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Wednesday, August 11, 2021

08/11 Links Pt1: Hamas Bars UN Inspectors From Examining Tunnel Under UNRWA School in Gaza; The bombing of Sbarro’s and why Oslo failed; Beinart Started Out as a Critic of Israel, Now He Wants It Dead

From Ian:

‘UNRWA is missing the point entirely’
UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer responded to UNRWA’s statement in which it announced a probe into alleged anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias by its staffers which was exposed in a UN Watch report.

“UNRWA’s reply misses the point entirely. If the agency employs dozens of teachers and school principals who quote Hitler and praise Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist attacks, the issue isn’t their social media posts and their so-called ‘neutrality breaches,’ but rather the fact that UNRWA’s education system is repeatedly hiring and putting in the classroom teachers that admire Hitler and propagate hatred and terrorism,” explained Neuer.

“Deleting a post on Facebook does not remove the hate in those teachers’ hearts and minds. It does not solve the problem. And claiming, as UNRWA does in its response, that certain teachers were not employed with UNRWA at the time that they advocated racism or terrorism is equally beside the point. Palestinian children deserve to be fully protected from teachers of hatred and racism. Zero tolerance in schools means you remove racists from the classroom, period,” he added.

“We regret that UNRWA is trying to kill the messenger by maliciously attacking UN Watch for vetting their teachers regarding racism and terrorism, a minimal form of oversight that the agency itself has failed to exercise. UNRWA slanderously accuses us of ‘unfounded and politically-driven assertions,’ yet it fails to cite a single example. By contrast, UN Watch’s series of reports, including our new list of more than 100 UNRWA staffers guilty of incitement, are replete with supporting factual evidence in footnotes, links and screenshots,” continued Neuer.


Hamas Bars UN Inspectors From Examining Tunnel Under UNRWA School in Gaza
Hamas prevented a team of United Nations inspectors from examining a tunnel discovered in June under a school in Gaza city’s Zaitoun neighborhood, Israel’s Kan news reported on Tuesday.

Citing Palestinian sources, the report stated that a UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) bomb-disposal unit had arrived at the site a few days ago at the request of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which runs the school.

Upon learning of the presence of UNMAS inspectors, Hamas police arrived on the scene and forced them to leave.

As a result, the UNMAS team canceled plans to inspect another UNRWA-run school, this one in Rafah, under which there is reportedly also a Hamas tunnel, according to the report.

In the absence of safety inspections, the schools will not be able to open next week as scheduled.

In response, Israeli Ambassador to the UN (and outgoing ambassador to the United States) Gilad Erdan tweeted: “I’ve demanded that the UN Secretary-General & Director General of @UNRWA investigate this incident & all UNRWA facilities in Gaza to ensure that they are not being used by Hamas for terror. 4,000 Palestinian kids can’t go to school because of Hamas! The international community cannot ignore Hamas’s heinous human rights violations & the state of terror it inflicts on Gazans. Hamas is a terror organization that uses innocents & children as hostages & human shields.”


Human Rights Watch and its Tunnel Deceptions
Contrast this with claims by Human Rights Watch that they were apparently able to investigate and found no evidence for Israel’s tunnel claims:
The Israeli military has presented no information that would demonstrate the existence of tunnels or an underground command center in this vicinity … Human Rights Watch did not find any evidence of a military target at or near the site of the airstrikes, including tunnels or an underground command center under al-Wahda street or buildings nearby.

So we are to believe that Hamas prevents the UN from searching for tunnels under UN schools in Gaza, but they allowed Human Rights Watch to search wherever they wanted? Or when HRW says they found no evidence is that because they never actually looked for evidence? Or is it just that Hamas trusts HRW more than they trust the UN?

The bottom line is that when it comes to Israel, Human Rights Watch is less credible even than the United Nations, and that is a truly low bar.


Jonathan S. Tobin: The bombing of Sbarro’s and why Oslo failed
The same sort of incitement to murder of Jews on the part of official Palestinian media and educational institutions that led to massacres like Sbarro’s continues. And in a touch of cruel irony, Tamimi now sits free as a bird in Jordan as a result of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s 2011 decision to release more than 1,000 terrorists, including those with blood on their hands like her, in order to gain the freedom of Gilad Shalit, a soldier kidnapped by Hamas in 2005.

