Thursday, May 28, 2026

05/27 Links Pt1: Trump suggests he may not sign Iran deal without Abraham Accords commitments from Gulf countries; Somaliland’s president: ‘Anyone who doesn’t like our alliance with Israel can mind their own business!’

From Ian:

House lawmakers urge Trump to dismantle UNRWA over alleged ties to Hamas
More than 90 House members, led by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), urged U.S. President Donald Trump to dismantle the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, citing longstanding allegations tying the agency to Hamas and other terrorist groups.

“Rather than resolving the refugee crisis, UNRWA has perpetuated and expanded the problem through its unprecedented policy of conferring refugee status across generations—transforming what was once a finite humanitarian issue into a permanent and growing political challenge,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter sent to the president. Most of the signatories were Republicans.

Established by the U.N. General Assembly in 1949, UNRWA provides education, healthcare and social services to Palestinians in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Unlike the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, which generally limits refugee status to those directly displaced, UNRWA extends eligibility to Palestinian refugees from the 1948 and 1967 wars as well as their descendants.

The lawmakers argued that the agency’s structure has entrenched Palestinian dependency while discouraging host governments from pursuing long-term solutions.

“By fulfilling these needs, UNRWA has reduced incentives for host governments to pursue long-term solutions, leaving millions dependent on the agency and prolonging the refugee crisis,” the letter states. “Additionally, UNRWA has faced longstanding concerns about its educational curriculum, which has been found to promote antisemitism and glorify terrorism.”

“This has raised serious questions about the agency’s role in radicalizing Palestinian youth,” the letter adds.

The United States and several other countries suspended funding to UNRWA after Israel uncovered documentation alleging that staff members participated in the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

The lawmakers said the allegations following Oct. 7 reinforced broader concerns about the agency’s operations and neutrality.
Former BBC pundit who ranted about ‘chosen people’ was in Iran negotiating team
A former BBC commentator who ranted about the “chosen people” believing they “have exceptional rights to the whole region” on Radio Four’s Today programme was part of Iran’s delegation during negotiations with the US in Pakistan, the JC can reveal.

Sayed Mohammad Marandi was seen alongside senior Iranian regime officials including chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during the talks last month.

Marandi appeared on multiple BBC programmes between 2017 and 2024, and on other UK broadcasters’ news shows.

He has used his platform to promote Hezbollah, a proscribed terrorist group – which he described as “heroes” in a Channel 4 interview – and made extreme statements about Israel, which he has accused of carrying out a “Holocaust” in BBC and Sky interviews.

Now the shadow culture secretary is calling for greater scrutiny of pundits on British television.

Tory MP Nigel Huddleston described his repeated appearances as “deeply concerning” and said broadcasters must improve due diligence over contributors’ positions.

“Public service broadcasters have a responsibility to deliver impartial news. The BBC is guilty of breaking its own rules if they present people as objective commentators when they may, in fact, have an agenda and bias, as appears in this alarming case.

“We expect and require our national broadcaster to have rigorous due diligence processes regarding who they put on air and to be transparent when someone has a clear agenda,” he said.

During one interview on BBC HARDtalk, presenter Stephen Sackur described the pro-regime figure as “an experienced Iranian academic and sometime adviser to his government during international nuclear negotiations”, as well as “a consistently loyal defender of the government in Iran”.
Amin Abu Rashid acquitted by Dutch court of financing Hamas, convicted of sanction evasion
Alleged Hamas financier Amin Abu Rashid was acquitted of providing funds to the Palestinian terrorist organization, according to a Wednesday ruling by the Rotterdam Court, but was convicted of evading sanctions and continued management of a prohibited organization.

Abu Rashid was sentenced to a suspended sentence of six months, with a one-year probationary period, a far cry from the three-year prison sentence sought by the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service (PPS).

There was not enough evidence that the 58-year-old Leidschendam transferred approximately €8 million to Hamas between 2010 and 2023, according to the court. While prosecutors argued that the organizations that Abu Rashid worked with were affiliated with Hamas, the court wasn't convinced of the ties to the terrorist group.

While there was no disagreement that the funds were funneled into Gaza, the court said that it wasn't proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Hamas specifically benefited over general Gazan recipients. The evidentiary threshold was also not met for proving that Abu Rashid knew that the funding destination was under the control of Hamas.

The court viewed an expert's testimony on the matter as insufficient, and having been based on news articles and reports by the US and Israel. The court also expressed concern that the expert held a bias against the defendant.

