Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

04/13 Links Pt1: Irrational, Dangerous Iran Policy is No Accident; Iran fires missile at Israeli-owned ship near UAE; UNRWA and the Unique Treatment of Palestinians Prevents Peace

From Ian:

Vic Rosenthal: Irrational, Dangerous Iran Policy is No Accident

The contention that Trump’s program didn’t work is false – the regime simply was able to hold out until he left office. Something that the NY Times et al don’t mention is that the agreement with China, the enrichment to 20%, and the introduction of new-generation centrifuges prohibited by the JCPOA didn’t occur until 2021, when Trump was either already gone or about to be. The Chinese undoubtedly knew that Trump would retaliate economically if they made their agreement with Iran during his term. And the Iranian regime clearly feared the US president, who had eliminated Qasem Soleimani, the single most dangerous terrorist operative in decades.

Biden’s policy – or that of whoever is making decisions for him – will empower the Iranian regime in reaching its objectives. And those objectives are quite ambitious: the establishment of a Shiite caliphate in the region, the replacement of various regimes (e.g., in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain), the destruction of the Jewish state, the control of all Middle Eastern fossil fuel resources, and so on. Iranian expansionism has already turned Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen into failed states whose populations are suffering enormously as a result.

If Iran continues with its nuclear program past Israel’s redlines, or if it orders its proxies to attack Israel, the result will be regional war. Such a war would be disastrous, especially for Lebanon, whose southern part has been turned by Iran’s Hezbollah proxy into one big launching pad for an estimated 130,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel. Israel’s defensive capabilities, although the most advanced in the world, could not deal with the number of weapons that would be fired at it, and so it would be necessary to respond by bombing southern Lebanon. That would cause thousands of casualties in a country already suffering from disease and total economic collapse.

The regime in Iran has made it clear that America, “the Great Satan,” is its most important enemy. It and its proxies have killed Americans in Lebanon and of course Iraq. It will work together with other enemies of the USA to harm it in any way it can. It even played a role in the 9/11 attacks. It isn’t unthinkable that it will provide nuclear material to terrorists in order to attack her in a “plausibly deniable” way.

Is enabling this regime’s regional takeover and nuclear project in America’s national interest? I don’t think so. The best way to forestall its plans is for the US to return to the policy of maximum pressure: to squeeze it economically until either it has no option but to retreat from its aggression, or it falls and is replaced by the more moderate government that most of the Iranian people would prefer.

Having said that, I am certain that this will not occur. What is going on is more than just a repudiation of Trump. Whoever is behind the project of strengthening the Iranian regime and enabling it to obtain its objectives knows what they are doing, and must share those objectives. The ideology of appointed officials is too consistent, the historical precedents too clear, and the functioning of the PR echo chamber too slick for it to be anything but deliberate.

Israel can only defend herself. It’s up to Americans to do whatever is necessary to move their country off this dangerous path.

The Troubling US Deflection of Israel’s Concerns on Iran

While each of these American actions may have standalone rationalizations, the cumulative effect is to put Israel on the defensive—and I think that is exactly what the administration intends. Israel is being warned not to be too pushy about Iran policy or else the administration can pester Israel diplomatically in ways that will pinch.

This week, the Biden administration also is launching its own “Bibi-sitting” exercise, with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin coming to soothe the concerns of Netanyahu and Defense Minister Benny Gantz. It is not at all coincidental that this first cabinet-level visit of a Biden administration official comes at the time that talks with the Iranians are taking place (publicly in Vienna, and perhaps secretly elsewhere too).

I hope that Austin is authorized to discuss real policy with Jerusalem, not just hold the hands of Netanyahu and Gantz and warn them to back off.

And then there are some early signs of a defamation campaign coming from Washington. Joe Cirincione penned an NBC News op-ed this week in which he warned against the return of the old anti-Iran deal “coalition,” including hawks in Congress, the leaders of Israel and Saudi Arabia, and by insinuation also evangelical Christians and American Jews, whose “money and influence” could ruin everything for the Biden administration.

This is another way of saying, in thinly veiled sophisticate-speak: Get the damn Jews and Israelis and their allies the hell off our back while we responsible statesmen loyal to Biden (and Obama) get our nuclear deal with Iran back on track.

Cirincione is a fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft (a new, fiercely left-wing think tank funded by George Soros) and a former president of the Ploughshares Fund, which lavishly supported the original Iran deal campaign. He may be a bellwether of more hostile messaging to come.

In fact, after the administration leaked news of the “Israeli strike” on the IRGC ship in the Red Sea, Cirincione tweeted something to the effect that once again Israel is driving towards war. By implication, he was accusing Israel of dragging the United States into war, too.

Beware: Obama’s echo chamber is coming back in the service of Biden to bash Bibi and endorse another awful nuclear deal with Iran.