Just as bad, President Joe Biden’s foreign-policy team still acts as if the assumptions about “land for peace” and a two-state solution are as valid as they were when Bill Clinton thought he was about to win a Nobel Peace Prize in the summer of 2000. For them, it is as if the Camp David peace offer and the subsequent bloodshed never happened. They and the base of the Democratic Party that would prefer an even more hostile attitude towards Israel, still act as if Israeli security control of the otherwise autonomously ruled Palestinian Authority areas in the 'West Bank' is an act of oppression rather than necessary self-defense.

The Palestinians and their leaders may understand that those Israeli efforts make a return to intifada-style bombings a non-starter. But they, too, still act and speak as if recognizing the legitimacy of a Jewish state—no matter where its borders might be drawn—is something they will never do. Israelis know that a withdrawal from the 'West Bank' and the uprooting of hundreds of thousands of Jews from their homes in Jerusalem and in the territories won’t bring peace. It would, like the retreat from Gaza in 2005, only make their country less safe.

Sbarro’s still matters not just because of its horror. but because the foolishness that set the series of events in motion towards that bout of terrorism is still alive and well in the unrealistic demands for an end to the “occupation” and for support of BDS campaigns inspired by anti-Semitism by those who claim to be only advocating for peace and human rights. Decent people should not only hold the memory of the victims of 8/9/01 for a blessing but also never allow the lessons of the failure of Oslo to be forgotten.
The first new rule for the IDF should be disproportionality
Regardless of the foe, Israel has a better and stronger army and capabilities, much of which has rarely, if ever, been used.

There is no point for these to be held in reserve for a future overt war against another nation—something that’s unlikely to take place anytime soon. Even Iran is too clever for that, knowing that Israel could crush it in a full-scale war.

Israel thus must look at every enemy as if it is a state actor because more frequently than not, each is just that, all but in name.

Hamas rules Gaza; Hezbollah controls Lebanon, or at least the southern part; and Fatah runs the Palestinian Authority areas of Judea and Samaria. If there are attacks on Israel from any of these groups, the IDF should be deployed disproportionately, in order for Israel to achieve victory against them.

For too long, Israel has used its military power merely to achieve some new “understanding” or short-term peace. That has to end.

This is not to say that Israel should charge into any war, but rather that when it does, its aims are not to achieve peace, which can and should ensue afterwards. The IDF’s one goal in conflict should be victory, and to use its full potential to achieve it.

Peace can come after victory, through the surrender of a conquered and vanquished enemy that has given up on its belligerent aims. Furthermore, Israel will likely find that if it achieves victory over one enemy, this will have a significant effect on deterring the others.

