08/19 Links Pt1: Glick: Biden Ushers in an Era of Nuclear Chaos and War; Shapiro: Salman Rushdie, Iran and Joe Biden; Op. Breaking Dawn: Half of Gaza casualties terror group affiliated ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: Biden Ushers in an Era of Nuclear Chaos and War

The propaganda campaign was so powerful that leading Democrats who opposed the deal, including then Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Ben Cardin, refused to lobby their colleagues to stand with them against the agreement. By refusing to use their own political power to block an agreement with devastating, foreseen consequences, Schumer, Cardin and their colleagues ensured that it would be approved by the Senate. They also surrendered their power.

In the intervening seven years, the identity politics Obama introduced into national security issues have advanced to the point that Biden doesn’t even have to make the argument. It is understood automatically. The once-split Democrat Party united behind Obama’s deal in 2018 and committed its members to reinstating it after then president Donald Trump abandoned the agreement.

American Jews, who led the fight against the 2015 deal, have been sidelined in the Democratic Party, and have no appetite for further arguments with the party that is not only abandoning them, but empowering lawmakers like Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib who demonize them.

Obama deployed U.S. intelligence agencies against U.S. citizens for the first time during the fight against the Iran deal. As The Wall Street Journal revealed in 2015, the administration unlawfully spied on AIPAC lobbyists and used their personal communications to undermine and demonize their efforts. Given that Republicans are currently the minority in both houses of Congress and therefore have little power to block Biden’s deal, activists no doubt are less enthusiastic about placing themselves in the administration’s sights by actively opposing Biden’s nuclear diplomacy with Tehran.

Last week, a Lebanese Shi’ite Muslim who has expressed his allegiance to Iran jumped onto a stage in New York and attempted to murder author Salman Rushdie. Iran’s revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa—and Islamic judicial ruling—in 1989 calling for Rushdie to be killed for writing his Koran-based satire The Satanic Verses and placed a bounty on his head. Both Iran’s success in recruiting Shi’ite terrorists in the United States and the fact that Tehran’s bounty for Rushdie’s head has ballooned to millions of dollars in the 33 years since Khomeini first called for his execution, are testaments to nature of the threat the Iranian regime poses to the United States and to everyone on earth who values freedom.

As another Muslim apostate who faces a similar Islamist death sentence—Ayaan Hirsi Ali—explained this week, the West’s inability to recognize the permanent nature of Khomeini’s fatwa against Rushdie is linked to its desire to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran.

Hirsi Ali wrote, “The Western response to the fatwa, as to Iran’s nuclear ambitions, was to negotiate. Then, as now, this is a fundamental misunderstanding of the regime. The world of the West and the world of Islamism are totally irreconcilable. The sooner we realize that nothing will appease the fanatics of Tehran, the better able we will be to oppose them.”

Unfortunately, appeasement of Iran is now a firm principle of identity politics and progressive dogma. And so, it continues and escalates. According to media reports, one of Iran’s conditions for an agreement is that the United States do nothing in response to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ efforts to assassinate former National Security Advisor John Bolton, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Iran Envoy Brian Hook and other senior U.S. officials on U.S. territory. And Biden has apparently accepted the demand. The State Department’s statements on the attempted murder of Rushdie went out of their way to avoid acknowledging Iran’s responsibility, even though the assailant was in direct contact with regime officials on social media.

It is hard to see a happy end to this distressing tale. The only way forward at this point is for America’s endangered Middle East allies to join forces to block Iran’s path to nuclear hegemony and to push the Biden Administration off its devastating course.

Ben Shapiro: Salman Rushdie, Iran and Joe Biden

The response to all of this has been deafening from the Biden administration. The White House released an extraordinarily tepid statement "reaffirm(ing) our commitment" to "Truth. Courage. Resilience." Biden said that he stood "in solidarity with Rushdie and all those who stand for freedom of expression." There was no talk of reevaluating America's relationship with Iran.

Indeed, the precise opposite has happened. The Biden administration is pursuing a nuclear deal that would loosen sanctions on the Iranian regime while giving them a clear pathway to development of a nuclear weapon.

Instead of viewing the Iranian regime as an intransigent supporter of international terrorism from New York to Yemen to the Gaza Strip to Syria to Lebanon to Iraq, the Biden White House has decided that it must cut a deal at all costs.

The New York Times reported this week, "For the first time in many months, European officials expressed increasing optimism on Tuesday that a revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal may actually be agreed upon by Iran and the United States."

