Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 22-23/2024
Sonic booms heard over Beirut as Israeli raids on Lebanon continue
Tensions Persist on the Southern Front
Report: Hochstein communicating with Berri, still hoping for Gaza truce
South Lebanon: One SSNP Member Killed in an Israeli Airstrike
Opposition MPs Urge Debate on Lebanon’s Involvement in Ongoing War
Geagea accuses rival camp of 'lying about everything'
Israel-Hezbollah border clashes: Latest developments
Mikati’s Empty Promises to Iraq as Debts Pile up
AFP journalists wounded in Lebanon join Olympic torch relay
Lebanese civilians will not forgive Hezbollah if they don't cease fire during a ceasefire - opinion/Neville Teller/Jerusalem Post/July 22/2024

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 22-23/2024
Houthi harbor still ablaze days after Israel strikes on Yemen
Israel strikes on Yemen port: what is the damage?
Israel’s Netanyahu requests meeting with former President Trump, Politico reports
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Israel launches airstrikes on eastern Khan Younis after ordering remaining civilians to leave
Two Israeli Hostages Held in Gaza Confirmed Dead
People Rush Away From Khan Yunis Following Deadly Strikes and Evacuation Warning
Israeli parliament votes to label UN relief agency a terror organisation
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Israeli parliament votes to label UN relief agency a terror organisation
Religious Zionist rabbis oppose terms for hostage deal: ‘The cost endangers Israeli citizens’/Senior Religious Zionist rabbis: Though it is a commandment to save hostages, it should not be at the cost of risking Israel.
Iraq hangs 10 men convicted of terrorism, security sources say
If not Kamala Harris, who else could be the Democratic nominee for November’s election?
UAE jails 57 Bangladeshis, including 3 for life, over riots

Titles For The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on July 22-23/2024
Sisi’s New Cabinet Reflects Continuity Over Change/Haisam Hassanein/Policy Brief/July 22/2024 |
European Union Is Funding Iranian Aggression/Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/July 22, 2024
How Iran’s leaders view US presidential election/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/July 22, 2024
No, Ed Husain, the Jihad Conquest of Palestine Was Not a 'Liberation'/Andrew Bostom/Gatestone Institute/July 22, 2024
Netanyahu comes to Washington as Biden withdraws from presidential race/Steve Hendrix and John Hudson/ The Washington Post/July 21, 2024
Biden's withdrawal bad news for Israel on hostages, Iran/Tovah Lazaroff/Jerusalem Post/July 22/2024
Netanyahu in Washington: Time to seal the deal/Moshe Emilio Lavi/Jerusalem Post/July 22/2024
These are the issues Netanyahu must focus on now that Biden dropped out/LT-COL (RES) Amit Yagur/Jerusalem Post/July 22/2024

Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on July 22-23/2024
Sonic booms heard over Beirut as Israeli raids on Lebanon continue
Updated 23 July 2024
NAJIA HOUSSARI/Arab News/July 22, 2024
BEIRUT: Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier over Beirut, Sidon and other parts of Lebanon on Monday. The planes conducted mock raids over the Hasbaya area and the occupied Shebaa Farms, reaching as far as Bekaa.
Although hostile operations on the southern front have significantly decreased, sporadic strikes continue. One Israeli air raid targeted a house in the town of Chihine in the Tyre district.The raid resulted in injuries, and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party reported that one of its members was killed. A Lebanese Army unit, meanwhile, found the wreckage of a drone in the town of Aaiha in the Rashaya district. Army command did not clarify the nature of the drone or whether it was Israeli-made or from another source. A Lebanese Army watchtower was attacked by Israel on Sunday night on the outskirts of the town of Alma Al-Shaab in southern Lebanon, resulting in “moderate injuries to two soldiers, who were transferred to a hospital for treatment,” according to the military. Hezbollah, meanwhile, targeted the Israeli military site of Al-Malikiyah with an attack drone, hitting one of its bunkers. The developments in the south and the issue of renewing UNIFIL’s mandate, which is on the UN Security Council’s agenda, have been the focus of internal political attention. Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said at a meeting with key officials that recent developments “naturally call for caution, but we continue to discuss with concerned parties and engage in necessary diplomatic contacts to prevent matters from spiraling into undesirable consequences.”He added: “We cannot say there are reassurances and guarantees, as no one can guarantee the Israeli enemy’s intentions. However, we continue our diligent efforts to address the situation.”
Regarding the renewal of the mandate for the international forces operating in the south of Lebanon, Mikati said: “We continue diplomatic contacts to ensure a calm extension of UNIFIL’s mandate, whose essential role in the south we highly appreciate, along with the fruitful cooperation between them and the army.“From the contacts we have made, we have sensed a keenness to maintain this role, especially under the delicate circumstances the south is going through.”
Speaking after a meeting with Mikati, Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib said he informed the prime minister that “there is a quasi-agreement to renew the work of UNIFIL forces for one year, under the same conditions and without any modifications.”Bou Habib, who briefed Mikati upon his return from New York, also said that US and European officials he met with emphasized “the importance of not expanding the war and working to avoid escalating military actions in the south.”
He added: “There is a kind of optimism, or less pessimism, about the outbreak of a wide war in Lebanon.”Also on Monday, a group of opposition MPs submitted a petition requesting Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri hold a session to discuss the repercussions of the ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and the Israeli military, now in its 10th month. The opposition MPs — Georges Okais, Mark Daou, Ashraf Rifi, and Salim Sayegh — demanded Berri “hold a parliamentary session at the earliest opportunity to discuss the ongoing war, prevent its escalation, and ensure that the government fulfills its constitutional duties.”In their petition, the parliamentarians called for diplomatic efforts to return to the 1949 ceasefire agreement and fully implement UN Resolution 1701. They stressed the need to put an end to military actions “outside the framework of the Lebanese state and its institutions, declare a state of emergency in the south, hand over control to the army, and allow it to respond to any attack on Lebanese territory.” They referred to the “escalation and threats reaching the highest level since Oct. 8, and the increasing fears of the expansion of the ongoing war, which has cost us hundreds of Lebanese lives and thousands of destroyed residential units so far, in addition to the economic and environmental damage caused by daily Israeli attacks, and the repercussions of this in light of the political and economic crises plaguing the country, and the obstruction of electing a president for the country.”
Nabil Qaouk, a member of the Central Council of Hezbollah, stated that Israel had put the region “on a path of escalation.”He said that “the support fronts in Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen have entered a new phase, introducing new field equations through which we hope to increase pressure on the Israeli enemy to stop the aggression on the Gaza Strip.”

