The EU's Lethal Obsession with Israel - Bassam Tawil

 

by Bassam Tawil

The EU, it seems, has funded literally thousands of illegal Palestinian modular buildings in territory that is legally under Israeli jurisdiction.

• What [EU] Representative [Sven] Koopmans forgot to mention that it is the Palestinians who have built tens of thousands of illegal structures in the West Bank, especially in Area C, which, according to the Oslo Accords, is under full Israeli security and civilian jurisdiction.

• Koopmans also forgot to mention that the EU is helping the Palestinian Authority (PA) with the mass-scale illegal construction, paving the way for the de facto annexation of the territory.

• The EU does not interfere anyplace else on the planet other than Area C -- not for the Kurds, the Assyrians, the Yazidis, the Uyghurs, the Kashmiris, the Tibetans or the Greek Cypriots. The Palestinians continue to be the only group on the EU's list of people with whom to interfere. This inordinate attention appears to stem not so much from love for the Palestinians as from hatred for Israel.

• The EU, it seems, has funded literally thousands of illegal Palestinian modular buildings in territory that is legally under Israeli jurisdiction.

• Lately, the EU has been concentrating more on agricultural land: one can acquire a much larger area for a much smaller investment.

• By doing so, the EU is encouraging the Palestinians to engage in unilateral actions in violation of the agreements signed between the Palestinians and Israel.

• This is the same EU that continues to warn Israel not to take any "unilateral actions," and that continues to criticize Israel for building and expanding "illegal" settlements in the West Bank.

• As of 2022, the EU has built 81,317 illegal structures in Area C....

• The EU's commitment to the expansion of illegal Palestinian settlement in Area C persists in full disregard of the Oslo Accords, which the EU purports to uphold.

• "The object is to create continuous Palestinian settlement throughout the West Bank and thereby isolate and strangle Israeli communities," wrote Hillel Frisch, professor of Political Science and Middle Eastern History at Bar-Ilan University, in 2019.

• The 2009 "Fayyad Plan" (officially titled "Palestine: Ending the Occupation, Establishing the State") was -- and remains -- a proposal to create facts on the ground that would end up as a Palestinian state if negotiations do not work out, thereby bypassing the need to negotiate with Israel as agreed to in the Oslo Accords.

• The catch is: If the Palestinians believe that they can be handed a state by some external entity, such as the EU, at no cost to themselves, why should they ever bother to negotiate? For years, in fact, they have avoided coming to the negotiating table, presumably in the hope of precisely such a windfall.

• The best interests of the Jahalin Bedouin were not the main concern of the Palestinian Authority. What was important to the PA was the land -- to take possession of it and then make whatever was built on it appear irreversible.

• [T]hese new facts on the ground, of course, encourage the Palestinians not to negotiate. Why should they, if they can get everything they want by just taking it?

• Fayyad's unilateral plan to create facts on the ground is totally in violation of the Oslo Accords, which state that "neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations."

• At the end of last year, a secret document by the EU's mission in east Jerusalem showed that Brussels is also actively working with, and on behalf of, the Palestinian Authority to take over Area C of the West Bank.

• Koopmans and other senior EU officials apparently know they are acting illicitly: they are doing their utmost to hide the fact that they are actively helping the Palestinians to break the law and violate the agreements signed with Israel.

• Just as Israel does not meddle in the internal affairs of the EU member states, it is time to put an end to the EU's poisonous intrusion into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

• Along the way, the EU might also want to consider the real source of its lethal obsession with Israel.

The EU, it seems, has funded literally thousands of illegal Palestinian modular buildings in territory that is legally under Israeli jurisdiction. By doing so, the EU is encouraging the Palestinians to engage in unilateral actions in violation of the agreements signed between the Palestinians and Israel. Pictured: The illegal Palestinian encampment of Khan Al-Ahmar, located within a few meters of the highway connecting Jerusalem with the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley. (Image source: TrickyH/Wikimedia Commons)

European Union Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process Sven Koopmans stated on February 17: "The EU wants build stronger ties with Israel, yet relations sadly remain burdened by the construction of illegal settlements on Palestinian land."

What Koopmans forgot to mention that it is the Palestinians who have built literally tens of thousands of illegal structures in the West Bank, especially in Area C, which, according to the Oslo Accords, is under full Israeli security and civilian jurisdiction.

Koopmans also forgot to mention that the EU is helping the Palestinian Authority (PA) with the mass-scale illegal construction, paving the way for the de facto annexation of the territory.

By way of background: Under the Oslo Accords, the West Bank was divided into three zones -- unpoetically named Areas A, B and C -- while negotiations were underway for a permanent solution to the borders. Area A is under full Palestinian control, Area B is under Palestinian control apart from security. Area C is officially an Israeli area that is still to be negotiated.

The EU does not interfere anyplace else on the planet other than Area C -- not for the Kurds, the Assyrians, the Yazidis, the Uyghurs, the Kashmiris, the Tibetans or the Greek Cypriots. The Palestinians continue to be the only group on the EU's list of people with whom to interfere. This inordinate attention appears to stem not so much from love for the Palestinians as from hatred for Israel.

The envoys of several EU countries recently expressed concerns about Israel's "unilateral actions," and earlier this year, Josep Borell, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, called on Israel to avoid "unilateral actions," including settlement activity and the demolition of illegal Palestinian structures, especially in the West Bank area of Hebron.

When Palestinians complain about "unilateral actions," they are referring to Israel's counterterrorism measures and the construction of new homes for Jewish families. The Palestinians do not want to see the Israeli security forces go after the terrorists. They also do not want to see Israel building homes for Jews.

