonstrators, with a chorus that declares, “Mahsa Amini, say her name with me.”

Attempts by the Iranian authorities to portray Amini’s death as the result of brain surgery she had as a child were widely dismissed, as world leaders expressed disgust at the manner of her death and thousands of Iranians adopted her as the symbol of their “Women, Life, Freedom” revolution.

Iraqis in Pajamas is led by Loolwa Khazzoom, the daughter of an Iraqi Jewish refugee and its only Jewish member alongside drummer Chris Belin and guitarist Mike Deeth.

Following Amini’s death, Khazzoom sprang into action, sharing content on social media, writing to US government officials, and raising funds for advocacy groups supporting the protesters.


State Department Sought to Ease Diplomats' Pain Over Afghanistan Withdrawal With Therapy Dog, New Book Says
State Department employees were so distressed by President Joe Biden’s botched 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan that the deputy secretary of state, Wendy Sherman, found diplomats working on the evacuation in tears. At Foggy Bottom, leadership sought to ease their pain—by bringing in a therapy dog, according to a new book.

"Afghanistan was a collective trauma for the administration, especially the State Department," writes Atlantic reporter Frank Foer in his new book, The Last Politician, an account of Biden’s first two years in office. "To deal with the trauma, the State Department brought a therapy dog into the building with the hope that it might ease the staff’s pain."

Biden’s rush to evacuate U.S. forces from Afghanistan, which left 13 Americans dead and brought the Taliban back into power, hit the State Department particularly hard, according to Foer, who writes that Sherman "found grizzled diplomats in tears" when she checked on the team responsible for handling the evacuation.

Back in Washington, D.C., according to Foer, veteran State Department employees fell into a deep depression, requiring the therapy dog to cheer them up as Afghanistan devolved into chaos under Taliban control.

"Even in the seat of American power, they felt the shame and anger that comes with the inability to help," Foer writes.

The State Department confirmed therapy dogs visited the department "to give employees a chance to take a break and assist with relieving stress during the workday." The department also deployed mental health professionals across the Middle East including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates to provide employees "additional mental health and trauma support."




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