Tensions Persist on the Southern Front
This Is Beirut/July 22/2024
On Monday morning, a Lebanese Armed Forces unit discovered a drone on the outskirts of Aaiha in the Rachaya district and called in the engineering unit to dismantle it. Early in the morning, Israeli shells hit Jabal al-Sadana in the Hasbaya district, between Rachaya al-Foukhar and Kfar Hammam, on the outskirts of Kfarchouba, damaging several houses in the targeted area. Israeli artillery also struck the Shammis area nearby, and warplanes targeted the locality of Yaroun, though no casualties were reported.Additionally, Israeli aircraft broke the sound barrier twice over the towns of Tyre and Saida. Hezbollah announced that it had targeted “the Malkiya position with a diving drone, which destroyed one of the position’s strongholds and set it on fire.”It also claimed responsibility for an airstrike with multiple drones on the new headquarters of Israeli forces in the Hanita settlement, stating there were “confirmed casualties among the soldiers.” It also targeted the headquarters of the Northern Army Corps at the Ain Zeitim base. The pro-Iranian group shared images that it had targeted the Israeli army’s Zaoura silo in the Golan Heights. The Israeli army stated it had “intercepted several aerial targets that crossed the border between Lebanon and the northern Golan Heights.”According to Israeli media Ynet, “at around 8 AM, alarm sirens sounded in northern Israel due to numerous suspicious air targets that were successfully intercepted by the Israeli army’s air defense network coming from Lebanon across the northern Golan Heights region, without any injuries being reported.”There has also been a security alert on the Lebanese-Syrian border, with reports of “abnormal movements” leading to the rerouting of travelers to the Syrian capital. These unprecedented measures were implemented “fearing Israeli aggression following the targeting of personalities on this international route.” With tensions mounting, Sleiman Haroun, the Head of the Syndicate of Private Hospital Owners, assured in an interview with The Voice of Lebanon radio station that hospitals “are ready to deal with a large-scale war, but within certain limits, whether in terms of manpower or medical supplies.”He emphasized that “the necessary training has been set up in hospitals under the supervision of the Ministry of Health.”

Report: Hochstein communicating with Berri, still hoping for Gaza truce
Naharnet/July 22/2024
Speaker Nabih Berri has ruled out an imminent expansion of the Israeli war on Lebanon because “U.S. mediator Amos Hochstein is still communicating with him,” a prominent parliamentary source said. Hochstein “is still hoping for a ceasefire on Gaza’s front, which is supposed to automatically apply to south Lebanon, which would allow him to move to Beirut to negotiate with him (Berri) over a settlement that would restore calm and stability based on the implementation of Resolution 1701,” the source added, in remarks to Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. Hezbollah has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces in support of Hamas since the Palestinian group's October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered war in the Gaza Strip. The violence since October has killed at least 518 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally. Most of the dead have been fighters, but they have included at least 104 civilians.On the Israeli side, 18 soldiers and 13 civilians have been killed, according to Israeli authorities.

South Lebanon: One SSNP Member Killed in an Israeli Airstrike
This Is Beirut/July 22/2024
Israeli warplanes launched an airstrike on Monday afternoon with two missiles targeting a house in the town of Chihine. Ambulance vehicles were dispatched immediately to the town. Several media outlets reported that the airstrike resulted in one killed and several injured. The military wing of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, (SSNP) known as “Nusour Al-Zawba’a,” announced in a statement that one of its fighters, Ibrahim Ikram al-Mousawi, born in Qirha, Baalbek-Hermel District, in 2003, was killed in the raid. Additionally, Israeli bombardment hit the outskirts of the town of Khiam, the Marjeyoun plain, and the area between Kfar Kila and Odaisseh causing a fire. Moreover, the Israeli air force launched an airstrike targeting the town of Yater in the central sector, Aita al-Shaab with two airstrikes and later the town of Khiam.A girl was injured as a result of the airstrike on the town of Hanin this afternoon and was transferred to the hospital for treatment. For its part, Hezbollah claimed two attacks. It targeted the intelligence equipment at the radar site in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms at 05:45 PM and the intelligence equipment at the Rahib site at 05:50 PM. In the afternoon, the Israeli army announced that the air defenses intercepted seven drones launched from Lebanon.

Opposition MPs Urge Debate on Lebanon’s Involvement in Ongoing War
This Is Beirut/July 22/2024
Opposition MPs Georges Okais, Marc Daou, Ashraf Rifi and Salim al-Sayegh submitted a petition on Monday to Speaker Nabih Berri, calling for a debate on the ongoing war and its repercussions on Lebanon. In a press conference held at Parliament, MP Salim al-Sayegh highlighted that since October 8, escalating threats have caused hundreds of Lebanese casualties and the destruction of thousands of homes, with daily Israeli attacks inflicting severe economic and environmental damage. The MPs highlighted Lebanon’s compounded crises, including political paralysis, economic downturn and financial instability, worsened by the delay in electing a new president. They criticized the caretaker government’s inaction and abandonment of its responsibilities in managing the war, emphasizing the need for national responsibility.The petition endorsed the need to follow these urgent measures to prevent an escalation in the south:
End all military actions outside the framework of the Lebanese State and its agencies. Declare a state of emergency in southern Lebanon and transfer control to the Lebanese Army. Assign the Lebanese Army to confront any aggression on Lebanese territory. Renew diplomatic efforts to return to the 1949 Armistice Agreement and fully implement Resolution 1701. The opposition MPs had emphasized on July 1 the necessity of protecting Lebanon from being dragged into a broader conflict, which they argue serves to elevate Iran’s regional influence rather than benefit the Palestinian cause. “We refuse to be dragged into a war that doesn’t help the Palestinian cause and destroys Lebanon,” they stated.