Iran fires missile at Israeli-owned ship near UAE - report

An Israeli ship called the Hyperion and owned by an Israeli company was attacked near the shores of the Fujairah emirate in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, according to reports in Lebanon. The attack came a day after Iran vowed to avenge the explosion at its Natanz nuclear facility, which it blamed on Israel.

Data available on MarineTraffic.com showed that the Hyperion, a vehicle carrier sailing under the flag of the Bahamas, was stopped off the coast of Fujairah. Arab media reports said that the ship was hit by an Iranian missile.

The vessel is associated with the Israeli Ray Shipping company, the same company that owns a vessel hit by an alleged Iranian attack in February.

Israeli media reported that the attack was likely carried out with a missile or drone and that only light damage was caused to the vessel. The IDF declined to comment on the reports.

Despite increased tensions with Iran and a security cabinet meeting planned for next week, Attorney-General Avi Mandelblit banned the security cabinet from meeting until a justice minister is appointed, according to Israeli media.

The attack comes just days after an alleged Israeli attack on Iran's Natanz nuclear facility and exactly a week after the Iranian Saviz ship was damaged in alleged Israeli attack in the Red Sea.

It also comes after two strikes against Israeli-owned vessels in the region and reports of dozens of earlier strikes carried out by Israel against Iran in locations ranging from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf.

Antisemitic graffiti in Miami points to right-wing haters of Israel who also love Muslims

This news story shows that there has been a wave of antisemitic graffiti in the Miami area in recent weeks, most saying "Communism is Judaism," indicating that it is being done by one person.

But the latest example also points to a website, GoyimTV.

I looked at it briefly. It is clearly a far right, white nationalist site centered on inciting hate against Jews. But what struck me is that the white nationalists behind this site seem to have no problem with Muslims. In fact, some of the videos on the site would be at home on left-wing "anti-Zionist" sites as well.

Once again proving that while leftist anti-Zionists pretend that antisemitism is a right wing phenomenon, in fact anti-Zionism is just politically correct antisemitism - and the far Left have a great deal in common with the far-Right when it comes to Jews and Israel.

The Biden administration is gaslighting Jews

JTA reports:

Days after resuming U.S. funding for the troubled U.N. agency that administers to Palestinian refugees and their descendants, the Biden administration says it has the commitment of UNRWA to “zero tolerance” for anti-Semitism, racism or discrimination.

“UNWRA has made clear their rock-solid commitments to the United States on the issues of transparency, accountability, and neutrality in all its operations,” a senior U.S. official said in an interview this weekend, describing the process that led last week to the administration announcing the resumption of funding for the agency. “And what neutrality means in the context of the United Nations is zero tolerance for racism, discrimination, and anti-Semitism.”

These promises are the exact same ones that UNRWA has made to the US and others over the years. Every time that UNRWA is shown to teach hate and support for terrorism, UNRWA tries to cover it up, issues statements that contradict clear facts, and then goes on to beg for more money because it is being persecuted by people who demand accountability.

I have discovered myself, dozens of times, explicit antisemitism being taught in UNRWA schools or posted by UNRWA teachers which resulted in UNRWA acting quickly - to take down the posts, but not to change a thing.

In 2016, I found a Gaza school Facebook page showing students supporting the spree of stabbings and car rammings happening then. UNRWA removed its logo from the Facebook page of the school - and the Obama State Department issued a ridiculous statement about how seriously UNRWA takes these things:

QUESTION: The – yesterday I asked you a question about the UNRWA school incitement --

MR KIRBY: Yeah.

QUESTION: -- which seems to go to – or possibly might go to the fact that there is still this ongoing violence that doesn’t appear to be abating. Did you – were you able to look into that?

MR KIRBY: So yeah, and as we’ve said before, we’ve seen this report that you’re talking about, and we’re looking into the allegations. As we’ve said before, anti-Semitism and incitement to violence are totally unacceptable. And UNRWA itself has made clear that it will not tolerate anti-Semitism or incitement to violence by its staff or in its classrooms, and they’ve condemned racism in all its form. We want and we expect that UNRWA will meet that – their own statements, they will meet those principles. And every such allegation brought to UNRWA’s attention thus far has either been or is being assessed. And again, our expectation is that these will as well.

We’ve asked UNRWA to keep us informed here at the State Department of the findings of its investigations into these allegations. Upholding their own strict policy of neutrality is vital to the agency’s ability to carry out what we believe to be critical life-saving work.

QUESTION: And then the other thing is, do you believe, based on what you’ve seen thus far since these reports started coming out, that they have been upholding this strict policy of neutrality?