Its enemies need to feel that the rules of engagement and warfare have truly changed.
Israeli Minister Details Plans for Rocket-Proof Protection in Northern Israeli Homes
Israel’s Deputy Defense Minister Alon Schuster met with the heads of local councils in the country’s north and provided details about plans to install rocket-proof protection in homes near the Lebanon border. Under the Defense Ministry’s plan, dubbed “Defender of the North,” work will begin next month in eight communities located up to one kilometer from the border to fortify homes. Schuster was accompanied at the meeting by the head of the Shielding Department in the Israel Defense Forces Home Front Command, Col. Yaniv Wolfer, and visited a number of locations in the Upper Galilee, including Moshav Yuval, where the first homes will receive the added protection. The program will be led by the Defense Ministry and the IDF Home Front Command. It will receive 250 million shekels ($77.5 million) of funding for 2021-22 and 500 million shekels ($155 million) from the 2023 defense budget. Schuster said as a result of “the conclusion and approval of the defense budget under the leadership of Defense Minister Benny Gantz, we are ensuring the implementation of the ‘Defender of the North’ program.” The program was approved by the political security cabinet in 2018. Schuster added that bolstering homes in the north will form a “critical issue in the home front and the civilian resilience in the next conflict.”
Yisrael Medad: Terrible, TERRIBLE Peter Beinart
Peter Beinart, enfant terrible, is not so much a danger to young Jewish minds regarding the content of what he writes and speaks as he is in the methodology he uses to express himself—or rather, the deceitful way in which he weaves his web to tangle up his audience of young Jews who are woefully uneducated, uninformed but nevertheless proud of their hollow cultural and ethical Judaism. He determinedly set out more than a decade ago to undermine the American Jewish establishment and serve as the prime catalyst for its desired failure, and, as was described, to sound out “an anguished call to save liberal Zionism in the United States.” He bemoaned that Israel “was abandoning any serious attempt to make a deal with the Palestinians just as it was undermining democratic principles by giving greater status and privileges to its Jewish citizens than to its Arab ones.” He perceived an American Jewish leadership that continues to publicly defend “the Israeli government, any Israeli government, rather than defending Israeli democracy, even when the former menaces the latter”—one that “ignores the interconnectedness of Jewish and non-Jewish dignity. To do that, Beinart has refined a particularly insidious form of argument. He exploits terms and themes that have been employed by Jew-haters and anti-Zionists, reworking them to be legitimately used by Jewish critics of the Palestinian narrative. As in this assertion—“the same sort of settler fanatics who burn Palestinian olive groves also assassinated an Israeli prime minister”—he throws out generalizations that are simply incorrect, although his audience will miss such false charges. For example, he promotes the existence of institutionalized anti-Palestinian bigotry in America against the Democratic “Squad”-istas. He suggests that “ ‘anti-Semitism’ offers a glimpse into how this works” and that “treating Jews as inferior didn’t require a special term because it was unremarkable, the normal order of things. That’s roughly the situation for Palestinians today.”
Peter Beinart Started Out as a Critic of Israel, Now He Wants It Dead
A year ago, in mid-July, the Pope of liberal Zionism, American Jewish journalist Peter Beinart, ditched the Jewish state, and announced in a caustic 7,000-word essay in the New York Times: “It is time for liberal Zionists to abandon the goal of Jewish-Palestinian separation and embrace the goal of Jewish-Palestinian equality.” Frankly, all of us in Israel were deeply injured, because we woke up every morning wondering what Peter Beinart is thinking about us today, but we learned to live with it. Some of us found comfort in heavy drinking, some tended to our victory gardens with a renewed sense of purpose, we managed. But on Wednesday this week, we who still hold on to our NY Times subscriptions discovered that Peter Beinart wants us dead (America Needs to Start Telling the Truth About Israel’s Nukes). Not at once, but as soon as possible. First, he wants Israel to give up its nuclear deterrence, because, hey, it’s not fair to go after Iran for its nuclear program when Beinart’s former people also have one of those. He really wrote that, suggesting the US has been covering for Israel’s shameful nuclear capability and arguing that “this deceit undercuts America’s supposed commitment to nuclear nonproliferation, and it distorts the American debate over Iran.” It’s very tempting at this point to say, well, what are you going to do, the man has lost several key screws in his head, just cancel your NY Times subscription and go weed your garden. But Beinart marks the direction of Jewish America, most notably Jewish Democrats, and his stunning false equivalency of the Mullahs in Tehran and the only country in the Middle East where gay men aren’t tied down to chairs and thrown off the roof, is the false equivalency of an entire new generation that actually does not know the difference. And that’s followed, usually, with the latest anti-Semitic battle cry of Defund Israel. And since millions of Jewish Democrats read the NY Times, as do the rest of the people we used to consider educated and sane, this notion of the US having to block Israel’s nuclear program with the same zeal and vigor as it should the perpetrator of death and destruction around the world, Iran, will become popular. The Squad will add it to their daily taunts about how the Jews are behind poisoning the water that black folks drink in Michigan, and the apartheid thing, and evicting Arab squatters – and the Israeli nuclear threat against world peace. It’s coming. I know. I read Peter Beinart. The former Jew-sympathizer Beinart actually wrote the following: “Feigning ignorance about Israeli nuclear weapons makes a mockery of America’s efforts at nonproliferation. Mr. Obama vowed to pursue a nuclear-free world. Yet to prevent public discussion of Israel’s arsenal, his administration helped squelch a United Nations conference on a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East.”