Geagea accuses rival camp of 'lying about everything'
Naharnet/July 22/2024
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has accused the rival Hezbollah-led camp of “lying about everything.”“The Axis of Defiance are ready to lie about everything. They claim that Christians do not agree on the same candidate, whereas Christians were in agreement on the same candidate, Jihad Azour, during the famous June 14, 2023 session,” Geagea said. “Christians are still continuing their intersection over this candidate,” the LF leader added. “They say that things need dialogue, but this is untrue. From the beginning of the presidential race until now, thousands of dialogues have taken place among the parliamentary blocs, and this is just an alibi to cover up for the obstruction of elections,” Geagea went on to say. He added that the other camp is “blocking the presidential election for two reasons.”“The first is its inability to secure a majority for its candidate. The second is awaiting the course of events in the region to know how to act inside the country accordingly, seeing as Lebanon ranks 17th on the list of their priorities,” Geagea explained.

Israel-Hezbollah border clashes: Latest developments
Naharnet/July 22/2024
Hezbollah said it attacked Monday al-Malkia in northern Israel with a suicide drone, while Israeli warplanes raided the southern towns of Yater and Shihine and artillery shelled a region between Kfarkela and Odaisseh. Also on Monday, Israeli warplanes broke the sound barrier over Nabatieh, Iqlim al-Tuffah, Tyre, Sidon, Aramoun, Bchamoun and Khalde. Hezbollah has traded near-daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces in support of Hamas since the Palestinian group's October 7 attack on southern Israel triggered war in the Gaza Strip. The violence since October has killed at least 518 people in Lebanon, according to an AFP tally. Most of the dead have been fighters, but they have included at least 104 civilians. On the Israeli side, 18 soldiers and 13 civilians have been killed, according to Israeli authorities.

Mikati’s Empty Promises to Iraq as Debts Pile up
Bassam Abou Zeid/This is Beirut/July 22/2024
During his visit to Iraq, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati and his delegation did not provide concrete assurances about settling Lebanon’s financial obligations to Iraq for the fuel and gas oil conversion deal with Lebanon’s public power provider, Electricité du Liban (EDL). Instead, Mikati merely outlined the current challenges faced by the Lebanese Parliament, which prevent it from meeting regularly and passing necessary legislations, including a bill to settle Iraq’s financial dues. Mikati spoke of a promise made by House Speaker, Nabih Berri to schedule a legislative session to address this issue, but a date has yet to be fixed. Among the commitments made by Mikati – contingent upon the Lebanese Parliament’s approval of a law related to the Iraqi dues – is a plan to use approximately $75 million held by EDL for partial payments to Iraq. However, this proposal was swiftly rejected by caretaker Minister of Energy Walid Fayad, who argues that the funds should instead be allocated for purchasing additional gas oil regardless of the current bilateral agreement. The existing deal provides for two tankers of gas oil per month, with a potential third tanker financed by Electricité du Liban’s funds. This move would not only increase electricity supply hours but also boost EDL’s revenues. In fact, under the first contract with Iraq, the Lebanese government has transferred the sum of $531 million – in lollars – to the account of the Iraqi Central Bank at Lebanon’s Central Bank (BDL). Lebanon still owes $191 million under the second contract with Iraq, due to expire on July 27, a sum which has not yet been transferred and which Iraq is demanding. In the same context, the Iraqis have asked to receive goods and services for the value of the funds transferred to the Iraqi Central Bank account, but this has still not been done, given that no mechanism has been approved to purchase the goods and services in question on the Lebanese market. The IDAL company should be in charge of this operation, which is supposed to be financed by the payment of around $400,000. However, the Lebanese government has still not managed to pay this sum, which is halting the process. The Iraqi side has acted in good faith during the negotiations with the Lebanese government, expressing willingness to renew the fuel contract for a third time, provided Lebanon commits to repay its debt. Iraq considers failure to fulfill promises as manipulation and rejects such behavior outright.

AFP journalists wounded in Lebanon join Olympic torch relay
AFP /July 22/2024
AFP photojournalist Christina Assi said she felt "incredible" support as she carried the Olympic Flame outside Paris Sunday, almost a year after being gravely wounded while reporting in Lebanon. "I hope what we did today honours all the journalists and friends who have been killed this year," said Lebanese national Assi, who was joined in the relay by AFP video colleague Dylan Collins, an American hurt in the same incident. "It's amazing and heartwarming to see all these people cheering after we survived a targeted attack as journalists," added Assi, who completed her 200-metre stretch through the streets of Vincennes in a wheelchair. Assi said that she wished slain Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and other journalists killed in the fighting "were here to witness this today." "I wish it didn't take such an attack to be participating and to be representing journalists," she added, visibly tearing up. Around 50 AFP journalists joined the crowd in Vincennes just east of Paris to cheer on Assi and Collins. Assi, 29, was wounded by shellfire on October 13 2023 while covering cross-border clashes between the Israeli army and armed groups in southern Lebanon. The tank round, fired by an Israeli unit according to an in-depth AFP investigation, killed Reuters colleague Abdallah and wounded the six other journalists on the scene. Assi had to have her right leg amputated. Collins, 36, was also wounded that day, soon after an injury suffered in Ukraine. Assi said that her immediate plans are "to focus on my rehabilitation and stand up again. That's how I'm going to get my justice.""It was tremendously moving to see Christina and Dylan carrying the flame," AFP editor-in-chief Phil Chetwynd said. "Their courage in the face of unimaginable adversity is such an eloquent expression of the Olympic spirit. Everyone at AFP is so proud," he added.