Biden's shocking alacrity in seeking a signature from the Iranian regime — a regime with the blood of thousands on its hands, including Rushdie's — demonstrates the abjectly foolish pusillanimity of this administration. It also shows the world's most radical regimes that radicalism will be tolerated by a Democratic White House so long as those regimes promise a revised balance of power in line with longtime Democratic shibboleths.

Biden wishes Iran to be at the center of a revised Middle Eastern power balance, in line with the idiotic thought of former President Barack Obama; he is therefore willing to kowtow to the mullahs while breaking with the Saudis. If you are the Taliban, the Biden administration will surrender; if you are Iran, the Biden administration will prostrate itself.

This isn't just cowardice. It's delusional cowardice. And it's dangerous, not just to Rushdie, Bolton, Pompeo and Trump, but to anyone who opposes predations by America's enemies.

When Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commanders Qassem Soleimani & Mohsen Fakhrizadeh were killed, @AgnesCallamard, then a U.N. official, sprang into action within minutes of their deaths to condemn their killings as “illegal.” A week after Rushdie's stabbing—silence. /2 pic.twitter.com/3TDhOXgMVT
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) August 18, 2022

Douglas Murray: How is Biden still doing deal with Iran after assassination bids on US soil?

Well if you study the responses of the White House and State Department to this trio of outrages you will see something very curious. They condemn the attack on Rushdie as “appalling.” President Biden rightly praised Rushdie as someone who “stands for essential, universal ideals.” Which he does. But why no pointing of fingers? Why no clear calling out of the Iranian regime for its incitement and assassination plots?

The answer is that the current administration is in a difficult position because while this rash of assassination plots are going on the American government is busily trying to cosy up to the Iranian regime. All because the Biden administration is desperate to fulfil its campaign promise of getting into the P5+1 nuclear deal.

The whole thing is purest folly — even before you take recent events into account. When America was in the nuclear deal with Iran, the UK, EU, Russia and China it was meant to restrain Iran’s nuclear ambitions. But amazingly enough the Iranians lied. Even when everyone including America was in on the deal the Iranians hid parts of their nuclear program. They continued to enrich uranium and develop other technologies that could only be intended to create nuclear weaponry.

President Trump of course pulled out of the deal and was right to do so. But Biden desperately wants back in, partly because that is common Democrat wisdom and partly just so he can reverse one of Trump’s strongest foreign policy moves. So America is in a very strange position. Qassem Soleimani was an Iranian general praised for his ability to kill.

Iran is a self-declared foe of the United States. It repeatedly incites the murder of this country’s citizens and the citizens of our allies, including Israel. Now it is plotting and carrying out the most brazen attacks imaginable on US soil.

So what precisely does the Biden administration think can be gained from getting Iran “on side.” They’re not on our side. They haven’t been since the Revolutionary Islamic government took over in 1979. And far from preventing Iran getting the bomb, a nuclear deal of the kind the US signed up to before could be one of the fastest ways to see them get one.

Of course that would be a disaster. If you like how Iran is behaving without nukes, you’ll love what they’ll be able to do once they have them.

In the last month alone Iran has been found committing three strikes against the US. Instead of sucking up to them is high time this country changes and calls them “out.”

A gentle reminder of what we're facing in the U.K. ??

"There will outcomes from your actions. You will have repercussions for your actions. We have been trained from birth that we must defend the honour of our prophet & we will lay our life on the line." pic.twitter.com/sIdY3dYJyK
— Wasiq Wasiq (@WasiqUK) August 18, 2022

Mark Regev: This is the story behind the Abraham Accords - opinion

Following the events in London, Obama’s decision not to uphold his own Syrian chemical weapons “red line” further exacerbated the credibility gap. The president may have found a workable diplomatic alternative to the use of military force – having Assad surrender his chemical weapons stockpiles to Russia – but the last-minute cancellation of American air strikes seemed to demonstrate to Arab leaderships a dangerous pacifism. If Washington and London were unwilling to use force against Assad’s heinous regime, when would they be ready to do so?

The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action nuclear deal with Iran was another milestone. The West’s perceived rapprochement with the Sunni Arab world’s greatest enemy raised eyebrows in numerous Arab capitals.

When former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu controversially spoke in Congress against that deal, he was heavily criticized in both Israel and the US. However, leaders across the Middle East sent messages to Jerusalem saying that Netanyahu was not only articulating his country’s position, but also expressing the Arab world’s concerns at the new direction of American policy.