Israel's Ministry of Intelligence, however, found in a report only recently declassified, that

"foreign governments gave hundreds of millions of euros to Palestinian projects in Area C in Judea and Samaria....Such funding is contrary to international law and relevant agreements... [T]he report describes how the Palestinians use EU funds to build thousands of illegal structures and grab swaths of agricultural land.." [Emphases added]

The EU, it seems, has funded literally thousands of illegal Palestinian modular buildings in territory that is legally under Israeli jurisdiction. The EU, moreover, has never concealed its policy of supporting the Palestinians in their efforts to grab prohibited land and build illegal structures in Israel's Area C.

Lately, the EU has been concentrating more on agricultural land: one can acquire a much larger area for a much smaller investment.

In 2012, the EU developed, for the first time, a comprehensive policy related to Area C, to be followed by a set of concrete steps and action.

Between 2016 and 2019, the EU provided a total of 33 million euros ($35 million) to "humanitarian and development assistance to support Palestinians living in Area C."

The EU says it also works with the Palestinian Authority to "develop" Area C. The EU adds that it "supports projects promoting economic development and improving the quality of life of Palestinian communities in Area C in the areas of the private sector, the environment and agriculture."

The EU is openly admitting that it is assisting the Palestinians to break the law by building illegal structures in an area that is officially under full Israeli sovereignty.

By doing so, the EU is encouraging the Palestinians to engage in unilateral actions in violation of the agreements signed between the Palestinians and Israel.

This is the same EU that continues to warn Israel not to take any "unilateral actions," and that continues to criticize Israel for building and expanding "illegal" settlements in the West Bank.

An Israeli non-governmental organization, Regavim, has documented "5535 new illegal structures built in 2022, compared to 3076 structures in the same period in 2021" -- in one year, nearly double.

Countless EU-funded Palestinian modular homes have also been erected in locations around Jerusalem and the West Bank in the past few years. These structures fly an EU flag and display hundreds of EU signs and stickers.

As of 2022, the EU has built 81,317 illegal structures in Area C, according to Regavim.

"Alongside this mass-scale illegal construction, dispersed over an immense geographic area, additional phenomena are fueling the Palestinian Authority's de facto annexation of the territory, massive illegal agricultural projects on Israeli state land, lawfare funded by foreign concerns... and a coordinated campaign of international pressure. These are all elements of a calculated strategy, carried out under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority with the stated goal of creating facts on the ground in support of a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood, dealing a severe blow to Israel's national in interests and security."

The EU's commitment to the expansion of illegal Palestinian settlement in Area C persists in full disregard of the Oslo Accords, which the EU purports to uphold.

"The object is to create continuous Palestinian settlement throughout the West Bank and thereby isolate and strangle Israeli communities," wrote Hillel Frisch, professor of Political Science and Middle Eastern History at Bar-Ilan University, in 2019.

"For the first time in the 100-year-old conflict between the Zionist movement (and later the State of Israel) and the Palestinian Arabs, the Palestinians are surpassing the Jews in strategic settlement, over which the Zionist movement had enjoyed a monopoly. The PA is achieving this under the auspices of the EU."

In April 2012, the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Local Government published a strategic action plan entitled "Planning Support for Palestinian Communities in Area C." The EU announced its support for this plan in an official document called "Land Development and Access to Basic Infrastructure in Area C."

Frisch pointed out that as early as 2016, the EU had already spent a total of 10.5 million euros [$11 million] to draw up and implement zoning plans for 90 Palestinian settlements and support land development projects in Area C in conjunction with the Palestinian Authority.

"The PA-EU's prime objective is clear: to create continuous Arab settlement from the south to the north of the West Bank, while simultaneously thwarting Israeli designs to create continuous neighborhoods from Ma'ale Adumim to Jerusalem (the E-1 plan).

"The PA's achievements have been considerable so far. As new Israeli building dwindles to insignificance in areas east of Jerusalem, the PA, with European help, has succeeded in housing tens of thousands... in a space no larger than nine square kilometers. This number is more than double the number of inhabitants in Ma'ale Adumim and the other Israeli localities in the area.

"Eastward of Ma'ale Adumim, the PA and the EU have identified makeshift Bedouin encampments, the most prominent being al-Khan al-Akhmar, as the chief weapon with which to transform Area C into a Palestinian state. These fast-growing encampments are close to a major highway and are bereft of sewage systems and organized garbage disposal. The Israeli authorities have earmarked an area just south of Abu Dis that would provide all these amenities, yet the PA and the EU continue to abet Bedouin encampments."

Khan al-Ahmar would be a chief weapon because it is located within a few meters of the highway connecting Jerusalem with the Dead Sea and the Jordan Valley. The Palestinians want Khan al-Ahmar to become a Palestinian settlement that would cut off Jerusalem from these areas, then surround the city with Palestinian communities.

The EU and the Palestinians are acting in accordance with a program launched in 2009 by former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

The 2009 "Fayyad Plan" (officially titled "Palestine: Ending the Occupation, Establishing the State") was -- and remains -- a proposal to create facts on the ground that would end up as a Palestinian state if negotiations do not work out, thereby bypassing the need to negotiate with Israel as agreed to in the Oslo Accords.

The catch is: If the Palestinians believe that they can be handed a state by some external entity, such as the EU, at no cost to themselves, why should they ever bother to negotiate? For years, in fact, they have avoided coming to the negotiating table, presumably in the hope of precisely such a windfall.

Some Jahalin Bedouin squatters also presented a perfect means of establishing an extra-judicial foothold.

The best interests of the Jahalin Bedouin were not the main concern of the Palestinian Authority. What was important to the PA was the land -- to take possession of it and then make whatever was built on it appear irreversible. So while the PA and the EU continue to talk about a negotiated settlement for Area C (Areas A and B are already under Palestinian control), illegal construction in Area C, which is officially under Israeli sovereignty, with the final borders to be negotiated, these new facts on the ground, of course, encourage the Palestinians not to negotiate. Why should they, if they can get everything they want by just taking it?