Lebanese civilians will not forgive Hezbollah if they don't cease fire during a ceasefire - opinion
Neville Teller/Jerusalem Post/July 22/2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/07/132354/
This lack of political trust in Hezbollah outside the Shi’ite community translates into sustained criticism for waging a war against Israel without consulting other factions.
The possibility of full-scale conflict in northern Israel hangs like a dark cloud over the nation. If, as Shakespeare has it, the dogs of war are indeed let slip, the armory of sophisticated Iranian-supplied weapons held by Hezbollah could inflict massive damage across the country.
Equally, if forced into war, the IDF could decimate Hezbollah’s armed forces while Lebanon and its people, already enduring privation and distress, would inevitably suffer further unnecessary misery.
There are, however, reasons to believe that Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, does not want a full-scale war with Israel. The country’s economy and its people are under extraordinary pressure. A nationwide poll conducted by Arab Barometer between February and April 2024 showed that around 80% of citizens find access to food supplies, to say nothing of their cost, a problem. Many run out of food before they can afford to buy more. The provision of water, Internet access, and health care are patchy, while 92% of respondents to the poll reported constant power outages.
Two further findings from the Arab Barometer survey could explain reluctance on Nasrallah’s part for a new all-out war with Israel. As a political party, Hezbollah has garnered only 12% support nationally. If the 39% Shi’ite support is deducted from the findings, then it emerges that no other segment of Lebanese society has shown more than 1% support for Hezbollah as a political party
Regarding the Gaza war, the Lebanese people are strongly pro-Palestinian, yet they believe that the Biden administration should prioritize economic development in the Middle East over the Palestinian issue. The pollsters believe this finding underscores just how desperate circumstances in Lebanon have become. Although Hezbollah is virtually a self-functioning state within the state of Lebanon, weaponized and funded to the hilt by Iran, its forces are nevertheless composed of young Lebanese men with mothers, wives, and sweethearts.
Hezbollah’s eight-year military support of Syria’s President Bashar Assad, which cost the lives of hundreds of young Lebanese fighters, is still resented.
Up to 1,250 Lebanese soldiers were killed in Syria between 2011 and 2019 – when Hezbollah finally withdrew. Most Lebanese can see only death and destruction resulting from an unsought and unwanted war with Israel undertaken at the behest of the non-Arab entity, Iran.
This lack of political trust in Hezbollah outside the Shi’ite community translates into sustained criticism for waging a war against Israel without consulting other factions. Even the Qatar-based Al Jazeera acknowledges, in a report on July 3, that “some people in Lebanon, particularly from the Christian community, are very unhappy with Hezbollah.”
Samir Gagea and Samy Gemayel, Christian politicians who head the Lebanese Forces and Kataeb parties respectively, blame Hezbollah for dragging Lebanon into an avoidable “‘war of attrition” and drawing Israeli attacks to Lebanese soil.
“Many Christian leaders are opposed to Hezbollah’s decision to open a front against Israel,” a Lebanon analyst told Al Jazeera, adding that an additional intent may be “to show that not all of Lebanon is behind Hezbollah in hopes of perhaps sparing their areas the worst of a war with Israel.” It is against this background that on July 10 Nasrallah issued a new and surprising policy statement. He announced that he was making Hezbollah’s future cross-border interchanges with Israel dependent on the success or otherwise of the Gaza ceasefire negotiations.
“Hamas is negotiating... on behalf of the whole Axis of Resistance,” declared Nasrallah. “Whatever Hamas accepts, everyone accepts... If there is a ceasefire in Gaza, then our front will also cease fire without discussion, irrespective of any other agreement or mechanisms or negotiations.”
Nasrallah’s remarks came days after he met with a Hamas delegation headed by its foreign relations chief, Khalil al-Hayya.
On July 14, following Israel’s attempt to assassinate the Hamas military commander, Mohammed Deif, some commentators assumed that Hamas would pull out of the current round of negotiations. Not so, perhaps because the leadership realizes that opportunities to escape from Gaza are rapidly diminishing. Having already signaled that it would drop its insistence on a “complete” ceasefire as a condition for starting truce negotiations, Hamas remains engaged.
Should a deal emerge, that is when Nasrallah’s new policy might come into effect. “That is a commitment,” he said recently during a televised address, “because [we are] a support front, and we have been clear [about this] from the start.”
Nasrallah on the edge of war
In short, Nasrallah’s position now is that the increase in cross-border military activity since October 7 is not the precursor to an all-out conflict with Israel, but action in support of Hamas. It is certainly true that in his much-trumpeted speech on November 3, 2023, Nasrallah, while predictably praising Hamas’s October 7 invasion of Israel, was at pains to emphasize that it had been a purely Palestinian enterprise.
He asserted, whatever the truth of the matter, that neither Iran nor Hezbollah had any part in planning or carrying out the operation, and that in present circumstances neither found it expedient to support Hamas by opening full-scale hostilities against Israel. He wanted the subsequent conflict to remain Palestinian.
His latest pronouncement is consistent with this position, but it also reveals his lack of appetite for embarking on an all-out conflict with Israel. It is to be hoped that Israel will, without swallowing Nasrallah’s words whole, take some account of them. A few days before Nasrallah spoke, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was in northern Israel, and what he said was uncompromising.
GALLANT SAW no obvious relationship between Israel’s military operations in Gaza and in Lebanon. They are “two separate sectors”, he said. He rejected any attempt to connect a hostage deal in the South to the ongoing conflict along the Lebanese border. To solve the latter, a separate deal between Hezbollah and Israel would, he thought, be necessary.
“Even if there is a ceasefire [in Gaza],” he said, “here, we continue to fight.” He further asserted, “We are ready for anything, but we are prepared for the fact that if they come to attack us, or if they try to harm us, or if they do not allow us to return our citizens safely to their homes – we will act.”
What Gallant may not yet have considered, however, is what Israel’s reaction would be if Hezbollah, upon the conclusion of a ceasefire in Gaza, suddenly ceased all military activity against northern Israel. That is surely an eventuality worth pondering.
**The writer is the Middle East correspondent for Eurasia Review. His latest book is Trump and the Holy Land: 2016-2020. Follow him at: a-mid-east-journal.blogspot.com.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-811297

Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on July 22-23/2024
Houthi harbor still ablaze days after Israel strikes on Yemen
AFP/July 22, 2024
HODEIDAH: Firefighting teams on Monday were struggling to contain a massive blaze at Yemen’s Hodeida port, days after a deadly Israeli strike hit oil tanks and a power plant in the harbor.Heavy flames and black smoke were seen spiralling into the sky for a third consecutive day following the strike on Saturday, said an AFP correspondent in Hodeidah. Firefighting teams appear to have made little progress, with the blaze seemingly expanding in some parts of the port, the correspondent said, amid fears it could reach food storage facilities. High-resolution satellite images taken by Maxar Technologies showed flames consuming a heavily damaged fuel storage area at the Hodeidah harbor. The fuel depot is run by the Yemen Petroleum Company which said late Sunday that the six people killed in the Israel strike were its employees. The Houthis say more than 80 others were wounded in the attack, many of them with severe burns. With black smoke billowing overhead, a funeral ceremony was held Monday for the victims of the strikes. Their coffins were carried through the streets of Hodeidah, flanked by crowds and led by a Houthi marching band. The strike on Saturday was the first by Israel on the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country and came in response to a Houthi drone strike that breached Israel’s air defenses, killing one person in Tel Aviv the day before. The Houthis, who are fighting Israel, have pledged a “huge” response to the strikes and threatened to once again attack Tel Aviv.Yemeni port authorities said Hodeidah “is operating at its full capacity,” according to the rebels’ Saba news agency. “We are working around the clock to receive all ships and there is no concern about the supply chain and supplies of food, medicine, and oil derivatives,” port official Nasr Al-Nusairi was quoted by Saba as saying on Sunday. But the US-based Navanti Group said the strikes on Hodeidah destroyed five cranes and reduced the port’s fuel storage capacity from 150,000 to 50,000 tons. Hodeidah port is a vital entry point for fuel imports and international aid for Houthi-held areas of Yemen, a country where the United Nations says more than half the population relies on humanitarian assistance. “Hodeidah port is a vital lifeline for delivering humanitarian aid to Yemen,” the International Rescue Committee (IRC) said in an emailed statement to AFP.
“Any impact on this infrastructure jeopardizes the entry of essential goods and hampers aid efforts.”