These anxieties were reinforced by Washington’s recurring declarations of a “pivot to Asia” – a statement that implied a lessening of US involvement in the Middle East and a corresponding downgrading of America’s traditional alliances with Arab states.

A vacuum seldom exists in international politics. In this case, Israel was the beneficiary of cracks in Arab states’ perception of the West as their ultimate security guarantor. Not only was there a convergence of interests between Israel and the Arabs, but Israel was now seen as filling a gap vacated by others.

Furthermore, unlike erstwhile western allies who can pack up and leave, Israel is part of the Middle East and in possession of a strong military, which it has proved it is willing to use when necessary.

The Abraham Accords did not occur because Arab leaders read the writings of Theodor Herzl and embraced the vision of Jewish statehood. Rather, the 2020 agreements stemmed from changing geopolitical realities and the realization that Israel can be a reliable and valued partner.

Ironically, although it was uncertainty about American commitment that paved the path to the Abraham Accords, in the end it was American leverage that led to their consummation.

Key Factors that Led to the Abraham Accords

The Abraham Accords (March 2020) came about due to a number of factors. First, it became evident to the Arab countries that Israel is here to stay and is only growing stronger. There is no realistic way to destroy Israel, and the Arab states were paying a high price for a dream that had no chance of materializing.

Second, after the "Arab Spring," Islamist forces have grown stronger and become a dangerous force internally. The Arab rulers are looking for ways to improve their economies and deal with radical Islamic worldviews.

Third, the Palestinian issue moves the world much less than it once did. The Arabs have recognized that the Palestinians failed to capitalize on the agreements reached with Israel beginning in 1993 to establish a functioning state, instead becoming a "beggar entity" that begs for more money while complaining about and criticizing everyone. Many Arab rulers are tired of the Palestinians. For these countries, Palestinians are a burden rather than a genuine political and moral cause.

Fourth, Iran has evolved into a powerful, aggressive force that will not hesitate to harm anyone who refuses to cooperate. The Arabs have understood that Shi'ites, a minority of 15% in the Middle East led by Iran, are the main threat to the Arab world, not the Jews.

Fifth is the ongoing reduction of American involvement in the Middle East. A ruler of an Arab country who feels that American protection is waning as the Iranian threat increases has two choices: Make a deal with Iran and gradually lose sovereignty, as Lebanon did, or view Israel as a reliable partner that can help strengthen the economy, supply cutting-edge technology, and deter Iran's aggression.

Meet the Bahraini ambassador who has strongly denounced antisemitism

If there is someone who embodies the new Middle East in the wake of the Abraham Accords, it is Shaikh Abdulla Bin Rashid Bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa.

The shaikh has been serving as the ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to the United States since 2017 and was therefore closely involved in the signature of the agreement to normalize the relations between Israel and Bahrain in 2020. Since then, he has been instrumental in enhancing the cooperation between the two countries, which has been growing rapidly.

“When we talk about the Abraham Accords, we talk about hope, positivity, and unleashing opportunities,” Al-Khalifa said while taking part in a forum on the accords hosted by Harvard University a year after the signature. “We share many common challenges and we can learn from each other.”

Shaikh Abdulla Bin Rashid Bin Abdulla Al-Khalifa will interviewed on Sept. 12 at the Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York. Learn more about the conference.

History
Born in 1980, the ambassador is the son of Bahraini Interior Minister Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa. Before he was posted to Washington, he held several positions in the public sector in Bahrain. In cooperation with the American nonprofit D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education program), he worked to develop an anti-drug and anti-violence curriculum for Bahraini schools. As vice president of the Bahrain Olympic Shooting Federation, he helped establish the country’s first women shooting team.

While serving as the ambassador to Washington, he has also worked to boost the country’s Jewish life, meeting Jews of Bahraini origins in New York City and offering its support to the newly established Association of Gulf Jewish Communities.

Don't fall for the Turkey illusion

The renewal of ties comes at a time of economic and political hardship in Turkey. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's monetary policy and the tourism crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic have caused an economic crisis. Ankara saw an opportunity to become an energy bridge to Europe through a gas pipeline running from Israel. Reconciliation with Israel Jerusalem and the recognition of the Abrahamic Accords also helped gratify wealthy Gulf states and receive financial aid from them.