With the help of generous support of EU member states and Arab countries, the Palestinian Authority has also launched a series of "nationalist initiatives," focusing on rural areas and desolate sections of Area C. Concerted efforts were invested in strategic areas that would have the greatest impact on Palestinian claims of de facto sovereignty.

According to Naomi Kahn, International Director of Regavim:

"The Europeans pay for the planning. They pay for the engineering. They pay for the legal support. They pay for the infrastructure. They pay for construction, even though they know it's illegal, and they build into the contracts the possible demolition. They also build into the contract legal representation if and when it comes to court because it's illegal."

Fayyad's unilateral plan to create facts on the ground is totally in violation of the Oslo Accords, which state that "neither side shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status negotiations."

"The Palestinians' unilateral establishment of facts on the ground completely undermines Israel's opening position for any negotiated settlement," Regavim has warned. The EU, however, seems clearly determined to continue the illegal Fayyad Plan to help the Palestinians with their land-grabs and mass-scale illegal construction.

At the end of last year, a secret document by the EU's mission in east Jerusalem showed that Brussels is also actively working with, and on behalf of, the Palestinian Authority to take over Area C of the West Bank. According to the document:

"The EU's Area C program aims to foster the resilience of [Palestinian] people, services and institutions, to reinforce Palestinian presence in Area C and to protect the rights of Palestinians living in Area C."

It is time to call out the hypocritical malice of EU officials such as Sven Koopmans, who continue to accuse Israel of taking "unilateral actions" and building "illegal" settlements. Koopmans and other senior EU officials apparently know they are acting illicitly: they are doing their utmost to hide the fact that they are actively helping the Palestinians to break the law and violate the agreements signed with Israel.

Just as Israel does not meddle in the internal affairs of the EU member states, it is time to put an end to the EU's poisonous intrusion into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Along the way, the EU might also want to consider the real source of its lethal obsession with Israel.

Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East.

Source:https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19467/eu-obsession-israel

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Iran secured secret deal with Russia over uranium for nuke program - Benjamin Weinthal

 

by Benjamin Weinthal

The International Atomic Energy Agency said it had located uranium particles at Iran’s underground Fordo site that were enriched to 83.7% purity.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani during a meeting on the sidelines of a session of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council In Yerevan, Armenia October 1, 2019

(photo credit: REUTERS)

Iran reached a secret agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin in July to bypass a future renegotiated nuclear deal over its reported illicit atomic weapons program, enabling Moscow to return Tehran’s enriched uranium, according to a media report.

The International Atomic Energy Agency last week said it had located uranium particles at Iran’s underground Fordo site that were enriched to 83.7% purity, which is near weapons-grade material for an atomic weapon.

On Sunday, Fox News said it had been told by a foreign intelligence source: “As part of the agreement between the two countries, Russia has undertaken to return all the enriched uranium to Iran as quickly as possible if, for any reason, the US withdraws from the agreement.”

In response, the US State Department said: “We will not comment on purported secret intelligence reports, but in any event, the JCP­OA has not been on the agenda for months.”

The JCPOA is an abbreviation of the formal name, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, for the atomic deal between the major powers – the US, France, Britain, Germany, China and Russia – and Iran’s regime.

Iranian technicians work at a uranium processing site in Isfahan. (credit: REUTERS)

According to the intelligence source, “President Putin, who made a special trip to Iran to pursue weapons deals between the two countries, agreed to approve the request, apparently due to his interest in compensating the Iranians for their assistance,” the report said.

The deal would make the JCPOA deal pointless

The attempt by Iran and Russia to circumvent the JCPOA would largely dismantle the point of the nuclear deal, namely, to stop Tehran from using its enriched uranium to build a nuclear weapon.

“This would significantly undermine US interests and would give Russia de facto control over the nuclear agreement in the present and future,” the intelligence source said, according to the report.

Iran’s UN Mission denied that there was a secret deal with Russia. Iran is currently supplying Russia with lethal drone technology in its war against Ukraine. It is unclear if the secret enriched-uranium deal between Russia and Iran, which unfolded in July and August, is a quid pro quo for Tehran’s military assistance to Moscow.

The secret Iran-Russia pact was approved by Putin when he visited Tehran in July 2022, according to foreign intelligence sources that Fox News cited.

The JCPOA has been engulfed in enormous controversy since it was implemented by the Obama administration and other world powers in 2015. The Trump administration withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018 because it said the Iran deal does not impede Tehran from developing an atomic bomb.

According to Saeed Ghasseminejad, a Foundation for Defense of Democracies Iran expert, “The new nuclear deal would allow Tehran to access up to $275 billion in financial benefits during its first year in effect and $1 trillion by 2030.”

Israel and critics of the JCPOA argue that Iran’s clerical state can use the financial benefits due to sanctions relief to fund terrorism and expand its missile program. The US State Department has repeatedly classified Iran’s regime as the world’s worst international state sponsor of terrorism.

In a 2022 article on the website of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) titled “The Iran Nuclear Negotiations: Five Shams and One Truth,” Middle East experts Yigal Carmon and M. Reiter said: “For many years, the West has been trying to prevent – and later slow down – Iran’s efforts to become a nuclear power. Everybody knows that Iran wants nuclear weapons; thus, the very idea of negotiations is farcical. Within the big farce that is the JCPOA, there are four specific shams that fully expose it for what it is.”