MR KIRBY: Well, I mean, it’s certainly something we’ve talked to them about and will continue to. And as I said earlier, every such allegation brought to UNRWA’s attention has either been or is being investigated and looked at. So what I can tell you is it’s apparent to us they’re taking it seriously and they’re looking into these things, or they have looked into them in the past and closed them out. ...We’re certainly worried and concerned that there could be a problem that needs to be fixed.

QUESTION: There could be?

MR KIRBY: Right. I mean, I think we need to let these investigations play out. But we’ve been very clear about our concerns with respect to incitement of violence and anti-Semitism that has allegedly occurred in UNRWA.

Since then, of course, we have seen more examples of UNRWA teaching incitement and hate, not less.

Only this year UNRWA was caught providing students with educational materials created by UNRWA - not by host countries - that explicitly encouraged students to become martyrs. UNRWA's own logo is on this page encouraging the "sword" to "free the motherland."

UNRWA in Gaza and the West Bank uses this textbook, today, that glorifies mass murderer Dalal Mughrabi.

Is there any difference between UNRWA's worthless promises to the Obama administration in 2016 and its promises to the Biden administration in 2021?

Back to this JTA story, this little detail is very important:

The Biden administration official, who asked not to be named in order to speak candidly, reached out to JTA.

When UNRWA lies, it is expected. When the US defends the UNRWA lies, that is unconscionable. But when the Biden administration reaches out to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency to proactively defend UNRWA lies, that is the White House gaslighting Jews.

UNRWA knows it is lying. The White House knows UNRWA is lying. And it chooses to defend those lies.

Now that we've seen that Biden is treating Jewish concerns over UNRWA inciting terrorism with contempt, can anyone think that they are doing anything different over the Iran nuclear negotiations?

I have been willing to give the new administration the benefit of the doubt. That is no longer possible. Even though Biden campaigned on restoring aid to UNRWA, the subsequent news that UNRWA's own custom educational materials included explicit support for terrorism should have caused a moral White House to at least pause and insist on real reform before returning to fund UNRWA, at the very least.

Seeing White House officials treating Jews dismissively concerning UNRWA shows that they intend to do the exact same thing with respect to Iran.

From Reuters:

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister on Monday approved a draft decree expanding the country’s claims in a dispute with Israel over their maritime border that has held up hydrocarbon exploration in the potentially gas-rich area.

The amendment would add around 1,400 square km (540 square miles) to the exclusive economic zone claimed by Lebanon in its original submission to the United Nations.

Negotiations between old foes Lebanon and Israel were launched in October to try to resolve the dispute, yet the talks, a culmination of three years of diplomacy by the United States, have since stalled.

Israel already pumps gas from huge offshore fields but Lebanon has yet to find commercial gas reserves in its own waters.

Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz said Lebanon’s latest move would derail the talks rather than help work towards a common solution. “Unilateral Lebanese measures will, of course, be answered with parallel measures by Israel,” he said in a statement.

Lebanon, in the throes of a deep financial meltdown that is threatening its stability, is desperate for cash as it faces the worst economic crisis since its 1975-1990 civil war.

Lebanon needs money, desperately.

If it negotiates borders with Israel it can sell the rights to potential oil and gas fields within its maritime borders.

If it adds more demands it will never get to sell anything.

Is any country that suicidal to give up perhaps its only chance for survival for a fake sense of pride?

Can stupidity explain this stupidity?

Or perhaps something else is going on. Two weeks ago:

The Syrian government signed a 4-year contract with a Russian company for oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean Sea that could spark a new border crisis between Lebanon and Syria.
The two blocks to be explored under the new contract overlap with Lebanese maritime areas for energy exploration along the country’s northern border.
According to this demarcation, the Syrian side grabbed a Lebanese area of 750 square kilometers from Block No. 1 alone, where the Russian exploration process will begin.
Lebanon had previously demarcated its maritime borders in 2011, and in 2014 launched a round of primary licenses and invited bids for Block No. 1 in the north. But Syria did not recognize the Lebanese demarcation.

Aa far as I can tell, Lebanon has not protested Syria literally stealing oil and gas within its declared borders. So clearly national pride isn't what's at play here.

So what's going on?

The only way to explain this nonsensical behavior is Iran.

Iran wants to minimize the amount of area Israel claims in the Mediterranean, and it is willing to sacrifice Lebanon for that purpose. Iran also wants to give Syria as much area in the sea as it can - and again, Lebanon be damned. Hezbollah has a stranglehold on Lebanon and can ensure that Lebanon dances to Tehran's tune.

Lebanon isn't stupid. It has lost its independence long ago. Iran will use it as a front line against Israel and had no interest in ever negotiating anything with the hated Zionist entity.

What is Iran's endgame? One scenario can be based on the fact that its ally Syria has always considered Lebanon to be part of its territory. If Lebanon collapses, Syria can swoop in and take over - and Iran can have a much bigger stranglehold on the region.

The Lebanese people are the losers in this game.

