Monday, February 17, 2025

Don't Be Fooled: The Palestinian Authority Did Not Halt Payments To Terrorists - Bassam Tawil

by Bassam Tawil

While several international media outlets continue to argue that Abbas halted the payments to the terrorists, Monica al-Jaghoub, a senior official with the PA's ruling Fatah faction (headed by Abbas), denied the claims.

 

  • "Abbas claims to have ended the 'Pay for Slay' program – but it's just a rebranding... Terrorists and their families will still receive payments, just through a 'foundation' under Abbas's control instead of a ministry. The new foundation remains tied to the PA, making this a deceptive move, not real reform. The PA must truly end terror payments and incitement - not just change how they guise them." — Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, X.com, February 12, 2025.

  • The Palestinian Authority has made it clear that it is making this change not because it believes it is wrong to fund terror, but because it needs US money. The Arabic version of the decree clearly states that the main goal is to "restore international aid programs that were suspended in the past years, which we need to implement development and economic recovery programs."

  • While several international media outlets continue to argue that Abbas halted the payments to the terrorists, Monica al-Jaghoub, a senior official with the PA's ruling Fatah faction (headed by Abbas), denied the claims.

  • The reality is that Abbas did not -- and never will -- stop the payments to terrorists and their families.

Did Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas halt payments to Palestinian terrorists and their families? Or is he just trying to fool the Americans to persuade them to resume financial aid to the PA? The reality is that Abbas did not -- and never will -- stop the payments to terrorists and their families. Pictured: On July 23, 2018, at a ceremony honoring Palestinian terrorists, Abbas said: "We will neither reduce nor withhold the allowances of the families of martyrs, prisoners, and released prisoners... if we had one single penny left, we would spend it on the families of the martyrs and the prisoners." (Image source: MEMRI)

Did Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas halt payments to Palestinian terrorists and their families? Or is he just trying to fool the Americans to persuade them to resume financial aid to the PA?

On February 10, the American media outlet Axios reported:

"Abbas has issued a decree revoking the system of payments to families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails or to families of Palestinians who were killed or wounded during attacks against Israelis."

The payment program is known as "Pay for Slay."

PA officials told Axios that they hope Abbas's decision will improve relations with the Trump administration and with Congress and lead to the resumption of US financial aid to the PA.

In 2018, US President Donald Trump signed into law the Taylor Force Act to stop American aid to the PA until it ceases paying stipends through the PA's "Martyrs Fund" to individuals who commit acts of terrorism and the families of deceased terrorists.

Abbas, however, has not ended the "Pay for Slay" program. He simply changed its name, with the aim of deceiving and misleading the US and other Western donor countries.

Abbas's move is not a policy change. It is nothing but a sneaky maneuver designed to attract more international funding.

The Palestinian Authority has made it clear that it is making this change not because it believes it is wrong to fund terror, but because it needs US money. The Arabic version of the decree clearly states that the main goal is to "restore international aid programs that were suspended in the past years, which we need to implement development and economic recovery programs."

"Abbas claims to have ended the 'Pay for Slay' program – but it's just a rebranding," according to the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy.

"Terrorists and their families will still receive payments, just through a 'foundation' under Abbas's control instead of a ministry. The new foundation remains tied to the PA, making this a deceptive move, not real reform. The PA must truly end terror payments and incitement -- not just change how they disguise them."

The reports about the alleged cancellation of the payments to the terrorists were based on a "presidential decree" issued by Abbas on February 10:

"President Mahmoud Abbas... issued a decision-law to cancel articles contained in the laws and regulations related to the system of paying financial allowances to the families of prisoners, martyrs, and the wounded... transferring the computerized cash assistance program, its database, and its financial, local, and international allocations from the Ministry of Social Developments to the Palestinian National Foundation for Economic Empowerment.

"All families that benefited from previous laws, legislation, and regulations are subject to the same standards applied without discrimination to all families benefiting from protection and social welfare programs,"

Abbas is actually saying that the payments will no longer be made by the PA government, but by a new NGO managed by a Board of Trustees appointed by him. The move is aimed at avoiding being directly blamed by the US for maintaining this program under the pretext that the allowances are now coming from private parties, not the PA government. The decree simply "restructures" the payment system so that its beneficiaries will receive the same benefits from the Palestinian National Foundation for Economic Empowerment.

"Did the Palestinian Authority stop paying imprisoned terrorists?" wrote Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), which played a vital role in exposing the "Pay for Slay" program.

No. The PA has not stopped paying imprisoned terrorists, but because of US pressure, it will be paying from a different account that also includes welfare recipients. According to several PA/Fatah sources, the salaries will remain very high, identical to what they were, while according to a different reading of the law, they will be based on social welfare needs. The law seems intentionally ambiguous.

"The difference between the PA terror payments for people who murder and its welfare payments for people in need is shocking.

"The PA currently rewards terrorists in prison between 1,400 to 12,000 shekels [$400 - $3500] a month, depending on how long there have been incarcerated. PA welfare benefits based on financial need range from 250 to 600 shekels/month [$75 - $170]."

While several international media outlets continue to argue that Abbas halted the payments to the terrorists, Monica al-Jaghoub, a senior official with the PA's ruling Fatah faction (headed by Abbas), denied the claims. In an interview with the Saudi-owned Al-Hadath TV channel, al-Jaghoub said:

"These reports are false. President Abbas did not stop the salaries of anyone. President Abbas issued a law transferring these salaries, in their entirety, to another body. Instead of receiving their salaries from the Palestinian Prisoners' Commission, the prisoners will from now on be paid by the social welfare system. The salaries will not be affected."