Michael Doran: Biden's Return to Failed Policies in the Middle East
Michael Doran The Hudson Institute This speech was given at the Hillsdale College Allan P. Kirby, Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship in Washington, D.C., on June 30, 2021, as part of the AWC Family Foundation Lecture Series.
Israel’s Top Diplomat on First Visit to Morocco Since Upgrade in Ties
Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid began a visit to Morocco on Wednesday, the first by Israel’s top diplomat to the North African country since an upgrading of relations under a US-brokered deal. Israel and Morocco agreed in December to resume diplomatic relations and re-launch direct flights under the agreement in which Washington also recognized Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara. Leading a ministerial delegation on a two-day visit, Lapid will inaugurate Israel’s diplomatic mission in Rabat, visit Casablanca’s historic Temple Beth-El and hold talks with his Moroccan counterpart, Nasser Bourita, Lapid’s office said. “This historic visit is a continuation of the long-standing friendship and deep roots and traditions that the Jewish community in Morocco, and the large community of Israelis with origins in Morocco, have,” Lapid said before his arrival, on an El Al Israel Airlines flight, in Rabat. Morocco was one of four Arab countries — along with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan — to move towards normalizing relations with Israel last year under US-engineered accords. Those agreements angered Palestinians who have long relied on Arab support in their quest for statehood. Until last year, only two Arab states — Egypt and Jordan — had forged full ties with Israel in more than 70 years.
Bahrain-Israel security collab is no secret - top diplomat
Israelis want to talk to Bahrain’s Undersecretary for Political Affairs at the Foreign Ministry Dr. Shaikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa about Iran, but Al Khalifa wants to talk about peace. Al Khalifa, who also holds the positions of deputy secretary-general of the Supreme Defense Council at the Foreign Ministry in Bahrain, and is in charge of the Israel portfolio at the ministry, was in Israel for four days this week to deepen ties between the countries 11 months after they announced diplomatic relations. Along with meetings with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, President Isaac Herzog, and the Head of the IDF Strategic Planning and Cooperation Directorate Maj.-Gen. Tal Kelman, Al Khalifa held meetings with major research institutions – the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, The Institute for National Security Studies and The Abba Eban Centre – in his capacity as the chairman of Derasat – the Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies. He also went diving with Foreign Ministry Director-General Alon Ushpiz, resulting in a unique photo of each waving his country’s flag underwater. But Al Khalifa didn’t only make waves in the sea, as is his wont as an avid diver. Rather, it was his remarks about Iran that made the biggest headlines.
Addis Ababa man battling heart defect gets second free treatment in Israel
A few months ago, Luleseged Kassa of Addis Ababa was devastated to learn that his heart, which had been saved by Israeli doctors when he was a teenager, had a major defect, untreatable in Ethiopia. The Israeli charity Save a Child’s Heart flew him to Tel Aviv when he was 13, to replace two heart valves. But when he was 33, a leaflet in one of those valves got stuck. In order words, a mechanism that is supposed to open to let blood move forward through the heart during half of the heartbeat stopped working. He didn’t realize at the time just how serious the problem was — it could well have killed him — or that in Western countries it would have been treated with an emergency operation within 48 hours. Now, he is recuperating in Tel Aviv, following an operation arranged and funded by Save a Child’s Heart, an organization that has saved nearly 6,000 children from 62 countries through treatment in Israel. It’s rare for the charity’s patients to return to Israel as adults, but doctors said they felt a “moral commitment” after hearing the heart-wrenching story of the former sportsman, 33, who suddenly was struggling to even walk up stairs. “He had a complex heart defect that could not be treated in Ethiopia, and therefore we coordinated an operation for him,” said Dr. Lior Sasson of Holon’s Wolfson Medical Center, who operated along with his colleague Dr. Hagi Dekel. “We did so out of a moral commitment and a desire to help our patients as much as possible, even after they have grown up,” he said.
Saudi Journalist Who Advocated Peace with Israel Is Released