04/12 Links Pt2: Britain’s Chief Rabbi Pays Tribute to Prince Philip; Amnesty chief said Israel ‘murdered’ Arafat, and that Peres ‘admitted’ it; The Cuomo scandal and the Jewish community

From Ian:

Britain’s Chief Rabbi Pays Tribute to Prince Philip: ‘I Could See His Deep Interest in Jews and a Particular Connection to the Holocaust’

Britain’s chief rabbi paid tribute to the late Prince Philip on Sunday, recounting how the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, who died on April 9, once showed him a Torah scroll that had been rescued from the Nazis and found refuge in the Royal Library, as well as his visit to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp with Philip and the queen.

He also recalled that Philip’s mother was also known for rescuing a Jewish family during the Holocaust, and was later buried in Jerusalem.

Speaking with the BBC, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis recalled being invited to visit the royal family at Windsor Castle, where Philip “particularly wanted me to see one particular gift that Her Majesty the Queen had received in the 1960s. And in the Royal Library, he showed me a Torah scroll that she had received as a gift. And he wanted me to explain it to him.”

“It was one of the Czech scrolls, and I was able to first of all describe what a Torah scroll is; and that in addition, this particular scroll had been rescued from the former Czechoslovakia,” he said. “It had been intended to be part of what the Nazis wanted to be a museum to the people that used to exist. And therefore, in Czechoslovakia, none of the Torah scrolls were destroyed. A whole lot of these scrolls were brought to London and one was presented to the queen.”

“And throughout this explanation, I could see his deep interest in Jews and Judaism and Jewish faith and a particular connection to the Holocaust,” he said.

In 2015, Mirvis visited Bergen-Belsen with the royal couple.

“This was the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Belsen by British troops, the first time that the monarch had visited a concentration camp,” he said. “It was an exceptionally moving occasion. And you know, many times people want to know: when you were in conversation with the royals, what did they say? And on this occasion, I only remember the sense of pain on their faces.”

“There was a dignified silence, because there’s nothing you can say while standing in those fields where some of the worst atrocities that have ever taken place” occurred, said Mirvis.

Cancel Culture and Then Some

Review of 'Not in Kansas Anymore' by Cary Nelson

It’s hard to sell an assault on academic freedom to academics. The American Association of University Professors, hardly a hotbed of pro-Israel sentiment, opposes efforts to boycott Israeli universities for threatening the free exchange of ideas. How, then, can anti-Israel scholar-activists persuade uncommitted colleagues to cancel exchange programs with Israel, to skip conferences there, and to shun teaching or research activities tied to Israeli universities? They must make Israel out to be an academic-freedom supervillain.

Because Israeli universities are quite free, the boycott crew targets Israel’s activities in the West Bank and Gaza. As the pro-boycott resolution adopted by the American Studies Association in 2013 puts it, “there is no effective or substantive academic freedom for Palestinian students and scholars under conditions of Israeli occupation.” When Americans hear of a raid on, say, An-Najah National University in the West Bank, we, lacking experience of Palestinian universities, imagine soldiers raiding an American campus and are horrified. But that’s a mistake, and Cary Nelson’s Not in Kansas Anymore corrects it.

It isn’t a mistake, Nelson suggests, to be horrified. Palestinian higher education has shown its ability to “provide graduates qualified to fill many necessary medical, technical, administrative, commercial, and service positions.” Individually and collectively, Palestinians depend on higher education, and the intrusion of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict into campuses has caused great harm.

The mistake is, instead, to see only the brochure-worthy work of an An-Najah, and to squeeze one’s eyes shut against work best described as repulsive. Consider the September 2001 exhibit, mounted in An-Najah’s cafeteria, celebrating the prior month’s terrorist attack on Jerusalem’s Sbarro pizzeria. That attack killed 15 Israeli civilians, including seven children, and wounded over 100 more. The exhibit, sponsored by “students supporting Hamas” and serving, Nelson plausibly asserts, as an “indirect recruiting activity,” included “shattered furniture splattered with fake blood and human body parts.” The Sbarro attack was among several bombings organized by Qeis Adwan, who had graduated from An-Najah just months before, with his career in Hamas’s military wing already underway. His story is one episode in An-Najah’s “history of terrorist connections.”

Amnesty chief said Israel ‘murdered’ Arafat, and that Peres ‘admitted’ it

Agnes Callamard, the new head of Amnesty International, once declared that PLO chief Yasser Arafat was murdered, the Israelis did it, and President Shimon Peres admitted this. All of which are lies.

On the contrary, the NYT interview which she cited says that Peres protected Arafat, and justified his peace negotiations with him. https://t.co/JxjjDOyUiI

Arafat died at age 75, in a French military hospital near Paris. A French inquiry found no evidence that he was “murdered.“ pic.twitter.com/NglMFP9ATk
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) April 11, 2021

On the contrary, the New York Times interview which she cited says that Peres protected Arafat, and justified his peace negotiations with him.