Palestinian columnist Dalal Iriqat wrote:

"The decree may be to restructure the mechanism for proving support to prisoners and families of martyrs in a way that reduces the financial and political targeting of the Palestinian Authority... Instead of disbursing allocations directly, released prisoners will be included in 'economic empowerment' programs, a step that may be an attempt to circumvent Israeli measures..."

Iriqat is referring to the Israeli law passed in 2018 to deduct the amount that the PA pays to the terrorists from the taxes and tariffs Israel collects on behalf of the PA.

The reality is that Abbas did not -- and never will -- stop the payments to terrorists and their families. He knows that the moment he does so, his people will revolt against him, denounce him as a traitor, and try to kill him.

It is time to remind the world of what Abbas himself said in the past:

"If we had one single penny left, we would spend it on the families of the martyrs and the prisoners. We consider the martyrs and the prisoners to be stars in the sky of the Palestinian people and struggle. We value and respect this group of people. They way we see it, they are paving the path for the liberation of Palestine for the sake of future generations."


Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East. His work is made possible through the generous donation of a couple of donors who wished to remain anonymous. Gatestone is most grateful.

Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/21401/palestinian-authority-payments-to-terrorists

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The ‘hard truths’ Marco Rubio should tell the Saudis - comment - Herb Keinon

 

by Herb Keinon

Here’s one of the hard truths he needs to tell the Saudis: Hamas, not Israel, is their enemy and is working against their interests.

 

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 17, 2025. (photo credit: REUTERS/EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/POOL)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 17, 2025.
(photo credit: REUTERS/EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/POOL)

During the Obama years, officials frequently lectured Israel on what its interests were, often repeating the refrain, “Friends need to tell each other hard truths.”

Then-secretary of state John Kerry used those exact words in a farewell speech on the Middle East. A clearly frustrated Kerry pinned the lion’s share of the blame for the stymied diplomatic process – an issue he hoped would win him a Nobel Peace Prize – on Israel and its settlements policy.

Fast forward eight years, and a new administration is in power. Its secretary of state, Marco Rubio, is at the start of his term, not the end. And, like Kerry, he needs to tell friends “hard truths” – but this time, those truths need to be directed at the Arab world, not Israel.

Rubio left Israel on Monday for Saudi Arabia, where this hard truth-telling campaign should begin.

Here’s one of the hard truths he needs to tell the Saudis: Hamas, not Israel, is their enemy and is working against their interests.

 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 17, 2025. (credit: SAUDI PRESS AGENCY/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)Enlrage image
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 17, 2025. (credit: SAUDI PRESS AGENCY/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

The Saudi Foreign Ministry erupted last week when US President Donald Trump suggested that the Arab states take in Gazan refugees – the same refugees whose plight they have bewailed for years – and when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a Channel 14 interview that “the Saudis can create a Palestinian state in Saudi Arabia; they have a lot of land over there.”

In response, the Saudi Foreign Ministry issued a blistering statement accusing the “Israeli occupation” of “ethnic cleansing” against their “Palestinian brothers in Gaza” – the same “Palestinian brothers” they refuse entry into their country, even as many would like temporary refuge from the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The unhinged statement said the Israeli government doesn’t think the “Palestinian people deserve to live in the first place.”

Rubio, in the spirit of speaking honestly to friends – and the Saudis are friends of the United States and would like that friendship to be upgraded to an ironclad, NATO-style security pact – should tell Riyadh to direct its anger at Hamas.

Were it not for Hamas’s brutal invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, Gaza would not be in ruins, and the US president would not be discussing relocating its residents and taking over the coastal strip himself.

Heat from the street?

Furthermore, if Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is feeling the heat from his street over the Palestinian cause right now, it is a direct result of Hamas’s attack, which provoked a fierce Israeli response, fueled sympathy for the Palestinians across the Arab world, and emboldened public opposition to Arab governments’ efforts to reach an accommodation with Israel.

Saudi Arabia was on the verge of reaching an accommodation with Israel in September 2023. It pursued normalization with Israel because it viewed the trilateral deal – Israel-US-Saudi Arabia – as serving its own interests. One of the reasons that Hamas launched its invasion was to derail that deal. So, who is really working against Saudi interests?

Jordan and Egypt, which were just as incensed as the Saudis over Trump’s relocation proposal, have said that taking in Gazan refugees would threaten their national security. Saudi Arabia clearly shares that concern.

So, why not direct their outrage at Hamas for creating the situation that has put such a move on the table?

The second truth Rubio should convey to the Saudi crown prince is that a two-state solution is, at least for the foreseeable future, a nonstarter. After the October 7 massacre, no Israeli government will gamble with national security by further giving up territory for a Palestinian state – not for many, many years to come and until there are sweeping changes in Palestinian leadership and society.

The Palestinians were given a ministate in Gaza, which Hamas took over and turned into a launchpad for jihad against Israel rather than as a prosperous coastal hub, a “Riviera on the Mediterranean,” to use Trump’s terminology.

The Oslo-style, two-state solution envisioned a “safe passage between Gaza and the West Bank,” meaning that Gazans would be able to drive freely from Gaza to Hebron along a route that would take them directly past some of the kibbutzim and moshavim – such as Nahal Oz and Be’eri – where they carried out their October 7 pogroms.

Does anybody realistically believe that the Israeli public will accept that now? Does anybody seriously believe that the Israeli public, looking at the experience with Palestinian self-rule over the last 30 years, is going to say, “Well, that sure went well – let’s try it on a larger scale”?