In addition, this new attitude toward Israel also reduces tensions with the US, which brokered and supports the Abraham Accords. Furthermore, the Biden administration is more critical of Turkey than its predecessor, and Israel – a close US ally – may mitigate some of that criticism.

By improving ties with Israel, Turkey is also trying to weaken its cooperation with rivals Greece and Cyprus with whom Ankara has ongoing disputes and security tensions. Furthermore, since the civil war and instability in Iraq, Turkey has used the port of Haifa and the passage to Jordan to export goods into the Arab world.

And yet, despite the economic dependence and Ankara's change of tone, we must remember that as long as Islamist Erdogan is in power, Turkey will continue to be hostile toward Israel and support the Hamas terror group. It will also be difficult for Israel to accept Islamist Turkey with its Ottoman impulses in the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians and Israelis battle over Jerusalem

IN THE past few years, tensions in east Jerusalem have been on the rise, in light of visits by Jews to the Temple Mount and the controversy surrounding the ownership of houses in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, where several Jewish families have moved to live. East Jerusalem residents admit that most of the houses were legally purchased from their Arab owners by Jewish groups.

The Palestinians see these moves as part of Israel’s efforts to “Judaize” the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and large parts of east Jerusalem.

In fact, every Israeli decision concerning east Jerusalem, including the renovation of streets and public parks, is almost immediately condemned by the Palestinians as part of an Israeli scheme to “change the historic status quo” at the expense of the Muslims and Christians.

Last week, PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh accused the Israeli authorities of working to impose Israeli curricula on Palestinian schools in east Jerusalem. He, too, claimed that the move came in the context of Israeli efforts to “Judaize” Jerusalem and force its Palestinian residents to leave.

But some residents of east Jerusalem point the finger of blame at the PA and the Arab and Islamic countries for failing to support them.

Inside the Old City, more than 350 Palestinian-owned businesses have closed in the past few years because of the sharp decline in income from local and foreign tourism, according to a source in the Arab Chamber of Commerce.

In the Old City’s three main souks (markets), Butchers’ Market, Goldsmiths’ Market and Fragrances and Spices Market, more than 90% of the shops have closed. Some of the merchants said this week that the shops were closed because the owners were no longer able to pay their debts to the municipality and the tax authorities.

“We hear about financial aid coming from the Arabs and Muslims to help the people of east Jerusalem, but we haven’t seen anything,” complained Eyad Mansour, co-owner of a small coffee shop. “Most of the money goes to the pockets of our leaders, who don’t care about Jerusalem. In a few years, most of the businesses in the Old City will be closed.”

Mofeed Shweiki, who says that his family has owned a clothes shop in the Old City for more than 60 years, also expressed concern over the closure of many businesses.

“Many merchants moved to areas outside of the Old City because people stopped coming to the Old City,” said the 78-year-old Shweiki. “Why should anyone come to do his shopping in the Old City when it’s difficult to find parking and everything is available in the nearby neighborhoods and villages? The Palestinian leadership doesn’t care about the people of east Jerusalem.”

A senior Fatah official from east Jerusalem concurred. “The Palestinians have lost the battle over Jerusalem,” he stated. “There’s a lot of talk about supporting Jerusalem, but the Palestinian Authority hasn’t done much. The Arabs and Muslims also don’t care about the city and its Palestinian residents. At the same time, Israel is investing billions of shekels to tighten its grip over the city and change its Arab and Islamic identity.”

Russian Court Announces One Month Postponement of Legal Hearing into Closure of Jewish Agency Operations

A Moscow court hearing initiated by the Russian Ministry of Justice in a bid to close down the local operations of the Jewish Agency has been postponed for a month.

The delay was announced on Friday by the Basmanny District Court in the Russian capital following a petition submitted by lawyers for the Agency, which assists Jews wishing to emigrate to Israel. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at the end of February triggered a mass exodus of Jews from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.

According to Israeli government figures, 20,246 Russians emigrated to Israel between January and July 2022, with numbers spiking from around 700 per month in February to over 3,000 in March. By contrast, in the whole of 2019, 15,930 Russians emigrated to Israel.

An additional 35,000 Russian Jews are understood to have filed immigration applications and are currently waiting for the next steps.

The court agreed to a one-month postponement after rejecting the initial petition submitted by the Jewish Agency, which requested that the court hearing be replaced by a “two-month conciliation procedure” — a proposal summarily opposed by the Russian government representatives. The judge agreed to a 30 day delay, during which time the Agency will have the opportunity to “form a position on new written evidence and try to eliminate the identified violations,” the Russian news outlet Kommersant reported.