Israel strikes on Yemen port: what is the damage?
AFP/July 23, 2024
DUBAI: Israeli strikes on Saturday hit a power plant and fuel storage facilities in Hodeida, the main port under the control of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Here is what we know about the damage caused by the attack, which set oil tanks ablaze for days and came a day after the first fatal strike by the Houthis in Israel. Saturday’s long-distance strike, the first by Israel on the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country, hit the Hodeida harbor, a key gateway for fuel and international aid into Houthi-held parts of Yemen. The Houthis, who control swathes of the country including much of its Red Sea coast, said the attack struck fuel storage facilities at the harbor, killing six people, all of them port employees of the Yemen Petroleum Company. A nearby power plant was also targeted, according to the rebels. AFPTV images showed huge flames and black smoke spiralling into the sky from burning oil tanks at the port. Debris covered the dock where equipment was damaged. High-resolution satellite images taken by Maxar Technologies showed flames consuming a heavily damaged fuel storage area, which still appeared to be burning on Monday, according to an AFP correspondent.
A Hodeida port employee who was at the harbor the day of the attack said several tanks exploded sequentially. But “the port, with its dock, containers, and ships, is intact,” said the employee who spoke on condition of anonymity over security concerns. Analysis of satellite imagery from Planet by Dutch peace organization PAX showed at least 33 destroyed oil storage tanks, said Wim Zwijnenburg, a project leader with the organization. “We expect (to find) more damage, as not all storage tanks are visible because of heavy smoke” from the fire and burning fuel, Zwijnenburg told AFP.
According to Zwijnenburg, the bombing has resulted in tens of thousands of liters of oil burning. “Localized coastal pollution is expected from wastewater and leaking fuel,” said the expert, who specializes in the environmental impacts of war. Maritime security firm Ambrey said satellite imagery following the strikes showed “extensive damage to the oil products storage facilities,” clarifying, however, that “the bulk terminal storage facilities appeared to be unaffected.” The attack destroyed most of the port’s fuel storage capacity of 150,000 tons, leaving the Hodeida governorate with an overall capacity of 50,000, the US-based Navanti Group said, citing merchants. The Israeli army on Sunday published a video showing them hitting two container yard cranes at the harbor. The Navanti Group said five cranes are now “most likely non-operational.” Ambrey said two merchant vessels were alongside the yard at the time the cranes were hit, but it did not specify if they were damaged. The British agency had earlier observed four merchant vessels in the port at the time of the strikes and another eight in the anchorage. “No vessel arrivals or departures have occurred since the Israeli attack on Hodeida,” Ambrey reported on Monday. The World Food Programme on Monday told AFP that there had been “minor” damage to a crane on one of its aid vessels in the port and that its fuel storage facility was impacted. The ship “remains operational,” but “all 780,000 liters of fuel stock was likely destroyed,” said Pierre Honnorat, WFP’s Yemen country director, adding that all the agency’s staff were safe and accounted for. “WFP will source enough fuel supplies to ensure this loss has no significant effect on our operations,” he said. Yemeni port authorities have said Hodeida “is operating at its full capacity,” according to the rebels’ Saba news agency. “We are working around the clock to receive all ships and there is no concern about the supply chain and supplies of food, medicine, and oil derivatives,” port official Nasr Al-Nusairi was quoted by Saba as saying on Sunday. A Houthi transport official on Monday said “work is underway to receive and unload food and fuel shipments within 24 hours.”While firefighting teams were still struggling to contain the blaze at the harbor, a fire that erupted at a nearby power plant was nearly under control on Monday, according to Mohammed Albasha, the Navanti Group’s senior Middle East analyst.
“Repairs have started” as electricity gradually returns to the city following outages over the weekend, the analyst said.

Israel’s Netanyahu requests meeting with former President Trump, Politico reports
REUTERS/July 22, 2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has requested an in-person meeting with former President Donald Trump while in the US this week, Politico reported on Monday citing people familiar with the outreach. Netanyahu and Trump’s teams have met in recent days to explore the idea of a meeting but Trump has yet to agree, the report added.

Israelis due in Doha for talks on Gaza truce requests
AFP/July 23, 2024
DOHA: An Israeli delegation will travel to Doha on Thursday to discuss new demands for a Gaza truce and hostage-prisoner exchange, a source with knowledge of the talks said. The delegation would meet with mediator Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani to discuss three Israeli requests, including control over the return of civilians to northern Gaza, the source said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of talks.Qatar, along with Egypt and the United States, has been engaged in months of behind-the-scenes efforts to broker a Gaza truce and a hostage-prisoner swap.
A proposed cessation of hostilities focuses on a phased approach, beginning with an initial truce. Recent discussions have centered on a framework outlined by US President Joe Biden in late May, which he said had been proposed by Israel.The source said Israel had requested its forces remain in the so-called Philadelphi corridor, a 14-kilometer (8.5-mile) stretch along the Gaza-Egypt border, and that it controls the return of displaced Gazan civilians to the north of the Palestinian territory. Israel has also asked that its troop positions in Gaza be resolved before the truce begins, the source added.
The source said the points were negotiable and an agreement was “doable,” provided Israel does not remain in Gaza “indefinitely” and a solution is found for the Philadelphi corridor, with Egyptian mediators leading these efforts. But the source said Israel’s return with extra demands was “a recurring theme” in the talks and Israel had “moved the goalposts.”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left for Washington on Monday under significant domestic and international pressure to agree to a truce and hostage-prisoner exchange in Gaza.Despite this pressure, Netanyahu maintains that increased military pressure on the militants is the best route to a deal.On Sunday, the premier’s office said he was sending a negotiating team for new talks on a truce deal.Except for a one-week truce in November, during which 80 Israeli hostages were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, talks have repeatedly foundered over differences between the parties.