And Rubio’s third “hard truth” to his Saudi interlocutors should be this: Riyadh is not doing anyone a favor by normalizing ties with Israel.

Would it be a game-changer if such a deal could be brokered? Of course. Would Israel benefit from it by gaining widespread acceptance in the Arab and Muslim world? Undeniably. Would this be a tremendous strategic benefit for Israel? Absolutely.

But Saudi Arabia would benefit just as much. Normalization would solidify a counterweight to Iran – its true regional threat – while opening the door to Israeli technology and, most importantly, securing the long-coveted US security pact.

Israelis want normalization with Saudi Arabia, but not at any cost. If the Saudis, as they are doing, are conditioning normalization to Israel’s agreeing to a Palestinian state, they will be disappointed. Ties with Saudi Arabia are important, but not at the price of Israel’s national security – and a Palestinian state is now widely seen by the Israeli public as something that would endanger the country’s security.

Jordan and Egypt won’t take Palestinian refugees because they feel it endangers their national security. Well, here’s another truth: Israel won’t accept a Palestinian state anytime soon for the same reason – because it would be a threat to national security, and that matters more to the vast majority of Israelis than even normalization with the Saudis.


Herb Keinon

Source: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-842540

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Katz to US senators: No Palestinian state, only Trump’s plan ensures safety - JNS Staff

 

by JNS Staff

"Trump's plan regarding Gaza is the only one that can guarantee security for the residents of the south and the State of Israel after the lessons learned from the events of Oct. 7," said the Israeli defense minister.

 

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz with visiting United States senators at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem on Feb. 16, 2025. Photo by Ariel Hermoni/Israel Ministry of Defense.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz with visiting United States senators at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem on Feb. 16, 2025. Photo by Ariel Hermoni/Israel Ministry of Defense.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz informed a bipartisan delegation of visiting U.S. senators on Sunday that Israel “will never agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger its existence.”

During the meeting, Katz outlined Israel’s key priorities: preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, securing the release of hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas, and dismantling the terrorist group in the Strip. After achieving these objectives, Israel intends to pursue a normalization agreement with Saudi Arabia, Katz told the senators.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan “is the only one that can guarantee security for the residents of the south and the State of Israel after the lessons learned from the events of Oct. 7,” said Katz.

Trump’s proposal envisions the relocation of its two million residents and its clearing and rebuilding under U.S. direction.

The delegation, led by Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, also included Deputy Mideast Envoy Morgan Ortagus. Other attendees were Democratic senators Sheldon Whitehouse, Richard Blumenthal, Adam Schiff and Andy Kim, alongside Republican senators Joni Ernst, Dan Sullivan and John Cornyn.


JNS Staff

Source: https://www.jns.org/katz-to-us-senators-no-palestinian-state-only-trumps-plan-ensures-safety/

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IDF expected to withdraw from Lebanon tomorrow, but forces to triple along border - Yonah Jeremy Bob

 

by Yonah Jeremy Bob

The Israeli military will maintain five outposts within southern Lebanon near the border, each manned by a company of troops, for an indefinite period.

 

A sign shows the border between Israel and Lebanon, with a map of IDF's five outposts and an Israeli soldier (illustrative) (photo credit: AYAL MARGOLIN/FLASH90, GOOGLE MAPS/THE JERUSALEM POST, IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
A sign shows the border between Israel and Lebanon, with a map of IDF's five outposts and an Israeli soldier (illustrative)
(photo credit: AYAL MARGOLIN/FLASH90, GOOGLE MAPS/THE JERUSALEM POST, IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

As the IDF will mostly withdraw from southern Lebanon on Tuesday as expected, the IDF will have around three times as many troops on the defense line of the border with Lebanon as compared to before the war.

In addition, the military will maintain five outposts within southern Lebanon near the border, each manned by a company of troops, for an indefinite period.

Companies often range from 100-150 soldiers, though again, this is just a small part of the larger forces, which likely will number several thousand, if not 10,000-15,000, depending on various circumstances (the IDF did not specify the exact numbers for security reasons.)

The five outposts were not formally part of the November 27 ceasefire deal signed between Israel and Hezbollah-Lebanon.

However, Israel has convinced the US that the Lebanese army is not effective enough as of now to protect the Israeli border from Hezbollah, deepening its presence in southern Lebanon and then potentially trying to attack.

 A map shows the location of five outposts in southern Lebanon the IDF intends to remain in (credit: GOOGLE MAPS/THE JERUSALEM POST)Enlrage image
A map shows the location of five outposts in southern Lebanon the IDF intends to remain in (credit: GOOGLE MAPS/THE JERUSALEM POST)

Under the ceasefire, the Lebanese army was supposed to take over all potential Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon, confiscate Hezbollah weapons, and prevent the terror group from sending fighters back into the area.

Lebanese Armed Forces improving 

The IDF said on Monday that the Lebanese army is doing better than ever before and is surprisingly confronting Hezbollah in some instances, but that its performance is still far below where it would need to be to allow the IDF to withdraw the rest of its forces from southern Lebanon.

IDF sources suggested that a period of two to eight months for the outposts was easily imaginable and that the military could stay there much longer if needed for security reasons.

The five outposts will be located on the Lebanese side of the border running from West to East near: 1) Levona (near Shlomi on the Israeli side); 2) Ramia/Jabal Blat (Shtula); 3) Bleideh, Bint Jbeil, and Maroun a-Ras (Avivim); 4) Wadi Saluki (Margaliot); and 5) El Hiam, Kfar Kila, Ayoun Valley, and Aamra (Metulla).