Operation Breaking Dawn: Half of Gaza casualties terror group affiliated - report

Almost half the Gazan casualties during Operation Breaking Dawn were affiliated with Palestinian terrorist organizations, The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC) found in an analysis published last Thursday.

Of the 49 fatalities reviewed by the research institute, 12 were affiliated with Islamic Jihad, five with Hamas, six from Fatah and one from the Democratic Front For the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP). 25 fatalities were reported to be unaffiliated or civilians.

According to ITIC, 38 people in total died from Israel Defense Force airstrikes and 11 died from failed rocket launches. Four of those killed by misfired rockets were reportedly affiliated with terrorist organizations, and 20 of those that died as a result of IDF operations were affiliated with terrorist groups.

In an August 8 briefing, IDF Spokesperson’s Unit commander Brig.-Gen. Ran Kochav informed that 26 civilians died during the conflict. He said that 11 civilians were killed in Israeli airstrikes, and at least 15 were killed by Islamic Jihad rockets. Hamas terrorists killed in Gaza

It is unclear to which degree some of the dead were affiliated with the terrorist movements. Of the five fatalities who were listed as being members of Hamas, only two were commemorated by the Izz al-Din Qassam Brigades, Hamas's military wing. One of the others killed was a Hamas policeman, whereas the others had Hamas accouterments at their funerals.

While ITIC asserted that only one Hamas terrorist was killed by failed rocket launches, this is inconsistent with other reports.

On Monday, The Jerusalem Post found that Hamas terrorist and policeman Yasser Nimr Al-Nabahin and his three sons had been killed by a misfired rocket in Bureij on August 7. According to DigFind, the director general of the police in Gaza claimed that Al-Nabahin was killed by Israel. ITIC also listed him as having been killed by the IDF.

The Post also learned on Tuesday that the IDF was confident that Hamas soldier Muhammad Abdul-Majid Afana had not been killed by Israeli force. While the circumstances of Afana's demise were uncertain, ITIC clarified that social media posts reported that Afana had died when he had attempted to help evacuate a neighbor's house after it had been hit by a rocket, and a wall fell on him. In that same incident, Ziaa Zaher Ahmed al-Barai, who ITIC described as a Fatah operative, was reportedly killed.

Abbas' Holocaust comments spark probe by Berlin police

Berlin police have opened a preliminary investigation against Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas over his comments this week that Israel had committed "50 Holocausts" against Palestinians.

The remarks, during a news conference in Berlin alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, sparked outrage in Germany, Israel and beyond.

Police confirmed a report Friday by German daily Bild that Abbas was being investigated for possible incitement to hatred after receiving a formal criminal complaint. Downplaying the Holocaust is a criminal offense in Germany, but the opening of a preliminary inquiry doesn't automatically entail a full investigation.

Germany's Foreign Ministry said that Abbas – as a representative of the Palestinian Authority – would enjoy immunity from prosecution because he was visiting the country in an official capacity.

Germany doesn't recognize the Palestinian Territories as a sovereign state, a position Scholz reaffirmed Tuesday.

Abbas: Israel is guilty of 50 Holocausts!
Germany: This is absolutely unacceptable, and demonstrates your insane anti-Semitic radicalism. Here's 340 million Euros. https://t.co/62HxtVWjay
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 19, 2022

Abbas walks back comments accusing Israel of committing ‘50 Holocausts’

Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas walked back comments made in Germany on Tuesday accusing Israel of committing “50 Holocausts” against the Palestinians.

In a statement released Wednesday, Abbas called the Holocaust “the most heinous crime in modern human history.”

The statement, released by the Palestinian Wafa news agency, added that Abbas did not intend to “deny the singularity of the Holocaust that occurred in the last century” and he condemns it “in the strongest terms.”

“What is meant by the crimes that President Mahmoud Abbas spoke about are the crimes and massacres committed against the Palestinian people since the Nakba at the hands of the Israeli forces. These crimes have not stopped to this day,” the statement said.

Abbas’ original remarks were made during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin. With the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre of 11 Israeli coaches and athletes by Palestinian terrorists approaching, Abbas was asked if he intended to apologize to Israel and Germany.

“If we want to go over the past, go ahead. I have 50 slaughters that Israel committed … 50 massacres, 50 slaughters, 50 Holocausts,” Abbas replied.