Abu Rashid was convicted of continuing the operation of the al-Aqsa Foundation through the Israa Foundation, the former of which was sanctioned by the European Union until 2014. The removal of the al-Aqsa Foundation was done as the organization ostensibly dissolved, but it did not follow through with that measure. According to the court, the defendant remained the de facto manager of the Israa Foundation, continuing the banned group's operations.


Jake Wallis Simons: ‘Anyone who doesn’t like our alliance with Israel can mind their own business!’ Somaliland’s president tells the JC
In the years since, Somaliland has distinguished itself by becoming a rare stable democracy in East Africa. Indeed, it is the only jurisdiction in the world to use iris scanners during elections, to prevent voter fraud.

It is friendly to the West and, as its relationship with Israel shows, it has firmly chosen a side in the growing global polarisation between the democracies and their allies and the authoritarian axis of China, Russia and Iran.

Somalia, meanwhile, has become a basket case. Ranked first on the global fragile state index, it is riddled with corruption and its government is full of men with deep links to Al Shabaab. Its prime minister, Hamza Abdi Barre, supports Hamas and has referred to Jewish people as “children of pigs and dogs”.

That is not even the worst of it. Outside the capital, Mogadishu, the country is largely controlled by Al Shabaab – the Al Qaeda affiliate is a sort of mafia/jihadist blend – which deals with the population with an iron fist.

You’d have thought that picking a side would be a no-brainer. Yet Britain, which remains wedded to the outdated vision of a unified Somalia, has lavished aid money on Mogadishu, almost none of which trickled down to Somaliland.

Last year alone, the government handed over £61m of taxpayers’ cash, despite fears that it was funding corruption and even terrorism.

Many of Somaliland’s friends, such as the former defence secretary Gavin Williamson, who now leads the country’s new international recognition campaign institute, describe Britain’s stance as hypocritical.

“It is a double standard,” the president concedes. “But I’m confident that in time, Britain and other countries will follow Israel and place themselves on the right side of history.”

The reasons for Britain’s position are complex. Partly, the Foreign Office is wary of upsetting a delicate power balance in the region, fearing that recognition of Somaliland could cause other states to assert their old territorial claims to disputed territory.

Yet some analysts believe that Britain is allowing a sense of colonial guilt, combined with a slavish adherence to “international law”, to prevent it from taking a leadership role in Africa, creating a vacuum that is all too eagerly filled by China.

Jerusalem, however, has no such concerns. Although its recent recognition of Somaliland has thrust the issue into the spotlight, the relationship is much older.


Australian police to establish armed unit after deadly Bondi Beach terror attack
Australia’s Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion heard on Wednesday that New South Wales police officers were outgunned during the terrorist attack on a Chanukah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Dec. 14, 2025, prompting plans for a new heavily armed police unit.

New South Wales Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson told the inquiry that the state force will establish an Armed Response Command equipped with semiautomatic rifles in response to the attack, according to the Associated Press.

Father-and-son jihadists Sajid and Naveed Akram killed 15 people and wounded three police officers during the assault, which targeted the “Chanukah by the Sea” event. The attackers were armed with two shotguns and a hunting rifle. Sajid Akram was killed at the scene, while Naveed Akram remains in custody facing terrorism and murder charges.

Hudson said responding officers carried only pistols, leaving them at a major disadvantage.

“On Dec. 14, our police officers were placed at significant risk being in a gunfight armed with 9 mm Glocks against long arms,” Hudson told the commission.

The commission also heard that “Operation Shelter,” a police initiative launched after the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, to address increased incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia, had effectively been scaled back before the Bondi attack. Hudson said the operation existed “in name only” at the time of the massacre but was reinstated afterward and will remain in place until the Armed Response Command becomes operational, a process expected to take 18 months to two years.

Prior to the attack, rifles within the New South Wales Police Force were largely restricted to specialized paramilitary units, Hudson testified.


Fire at Kosher Kingdom caused by electrical fault, police confirm
A fire that broke out behind Kosher supermarket Kosher Kingdom in Golders Green on Wednesday morning is no longer being treated as suspicious, police have confirmed.

Emergency services were called to Golders Green Road shortly before 7am after a major blaze sent heavy smoke across the area and forced road closures and evacuations near the busy shopping parade.

The Metropolitan Police said officers worked alongside the London Fire Brigade throughout the morning while firefighters tackled the fire.

In an update issued later on Wednesday, police confirmed the blaze is believed to have been caused by an electrical fault.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “Police investigating the cause of the fire at a warehouse in Golders Green have confirmed it is not being treated as suspicious.”