According to the IDF, there is a hope that despite threats from Hezbollah to treat the five outposts as a continued occupation and basis for conflict, they have been limited enough to reduce friction with the broader Lebanese public.

Further, the IDF said that it would be crucial to maintain an aggressive posture toward attacking Hezbollah in Lebanon anytime it tries to sneak forces into southern Lebanon and anytime it tries to smuggle powerful weapons into any part of Lebanese territory.

IDF sources acknowledged that it would not be possible to completely prevent every single Hezbollah fighter from returning to southern Lebanon since many of them can return under the guise of being civilian villagers who live there.

However, the IDF said that it had enhanced its intelligence collection capabilities to try to better distinguish between legitimate innocent Lebanese villagers and Hezbollah fighters and would work hard on the issue.

In addition, the IDF said that while it would not rely solely on the Lebanese army and American advisors helping that army, that the mechanism for reporting Hezbollah violations, with direct US oversight, was often working.   

Also, the IDF said that since the September 30 invasion, it had succeeded in mostly clearing the five to six kilometer area of southern Lebanon near the border of Hezbollah weapons.

The IDF said that it hoped many northern residents would return to their homes as of March 2, given improvements for defending them as well as progress in some areas in rebuilding infrastructure and houses destroyed by around 14 months of Hezbolah rocket and drone attacks.

IDF sources said that the buffer zone in Syria is also reaping rewards in protecting Israel and that the military is working with local villagers so that they will not only not feel oppressed by the IDF presence, but will even feel some benefits.


Yonah Jeremy Bob

Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-842516

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Marking 500 days, hostage families press gov’t for swift release of all 73 - JNS

 

by JNS

"You decided to negotiate, you decided to go for an agreement—bring everyone back together," said Tikva Forum co-founder Tzvika Mor.

 

Families of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip hold a press conference outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, Feb. 17, 2025. Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90.
Families of Israelis held hostage by Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip hold a press conference outside the Knesset in Jerusalem, Feb. 17, 2025. Photo by Chaim Goldberg/Flash90.

Members of the Tikva Forum for Families of Hostages, which represents relatives who oppose concessions to Hamas, urged the Israeli government on Monday to leverage U.S. President Donald Trump’s support to get all 73 remaining captives out of Gaza by March 1, when the first phase of the ceasefire is due to expire.

Speaking at a press conference outside the Knesset marking 500 days since Hamas kidnapped their loved ones during the Oct. 7, 2023, invasion, Tikva co-founder Tzvika Mor opened by addressing Cabinet ministers who were set to convene to discuss the next stage of the Gaza truce.

“Today, you will talk about our loved ones who remain there,” Mor said. “We told you for 500 days that this way, you will not succeed in bringing everyone back, because talking to Hamas is a waste of time. You decided to negotiate, you decided to go for an agreement: Bring everyone back together.”

Ditza Or—the mother of captive Avinatan, who is not slated to be released during the first phase of the ceasefire—said, “Leverage Trump’s ultimatum. By the end of the 42nd day of the deal [March 1], everyone should be here. If you insist on withdrawing from the Philadelphi Corridor [on the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt], agree to it only after the last of the hostages is home.”

Boaz Miran, who after months of waiting recently received confirmation that his brother Omri was alive and in relatively stable condition as of July, noted, “We at the Tikva Forum have argued throughout this period that all the hostages should be returned together, after Hamas is defeated.

“President Trump has been saying the same thing, and has given the prime minister the option to give Hamas an ultimatum,” Miran said. “I expect the prime minister to continue this stage to its completion, but to present Hamas with an ultimatum between day 42 and day 50, to notify Hamas: Return everyone or we will use all the capabilities and means available to the State of Israel to bring all the hostages back at the same time.”

The Jewish state’s negotiators in Egypt and Qatar are currently focused only on the implementation of the first phase of the Gaza truce.

After Monday’s Cabinet meeting, Israel’s negotiators will “receive instructions for the continuation of the negotiations regarding the second stage,” the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem said on Sunday.

Trump over the weekend congratulated the hostages freed in Saturday’s sixth round of the first phase of the truce that took effect on Jan. 19, but made clear that their release fell short of his call to free all the captives.

“Hamas has just released three Hostages from GAZA, including an American Citizen. They seem to be in good shape! This differs from their [Hamas’s] statement last week that they would not release any Hostages,” he wrote on his Truth Social social media platform.

“Israel will now have to decide what they will do about the 12:00 O’CLOCK, TODAY, DEADLINE imposed on the release of ALL HOSTAGES. The United States will back the decision they make!” he added, apparently referring to U.S. Eastern Time, or 7 p.m. in Israel.

Trump’s deadline was a reference to his previous warning that the “gates of hell” could be unleashed if Hamas did not release all of the hostages.

According to official Israeli estimates, 73 hostages remain in Hamas captivity after 500 days, including 70 abducted during the terrorist organization’s Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre in the northwestern Negev.


JNS

Source: https://www.jns.org/marking-500-days-hostage-families-press-govt-for-swift-release-of-all-73/

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Hamas linked to UNRWA, aid went straight to leaders, recordings reveal - report - Jerusalem Post Staff

 

by Jerusalem Post Staff

Israel presented the recordings to the US, Channel 12 said; however, the Biden administration was adamant that 250 trucks of aid enter Gaza.