Abdul Hameed Ghabin has been ahead of his time. He publicly called for peace between Saudi Arabia and Israel even before the Abraham Accords, and he attacked Iran and the Palestinians before it was popular to do so. He was eventually arrested for incitement by the Saudi establishment, and has now been released following a second arrest. In 2018 and 2019, Ghabin openly supported full normalization with Israel, making such statements in Arabic-language media without fear. The authorities at the time didn’t know what to do with him. On the one hand, he wasn’t doing anything illegal. On the other, he was embarrassing the kingdom’s top officials, who were trying to portray themselves as defenders of the Palestinian cause. To my knowledge, Ghabin was the first Saudi to write an opinion column in an Israeli newspaper, Israel Hayom. In his article, “A New Saudi Perspective for Peace,” he attacked Jordan. This was risky, as from an Arab point of view, it is unacceptable for a Saudi citizen to attack a member state of the Arab League. There is no democracy in most Arab countries and no tolerance for opposing opinions. Ghabin was a victim of behind-the-scenes conflicts within Saudi Arabia. Moderates didn’t want to hurt him, but extremists managed to have him arrested. In some Arab countries, a judge’s order is not necessary to make an arrest; a phone call from a politician or other high-ranking security official is sufficient. This is what happened in Ghabin’s case. In the opinion of many in Saudi Arabia, he had crossed the line of acceptable behavior and got what was coming to him.
Israel, US air force hold first-of-kind aerial drill
Israeli Air Force pilots flew alongside their counterparts from the United States Air Force Central Command (AFCENT) in the first-of-a-kind aerial drill on Tuesday. Dubbed “Desert Eagle,” the drill was led by the IAF’s 133rd Knights of the Twin Tail Squadron flying F-15s, along with the USAF’s 494th Squadron. Jets from the 115th Flying Dragon Squadron simulated enemy jets. According to a statement released by the IAF, the “aircrews practiced various operational scenarios in the air, including joint exercises against ground, aerial and combined threats while striking designated targets. The historic cooperation between the Israel Air Force and AFCENT Command is part of the tightening of strategic and long-term cooperation between Israel and the United States.” Israel was moved from EUCOM (European Command that currently focuses on Russia and its threats against Europe and NATO) to CENTCOM’s area of responsibility in January. The move to CENTCOM is believed to not only simplify the cooperation with American troops in the region, but also has the potential for a regional coalition with Arab countries that have normalized ties with Israel against shared threats posed by Iran. Both IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi and Defense Minister Benny Gantz believe that moderate Sunni states such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and others who have not yet signed agreements with Israel can deepen their ties, especially in terms of regional security arrangements. CENTCOM Commander Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie told Defense News that the move would “put an operational perspective” on the Abraham Accords and will set up “further corridors and opportunities to open up between Israel and Arab countries in the region” on a military-to-military level.
PMW: Rare positive PA article: PA daily reports on Jew's attempt to save a drowning Palestinian
In an article about an Arab from Bethlehem who went missing at sea off the Jaffa coast, the official PA daily mentioned that a Jewish man tried to rescue him from the violent waves:
“Musa went into the sea, but did not take into account the waves that washed him away. According to a relative, he cried for help several minutes after he went into the sea, and one of the Jewish bathers responded and hurried into the sea. He succeeded in grabbing Musa’s hand, but the force [of the water] sweeping him away was most strong, and he let his hand go.” [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 27, 2021] It is extremely rare to find a positive mention of individual Israelis/Jews in the official PA-controlled media. Therefore, Palestinian Media Watch reports whenever an Israeli is portrayed positively. Another example was when the official PA daily wrote a positive obituary about Rabbi Menachem Froman of the Israeli town of Tekoa in the West Bank when he passed away, naming him “a settler and peace activist” who “worked vigorously towards a peaceful solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 5, 2013] More common, although still rare, is praise for Israeli democracy, on an independent Palestinian news site, Israeli labor laws on PA TV, and medical care for Palestinians in the official PA daily.
Israel to expand Palestinian foothold in W. Bank's Area C by 1,000 homes
In a dramatic move, Defense Minister Benny Gantz has agreed to expand the Palestinian foothold in Area C by 1,000 housing units. The Civil Administration is also expected to advance plans for over 2,000 settler homes in Area C as early as next week. The different building initiatives were announced simultaneously on Wednesday. The Civil Administration rarely grants Palestinians approval to build in the West Bank's Area C, which is under IDF military and civil control. The move comes after CIA Director William Burns, who is in Israel, held a separate meeting with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Gantz. In his meeting with Gantz, the two "discussed various initiatives for intelligence cooperation and the need to strengthen the Palestinian Authority as well as additional moderate actors in the region," the Defense Ministry said. Israel has been under pressure from the US to make gestures to the PA. Hebrew news site Ynet first broke the story, which sources then confirmed to The Jerusalem Post. The PA and most of the international community believe that Area C should be included within the borders of a future Palestinian state.
Trifecta: Convicted Terrorist Builds Illegal Structures in Gush Etzion with EU Money