The spokesperson added: “Following further enquiries alongside the LFB, the fire is not being treated as suspicious and is believed to have been caused by an electrical fault.

“We understand the concern and disruption this incident will have caused to the local community and those living and working in the area. We would like to reassure residents that there is no indication of any targeted or deliberate act.”

The fire drew a significant emergency response after the London Fire Brigade received dozens of calls from members of the public reporting smoke and flames near the kosher supermarket.

Around 70 firefighters and 10 fire engines were sent to the scene from nearby stations, including Finchley, West Hampstead and Willesden.

Road closures remained in place for several hours around Golders Green Road and Beverley Gardens while crews worked to bring the blaze under control.

No injuries have been reported.

A statement from Kosher Kingdom said: “Investigations are still ongoing, but we would like to reassure the community that at this stage it is not being treated as suspicious.


Manchester cops arrest man for not reporting synagogue attack
Police in Manchester, England arrested on Tuesday a man they said was tied to the Oct. 2 terrorist attack on a synagogue in the city, in which two Jews were murdered.

“A 49-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of failing to disclose information regarding terrorist activity,” the Greater Manchester Police said in a statement. “He has been taken into custody for questioning.”

In the attack by a suspected jihadist, whom police killed, Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz were killed and three other men were seriously injured.

Tuesday’s arrest brings the total number of people arrested in connection with the investigation to eight, the police said.

Among those arrested is a 30-year-old man who has been held since Oct. 9 on suspicion of failing to disclose information regarding terrorist activity, and a man who has since been charged with terrorism offenses that are not directly linked to the attack.

Separately, Shomrim, a Jewish community security group, reported on Monday that police had arrested for the fifth time within two weeks a man in his sixties who “threatened Jewish children with a stick outside a Synagogue” in London on Monday. His previous arrests had been on similar charges. His bail terms included the condition that he stay within 100 meters (328 feet) of a synagogue, said Shomrim.

The Metropolitan Police of London did not reply in time for publication to a query by JNS regarding whether they intended to try to prevent the man from taking actions that Jewish Londoners perceive as threatening.
Brighton Police seeking help in identifying man who allegedly hurled antisemitic abuse at fellow bus passenger
Sussex Police are appealing to the public for help identifying a man suspected of carrying out antisemitic harassment on a public bus last month.

“Do you recognise this man?” the force said in a statement on Sunday alongside an image of a man who appears to be bald, with a large white beard and sunglasses.

“We are looking to speak with him in connection with a report of antisemitic abuse on board a 46 bus. The incident happened as the bus was approaching Portland Road at 2.30pm on April 25, and it is being treated as a hate crime.”

The abuse was initially directed at two passengers as they disembarked the bus with their dog. The man allegedly said, unprompted: “dirty filthy Jew”.

Sue Sheftz, who was travelling on the bus on her way to the supermarket, challenged the man over the remark.

“I told him you can’t say that, that it was disgusting, and that’s when he turned on me instead,” she told the JC.

The man then allegedly launched into an expletive-laden tirade at Sheftz, who said she was surprised that no one else on the fairly full bus came to her defence.

“He called me the c-word, used the f-word throughout, and told me that I ‘should die’,” Sheftz said. “It was nothing about my appearance, and I doubt he knew I was Jewish. It was just lots and lots of cursing.

“He could have had something in his hand, he could have lunged at me. I didn’t know how quite to react. I think I was in shock.”

Sheftz later spoke to the bus driver and recorded both his details and the bus information to pass on to police.

Chief Inspector Dan Eagle said: “This was a distressing incident for the victim, and we have been working alongside Brighton & Hove Buses to secure CCTV footage and evidence.
Trump suggests he may not sign Iran deal without Abraham Accords commitments from Gulf countries
President Donald Trump signaled on Wednesday that he may not agree to a deal to end the war with Iran if Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries in the region do not join the Abraham Accords, arguing that the Gulf nations “owe that to us.”

The president made the comments while taking questions from reporters during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, where he was asked if he would accept a peace agreement with Iran that did not address uranium enrichment. Trump responded that he would agree to a deal that allows for continued negotiations on some issues, though he repeatedly said he would not allow for “a crummy agreement.”

He expressed hesitation about moving forward with any peace deal with Iran that did not include commitments from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and others to normalize relations with Israel.

“I would like to have the countries we were talking about — Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and the others — we’d like to have them immediately join, and [White House Special Envoy] Steve Witkoff is working on that with Jared [Kushner] and some others, but I would like to have them join the Abraham Accords,” Trump said. “It would be historic if they do it. I think they owe that to us, to be honest, because that really would be a tremendous sign. I think those countries owe it to us.”