According to the authors, sham No. 5 is: “The West is negotiating for an agreement even though its sunset clauses begin taking effect within a few months... Even if Iran were a trustworthy negotiations partner, even if the fatwa existed, even if the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] could enforce Section T [of the JCPOA], and even if anybody knew where the 8.5 tons of enriched uranium had disappeared to – the nuclear negotiations are still meaningless, since the sunset clauses begin taking effect in 2023.”

Iran’s regime claims Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa banning nuclear weapons. Critics, including MEMRI, have debunked the claim that Khamenei’s fatwa exists.

In 2017, two nuclear-program experts, David Albright and Olli Heinonen, wrote a technical article for the US-based Institute for Science and International Security about Section T of the JCPOA.

“One of the most serious compliance issues concerns the IAEA’s access to military sites and credible verification of Section T, which prohibits key nuclear weapons development activities and controls dual-use equipment potentially usable in such activities,” they wrote.

According to the MEMRI article, “The JCPOA required Iran’s 8.5-ton inventory of enriched uranium to be transferred to Russia to be kept in its custody, but in reality, the uranium disappeared, evading IAEA oversight, as attested at a House of Representatives hearing by the Obama State Department’s Iran coordinator Stephen Mull.”

“The One Truth” about the Iranian’s regime reported illegal nuclear weapons program is: “The only time Iran stepped back and truly halted its nuclear program was in 2003 when US forces were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the MEMRI analysis concluded.

Benjamin Weinthal

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-733744

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Democrats urge Biden to use diplomatic tools to stop Israeli judicial reform - Ron Kampeas

 

by Ron Kampeas

The letter underscores Democratic concern at the direction of Netanyahu’s new governing coalition.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden

(photo credit: REUTERS/KEVIN LAMARQUE AND ALEX KOLOMOISKY/POOL)

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, is spearheading a letter from Democrats urging President Joe Biden to “use all diplomatic tools available” to get Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt his controversial legislation to sap the power of Israel’s top court.

The letter also opposes any potential Israeli annexation of West Bank territory and supports the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

“We urge you to use all diplomatic tools available to prevent Israel’s current government from further damaging the nation’s democratic institutions and undermining the potential for two states for two peoples.”

Letter to President Joe Biden

The signers express “our deep concern regarding the planned changes to the structure of the Israeli judiciary, the fragile security situation in the West Bank, and the threat of partial or full annexation of areas that would most certainly be part of a future Palestinian state,” according to a copy that the Jewish Telegraphic Agency obtained before DeLauro’s deadline to obtain signatures. “We urge you to use all diplomatic tools available to prevent Israel’s current government from further damaging the nation’s democratic institutions and undermining the potential for two states for two peoples.”

The letter is notable for its alarmed tone. It also underscores Democratic concern at the direction of Netanyahu’s new governing coalition, which includes far-right politicians, and his plans to reform the country’s court system. The legislation being advanced by Netanyahu’s government would allow a majority of lawmakers to override Supreme Court decisions and would give the governing coalition full power over appointing the court’s judges. In the face of widespread protest of the plan, Israel’s president is urging a compromise.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) listens during a news conference with House Democratic leadership at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, January 10, 2023. (credit: REUTERS/SARAH SILBIGER)

The letter also addresses escalating violence in the West Bank, singling out Palestinian terrorist attacks on civilians and retaliatory Israeli military raids. More than a dozen Israeli civilians have been killed in terror attacks, and dozens of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli raids. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed have been militants, though a number of civilians have been killed as well, including a man who died amid a riot by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Huwara following a Palestinian terror attack last month.

“We are profoundly concerned that the recent violence and increased tensions could spiral into a major conflict, despite the recent steps taken,” the letter says. “US Central Intelligence Agency Director William J. Burns recently warned that Israel appears to be on the brink of confronting a third intifada.”

Letter comes ahead of Smotrich's visit to US

The letter also cites weeks of massive demonstrations in Israel against the planned judiciary reforms. It comes ahead of a visit to the United States by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right politician who is speaking on Sunday to Israel Bonds, which sells Israeli government bonds to investors abroad. Biden administration officials have said they will not meet with Smotrich.

DeLauro, who is from Connecticut, has long been close to the mainstream pro-Israel community, earning an endorsement last year from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s affiliated political action committee.

Among other senior Democrats signing the letter are Jewish members including Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Jan Schakowsky of Illinois and David Cicilline of Rhode Island.

Not all Democrats were pleased with the letter. Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Jared Moskowitz of Florida, who are both Jewish, released a joint statement that did not directly address the letter, but that cautioned lawmakers not to interfere at this juncture in Israel’s internal debates.

“Regardless of our personal views and concerns, Congress should not publicly intervene in ongoing negotiations of a key democratic ally,” their statement said. “Doing so, especially in a partisan way, could undermine those negotiations toward a positive outcome.” ”

Ron Kampeas

Source: https://www.jpost.com/international/article-733766

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Israeli protesters block Ayalon highway, airport in another 'day of disruption' - Maya Zanger-Nadis

 

by Maya Zanger-Nadis

Two police officers were lightly injured as part of efforts to remove protesters from the Ayalon highway, Israeli media reported.

 

Israelis protest against the Israeli government's planned judicial overhaul, at the Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, March 9, 2023.

(photo credit: ERIK MARMOR/FLASH90)

Demonstrators on Thursday morning blocked traffic into the departures area at Ben-Gurion Airport as part of the nationwide judicial reform protests taking place throughout the country. 

Two police officers were lightly injured as part of efforts to remove protesters from the Ayalon highway, Israeli media reported. One of the officers was reportedly attacked by a truck driver on the highway.

A helicopter has arrived to take the prime minister and his wife, Sara, to the airport from Jerusalem due to protesters blocking the entrance to Ben-Gurion.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport several hours ahead of the prime minister.