Israel launches airstrikes on eastern Khan Younis after ordering remaining civilians to leave
Paul Godfrey/United Press International/July 22, 2024
The Israeli military Monday ordered tens of thousands of civilians to leave safe zones in eastern districts of the Gazan city of Khan Younis, warning of imminent "forceful" attacks against Palestinian armed groups it accused of using the area as cover for "significant terrorist activity and rocket fire" toward Israel. "The IDF is about to forcefully operate against the terrorist organizations and therefore calls on the remaining population left in the eastern neighborhoods of Khan Yunis to temporarily evacuate to the adjusted Humanitarian Area in Al-Mawasi," the IDF said in a post on X that was, Palestinians said, almost immediately followed by heavy air and artillery strikes in and around Khan Younis. The military texted, called and used broadcast media advising them that "embedded terrorist infrastructure" in the area made it dangerous to remain and that it had adjusted the Al-Mawasi humanitarian zone so that neighborhoods across a broad strip of the southern part were now no longer designated as safe zones. At least 39 people, of whom 10 were children and women, were killed in the attacks, according to the enclave's Hamas-run health ministry which appealed for people to come to the city's Nasser Hospital to donate blood for the large numbers of people hurt in the attacks being brought in. The bombardment began before the estimated 400,000 people affected, according to Palestinian Civil Defense, had time to respond to the instructions to leave. On July 1, tens of thousands of people were forced to flee after they were ordered to evacuate eastern neighborhoods of Khan Younis as well as nearby towns and villages, also because of rocket fire that the IDF alleged had originated from areas where civilians were sheltering. Despite United Nations warnings of overcrowding and sparse-to-no services, they were sent to a coastal humanitarian zone. Monday's attacks were the latest of a series in the past few weeks in or adjacent to humanitarian zones including a July 9 airstrike on a tented encampment for displaced Palestinians outside Khan Younis that killed at least 27 people. The strike near the entrance to al-Awda school in the town of Abasan al-Kabira also injured at least 53 people with some in "critical" condition, the Hamas-run health ministry said. Four days later, an IDF airstrike in al-Mawasi targeting a senior Hamas leader killed scores of civilians and injured 300. In June, an Israeli airstrike on a U.N. school sheltering displaced Palestinians in central Gaza killed at least 27 people. An Israel Defense Forces warplane reportedly fired two missiles at classrooms on the top level of the United Nations Refugee and Works Agency school in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Two Israeli Hostages Held in Gaza Confirmed Dead
This Is Beirut/July 22, 2024
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an Israeli campaign group, announced on Monday that two captives held by Hamas in Gaza had died. The deaths of Yagev Buchshtab, 35, and Alex Dancyg, 76, who were abducted during the October 7 attack by Hamas, are a “stark reminder of the urgency” to bring the hostages home, the forum said in a statement.It did not provide any information on how they had died. But according to the Israeli army, as reported by the Jerusalem Post, they were mistakenly killed by Israeli forces during battles in Khan Younis some months ago. Buchshtab was abducted from his home in Kibbutz Nirim along with his wife Rimon Buchshtab-Kirsht, who was released after 50 days in captivity, the forum said. Dancyg, who was born to Holocaust survivors, worked at Yad Vashem, the International Holocaust Remembrance Institute, and trained thousands of guides there, it added. Hostages who were held captive with him reported that Dancyg spent his time in captivity giving history lectures to fellow captives, the forum said. “Yagev and Alex were taken alive and should have returned alive to their families and to their country,” the forum said. “Their death in captivity is a tragic reflection of the consequences of foot-dragging in negotiations,” it said referring to ceasefire talks that have dragged on for months.With AFP

People Rush Away From Khan Yunis Following Deadly Strikes and Evacuation Warning
Storyful/Mon, July 22, 2024
Gazans were rushing away from Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza, on Monday, July 22, following evacuation warnings from the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and strikes that killed dozens of people, according to Palestinian reports. The IDF called on people living in the eastern areas of Khan Yunis to relocate in nearby al-Mawasi, citing “numerous acts of terrorism and mortar fire at the State of Israel from the eastern part of the humanitarian space”. The Israeli Air Force confirmed it had conducted strikes on Khan Yunis, saying it had targeted “a launcher in the Khan Yunis area that was aimed at the territory of the country.” WAFA news agency said that at least 27 people had been killed in strikes on Khan Yunis, and that the majority were women and children. Other Palestinian sources had the death toll at 35. The director of the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis urged citizens to donate blood on Friday “to save the sick and wounded in light of the ongoing massacres.” He added that injured people were “lying on the hospital floor due to the lack of beds.” Credit: @hassan_eslaih via Storyful.

Israeli parliament votes to label UN relief agency a terror organisation
Reuters/Mon, July 22, 2024
The Israeli parliament gave preliminary approval on Monday to a bill that declares the main United Nations relief organization for Palestinians a terrorist organisation and proposes to sever relations with the body. The vote against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) is the latest step in a Israeli push against the agency, which Israeli leaders have accused of collaborating with the Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza. The bill was approved in a first reading and will be returned to the foreign affairs and defence committee for further deliberation, the Knesset information service said. The bill's sponsor, Yulia Malinovsky, was quoted as describing UNRWA as a "fifth column within Israel". UNRWA provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. It has long had tense relations with Israel but relations have deteriorated sharply since the start of the war in Gaza and Israel has called repeatedly for UNRWA to be disbanded. "It's another attempt in a wider campaign to dismantle the agency," UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Touma said. "Such steps are unheard of in the history of the United Nations."Israel has said hundreds of UNRWA staff are members of terrorist groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but has yet to provide evidence to a U.N.-appointed review. Several donor countries halted funding to UNRWA following the Israeli accusations but many have since reversed the decision, including Britain which said last week it would resume funding. Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority condemned the Israeli vote, and Hussein Al-Sheikh, a senior ally of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called on the international community to resist attempts to dissolve the agency.