Scholz condemned Abbas on Wednesday in a statement on Twitter, writing, “I am disgusted by the outrageous remarks made by Palestinian President Mahmoud #Abbas. For us Germans in particular, any relativization of the singularity of the Holocaust is intolerable and unacceptable. I condemn any attempt to deny the crimes of the Holocaust.”

PA Presidential Advisor Al-Habbash Defends Mahmoud Abbas’s “50 Holocausts” Comment: He Was Speaking on Behalf of Us All; We Are the Real Semites, the Jews’ History Is Fabricated #antisemitism #Holocaust pic.twitter.com/7HZ9bH6H46
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) August 19, 2022

But of course. George Soros’ @OpenSociety goes to bat for Palestinian terror groups against Israel. https://t.co/5FlZ9SDCUK
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) August 19, 2022

? Abbas distorts Holocaust? Ken Roth silent.

? UN official claims “the Jewish lobby” controls the media? Ken Roth silent.

? Islamic Jihad fired 1,000+ rockets? Ken Roth silent.

? Chance to condemn Israel & jump to defense of Palestinian terror groups? @KenRoth all over it! https://t.co/Jb5Vg54V3Y
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) August 18, 2022

As Palestinian President Abbas this week made outrageous antisemitic remarks in Germany distorting the #HOLOCAUST, just a reminder this is same Abbas that J Street leader Jeremy Ben-Ami is only to happy to have been hugging and kissing. pic.twitter.com/MLS1C7QeyL
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) August 19, 2022

Is it ILLEGAL to be a Jew? | The Israel Guys

Another Jewish settlement was evacuated, and last night, Jews were shot at while going to Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem. More and more, the world is coming against Jews who want to be….Jewish. A Jew living in Judea. A Jew visiting the tomb of his forefathers. A Jew dressing like a Jew. Is it illegal for a Jew to simply be a Jew?

Today we explore the topic of why the world seems to have such an obsession with hating the Jewish people. Whenever Israel or the Jews have tried to appease the world by giving in to their demands, it has never ended well. Take the Gaza Strip for example. After forcefully evicting their own people and giving Gaza to the Palestinian Arabs, all that Israel received in return was more than 20,000 rockets fired at its citizens.

As supporters of Israel, it is more and more important that we stand up with a strong, loud voice in support of the Jewish people and the land of Israel.

#OTD – Aug 19, 2003 - a Palestinian suicide bomber disguised himself as an ultra-Orthodox Jew and detonated himself on a crowded city bus in #Jerusalem.

24 people were murdered and over 130 wounded. Many of the victims were children. May their memories be a blessing ??? pic.twitter.com/mcGPpxiJ6B
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) August 19, 2022

The Ingrates of Vienna

Negotiations to revive the Iran nuclear deal have been taking place in Vienna since April 2021. They have gone nowhere. Yet the Biden administration insists on playing a starring role in this diplomatic farce. Nothing that happens in the outside world penetrates the bubble where the diplomats reside.

Some history:
• Iran refused to speak to the United States directly. We obliged. The talks are indirect—a sign of American weakness.

• Ali Khamenei ensured that his potential successor, Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline cleric sanctioned by the United States, was "elected" president last summer. Not only did we continue negotiations. We are also now debating whether to provide Raisi an entry visa so he can spout regime propaganda at the U.N. General Assembly next month.

• America’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, one year old this week, seriously undermined our credibility and our security. It weakened our influence in the Greater Middle East. Yet Biden didn’t change his foreign policy. He doubled down on his Iran gambit.

• Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February was a hinge of history—a moment when, we have been told, "everything" changed. Everything but the Iran negotiations. Russia, despite its outlaw status on the international stage, continues to serve as Iran’s intermediary. Maybe we should take the hint?

All this happened in the months before the Bolton assassination plot and the attack on Rushdie. And those violations of U.S. sovereignty and rule of law are related to Iranian malfeasance. The Justice Department charged a member of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for attempting to hire a hit man who would target the former U.S. national security adviser. Rushdie’s assailant may have been in contact with the IRGC, as well, and was unquestionably inspired by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s first Supreme Ruler, Ayatollah Khomenei, who called for the British-American novelist’s death in 1989.

And what, you ask, does Iran continue to demand of the United States as a condition for reentry into the nuclear deal? In a piece for CNBC headlined, "A renewed Iran nuclear deal appears closer than ever. Here are the final sticking points," Natasha Turak writes, "Iran wants the Biden administration to remove its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from its [i.e., America’s] designated terrorist list, which so far Washington seems unwilling to do."