Ahead of his meeting at the air traffic control center with Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai, Ben-Gvir spoke to the press, saying: "I am the last one to come out against the protests. Protesting is allowed. I protested for decades. Protest, scream - that's democracy. Anarchy cannot be permitted- that is my command to the police officers." 

Knesset members Danny Danon, Elazar Stern, Yifat Shasha-Biton and Dan Illouz were scheduled to fly to Bahrain on Thursday as well. Israeli media reported that their flight may be delayed due to traffic jams as a result of the judicial reform protests. Illouz's spokesperson confirmed that the MK arrived safely to Ben-Gurion Airport via train and is en route to Bahrain. 

Israeli media reported that police at the airport were handing out tickets to protesters who were determined to be violating the law. One protester was hit by a car on the expressway to Ben-Gurion Airport's Terminal 3.

Maya Zanger-Nadis

Source: https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-733771

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Ron Johnson: Jan. 6 narrative will continue to morph as more security footage emerges - John Solomon

 

by John Solomon

Wisconsin GOP senator says his staff saw footage of a large door left open that allowed more than 300 protesters to enter Capitol.

 

The Democrat-constructed narrative of the Jan. 6 riot will continue to morph as more security footage from the Capitol emerges and people get to see that hundreds of protesters were let into the Capitol through a door left open and unguarded at times by police, says former Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.).

In a wide-ranging interview Wednesday night on the "Just the News, No Noise" television show, Johnson cautioned that the Capitol riot narrative has so far been constructed of fragments from different partisans, starting with the second impeachment of Donald Trump and then the House Democrats' Jan. 6 committee.

"We're many years down the road here, and there's still so many questions that remain unanswered," Johnson said.

The latest fragment surfaced this week when Fox News host Tucker Carlson released video footage showing that the controversial Jan. 6 protester known as the "QAnon Shaman" was escorted by police through the Capitol without being arrested. The Capitol Police say they were in de-escalation mode and did not want to arrest him at the time of the riot.

"During the impeachment, I mean, that was a highly biased story, through those slickly edited videos by real professionals," Johnson recalled. "And so now you got Tucker, just showing the other side of the story, part of the story. But there is still so much of the story that is not being told about January 6."

Johnson and his staff were permitted long before Carlson to review hours of video footage from the Capitol riot, and he was the first member of the Senate to question why many protesters were able to enter the building without resistance through unlocked doors.

"We did uncover the fact that the West Terrace door was open from the inside," Johnson said. "That has not been explained yet exactly why that happened. But more than 300 people entered that door without any violence."

That inexplicably unimpeded entry is one of many key questions surrounding the failures of that day that must be resolved to avoid a repeat, said Johnson, citing, as another example, the failure to integrate advance intelligence of prospective violence gathered by federal law enforcement into Capitol Police security planning.

Johnson sent correspondence back in June 2021 to Capitol Police highlighting what concerned him during his team's review of security footage. Here are the key passages:

 

"Over the span of a 14-minute period, approximately 309 unauthorized individuals entered the Capitol on January 6 through the upper west terrace doors," Johnson wrote. "At approximately 2:26 p.m. on January 6, a security camera showed a male inside the Capitol attempting to open one of the upper west terrace doors to exit the building. This unauthorized individual, who was by himself at the time, walked through a narrow hallway to the double doors and attempted to exit through the left door by pushing the door's crash bar. The door did not open and the individual turned around and walked back through the hallway and away from the doors. Approximately seven minutes later, at 2:33 p.m., security footage showed five unauthorized individuals walking down the same hallway, past a police officer. The security footage, which did not include audio, appeared to show the police officer gesturing toward the doors as these individuals walked past him. Once at the double doors, one of the five individuals pushed the left door's crash bar and this time, it opened. All five individuals exited the building at approximately 2:33 p.m.

"As the fifth individual exited through this left door of the upper west terrace doorway, it remained ajar for a moment allowing people from the outside of the building to gain entry into the Capitol. At 2:34 p.m., as people began to enter through this door, the police officer who was in the vicinity of this door one minute earlier, walked into another hallway away from this door and out of the view of the security camera. At 2:35 p.m., five police officers who were not wearing riot gear or carrying any protective equipment, such as shields, arrived at this doorway. As soon as these officers approached the doorway, they appeared to form a thin line across the narrow hallway, blocking people from continuing to enter the building at this location. About a minute later, four unauthorized individuals, including two people wearing helmets, pushed past the officers' line and a surge of people entered the building walking past the officers. These police officers did not appear to take any further action to stop or block people entering the building until a few minutes later."

 

You can read the full letter here:

2021-06-10 RHJ to USCP re Capitol door - final.pdf

Johnson said Wednesday night that the video footage contradicted some of the early narratives of that tragic day.

"It was always suspicious how quickly everybody seized on — not everybody, you know, but the powers that be — seized on the description that there were thousands of armed insurrectionists," he said. "There weren't. During our Senate hearings, I asked the FBI witness how many firearms were confiscated during the armed insurrection. I didn't know the answer. Her answer was zero. So, both Republicans and Democrats seized on that term. They've been calling this an insurrection ever since."

Johnson said he hopes that over time Americans come to appreciate that while the Capitol riot was a tragic and avoidable event, its destruction was far smaller than the multicity damage inflicted by the Black Lives Matter riots in the summer of 2020 after the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.

"According to the Department of Justice, the damage to the [Capitol] building, I'm not downplaying this, is about $2.8 million," Johnson said. "The other estimates were far higher than that. You compare that to the summer riots of 2020 — that the all the media downplays, calls those peaceful protests — 570 result in riots, 2000 law enforcement officials are injured, a couple dozen people are dead, and $1 billion to $2 billion of property damage.

"But I guess those are righteous riots," he added sarcastically. "Only Jan. 6 counts as the worst thing that occurred since the Civil War or 9/11."