Canadian attempts knife attack on Israel security unit, is shot dead, authorities say
NETIV HAASARA, Israel (Reuters)/July 22, 2024
A Canadian citizen attempted to attack an armed civilian security unit with a knife in southern Israel near the Gaza border and was shot dead, Israeli authorities said on Monday. The incident took place at the entrance of Netiv HaAsara, a town where security has been intensified since Hamas-led militants killed around 20 people there during the Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel that triggered the Gaza war. The Israeli military said the suspect "exited his vehicle and threatened with a knife members of the community’s rapid response team operating in the area".
"The rapid response team responded with fire and neutralised the suspect. No injuries to the security forces were reported," the military said. A police spokesperson said the attacker was a Canadian citizen. Reuters television footage showed a dead body, apparently of the suspected attacker, being taken to an ambulance.

Israeli parliament votes to label UN relief agency a terror organisation
Reuters/July 22, 2024
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Israeli parliament gave preliminary approval on Monday to a bill that declares the main United Nations relief organization for Palestinians a terrorist organisation and proposes to sever relations with the body. The vote against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) is the latest step in a Israeli push against the agency, which Israeli leaders have accused of collaborating with the Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza. The bill was approved in a first reading and will be returned to the foreign affairs and defence committee for further deliberation, the Knesset information service said. The bill's sponsor, Yulia Malinovsky, was quoted as describing UNRWA as a "fifth column within Israel". UNRWA provides education, health and aid to millions of Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. It has long had tense relations with Israel but relations have deteriorated sharply since the start of the war in Gaza and Israel has called repeatedly for UNRWA to be disbanded. "It's another attempt in a wider campaign to dismantle the agency," UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Touma said. "Such steps are unheard of in the history of the United Nations."Israel has said hundreds of UNRWA staff are members of terrorist groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but has yet to provide evidence to a U.N.-appointed review. Several donor countries halted funding to UNRWA following the Israeli accusations but many have since reversed the decision, including Britain which said last week it would resume funding. Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority condemned the Israeli vote, and Hussein Al-Sheikh, a senior ally of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, called on the international community to resist attempts to dissolve the agency.

Religious Zionist rabbis oppose terms for hostage deal: ‘The cost endangers Israeli citizens’/Senior Religious Zionist rabbis: Though it is a commandment to save hostages, it should not be at the cost of risking Israel.
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/07/132350/
Jerusalem Post/July 22/2024
Senior rabbis of the Religious Zionist movement published a letter on Monday denouncing the terms of the hostage deal currently under negotiations, Walla reported Monday. Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, Rabbi Dov Lior, and Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu were among the rabbis who signed the letter. The letter states that the release of the hostages is “one of the greatest and most important commandments in the Torah, and it is imperative to save them and return them to their families,” however, they stated, “the costs required for the release of the hostages endanger all the citizens of the state,” listing examples of potential Israeli concessions. They continued, “the release of all dangerous monsters to allow the rebuilding of Hamas’s collapsing army, withdrawal from strategic areas, and cessation of fighting before the defeat of Hamas – the public cannot endure any of these and similar measures.” Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu stated that they have researched this issue in depth and argued that even though it is a commandment to save hostages, it should not be at the cost of risking the state of Israel.
Hostage negotiations
They concluded the letter with a prayer and wished Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu success in his mission of returning the hostages home. “Together with the whole House of Israel, we pray that God’s redeemed will soon return healthy and whole in body and soul and that Zion will bring glory and eternal joy upon their heads,” the letter concluded. As of Sunday, Netanyahu has agreed to send an Israeli negotiating team to hostage negotiations on Thursday. The Biden administration has helped to lead the initiative for a three-phased deal proposal in which Israeli hostages would be released in exchange for a pause in fighting and the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Part of the terms in this three-phased plan includes the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the return of Palestinians to their homes, and the increased distribution of humanitarian aid throughout all of Gaza.
Israelis throughout the country have been demonstrating for an immediate hostage deal for over nine months.

Iraq hangs 10 men convicted of terrorism, security sources say
Reuters/Mon, July 22, 2024 at 11:56 a.m. EDT·1 min read
Iraq on Monday hanged 10 militants sentenced to death on terrorism charges, security sources said. The executions were carried out at a prison in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya and all those executed were Iraqi nationals, the sources said. The 10 men were convicted of joining the Islamic State militant group and carrying out "serious terrorist crimes", they added. In April, Iraq hanged 11 militants sentenced to death on terrorism charges, prompting criticism from Amnesty International which raised concern that many more people may have been executed in secret given a "disturbing lack of transparency" about executions in Iraq in recent months. Iraq has put hundreds of suspected jihadists on trial and carried out several mass executions since defeating Islamic State fighters in a U.S.-backed military campaign in 2014-2017.