The European Union funded illegal structures in Gush Etzion that were built by a convicted terrorist, Im Tirtzu revealed on Wednesday. Rizq Salah, who in 1990 murdered IDF soldier Guy Friedman, was released from Israeli security prison in 2013 as part of a US-mediated initiative to resume peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. In 2019, Ynet reported that Salah had been given permission by the military’s Civil Administration to cultivate land in Gush Etzion near the Jewish community of Netiv Ha’avot. Now, the Im Tirtzu’s Arab Desk revealed, Salah erected on his land illegal structures that bear the logo of the European Union. The structures also bear the logos of Oxfam and the Rural Women’s Development Society, a Palestinian NGO. According to Im Tirtzu, representatives from the Civil Administration acknowledged that the structures built by Salah were illegal and should be demolished. Many in Israel have long decried the European Union’s funding of illegal Arab construction in Area C of Judea and Samaria as a path to establishing a de facto Palestinian state.
Palestinian Authority faces severe financial crunch as bills go unpaid
The shopping alleys around Manara Square in Ramallah are full as always, especially at nights when the temperature cools. But the shop owners complain that the customers are mostly window-shopping, rather than actually buying new clothes or electronic devices. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter “I work in the government sector, and so does my wife who is a teacher. The rumor has it that our wages might be delayed,” says local resident Nasser Muhammad. While government employees worry about possible salary delays, many firms in the private sector have been waiting for months and even years for the Palestinian Authority to meet its obligations. “The private sector had become the main lender to the PA, and now there is simply no more cash. The banks have reached their limits, and the contractors who work with the PA have been waiting to be paid for ages,” says Samih Khalaileh, an economist and businessman. Three weeks ago, PA Finance Minister Shukri Bishara said during a virtual meeting with international donors that government borrowing from banks “is no longer an option due to the limited liquidity conditions of the Palestinian banking sector.” Bishara also warned “of a bleak future if finances with Israel are not set straight” and called on the international community to assist the PA in order to avoid a financial collapse. The expected deficit for 2021 is $1.7 billion, up 4.4% from 2020. “They have paid the salaries [to government employees this month], but I expect that there will be a problem next month,” says Khalaileh. Over the last decade, international aid to the PA has been cut by more than 50%, and although the number of Palestinian laborers in Israel has grown, the spending on Gaza (35% of the PA budget), the unstable climate and the many limitations set by Israel on the Palestinian economy have fueled an economic crisis that has become especially severe since 2017.
JCPA: Saudi Arabia Acts Against Hamas Terrorism
Hamas is now trying to act in the Arab and Islamic world to pressure the Saudi royal court to grant clemency to dozens of its operatives who are imprisoned. The mission was assigned to Hamas leader Khaled Mashal, who has good relations with the Gulf States and is not considered close to Iran. The first move will be an effort by Hamas to release Muhammad al- Khoudary, who, Hamas officials claim, has cancer. Khoudary also has Kuwaiti citizenship and previously worked as the chief executive of Kuwait’s military hospital and held the rank of colonel in the Kuwaiti army. Hamas sources claim that Mohammed al- Khoudary collected donations for the Hamas movement in Saudi Arabia with the knowledge of the Saudi authorities and did not act against the Saudi royal house. They said al-Khoudary’s arrest was intended to improve the image of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who the Biden administration blamed for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and to portray bin Salman as fighting terrorism.
MEMRI: Senior Lebanese Columnist On Al-Arabiya Website: Iraq Should Establish Ties With Israel To Counter Iran's Influence And Presence
In an article published July 20, 2021 on Al-Arabiya's English-language website, Rami Rayess, a senior Lebanese journalist and advisor to Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, writes that Iraq should establish ties with Israel as a way to counter Iran's influence and presence in Iraq and in the region. He assesses that such ties can benefit both countries in their respective battles with Iran, especially given that Iran is likely to grow stronger following a renewed nuclear deal with the U.S. Ties with Israel can also help Iraq achieve its goal of fostering closer ties with the U.S., he says. Al-Rayess notes that a public announcement of friendship between the two countries "would be the perfect play" – but it is not likely to happen, given the hostility that has existed between them for decades. He suggests, therefore, that Israel and Iraq should build their relationship quietly at first, and collaborate in covert military action against Iran. The following is his article:[1]