Johnson blamed the legacy news media for uneven coverage that has distorted the public's knowledge and eroded its trust.

"We have people that lean strongly to the left," he said. "They carry the Democrats' water. They're basically the communications department for for leftist causes, the Democrat Party."

 
John Solomon

Source: https://justthenews.com/government/security/ron-johnson-jan-6-narrative-will-continue-morph-more-security-footage-emerges

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DOD keeps coming up short on audit of its spending, which totals nearly $800 billion a year - The Center Square Staff

 

by The Center Square Staff

The Department of Defense is the largest U.S. government department. The department employs 2.1 million military service members and about 780,000 civilian employees.

 

The U.S. Department of Defense has been unable to get a clean audit for decades, which limits the effectiveness of the U.S. military, according to a government report.

That means the most complex federal agency also remains the only one that has been unable to fairly present its financial statements using generally accepted accounting principles.

"Although DOD’s spending makes up about half of the federal government’s discretionary spending, and its physical assets represent more than 70% of the federal government’s physical assets, it remains the only major agency that has never been able to accurately account for and report on its spending or physical assets," according to a new report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

"DOD’s financial management issues extend beyond financial reporting as long-standing control deficiencies adversely affect the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of its operations," according to the report.

The Department of Defense is the largest U.S. government department. The department employs 2.1 million military service members and about 780,000 civilian employees. The President’s budget submission for fiscal year 2023 requested $773 billion for the department, according to the Department of the Defense.

In November 2022, Michael McCord, the undersecretary of defense (comptroller)/chief financial officer, said in a department news source that he did not have a timeline for when the department would be able to get a clean audit.

"I would prefer to see more progress, of course, but we are peeling off the layers," McCord said at the time.

A Department of Defense did not respond to a message from The Center Square seeking information about a timeline for clean audit on Wednesday.

"For over 30 years, the Department of Defense has initiated a variety of efforts and undergone several changes in organizational responsibility to help modernize its business and financial systems," according to the GAO report. "However, these efforts and changes have not been fully successful to date. ... Its business and financial systems are a key impediment to this effort."

The Center Square Staff

Source: https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/department-defense-comes-short-audit

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China Winning Technological War: Biden Administration Allowing It - Judith Bergman

 

by Judith Bergman

In July 2020, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that Chinese theft of US intellectual and other property is happening on "a scale so massive that it represents one of the largest transfers of wealth in human history."

• China has made no secret of its ambition to become, by 2049, the world's greatest power, surpassing the US as the economic, technological, political and military leader of the world. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been planning and operating in line with those ambitions for decades.

• In July 2020, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that Chinese theft of US intellectual and other property is happening on "a scale so massive that it represents one of the largest transfers of wealth in human history."

• A particularly disturbing technological lead is the leap China has made in the military and space sectors... China's research interests and performance in military and space sectors are particularly notable, including an advanced hypersonic missile that China tested, to the US military's surprise. China, it turns out, houses seven of the world's top 10 research institutions focused on the field of hypersonics.

• The overriding importance of technology for the Chinese Communist Party is reflected in the fact that Chinese President Xi Jinping has filled 40% of the CCP Central Committee –- the institution that decides China's major policies -- with officials who have backgrounds and experience in aerospace, artificial intelligence and other critical technological areas.

• If the US and other Western countries wish to check China's rise, they will have to make a far more serious effort to prioritize and invest in research and technology, not to mention doubling down on preventing more theft of technology and intellectual property.

• Without urgent action on the part of the West, the world will soon be run by China.

China is winning the technological race with the West. A particularly disturbing technological lead is the leap China has made in the military and space sectors, including an advanced hypersonic missile that China tested, to the US military's surprise. Pictured: DF-17 hypersonic missiles at a military parade in Beijing, China, on October 1, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

China is winning the technological race with the West, and is well on its way to becoming the world's leading technology superpower, according to a new report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).

When ASPI tracked 44 critical technologies, it found that China was "further ahead in more areas than has been realized." More precisely, China was the leading country in 37 of the 44 technologies that ASPI tracked, with the United States coming in second and everyone else way behind. The US led the world only in the remaining seven technologies, including the design and development of advanced semiconductor devices, high performance computing, quantum computing and vaccines. The report noted:

"Our research reveals that China has built the foundations to position itself as the world's leading science and technology superpower, by establishing a sometimes stunning lead in high-impact research across the majority of critical and emerging technology domains."

Because of China's leading research position, China has "set itself up to excel not just in current technological development in almost all sectors, but in future technologies that don't yet exist," the report continued.

"[F]or some technologies, all of the world's top 10 leading research institutions are based in China and are collectively generating nine times more high-impact research papers than the second-ranked country (most often the US). Notably, the Chinese Academy of Sciences ranks highly (and often first or second) across many of the 44 technologies included in the Critical Technology Tracker."

The findings should not come as a surprise. China has made no secret of its ambition to become, by 2049, the world's greatest power, surpassing the US as the economic, technological, political and military leader of the world. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been planning and operating in line with those ambitions for decades.

In 2015, China set in motion the 10-year "Made in China 2025" plan, which aimed to make China a global technological leader by accelerating innovations in ten strategic areas, among them advanced robotics and artificial intelligence, electric cars and other new energy vehicles, next-generation information technology and telecommunications, emerging bio-medicine, new materials, aerospace engineering and agricultural technology.

In March 2021, in its most recent Five-Year Plan for 2021-2025, the CCP made it clear that by 2035, China's economic, scientific, technological and overall national strength was expected to "leap dramatically" and achieve major breakthroughs in "key and core technologies."

The new ASPI report confirms that China is proceeding according to its own publicly-stated ambitions.