Addressing Witkoff, the president said, “I’m not sure we should make the deal if they don’t sign, if you want to know the truth. If they don’t sign to join the Abraham Accords, I don’t know.”

When pressed if that meant he viewed an Iran deal as contingent on those countries joining the Abraham Accords, Trump responded: “I don’t know. I don’t want to say that. I’m not going to give you what’s contingent, what’s not. I can say that we can make a good deal right now, but maybe not a great deal, and if it’s not a great deal, we’re not making it.”

“We can make a great deal with this guy right here,” he continued, pointing to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. “But that’s a lot nastier, probably wouldn’t go as quickly … but it would be foolproof.”


Trump threatens to 'blow up' Oman if they interfere in the Strait of Hormuz
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday told a cabinet meeting that the United States would attack Oman if they interfere in the Strait of Hormuz.

"Oman will behave like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow them up," said Trump. "They understand that."

In addition, Trump said that Iran very much wanted to make a deal, but the United States was not yet satisfied with it. "Iran is very much intent; they want very much to make a deal. So far, they haven't gotten there... we're not satisfied with it, but we will be. We will be either that or we'll have to just finish the job."

Trump added that the Strait of Hormuz will remain open to all and will not be controlled by any country under any deal reached with Iran. "We'll watch over it, but nobody's going to control it. That's part of the negotiation that we have."

Trump further emphasized that he does not want China or Russia to take Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium.

At the meeting, Trump reiterated that the US was not talking about easing sanctions on Iran.

He told PBS in an interview earlier on Wednesday that Iran would not get sanctions relief in exchange for giving up highly enriched uranium.
Iran restores connectivity to create ‘limited amount of relief,’ censorship remains
The Islamic Republic has restored some internet connectivity, though usage levels remain below those recorded before the January protests, Doug Madory, director of internet analysis at the network intelligence platform Kentik, told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

“This data just shows that the overall amount of traffic is less than pre-January 8 levels and even less than the level we saw during the January 27 to February 28 period of partial restoration,” Madory said, sharing a graph dated December 15.

Both Netblocks and Kentik reported a “partial” restoration of connectivity on Tuesday, though banned platforms such as Instagram, X/Twitter, and YouTube remain blocked, according to international media reports.

“It would not surprise me that Iranian authorities would block social media,” Madory noted. “This has been common practice to some extent for many years in Iran.”

The Iranian digital rights organization Filterbaan stressed that while the Mobile Communications Company of Iran had removed the sale page for Internet Pro packages, “the policy of ‘limited access for all, special access for some’ remains firmly in place within the decision-making structure.”

The organization also denied the regime’s claims that internet connectivity had been restored, stressing that “the network is facing severe disruptions, and key and basic accesses such as Google Play remain cut off.”


Sgt. Rotem Yanai falls during operational activity in northern Israel
Sgt. Rotem Yanai, 20, from Giv'at Ada, died during operational activity in northern Israel, the IDF announced on Thursday.

Yanai was a non-commissioned officer in the 435th Battalion of the Givati Brigade.

The IDF stated that in the same incident, one reserve soldier was severely injured and one reserve soldier was moderately injured.





Buy EoZ's books  on Amazon!

Reclaiming the Covenant on America's 250th (May 2026)

"He's an Anti-Zionist Too!" cartoon book (December 2024)

PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism (February 2022)

    

 

 



AddToAny

Printfriendly

EoZTV Podcast

Podcast URL

Subscribe in podnovaSubscribe with FeedlyAdd to netvibes
addtomyyahoo4Subscribe with SubToMe

search eoz

comments

Speaking

Speaking

translate

E-Book

For $18 donation








Sample Text

EoZ's Most Popular Posts in recent years

Search2

Hasbys!

Hasbys!

2019 Nobel Peace Prize nominee

Elder of Ziyon - حـكـيـم صـهـيـون



This blog may be a labor of love for me, but it takes a lot of effort, time and money. For 20 years and 40,000 articles I have been providing accurate, original news that would have remained unnoticed. I've written hundreds of scoops and sometimes my reporting ends up making a real difference. I appreciate any donations you can give to keep this blog going.

Donate!

Donate to fight for Israel!

Monthly subscription:
Payment options


One time donation:

Follow EoZ on Twitter!

Interesting Blogs

Show All

Blog Archive

Copyright © Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News | Powered by Blogger
Blogger Templates