"As Israel seeks to develop relationships with Arab neighbors around the region, one country that is often overlooked by commentators is Iraq. It’s likely that the unstable war-torn country is high on Israel’s radar to cement closer ties. If a proper relationship built on goodwill were to happen it would benefit both in their respective battles with Iran. It would become an enormous step in efforts to counter Iran’s presence in the country. Presenting Tehran as a common threat to both nations is a selling point that Baghdad will consider. Given Iran’s growing influence in Iraq, finding support in the Middle East’s melting point is no easy task. "The incumbent Iraqi government is keen to foster closer relations with Washington to combat Iran’s growing influence in parts of the country. While a visit to Washington by Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi planned for next week must include discussions about the Iranian dilemma, it’s clear that the US has no appetite to get dragged fully into the quagmire that has become Iraq. The meeting will resonate more if the Israeli question is put forward. Washington will happily play an effective role, by bringing together two of its allies to follow a favorable path in an ever-widening conflict with Iran. It has become a complicated sore in the US’s Middle East foreign policy. "Israel and Iraq have had their own turbulent history. Following the American invasion in 2003, the antagonism and finger pointing was based around a contested pretext of possessing weapons of mass destruction. By coming together with US support, Washington can allay Israeli fears as the Vienna talks conclude favorably for Iran. Helping to counter Iran’s threat in Iraq offers Washington positive PR. Clearly, with the lifting of sanctions, Tehran will have access to frozen funds amounting to billions of dollars for disposal to its regional militias in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. The expectations that Iran will use the fresh funds to tackle poverty or develop infrastructure are low.
Why Are Druze Villagers in Lebanon Doing the UN’s Job?
For the first time since the Second Lebanon War (2006), Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for rockets fired into Israel. On Friday, 19 rockets were fired by the Iranian-backed terror group. The number could easily have been higher. When Druze citizens of a village in southern Lebanon spotted Hezbollah fighters, they surrounded the terrorists and drove them out, angrily accusing them of firing from a civilian area. Lebanon, which for years has been suffering from an economic crisis as a result of corruption and Iranian interference, is on the verge of collapse. Widespread electric shortages are commonplace, and the currency has become significantly devalued over the last year. The last thing Lebanon needs is a war with Israel, but Hezbollah has an arsenal of thousands of rockets and has shown it is capable of attacking Israel. UNIFIL, the United Nations peace-keeping force stationed in the region, needs to do its job and prevent Hezbollah from causing the country’s total collapse. Instead, the task has been left to Druze civilians.
Retired British colonel: Only an attack on Iran will be effective
The more time passes since recent attacks on western-owned ships, the more fingers are pointing at Iran and its ayatollah regime as responsible. Meanwhile, there is growing demand that Iran be forced to pay a price. One of these voices is Col. (ret.) Richard Kemp, formerly of the British Army, who is calling for a harsh response to Iran. In an interview to Israel Hayom, Kemp says that nations "keeping their head down" when it comes to Iran, or demonstrating weakness, is merely "asking for trouble." This approach, Kemp says, will only lead to increased aggression. The only way to win, he say, is to increase the advantage against Iran. Kemp served for nearly 30 years in the British Army, starting as an infantry solider and earning promotion until he was put in charge of the British forces in Afghanistan in 2003. He then joined the committee that supervised the country's intelligence services. He was discharged in 2006. Kemp thinks that western nations could respond to the deaths of a British and a Romanian citizen in the attack on the Israeli-operated Mercer Street ship off the coast of Oman in a few different ways. He says the most "appropriate" would be to send in special forces or carry out airstrikes against the parties responsible for the attack on the vessel, or against drone manufacturing facilities. A cyber action would also be a possibility, he says. Approximately a week ago, chief of the British Defense Staff Gen. Nick Carter was asked about the issue in an interview to the BBC, and he said that "ultimately, we have got to restore deterrence."
America Must Push Back on Iran’s Naval and Drone Aggression
Iran’s drone attack against the Israeli-operated MT Mercer Street offshore of Oman was its most significant escalation at sea since 2019. The attack on July 29, which killed two crew members, displayed Iran’s dangerous tendency to launch drone strikes and assault ships that are peacefully and legally transiting through international waters, particularly vessels with connections to Israel. Adding to the list of Iran’s complete disregard for customary international law and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Iranian gunmen allegedly hijacked a Panama-flagged tanker, the MV Asphalt Princess, in the Gulf of Oman on August 3. Apparently, because of the ingenuity of the crew and incompetence of the alleged Iranian hijackers, the ship was “released” the following day. With Tehran’s aggression growing at an alarming pace, the United States and its partners need a strong, persistent, and cohesive response that deters and degrades Iran’s ability to launch these deadly attacks. According to US Central Command, Iran launched two unsuccessful drone attacks on the Mercer Street before a third explosive drone killed the Romanian captain and a British crew member. Since ships are in constant motion — striking them, let alone striking a subsection of the vessel like the bridge, as happened in this case — requires a significant degree of accuracy. Iran’s ability to specifically target the bridge may show an increase in Iranian intelligence, surveillance, and precision capabilities. By launching multiple waves of kamikaze drones, Iran signaled that it wanted to kill those on board, not merely harass them or damage the ship’s hull, as it has previously done.