China's progress, however, has also relied on an array of illicit methods, including vast intellectual property theft and cyber espionage.

In July 2020, FBI Director Christopher Wray said that Chinese theft of US intellectual and other property is happening on "a scale so massive that it represents one of the largest transfers of wealth in human history."

"... China uses a diverse range of sophisticated techniques—everything from cyber intrusions to corrupting trusted insiders. They've even engaged in outright physical theft. And they've pioneered an expansive approach to stealing innovation through a wide range of actors—including not just Chinese intelligence services but state-owned enterprises, ostensibly private companies, certain kinds of graduate students and researchers, and a whole variety of other actors working on their behalf."

In a joint statement from July 2022, the heads of the FBI and the British MI5 emphasized that one of the greatest challenges to Western economies is China's theft of Western technology. Wray stated:

"We've seen the regional bureaus of China's MSS -- their Ministry of State Security -- key in specifically on the innovation of certain Western companies it wants to ransack. And I'm talking about companies everywhere from big cities to small towns -- from Fortune 100s to start-ups, folks that focus on everything from aviation, to AI, to pharma. We've even caught people affiliated with Chinese companies out in the U.S. heartland, sneaking into fields to dig up proprietary, genetically modified seeds, which would have cost them nearly a decade and billions in research to develop themselves."

Additionally, China has collaborated widely with Western researchers to gain knowledge. An investigative report by 11 European media outlets, known as the China Science Investigation, collected an astounding 353,000 scientific collaborations between Europe and China and found that, of these, 2,994 had taken place with the Chinese military, with scientists sharing militarily sensitive knowledge with the Chinese army on a "large scale."

A particularly disturbing technological lead is the leap China has made in the military and space sectors. The ASPI report points out that China's research interests and performance in military and space sectors are particularly notable, including an advanced hypersonic missile that China tested, to the US military's surprise. China, it turns out, houses seven of the world's top 10 research institutions focused on the field of hypersonics.

"The world was shocked in October 2021 when it was revealed in media reporting that the PRC had tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic glide vehicle. However, that shouldn't have been a huge surprise, given that China has a 48% share of the world's most high-impact research on 'advanced aircraft engines (including hypersonics)... Building a world-dominating lead in these distinct but interrelated research fields may have been a happy coincidence for the PRC, but it was more likely to have resulted from a well-laid strategy, spanning decades, that helped support the development of hypersonic vehicle test-flights."

The overriding importance of technology for the Chinese Communist Party is reflected in the fact that Chinese President Xi Jinping has filled 40% of the CCP Central Committee –- the institution that decides China's major policies -- with officials who have backgrounds and experience in aerospace, artificial intelligence and other critical technological areas. One third of the CCP's Politburo – the decision-making body of the CCP – consists of members with a background in science and technology.

China's challenge to the US and the West is critical, the ASPI study emphasizes. China is leading in most fields. If the US and other Western countries wish to check China's rise, they will have to make a far more serious effort to prioritize and invest in research and technology, not to mention doubling down on preventing more theft of technology and intellectual property.

China becoming the world's technological superpower is growing ever more likely -- which means that China could control the world's most critical supply not only of technology but also its components and parts.

Already now, according to ASPI, there is a high risk of China achieving a monopoly in eight critical technologies, including nanoscale materials and manufacturing, advanced radiofrequency communications (including 5G and 6G), hydrogen and ammonia for power, electric batteries, and synthetic biology.

Without urgent action on the part of the West, the world will soon be run by China.

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Judith Bergman, a columnist, lawyer and political analyst, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute.

Source:https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/19451/china-winning-technological-race

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Abbas’ advisor: PA policy is based on the stages plan - Itamar Marcus

 

by Itamar Marcus

Abbas’ advisor: The Western Wall “is an exclusive permanent Islamic waqf according to Allah's decree”

• Abbas’ advisor explains the stages plan for taking Israel's land:
  “The [Palestinian] rights are indivisible. Give me 60% or 70% of my rights, and tell me: ‘That’s it, that’s yours, take it.’ Perhaps temporarily, yes. [But] strategically, no! … Our rights are non-negotiable. They [Israel] want to negotiate over Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque – then by Allah, it is better [to be dead] in the belly of the earth than to be on its surface”
   
• Abbas’ advisor: The Western Wall “is an exclusive permanent Islamic waqf according to Allah's decree”

During a televised Friday sermon, PA Chairman Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs, Mahmoud Al-Habbash, stressed that the PA still adheres to the “stages plan” for taking Israel's land. According to this long-term strategy, which was coined by the PLO in 1974, all of Israel – which Palestinians refer to as historic “Palestine” - would be “liberated” in stages and Israel thereby destroyed. The “stages” meant that the “liberation” would happen gradually and that the PLO could enter agreements with Israel that would make Israel more vulnerable and which the PLO did not see as binding.

In this recent sermon, Abbas’ advisor, who also serves as PA Supreme Shari’ah Judge, focused on the nature of any compromise that the PA makes regarding Jerusalem and the Western Wall – as temporary:

PA Supreme Shari’ah Judge Mahmoud Al-Habbash: “Islam is truth that is indivisible… The rights are indivisible. Give me 60% or 70% of my rights, and tell me: ‘That’s it, that’s yours, take it.’ Perhaps temporarily, yes. [But] strategically, no! … Our rights are non-negotiable. They want to negotiate over Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque – then by Allah, it is better [to be dead] in the belly of the earth than to be on its surface... There is no negotiation on even one millimeter of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, including the Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., the Western Wall of the Temple Mount), which is an exclusive permanent Islamic waqf (i.e., an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law; see note below) according to Allah's decree …This is our right, and whoever fights us over our right is an oppressor, and it is a duty to resist (i.e., fight) the oppressors.”