 

Hamas terrorists in Khan Yunis. February 4, 2025. (photo credit: Ali Hassan/Flash90)
Hamas terrorists in Khan Yunis. February 4, 2025.
(photo credit: Ali Hassan/Flash90)

The humanitarian aid that entered the Gaza Strip at the beginning of 2024 reached Hamas leaders instead of Gaza citizens, according to recordings of communications between Hamas operatives revealed by Channel 12 on Sunday.

Israel presented the recordings to the US, Channel 12 claimed; however, the Biden administration was adamant that 250 trucks of aid enter Gaza on a daily basis.

The recordings further revealed the close connection between Hamas and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

In one instance, an operative could be heard saying, “At the moment, monitoring is underway, and we will receive updates. There are definitely injured among them. Some of them are UNRWA employees. Two of them are police officers.”

According to the report, the junior Hamas operatives complained that the aid was not reaching them. In response, they were, and were told that other operatives had attacked their wives in a Rafah mosque.

 TRUCKS CROSS at Kerem Shalom, the main passage point for goods entering the Gaza Strip from Israel.  (credit: ABED RAHIM KHATIB/FLASH90)Enlrage image
TRUCKS CROSS at Kerem Shalom, the main passage point for goods entering the Gaza Strip from Israel. (credit: ABED RAHIM KHATIB/FLASH90)

“They enter the women’s room and beat them,” the reports noted. “We will redeem our people with our soul and our blood,” the operatives could be heard saying, according to Channel 12. “The leadership is not involved in the matter and has been following it from the very beginning,” came one response to the incident.

Criticism of Hamas leadership

“Aamer, spare me these stories that the leadership wasn’t following. Pray that we disperse before we are brought to the south. I swear to you, we will tear you apart. Tell the leadership in Khan Yunis as well. We will tear you apart. You only care about yourselves. There is no leadership,” said the operative.

“All the leadership in Khan Yunis should cover their heads because they are not men. They enter the women’s rooms and beat them inside the room. Everyone needs to understand that our honor is more precious than our lives.

“Our blood is worthless when it comes to our honor. Despite everything we are going through, this is what burned us from within. The war is one thing; the war and the rockets and nothing else scare us. Until this issue. This is what killed us. Our honor.”


Jerusalem Post Staff

Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-842474

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Why Trump’s Steel Tariffs Must Be Permanent - Spencer P. Morrison

 

by Spencer P. Morrison

Permanent tariffs are the only shield against a rigged global market that exploits cheap labor, lax regulations, and state-backed industry to gut American manufacturing.

 

President Trump imposed a 25 percent ad valorem tariff on steel. When questioned whether the tariffs were permanent, President Trump’s Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing, Peter Navarro, responded that the tariffs are “permanent because the problem is permanent.”

Navarro is right. America’s steel industry has been brutalized for 50 years by unfair trade with the Third World.

Consider that in 1945, America produced 72 percent of the world’s steel. Now, we produce just 4.2 percent. To make matters worse, America cannot produce enough steel to meet our own demand. Last year, we consumed roughly 100 million metric tons while producing just 80 million metric tons.

Without steel imports, America’s economy would be crippled, and our ability to win a major war would be jeopardized. Therefore, the ability to produce steel is both an economic and national security problem. Permanent tariffs are an elegant solution to both problems.

Tariffs are Forever

We will begin by answering the following basic questions: What are tariffs, how do tariffs work, and why must tariffs be permanent?

Tariffs are taxes levied on imports. They do not apply to American-made goods. Accordingly, tariffs make imported products more expensive relative to American-made products. For example, if America and China both produce oranges at a cost of $1.00 per orange, a 25 percent tariff would raise the cost of Chinese oranges to $1.25—but not affect the price of American oranges. In this way, tariffs create an economic incentive to buy American.

Because tariffs raise the cost of imports, they also remove the economic incentive for American businesses to offshore their production to foreign countries—to move the factories to China, only to try and sell the products in America. In this way, tariffs protect American industries from unfair foreign competition.

At this point, you may be wondering: Why not just make it cheaper to do business in America by cutting red tape and lowering taxes? Should we not focus on competing with China rather than protecting “lazy” American industries?

No. The fact of the matter is that America could usher in a laissez-faire libertarian paradise—no taxes and anything goes—and this would still not be enough to compete with places like India or China. Why? One word: externalities.

From China With Love

Relative to the developing world, America has strict regulations that help balance economic interests with other important societal goals, such as ensuring reasonable workplace standards or protecting the environment. These standards impose costs on producers—it costs money to give workers lunch breaks or to remediate toxic waste spills—and these costs are baked into the final price of an American-made product. The costs are internalized.

On the other hand, countries like China do not have such robust regulations. As a result, their goods are “cheaper” than American goods. At least on paper.

In reality, there is a cost to society and the environment for lax regulations. However, these costs are not paid by the producer. Instead, these costs are paid for by society at large; they are externalized. For example, China’s natural environment has been poisoned by all manner of toxic chemicals and pollutants because the government allowed factories to externalize environmental costs in the name of manufacturing “cheap” goods.

Chinese goods are not cheaper than American goods; they simply do not reflect the full cost of making the product. For this reason, America cannot produce goods as cheaply as China—not unless we are willing to destroy our standard of living—not unless we are willing to sacrifice our environment—not unless we are willing to outlaw morality in the name of business and sell our very soul for profit.