Arafat died at age 75, in a French military hospital near Paris. A French inquiry found no evidence that he was “murdered.”

UN Watch’s Hillel Neuer called on Callamard to apologize and to delete her false tweet.

Moments after mass murderer Qassem Soleimani was killed while plotting attacks in Iraq, @AgnesCallamard tweetstormed that the U.S. airstrike “violates international human rights law.” She then turned this into a major UNHRC report—which was adored by Iran. https://t.co/0ojjql1BSL
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) April 11, 2021

The mezuzah on the Hezbollah tunnel

Today, the Israeli members of Digitell, organized by the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, went on a fact-finding tour of the north of the country, making me very jealous as a person who has been on Digitell events in the past.

They had discussions with Arab Israelis about minorities in Israel, but the highlight was a tour of the terror tunnels from Hezbollah that were discovered in Israel.

I was particularly amused at this photo of Tweeter extraordinaire Moran T, where she shows that someone put up a mezuzah - a Hebrew scroll placed by Jews on doorposts - at the entrance of the Hezbollah tunnel.

Mezuzahs are said to be protective of the buildings and rooms on whose entrance they are placed. Here, the IDF protected all of Israel by finding this tunnel before the terrorists could enter and kidnap or kill Israelis. In that sense, the IDF is Israel's protective mezuzah, and seeing this one at what could have been a source for a terrible terror attack seems very appropriate.

04/12 Links Pt1: Biden's Taylor Force Betrayal; The West’s shameful Iranian capitulation; How Israel Helps Defend American Interests in the Middle East

From Ian:

Biden's Taylor Force Betrayal

In his first 100 days in office, Biden has resumed funding of the Palestinians and UNRWA. He has rejoined the UNHRC, will probably soon rejoin UNESCO and has pledged to re-open the PLO mission. Biden's State Department has gone back to the old practice of referring to Judea and Samaria as "occupied territories."

For decades, the Palestinian leadership has conducted itself as the political arm of the various terrorist organizations it controls. Whether they call themselves Fatah, PLO, PA or Hamas, Palestinian leaders invariably coordinate attacks and obstruct rapprochement with Israel. The U.S. has long endured this truth, and has often pretended it wasn't so. American presidents have looked the other way when our own citizens and diplomats were murdered by Palestinian terrorists, all in the hope of achieving the chimera of peace in the Middle East.

During his four years in office, Donald Trump changed that. De-emphasizing the Palestinian centrality of Middle East policy led to the Abraham Accords—the most notable peace in the region since 1979.

But Joe Biden likes things the old way.

As secretary of state, John Kerry acknowledged that Iran would fund terrorism with some of the money it received in the 2015 nuclear deal. It was worth the trade-off, he believed, of a grand deal that would turn the Islamic Republic of Iran into a responsible nuclear power. That was a complete fantasy.

Likewise, Joe Biden believes that the advantages to funding Palestinians outweigh the unfortunate fact that a percentage of that money will be spent on missiles, salaries of imprisoned terrorists and pensions for the families of Palestinian "martyrs."

Biden seems to have forgotten the visceral shock he felt five years ago when Taylor Force was murdered nearby. He is now blinded as he chases the fantasy of a responsible Palestinian leadership that can be persuaded to accept the legitimacy of the Jewish state of Israel.

The West’s shameful Iranian capitulation

On a sweltering day in July 2018, German police pulled over a scarlet Ford S-Max hire car that was travelling at speed towards Austria. The driver, Assadollah Assadi, the third secretary to the Iranian embassy in Vienna, was arrested at gunpoint and taken into custody.

Although unusual, there was a good reason for detaining the diplomat: Assadi had used his immunity to smuggle a bomb on a commercial airliner from Tehran to Austria, intending to carry out what would have been one of Europe’s worst atrocities in recent years.

Once in Vienna, he had handed the device — codenamed the ‘Playstation’ — to two married Belgian-Iranian agents, Amir Saadouni and Nasimeh Naami, and instructed them to blow up an anti-regime event in Paris, which was to be attended by dignitaries including Rudy Giuliani and former environment secretary Theresa Villiers.

The plot was thwarted on the day of the attack after a tip-off from Mossad, saving hundreds of lives. Assadi was arrested the following day while pursuing diplomatic refuge in Austria. But as we reported in this week’s Jewish Chronicle, the treasure trove of evidence inside the vehicle should have set off alarm bells in European corridors of power — alarm bells that should be sounding especially loudly today.