[Official PA TV, Jan. 20, 2023]

Palestinian Media Watch has documented that Al-Habbash has made it clear that according to Palestinian Islam all of Israel is an Islamic waqf that must eventually return to Islamic rule: 

"The entire land of Palestine is [Islamic] waqf andis blessed land... it is prohibited to sell, bestow ownership or facilitate the occupation of even a millimeter of it." 

     [Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 22, 2014]

Al-Habbash has also stressed that PA agreements with Israel are temporary and that Israel will eventually be conquered: 

"The Palestinian leadership's sense of responsibility towards its nation made it take political steps [the Oslo Accords] about 20 years ago [1993]...exactly like the Prophet [Muhammad] did in the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah...  [He signed a peace treaty but] in less than two years, the Prophet returned and based on this treaty, he conquered Mecca. This is the example, this is the model."     

[Official PA TV, July 19, 2013]

PMW has documented similar statements by other PA and Fatah leaders that show consistently that all of the State of Israel is the actual goal of the PA.

Fatah Revolutionary Council member and regular columnist for the official PA daily Muwaffaq Matar recently explained that the stages plan is Abbas’ plan to destroy Israel: 

“President Mahmoud Abbas in focusing on two parallel paths of the Palestinian national struggle… its gist is to wrest the Palestinian people’s historical and natural right from the colonialist states, which committed the worst crime in the history of humanity: establishing their front base (Israel) [parentheses in source] … We are fighting to wrest free and liberate every inch of our land from the colonialist states’ proxy (Israel) [parentheses in source] through the policy of stages.” 

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 26, 2022] 

Tawfiq Tirawi, who is a Fatah commissioner and member of its Central Committee, has stated his view that the 1967 borders – which the PA claims it will accept as the borders of “Palestine” - is not the final goal. he ambition is to rule over all of Israel and include Israeli cities such as “Haifa, Jaffa, and Acre” in “Palestine”:

Tirawi: "My homeland is Nablus, Jenin, Haifa, Jaffa, Acre. (Last three are Israeli cities). Therefore, my homeland is all of Palestine, and this is what I was brought up on. And I always say that Palestine is all of Palestine. This is far from the plans that were offered [at Oslo] in order to achieve something for our people… when the Palestinian leadership established the Fatah Movement [in 1965], it offered proposals. Then following the first proposal, for all of Palestine – the first proposal [in 1965, sought] a democratic state that will include the Muslims, Christians, and Jews. [In 1993, Fatah] raised the issue of the [smaller] Palestinian state on the 1967 borders. This was so that we would achieve something for our people. However, I say to you:  Are we forgetting that Jaffa is ours? No. That Acre is ours? No. That Nazareth is ours? No. (All three are Israeli cities). I am convinced of this, and this is my viewpoint that I am always saying and presenting. Always."

[Facebook page of Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi,
March 10, 2020]

Many PA and Fatah leaders as well as institutions have promoted the notion of a “Palestine” stretching “from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea” – a message also taught to kids.

Jenin District Governor Akram Rajoub: “The Palestinian narrative that needs to be sown in the minds of our children in all fields, in economy, culture, heritage, struggle, and in raising the flag is: ‘Palestine for the Palestinians.’ Yes, Palestine for the Palestinians. From the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea. Yes! From the river to the sea. Your national responsibility is to pass this from generation to generation to our children: That Palestine belongs to the Palestinians from the river to the sea… We agreed to the 1967 borders, to establish our state in them, but in our minds and in the minds of our [future] generations, it needs to be established that Palestine [from the river to the sea] belongs to the Palestinians.”

 [Facebook page of the Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, 
June 15, 2022] 

PMW has also exposed statements by Abbas’ close associate and Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki in which he explained the strategy of achieving goals “in stages” and stated that he wants to “remove” Israel “from existence:

Abbas Zaki: "Even the most extreme among us, Hamas, or the fighting forces, want a state within the '67 borders. Afterward, we [will] have something to say, because the inspiring idea cannot be achieved all at once. [Rather] in stages."

[Official Syrian Satellite TV Channel, Dec. 23, 2013]

Abbas Zaki: "The agreement is based on the borders of June 4 [1967]. While the agreement is on the borders of June 4, the President [Mahmoud Abbas] understands, we understand, and everyone knows that it is impossible to realize the inspiring idea, or the great goal in one stroke. If Israel withdraws from Jerusalem, if Israel uproots the settlements, 650,000 settlers, if Israel removes the (security) fence - what will be with Israel? Israel will come to an end. If I say that I want to remove it from existence, this will be great, great, [but] it is hard. This is not a [stated] policy. You can't say it to the world. You can say it to yourself."

[Al-Jazeera TV, Sept. 23, 2011]

 Mahmoud Al-Habbash also serves as Chairman of the Supreme Council for Shari'ah Justice and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious Affairs and Islamic Relations.

The Al-Buraq Wall – Islam's Prophet Muhammad is said to have ridden during his Night Journey from Mecca to "al aqsa mosque", i.e., "the farthest mosque" (Quran, Sura 17), and there tied his miraculous flying steed named Al-Buraq to a "stone" or a "rock." (Jami` at-Tirmidhi, Book 47, Hadith 3424). In the 1920's, Arab Mufti Haj Amin Al-Husseini decided to identify the Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem as that "rock" or "stone," and since then Muslims refer to the Western Wall as the "Al-Buraq Wall."

A waqf is an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law. Palestinians define all of Israel as waqf, and thereby Israel exists on Islamic holy land. Palestinian leaders have explained that under Islamic law Muslims are commanded to free the waqf from non-Muslims.

The sermon from January 2023 was broadcast from a mosque in Ramallah.

Itamar Marcus

Source: https://palwatch.org/page/32863

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