No. Reducing the cost of business to compete with China on price is simply not desirable. Nor is it possible. Remember, even if America allowed manufacturers to externalize all costs, our economy is structurally distinct from many foreign producers, in particular China. In America, private corporations dominate the market. Although these corporations are large, and many are owned by the same few investment firms—like Blackrock—they remain private entities.

This is not the case in many foreign countries, where public corporations dominate the market. For example, Chinese manufacturers are typically backed by the Communist Party’s monolithic might. As a result, Chinese companies can lose money for decades by dumping below-market-priced products until they finally dominate a particular market. At that point, they can then raise the prices to their satisfaction, having carved out an unnatural monopoly.

Unless America nationalized all key private industries, we could not “compete” with China. Therefore, the only way to protect America’s market from asymmetrical competition from countries like China is to price in these externalities by imposing protective tariffs.

As Peter Navarro said, tariffs must be permanent because market asymmetries are permanent. Ultimately, no amount of academic double-speak or libertarian fever-dreaming about free trade will make global competition fair. If we want to reshore American industry, then we must build a permanent tariff wall.


Spencer P. Morrison

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2025/02/17/why-trumps-steel-tariffs-must-be-permanent/

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Is There a Democrat Blueprint to Regain Power? - Victor Davis Hanson

 

by Victor Davis Hanson

Democrats seem stuck in a cycle of rage and resistance, recycling failed anti-Trump tactics while losing ground with voters and donors alike.

 

What is the long-term Democratic Party’s strategy to return to power?

Americans may ask that only because so far, the Democrat agenda seems to entail polarizing and alienating as many voters as possible.

They gleefully double down on their 2024 defeat. And they seem almost to grow ecstatic at ensuring that Donald Trump and his record poll at unprecedented highs.

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) rants on national TV that Trump is a d—k and promises to go to “war” against him.

Democratic representatives chant “f—k Trump” on national television.

Senator “Spartacus” Booker (D-NJ) almost daily shouts to high heaven and barks out promises of massive resistance, proving he is far crazier than his allegedly crazy Trump.

During the recent cabinet confirmations, Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Tim Kaine lost their minds in impotent rage at the nominees and played the fools—furious at a few timid Democrat suggestions to tone it down.

Democrats bark that Elon Musk is even more Satanic than Trump.

They swarm and try to break into the Department of Education. They shut down the LA freeways. And in the case of illegal aliens, they wave the flag of the nation they fled from, while burning the flag of the nation in which they demand to remain.

Do they think being pro-Hamas on campuses, inviting in ostentatious transgendered to scream at elected officials, or threatening to bring “weapons” as they go “to war” cements their supposed reputation as the party of “peace” or wins over the lost middle class?

Democrat activists tip off illegal alien criminals, endangering the safety of American law enforcement officers. Blue-city mayors and Democrat elected officials go full neo-Confederate in screaming they will resist federal laws.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), the self-described future of the party, sends out pointers to illegal aliens on how to break federal law. Is the point how to best commit a felony?

When fraud, scandal, and waste are exposed at USAID, the Democrats ignore the billions of dollars misspent and instead shriek that children will die if the budget of 2025 returns to the size of its 2019 counterpart, adjusted for inflation and population growth.

And yet so far, the hysterical style is not working. Instead, it is achieving the very opposite of its intention.

Trump’s popularity in the most recent Rasmussen poll soared to 55 percent approval. For the first time in twenty years, the poll found Americans, now after just three weeks of Trump in office, felt that the U.S. is finally for the first time in 20 years moving in the right direction.

Most of Trump’s signature hot-button issues—banning biological males in women’s sports, deporting violent illegal aliens, finishing the border wall, or cutting government waste—poll between 65-80 percent approval. In response, Democrats scream that after a mere 21 days in office, Trump is responsible for not ending the four-year inflation of Joe Biden, which until November 5, they claimed was insignificant and transitory.

After losing the electoral and popular votes in November 2024, the Democrats have no official legislative or executive power.

Ultimately the Supreme Court will quash their efforts to cherry-pick left-wing lower court judges to obstruct Trump’s executive orders.

They have not stopped one Trump nominee who went up for a Senate vote.

Any who broke the law during the last four years, and many did, will not issue subpoenas but fear receiving them.

Their bastions of left-wing resistance—the media, the administrative state, and the universities—are hemorrhaging, losing power, and gaining ever more unpopularity.

The more that viewers are turned off by racial chauvinism, foul language, and screaming, the more left-wing cable networks showcase maddened DEI guests—issuing threats, employing profanity, and shouting as they lose their minds.

Are new Democrat demands for racial reparations wise for some to receive borrowed billions of dollars who were never slaves from many who never owned them when we are all $37 trillion in debt?

There is no Democratic youthful generation, other than the hysterical Squad.

The leaders of the youth party are instead ossified, septuagenarian and octogenarian relics of the last decades—Joe Biden, James Clyburn, Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer, and Elisabeth Warren.

The more the elite of the various left-wing black caucuses scream that Trump is a racist, traitor, dictator, and fascist, the more black males trend toward Trump. The more out-of-touch left-wing Hispanic leaders in Congress scream that Trump is a hater and xenophobic, the closer Trump comes to capturing a majority of Hispanic voters by promising to close the border and secure their communities.

The latest poll on Democrat favorability—conducted by liberal Quinnipiac—reveals historic dislike of Democrats, with only 31 percent of voters expressing a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party.

Are Democrats then pivoting or self-correcting?

Do they support legal-only immigration? Do they wish to join in finding fraud in the federal government?

Do they perhaps at least wish to reform the Pentagon, or lower the price of energy?

Nope.