The car was effectively being used as a mobile intelligence station to run agents. It contained handwritten records of trips to 289 locations in 22 cities across Europe as well as notes on bomb handling and ideas for attacks using acid and toxic pathogenic substances. Also discovered were receipts for expense reimbursements and salary payments to spies, details of computers issued to them, numerous mobile phones and GPS devices, and more than €30,000 (£26,000) in cash. In short, it revealed an Iranian espionage network in Europe that was startling in both its scale and scope.

When seen in the light of the political context at the time, the arrest seemed almost ironic. Not eight weeks previously, Donald Trump had pulled America out of the nuclear deal with Iran, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), reimposing ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions on the theocracy. The Europeans were appalled.

How Israel Helps Defend American Interests in the Middle East

Israel plays an indispensable role in helping defend American interests in the Middle East, serving as a stabilizing bulwark in a dangerous region that remains vitally important to the U.S.

Israel's determination to prevent a nuclear Iran represents significant leverage for American diplomats in negotiations with Tehran. If wielded skillfully by American negotiators, this leverage can play an essential role in pressuring Iran to dramatically curb its nuclear ambitions.

Should talks fail and Iran's march toward the bomb continue, Israel's ability to act decisively is a unique strategic asset - one that the Biden administration should have every interest in preserving and ensuring is as effective as possible.

Israel also has taken the lead against Iran on the ground. In Iran's shadow wars across the region, Israel alone has mastered gray-zone combat, conducting more than 1,000 strikes against Iranian-related targets in Syria, Iraq and the surrounding seas, almost single-handedly crippling Tehran's master plan to turn Syria into an IRGC fortress and forward operating base.

For the U.S., it's hard to put a price on the value of having a local partner with the power and skill to operate so effectively.

Iranian state media shows its antisemitism again

Iran's Al Alam TV again showed that its problem isn't with Israel, but with Jews.

An article railing against the UAE cooperation with Israel was illustrated with a photo of a bearded Jew in front of a menorah in Dubai.

If that wasn't obvious enough, the article itself includes blatant Jew-hatred.

The dramatic shift in relations between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv was also reflected in all aspects of life, so that the scene of commemorating the "Holocaust" in the UAE became a natural event. In Dubai, special ceremonies and rituals were organized to commemorate the memory during which candles were lit, documentary films were shown, and speeches were presented.

In a remarkable and shameful step , the UAE embassy to the Zionist entity sent its condolences to the families of the alleged victims of the Holocaust and said that they "have fallen victim to extremism, hatred and discrimination," adding that "love, coexistence and patience are among the basic values that humanity needs in order to ensure eternal peace."

A suspicious scheme is revealed ... through tweets and statements that try to suggest a popular embrace of normalization through contacts between the two and even participating in events that the Zionists make, such as the "Jewish Passover" and others, and the memory of the alleged "Holocaust" set up by a group of people in Dubai, in an attempt to market the Zionist narrative and replace loyalty to their homelands with the money of betrayal and replace pride with humiliation....

According to Iran, commemorating the Holocaust is a Zionist plot, as is celebrating Passover - and anyone who participates is shameful.

Makor Rishon had a lengthy interview with Rabbi Yaakov Israel Herzog, 44, who lives in the Ramat Shlomo neighborhood of Jerusalem - and who calls himself Saudi Arabia's de facto chief rabbi.

He has had business ties with the Saudis for 25 years, as part of his private business exporting vegetable seeds from Israel.

"When I started my relationship with the Saudis, the situation there towards Israel and the Jews was different," Herzog told the newspaper. "They were deeply involved in the Palestinian issue, and it drew a lot of hostility. They were allergic to Jews. ...Today, Jews can enter the country without a problem."

The only exception is the ban on non-Muslims going to Mecca, although Herzog says that it is easy enough to disguise oneself as a Muslim if one wants to go there.

According to Rabbi Herzog, "Jewish history in Saudi Arabia before 1932 was very rich. Jews lived mainly in the north, and some on the border with Egypt, an area that historically is 'Midian' mentioned in the Torah. There are remnants of Judaism all over the country. There were synagogues, mikvahs and lots of history. Half a year ago, for example, in one of the northern cities where Jews lived, a man dug a house and discovered an ancient synagogue. Of course, they guarded it and did not desecrate it. "

With the establishment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, Jews were given two options: convert to Islam or cross the border into Yemen. Jewish life in the area seemed to be over.

Now, most of the Jews in Saudi Arabia are there on business or as part of the US Army and their families, as well as diplomatic staff from countries like the US and France.

"Today I am in touch with hundreds of Jews across Saudi Arabia, also from my home in Israel. I answer questions from Jewish soldiers, and even give them couple counseling in Zoom. I hope to move to Saudi Arabia this September with my family. Until now I did not have to be there all the time, but now I do. I have had some interfaith meetings, and I have dialogue with the Imam Council," he says.