Imagine that.

Israel Concerned by Reported EU Concessions to Iran in Negotiations to Revive Nuclear Deal; Lapid Warns US

A little over a week after the EU’s foreign policy chief emphasized that there could be no further revisions to the draft of a renewed nuclear agreement with Iran, details of what is reportedly included in the text have raised Israeli concerns over unwarranted concessions to the Islamic Republic.

According to the Persian-language broadcaster Iran International, which opposes Iran’s ruling regime, at least six significant concessions have been made to Iran in a bid to secure Tehran’s agreement to a deal that will revive the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Program of Action (JCPOA) agreed between the Iranians, the US and five additional world powers. The US withdrew from the deal in 2018, arguing that its provisions would not prevent Iran from eventually developing a nuclear weapon.

The measures reportedly include:
The lifting of sanctions against 17 banks and the release of $7 billion of Iranian assets located in South Korea.
In addition, 150 Iranian institutions will benefit from sanctions relief, among them Setad — a body created by the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, which controls operations in real estate, energy and finance from the office of the country’s “Supreme Leader,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
50 million barrels of Iranian oil will be sold on the open market within 120 days of sanctions being lifted.
Annulment of the three executive orders targeting Iranian leaders signed by former President Donald Trump.
Exemption from US sanctions for foreign companies with interests in Iran.

On Aug. 8, Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, stated on Twitter that “what can be negotiated has been negotiated, and it’s now the final text.” A spokesperson for Borrell later confirmed that there was “no more room for other compromises.”

Meanwhile, Israeli news outlets reported that Prime Minister Yair Lapid had sent a message to US President Joe Biden expressing concern that the measures in the renewed agreement breach the White House’s own guidelines.

Iran building its own online ISIS in America

If Iran is working to duplicate its own version of the Al Qaeda and ISIS online training and recruitment system, the threat to Americans could be much more serious than the stabbing of one dissident writer in New York or a man catfished in Nevada. The Islamic regime's ideal scenario for nuclear weapons would be to detonate them with plausible deniability.

Iranian operatives have carried out direct assassinations of political dissidents in Europe, but have been cautious about putting boots on the ground inside the United States. Despite our weakness and their bluster, Iran still fears and respects us more than Europe. As America gets weaker and our society becomes more fractured, that may not last. For now, Tehran would prefer to carry out attacks by cultivating disposable foreign assets. And once such a capability exists and has been sufficiently tested, it could be used for mass casualty terrorist attacks.

Even nuclear ones.

The Biden administration is rushing to cut a deal with Iran that will legitimize its nuclear weapons program even as the IRGC continues to plot terror attacks in the United States. Obama's "breakthrough" proposal to detach a nuclear deal from terrorism left us negotiating in bad faith with a regime that made no secret of its determination to kill Americans.

Crowdsourcing jihad creates further distance between the state sponsors and funders of terrorism, the perpetrators and their victims. The Pulse massacre and the Boston Marathon bombings were traceable to individuals, and then only distantly to the Islamic terror groups providing information and training, and hardly at all to the governments behind them.

Iran would like to replicate this model, knowing that America's morale is much weaker than its military and intel capabilities, and that if there is enough plausible deniability, we will do nothing about even the worst kinds of attacks, like September 11. Just ask Qatar and the Saudis.

The gradual uptick in Iran-linked domestic terrorism is a warning that Iran's efforts to create its own cadre of Shi'ite "lone wolves" over the internet may be working. And that worse may come.

The list of concessions also includes:
3- Sanctions relief for 150 institutions including Setad;
4- Sale of 50 million barrels of oil in 120 days;
5- Annulment of three Trump Executive Orders on Day 1;
6- Exemption of foreign companies from sanctions in case of US withdrawal.
— Iran International English (@IranIntl_En) August 18, 2022

BBC introduce her as “ Human rights researcher”.

She asked for my kidnapping on October 2019 the exact day that Iranian regime kidnapped journalist Rohollah Zam from France and later executed him. BBC is hiring someone who had wished for my execution. Many Iranians are shocked . pic.twitter.com/YtBkfUsB4k
— Masih Alinejad ??? (@AlinejadMasih) August 19, 2022

Buy the EoZ book, PROTOCOLS: Exposing Modern Antisemitism today at Amazon!