So, what then is their agenda?

It is a retread of 2017, mixed in with the anti-Trump hysteria of 2021-4. By now we all recognize the weary symptoms of their five-point blueprint:

  1. Scream nonstop about Trump the monster (and now Elon Musk too) and his right-wing Nazi coup—without supplying any concrete details or analysis to support such ridiculous invective.
  2. Cherry-pick left-wing lower echelon judges to delay, block and confound Trump’s executive orders and legislative agendas.
  3. Raise huge amounts of money to galvanize street theater, massive sit-ins, and soon violent street demonstrations.
  4. Use such fury to win back the House and then impeach Trump in 2026.
  5. Investigate and subpoena Trump with lawfare to render him inert until 2028.

All that admittedly worked somewhat in Trump’s first term.

Remember, the left went from the Steele dossier’s “Russian collusion” lie during the 2016 campaign, to Robert Mueller’s 20-month derailing of the Trump agenda through his special counsel witch-hunt that ultimately found no “collusion.”

As designed, that legal circus side-tracked nearly two years of Trump’s governance.

When Robert Mueller shut down his “dream team” and “all- stars” in March 2019, the Democrats went right into full removal mode and so impeached Trump in the fall over one phone call.

In between, they sought to disrupt and distract by claiming Trump was crazy, and subject to 25th Amendment removal, while attacking his wife and children

Critical to the left’s strategy between 2017-21 was to outraise him with billionaire tech and Wall Street cash, enlist administrative leakers and Never Trumpers to disrupt from the inside Trump governance, organize government “experts” and retired generals to write that Trump was an existential danger, a fascist, a Nazi, a liar and a cheat, riot in the streets, burn, and loot during the summer of 2020, and change the ballot laws to ensure only 30 percent showed up on election day.

And all that worked in getting the waxen-effigy Joe Biden elected.

But will the repeat succeed again?

Probably not.

Trump is far wiser, and his team far more polished, loyal, and zealous.

He enters office not after the hopey-and changey therapeutic Barack Obama, but the disastrous term of an enfeebled Joe Biden.

Indeed, four years of anti-Trump lawfare and more—raiding his home, 91 indictments, five criminal and civil courtroom indictments and suits, 20 some states seeking to de-ballot him, and two assassination attempts not only failed to harm Trump but likely ensured his reelection.

This time all his cabinet and agency heads are determined to accelerate, not subvert his agenda. He is not reactive as sometimes in the past in the face of the left’s maelstrom of suits and character assassination that often overwhelmed his inexperienced team.

Now sadder, but wiser, Trump is proactive, preemptive, and on the offensive. It is the left, not Trump, that is overwhelmed, confused, and weakened by a tsunami of executive orders, defamation lawsuits, billionaire defections, and minority apostates.

Minority and youthful voters are trending, not bleeding, Trump. He may well outraise the midterm Democrats, both because of his popular wildfire changes and the once left-wing billionaires who defected from the unstable and unreliable Democrats.

There will likely be no more insider “anonymous” op-eds promising to subvert the administration. Retired generals are more worried about overdue enforcement of Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice than finding more creative smears of Trump. The Republican House and Senate hold small margins, but they are more MAGA-oriented than the past Trump Congresses.

In sum, rejecting light for heat, the Democrats return to the same scowls and furor of the past as if we are forever in 2018, when in fact the world is a far different place in 2025.

The voters’ problem with the new Democratic Party is not just that they are old and unhinged, but that they are so wearily and predictably boring.

 
Victor Davis Hanson

Source: https://amgreatness.com/2025/02/17/is-there-a-democrat-blueprint-to-regain-power/

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The PA may want to run Gaza, but it would face numerous obstacles - analysis - Seth J. Frantzman

 

by Seth J. Frantzman

Fatah spokesperson Maher al-Namoura says the Palestinian Authority is ready to govern and rebuild Gaza as ceasefire talks and discussions on the strip’s future continue.

 

A Palestinian woman holds a picture of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, in Gaza City, January 1, 2020 (photo credit: REUTERS/IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA)
A Palestinian woman holds a picture of PA President Mahmoud Abbas, in Gaza City, January 1, 2020
(photo credit: REUTERS/IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA)

The Palestinian Authority is capable of managing and rebuilding Gaza, according to Fatah spokesperson Maher al-Namoura. spoke with Al-Hadath in a post that the Arabic media channel put on social media. He made his remarks in a recent discussion with Al Hadath, a Saudi interactive news channel.

This reflects the PA’s policy since 2007 – when it was illegally pushed out of Gaza in 2007 by Hamas – that it should govern Gaza. Fatah is the largest faction within the PA.

These days, such comments matter a bit more because there is a ceasefire in Gaza. Israel and Hamas are also supposed to be entering discussions about the second phase of the hostage deal and ceasefire.
The first phase ends in another two weeks. Israeli leaders have not spoken much about the second phase.Namoura’s appearance on Al Hadath followed several recent comments he made to media outlets. Fatah welcomes the position of Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab countries against displacing Palestinians from Gaza, he said. He was also quoted as dismissing US President Donald Trump’s assertion that the US could take control of Gaza.Namoura was briefly detained by Israeli security forces in Dura on February 1, according to Al-Quds, a Palestinian newspaper based in east Jerusalem. His comments about Gaza should be seen within this context.
 Members of the Palestinian security forces and mourners attend a funeral in Nablus, in the West Bank, December 23, 2024 (credit: NASSER ISHTAYEH/FLASH90)Enlrage image
Members of the Palestinian security forces and mourners attend a funeral in Nablus, in the West Bank, December 23, 2024 (credit: NASSER ISHTAYEH/FLASH90)

It is clear that Gaza is in play these days, especially since there are so many comments about its future. While Trump has said Gazans could be resettled elsewhere, he has also called for other countries to pay for rebuilding Gaza, which he considers to be a demolition site because of the damage from the war.