Although he is associated with Chabad, he is not an official Chabad emissary, preferring to make his own decisions, although he says that he definitely is inspired by the late Lubavitcher Rebbe.

"If you ask the American embassy if there is a rabbi for the country, you will be referred to me. All government institutions know me. If people want to convert, I direct them to be good Muslims and tell them 'I will not make you a Jew, it will not happen. If you want to know what is written in the Torah, you will read it in Arabic, and it can help you to be a better Muslim.' "

Are there descendants of Jews living in Saudi Arabia?

"There are a lot of them who are like marranos who have integrated into society. There are Jews, but they do not know that they are Jews. You can identify them by facial features or customs that were in their families. You hear about families who would light Shabbat candles, for example."

As far as communal prayer is concerned, Rabbi Herzog says, "I personally have permission from the authorities to hold prayers for up to 120 people. The next step is to get space for a synagogue, and I believe that in two or three years the Saudis will build on their own initiative a magnificent Jewish center like the United Arab Emirates has."

Rabbi Herzog is a certified mohel and has performed a circumcision as well as several bar mitzvah celebrations for American Jews living in Saudi Arabia.

There is no kosher food available in Saudi Arabia, but Herzog eats fish when he goes. He says he is n contact with a slaughterhouse with the desire to be able not only to prepare kosher meat and poultry, but to be able to export it to other Gulf countries.

I only found out about this article from Iran's Al Alam, which said that the existence of a rabbi in Saudi Arabia is controversial. Any hint of closer cooperation between Israel and Saudi Arabia causes alarm in Iran, even though Rabbi Herzog stresses that he has nothing to do with the Israeli government and is not interested in politics.

A group calling itself the "Popular Forces to Resist Normalization" announced it just reached a million signatures on an online petition to oppose Sudan's establishing relations with Israel.

Anyone worldwide can fill in the form, as I recently did with the name "Adolf Hitler."

The group is hoping that an online petition will sway the leaders of Sudan to reconsider the decision to establish relations with Israel, and if not, they plan to go to court to enforce a 1958 Boycott Israel law in Sudan.

Meanwhile, Sudanese citizens who love Israel are joining the Sudanese Israeli People's Friendship Association.

Al Jazeera says that they have over 157,000 members.

This cartoon on their Facebook page shows Begin and Sadat being proud at the results of their historic peace agreement.

Sudanese newspapers have been showing both sides of the debate.

Things might get interesting in Sudan.

A British diplomat who saved some 40,000 Jews (@garius)

Here is an extraordinary Twitter thread about a hero I had never heard of, by John Bull.

__________________

This is Robert Smallbones, career civil servant and diplomat, and his wife Inga.
Between November 1938 and the outbreak of WW2, they helped OVER FORTY THOUSAND Jews escape the Nazis and get to Britain. /1

Robert Smallbones was the child of Austrian parents, who'd emigrated to Britain before he was born. He went to Oxford, then joined the Foreign Office. There he made a name as a competent diplomat and all round friendly chap.

In 1932, the Foreign Office sent him to Munich. More jobs in Germany followed until, by 1938 he was the British Consul-General in Frankfurt.
Throughout that time, Smallbones and his family witnessed the growing Nazi horror. He wrote warnings to the FO about it constantly.

Smallbones wasn't the only person in the Frankfurt Consulate horrified by this. His daughter once horse-whipped a Gestapo officer to try and prevent him taking a Jewish man off the street. By 1938, Consulate staff were also already secretly offering refuge to a number of Jews.

Then, on the 9th November: Kristallnacht.
As the horror and murder rages through Frankfurt. Desperate Jews begin arriving at the British Consulate pleading for help.
But Robert isn't there. He's back in England.
The women of the Smallbones family are, though.
They act.

Robert's mother and his wife order the gates of the British Consulate opened to all. Throughout Kristallnacht, to the fury and protest of the German authorities, the Frankfurt Consulate becomes a small, untouchable refuge for the Jewish community of Frankfurt.

Robert, still in England, finds out about this the next day when they manage to reach him.
These people need HELP. They tell him. Nationality be damned. We're not sending them back out there. We need to get them out of this country.
Robert agrees. He thinks. He acts.

The Home Office is responsible for immigration. So Robert calls in favours and rank. He gets a meeting with senior people in the Home Office.
What are we going to do about this?! He demands.
"Oh it's terrible, agreed." Is the response. "But we can't let lots of foreigners in."

The whole WORLD has been doing this since the beginning of the rise of Hitler. Helping the Jews is always someone else's problem.
But Robert's been thinking. He has a plan to let the Home Office PRETEND it's still someone else's problem whilst also acting:
The Smallbones Scheme

The issue was that nobody wanted to give Jews permanent immigration visas.
We don't need to. Robert says. We can exploit the fact that the USA is sneakier about how it blocks Jews from immigrating:
It gives them visas, but then only lets a certain percentage a year use them.