New Iranian leader picks minister wanted for Buenos Aires Jewish Center bombing
Iran’s new president, Ebrahim Raisi, presents a Cabinet dominated by hardliners, state TV reports, providing one of the first glimpses into the policies he might pursue over the next four years. The conservative cleric and former judiciary chief, Ebrahim Raisi, nominates hardline career diplomat Hossein Amirabollahian to the crucial post of foreign minister as Iran and the US seek to resuscitate Tehran’s landmark nuclear deal with world powers. The Cabinet list, which offers few surprises, must still be confirmed by Iran’s parliament. The supreme leader also typically weighs in on picking officials for the most sensitive positions, such as foreign minister. Amirabollahian, 56, has served in a range of administrations over the decades. He was deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs under former populist hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, known in the West for his Holocaust denial and disputed re-election in 2009. Raisi also appoints Gen. Ahmad Vahidi as his interior minister — a former defense minister blacklisted by the US in 2010 and wanted by Interpol over his alleged role in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people and wounded hundreds.
Israel Gives CIA Chief Burns Dossier Claiming Iran’s Raisi Is ‘Demented Extremist’
CIA Director William Burns arrived in Israel Tuesday for talks focused on Iran and its destabilizing operations in the Middle East, which included Jerusalem reportedly providing documentation that painted Iran’s new president as a “deranged misfit,” according to the Times of Israel. No specific information was released about Burns’ trip, although the Walla news agency said that he would meet with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, new Mossad chief David Barnea, as well as other senior intelligence officials. In the meeting with Barnea, the Israelis presented Burns with a dossier detailing that Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi was untrustworthy and incapable of sticking to any nuclear deal. Burns was a key figure in driving the attempted rapprochement with Iran, culminating in the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal. Raisi, an ultra-conservative former judiciary head who was Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s choice for the role in an election that witnessed a very low turnout, has been accused of ordering the execution of thousands of prisoners toward the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988, providing him with the nickname the “Butcher” or “Hangman of Tehran.” Burns’ visit coincides with a marked uptick in tensions between the Jewish state and the Islamic Republic, with the so-called shadow war between the two seemingly breaking out into more direct conflict. The recent attack on the Israeli-owned merchant vessel Mercer Street in the Gulf of Oman has been attributed to Iran, via a drone launched from Yemen.
Swedish court case may implicate Iran's new president in international human rights crimes
Recently, the Islamic Republic of Iran held their elections and Ebrahim Raisi was inaugurated as the country’s new president. For international diplomats and human rights organizations, this was a tremendous setback. Raisi is known to those who opposed his election as “the Butcher of Tehran” based on his reign of terror against political opponents throughout Iran starting over thirty years ago. As the head of Iran’s judiciary, Raisi presided over the crackdown on thousands of peaceful protesters and members of minority groups who were arrested, tortured and summarily executed, often in the most barbaric manner. Under his watch, during national street protests in November 2019, thousands of protesters, including women and children were subjected to mass arrests, and hundreds were tortured or disappeared. As deputy prosecutor general of Tehran in 1988, Raisi participated in the ‘death commission’ that ordered the extra-judicial execution of over 5,000 political prisoners. Blindfolded prisoners were brought before a judge and asked one question, whether they wished to repent their political opinions and pledge loyalty to the Islamic regime. They thought this question was the beginning of a judicial process. They were never told that their answer would condemn them to death. After giving the wrong answer they were taken away for execution, usually by hanging, a few minutes later. Raisi said the death sentences were justified by a holy fatwa issued by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini. According to a United Nations report, under Raisi’s judicial leadership between September 2018 and July 2019, at least 8 prominent judges were arrested for defending political prisoners and human rights defenders, many of whom had received lengthy sentences by Raisi’s judiciary.
Global Perspectives: 'We are not enemies', Historic Iranian Delegation on relations with Israel
In this interview, Ellie Cohanim talks with famed former Iranian political prisoner Ahmad Batebi and Iranian dissident Ben Tabatabai. Filmed on location in Jerusalem, Ellie Cohanim joined the two as part of a delegation of Iranian Muslim dissidents traveling to Israel to express the Iranian people’s solidarity with the Jewish state. In this heartwrenching conversation, Ahmad Batebi shares his harrowing experience of undergoing torture and solitary confinement at the hands of the Islamic regime. They also discuss Iran prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and their joint aspiration for a Cyrus Accords peace deal between a free Iran and Israel.





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