Meanwhile, Hamas has refused to disarm. Hamas official Osama Hamdan made that clear recently. There could be some flexibility in terms of creating a technocratic government in which Hamas continues to pull the strings behind the curtain and feels it has won the war, but it also finds a way to include a veneer of rule by some others.There are other moves afoot. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Israel over the weekend and continues to say Hamas should be eradicated.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seems to agree with Trump’s plan, and some Israeli officials have begun to channel Trump’s talking point of “hell breaking loose” if Hamas doesn’t comply with the ceasefire’s terms. Some right-wing politicians also want a return to fighting in Gaza.

Other moves are taking place. Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff recently spoke with officials in Israel, Egypt, and Qatar, Arab News reported Monday. He is working on phase 2 of the deal and bringing the hostages home. Like Trump, Witkoff has been a passionate advocate for the hostages.

Many freed hostages have thanked Trump for freeing them. Trump has also given Israel a free hand in Gaza, saying Israel can do whatever it wants.

Palestinian Authority in Gaza for the long-term

It seems to be a long shot for the PA to run Gaza. It wasn’t able to run it well from 2005-2007, and that allowed Hamas to take it over.

The PA received some help to shore up its own security in the West Bank with the work of US Gen. Keith Dayton, who served as US security coordinator to the Palestinian Authority. Nevertheless, the PA has seen its power eroded in the West Bank over time. How could it move back to Gaza without support?Israel’s current government doesn’t support the PA running Gaza, and Arab states have not stepped forward with a plan. It’s possible the Trump doctrine of stirring the grass might result in some kind of change, but much still remains in the air.


Seth J. Frantzman

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-842457

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Israeli majority rejects Palestinian Authority taking over Gaza, survey finds - Jerusalem Post Staff

 

by Jerusalem Post Staff

A majority of Israelis oppose integrating the Palestinian Authority into any Gaza agreement, including 56% of Israeli-Arabs.

 

Mahmoud Abbas, PA President in front of a map of Gaza (illustrative). (photo credit: Corona Borealis Studio/Shutterstock, FLASH90)
Mahmoud Abbas, PA President in front of a map of Gaza (illustrative).
(photo credit: Corona Borealis Studio/Shutterstock, FLASH90)

Sixty percent of Israelis, including 56% of Arab Israelis, oppose integrating the Palestinian Authority into a future arrangement in Gaza, according to a recent survey by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA).

The poll was conducted among a representative sample of more than 700 Jewish and Arab Israelis aged 18-65. Some 62% of the respondents, including 68% of Jews and 25% of Arabs, said they were concerned about an attack originating from the West Bank similar to the October 7 massacre.

The survey was carried out by Dr. Menachem Lazar’s Lazar Research Institute. It reflected a shift in public opinion regarding a potential Palestinian state.

Following the October 7 massacre, 67% of Israelis, including 75% of Jews, opposed establishing a Palestinian state along the 1967 lines, according to the survey. Forty-two percent of Arabs supported the establishment of a Palestinian state without conditions, which was a 10% increase from a previous survey.

“The Israeli public is very clear about what it expects from Israel’s leadership when considering ‘the day after’ the war in Gaza,” the report said.

The prospect of normalization of relations with Saudi Arabia has not swayed Israeli opinion, the survey indicated. Opposition to a Palestinian state remained more than 60% even when normalization with Riyadh was offered as an incentive, the report said.

 Palestinian Authority security forces operate in Jenin, in the West Bank, December 16, 2024 (credit: NASSER ISHTAYEH/FLASH90)Enlrage image
Palestinian Authority security forces operate in Jenin, in the West Bank, December 16, 2024 (credit: NASSER ISHTAYEH/FLASH90)

The possibility of Hamas retaining any control in Gaza, whether as a civil or military body, was overwhelmingly rejected by the respondents. The survey found that 82% of Israelis, including 90% of Jews and 33% of Arabs, opposed Hamas remaining in any civilian capacity.

Regarding the notion of Hamas maintaining military power, 94% of Jewish respondents and 46% of Arab respondents opposed the idea.

Widespread support for increased defense spending

The poll revealed widespread support for increased security measures following the October 7 massacre. Seventy-one percent of respondents backed the creation of long-term buffer zones along Israel’s borders with Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza, citing the need for physical separation to deter future attacks.

Additionally, the poll found that 61% of Israelis supported a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, with 38% favoring coordination with the United States and 23% advocating for unilateral action.

The survey also explored public concern about potential future conflicts with Egypt. While recent publications have raised concerns about the possibility of war, 55% of respondents said they were not worried about such a scenario. However, 33% of the respondents said they were concerned about the potential for conflict with Egypt.

The poll also gauged public sentiment regarding US President Donald Trump’s plan for encouraging Gazans to emigrate. The survey found that 75% of respondents supported the initiative, while 58% of the Arab respondents opposed it.

“These results reflect a widespread sense of insecurity among the Israeli public, especially after October 7,” the report said. “The survey shows that the fear of another attack is not just a distant scenario for most Israelis, but a tangible threat that must be addressed through a clear and robust strategy.”


Jerusalem Post Staff

Source: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-842521

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