Robert proposes that the Home Office allow anyone who has a VALID US VISA to "wait" in Britain until their 'turn' in the US arrivals queue comes up. Essentially, a TEMPORARY visa for Britain, that expires when they get to America.
The Home Secretary, Viscount Hoare is summoned.

Hoare is horrified by what's happening in Germany, but antisemitism and anti-immigrant feeling in the public/Parliament limits his actions. He's already trying to force the Kinder Transport scheme through parliament.
He jumps on Robert's plan:
Do it. But QUIETLY.

Robert calls Otto Schiff of the Jewish Relief Agency. Over lunch at the Savoy they frantically draft up the scheme properly, following Hoare's order to do it in a way that means he doesn't need to go to Parliament with it.
The Home Office and Hoare sign it off that night.

The next day, a flash to all British Consulates in Germany:
You can grant temporary visas to those on the US waiting list. BUT (caveats):
1) EVERY exemption needs to be signed PERSONALLY by the relevant Consul.
2) We're not ordering you to do this, just highlighting you can.

The caveats were to avoid it spooking parliament or the German authorities:
"Don't worry this is just a minor thing and it's tricky to do at volume."
But that underestimated the drive of people like Robert Smallbones.

Smallbones returned to Frankfurt and kicked things into action. He immediately informed local Jewish Community leaders of the scheme's existence. And, importantly, that he would allow FAMILIES to apply on behalf of anyone seized by the Gestapo and sent to camps.

He then went to the GESTAPO, and informed them that if he approved a visa, that placed the person under the protection of the British and he expected them to be IMMEDIATELY released when he asked.
It was a lie, and a gamble. But it worked. From then on they fumed but complied.

Robert then turned the entire Frankfurt Consulate into a machine with one job: getting Jews out of Germany to safety in Britain. But the bottleneck remained:
The Consul (Robert) had to sign EVERYTHING, and often the gestapo would only release people if he went personally.

For the next 9 months Robert worked 18 hour days signing documents, arguing with the gestapo, helping desperate people. He couldn't stop. He later confessed that whenever he tried to sleep, he couldn't:

"After two hours sleep my conscience pricked me. The feeling was horrible that there were people in concentration camp whom I could get out and that I was comfortable in bed…. I returned to my desk and stayed there..."

Every moment was another life he could save. Elsewhere others were using the Smallbones Scheme too.
Frank Foley, a Passport Officer in Berlin (worth his own thread) was also using it. Word got around:
You can't get out? Get to the Frankfurt. They care there. They will help.

One survivor:
"My husband was in the concentration camp. And while I tried to get him out it was too terrible for one to even cry. Then at last I went to the British Consul to see if he could help me. And the first thing they asked me was: 'have you had anything to eat today?'"

"I hadn't of course. I was too worried to think of food. And before they did anything else, they fed me with coffee and sandwiches, as though I had been a guest. And then, I cried."

Romance author Ida Cook also met him, during her own desperate work to save lives. She gives us one of the few first-hand accounts we have of Robert.
He helped her get people out too. I don't think she realised the scheme she was using was designed by him

The desperate work went on. Every waking hour Smallbones spent signing exit visas. Arguing with the gestapo. Saving lives. He suffered a breakdown over his failure to get to one concentration camp victim in time. He forced himself to carry on.
Until eventually war was declared.

Back in Britain now, Robert, broken and exhausted went to the Home Office. How many Visas did we manage to grant?
Your scheme saved Forty Eight THOUSAND Jews, they told him. And fifty thousand more were being processed when war was declared.
Then they swore him to secrecy.

Because the Home Office now felt they had a problem. The Smallbones Scheme had saved tens of thousands of people.
People who were Jews and foreigners.
And, well, terribly sorry old chap, but can you IMAGINE if people or parliament knew we'd let all those people in?!

Which is why you've probably never heard of Robert Smallbones.
Because it wasn't until 2008 that the British Government and Foreign Office even officially acknowledge what he, and his scheme, had done.
And because Robert never liked talking about it.

Because, like Ida Cook, Nicholas Winton, Ho Feng-Shan, Raoul Wallenburg and so many other ordinary people who stood up and did the extraordinary, he could never forget the faces of the people he HADN'T managed to save.

Ironically, the Nazis certainly recognised what Robert Smallbones had achieved. It earned him a place in the infamous 'Black Book' of people to be rounded up by the Gestapo after the invasion of Britain.

But Robert died in 1976, long before any official British recognition of his work. I wish, like Winton, he'd at least got to see the impact his efforts had on thousands of lives. He never did.
I hope his family are proud of him though, and his story deserves to be better known.

Anyway. As usual, you can tip me a coffee if you like, but don't feel you have to! ko-fi.com/garius