If not Kamala Harris, who else could be the Democratic nominee for November’s election?
EPHREM KOSSAIFY & RAY HANANIA/Arab News/July 23, 2024
NEW YORK CITY/CHICAGO: President Joe Biden’s decision to end his reelection campaign and drop out of the US presidential race has created sufficient momentum for Vice President Kamala Harris to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, according to three Arab American analysts.Biden, who endorsed Harris in his withdrawal announcement on Sunday, was trailing former President Donald Trump in opinion polls amid a growing Arab American #AbandonBiden movement, and wider demands he drop out of the 2024 race following his disastrous debate performance on June 27 in Atlanta.
What was to be a coronation for the 81-year-old Biden at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 19 has now become an open contest in which nearly 4,700 party delegates will vote by state for the nominee of their choice to challenge Trump, the Republican Party nominee. Rana Abtar, a talk show host in Washington D.C. for Asharq News, expects Harris to become the Democratic nominee, although several other candidates might also be considered. However, she believes the Democrats “must show unity” if they are to win the November election.
“Today, what we are noticing is that Democrats are starting to support Harris, one by one,” she told Arab News. “There were some delegates in a couple of states who have already voted to support Kamala Harris. That means that their votes will reflect in the Democratic National Convention.
“The rest of the Democrats who have not supported Harris yet are expected to fall in line soon. At some point we will see all the Democrats, or most of the Democrats, line up behind Harris. It is very important for the Democrats to present a show of unity after the dilemma that their party was facing following President Biden’s announcement that he will not seek a second term.”
Biden’s withdrawal from the race frees up his convention delegates from the nation’s 50 states and provinces to support any candidate during the convention. Many alternative names are being floated, including centrist Sen. Joe Manchin, former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, former First Lady Michelle Obama, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Noting that Harris is popular among African American voters, a traditional core pillar of the Democratic Party support, Abtar said many still view her as a part of the Biden administration’s policies that fueled the #AbandonBiden movement, in which Arabs and Muslims voted in key swing state primaries for “uncommitted” or “no vote” options rather than for the president.
“Harris is not that popular in the polls,” Abtar said. “A lot of Democrats are worried that her chances against Trump are the same as the chances of President Biden against Trump. Of course, in the coming days we will see Harris getting out there, talking to the voters, because in the past, in her role as vice president, she did not speak directly to the American people on many occasions.“Biden gave her the immigration matter, which by itself put her in a very awkward position, especially given that the Republicans’ main attack against Democrats concerns immigration and border security.
“But I do believe that the most important element here is not Harris. It will be who she will pick as her running mate because voters need excitement. Democratic voters need excitement to get out and vote.”
Abtar said third-party candidates, such as independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Green Party candidate Dr. Jill Stein, are often viewed as “election spoilers” — people who might drain votes from Harris or even from Trump. “Kennedy’s numbers are considered pretty high for an independent candidate and his voters might make a difference in the election season by taking away votes from … Trump or Harris … if she gets the official nomination,” Abtar said. Any of the individuals currently being suggested as replacements for Biden could become nominees for vice president, including Pritzker, a billionaire with presidential ambitions of his own.
Amal Mudallali, a former ambassador to the UN and CEO of Bridges International Group, thinks Harris has a “problem of perception.”She told Arab News: “The perception is that she was not a strong vice president, that she will not be a strong candidate and that she will not be able to defeat Trump.”Although Democrats seemed to be moving fast to rally behind Harris, including former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s endorsement on Monday, Mudallali remains cautious. “It’s all up in the air because there are still very powerful Democrats calling for an open convention and to have an open field for everybody to throw their hats into the ring, and to see if they can get the strongest candidate for the Democratic Party to be able to defeat Trump,” she said. The impact of the independent candidates in the election cannot be written off either, she added.
“In very close elections, independent candidates can do a lot of harm. Because this election is a very close race — you are talking about a couple of thousands of, or a thousand, votes — that could make or break an election campaign,” Mudallali said.
“Let’s say if Kennedy was able to get a lot of votes from the Democrats, this could hurt Democrats more and that will be a big problem for them.
“But so far we don’t know who the Democratic Party candidate will be. If the individual is a very strong candidate, the party might be able to unite the anti-Trump constituency, which will overwhelmingly vote for the candidate on the Democratic side. In that case, the independents will not make a difference.”
Firas Maksad, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, believes Harris is “all but certain” to replace Biden as the nominee, and suggested that Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer could be her running mate on the first “all woman ticket.”
He told Arab News: “The speculation is heavily focused on who will be her vice-presidential running mate, including possibly an all-women ticket should she choose Whitmer. That’s unprecedented and carries risks. But Whitmer could help deliver the key swing state of Michigan, and an all-woman team could re-energize the currently largely demoralized Democratic base.”
He added: “Harris’s likability ratings with the American public have never been high. But at this point, the decision by the Democratic Party and President Biden to put her name forward is largely based on funding and finances. She is the only one who will be able to qualify for all the money, the hundreds of millions of dollars, that have been raised so far. Therefore, her choice for a running mate will also be key in terms of bringing around that Democratic base and for the general likability of that Democratic ticket.”Maksad believes Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race, and speculation about Whitmer’s addition to the ticket, might hold sway over the strong Arab and Muslim vote in Michigan, many of whom voted against the Biden-Harris team in the Feb. 27 Democrat Party primary contest. Arab Americans are not monolithic,” he said. “They are a diverse group with differing priorities spread out across four battleground states. Michigan gets a lot of attention, but also Florida, Virginia and Pennsylvania. “In Michigan, where there are 100,000 of them, they have strong feelings about the war in Gaza and President Biden not doing enough to stop the war. Having Biden step aside opens up the potential for the Democratic Party to make inroads among Arab Americans in Michigan again. And should the vice president (choice) in fact be the governor of Michigan, that will then give Democrats even more opportunities to make inroads and win Michigan over again, as a key battleground state.”

UAE jails 57 Bangladeshis, including 3 for life, over riots
ARAB NEWS/July 22, 2024
ABU DHABI: The UAE has imprisoned 57 Bangladeshis, including 3 for life, for inciting riots on Friday in several streets across the country, state news agency WAM reported. The Abu Dhabi Federal Court of Appeal handed the life imprisonment terms to three people who called for the demonstrations to pressure their home government. The remaining 53 defendants received 10-year prison terms, with one, who entered the country illegally and took part in the riot, being sentenced to 11 years. The Bangladeshi nationals will be deported after serving their sentences, WAM reported. On Friday, UAE Attorney-General Hamad Saif Al-Shamsi ordered an investigation into the arrest of several Bangladeshi nationals who were apprehended for inciting riots against their home country, which has been struggling to quell violent student-led protests over a controversial job quota scheme.
The investigation, led by a team of 30, confirmed the defendants’ involvement in assembling in public spaces, “inciting unrest, disrupting public security, and promoting such gatherings and protests,” WAM said. They recorded and published audiovisual footage of their actions online. A court witness during the trial said that demonstrators did not respond to a police warning to disperse, according to WAM. The witness confirmed that the defendants gathered and organised large-scale marches in several streets across the UAE in protest against decisions made by the Bangladeshi government. Several of the defendants confessed to the crimes with which they were accused.

The Latest English LCCC analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources on July 22-23/2024
Sisi’s New Cabinet Reflects Continuity Over Change
Haisam Hassanein/Policy Brief/July 22/2024 |
Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi accepted the credentials of a new cabinet on July 3, stating that its main priorities will be the economy, investments, and social services. However, some of the new cabinet ministers have a history of corruption and human rights abuses, raising questions about their willingness and ability to resolve the nation’s problems. Sisi’s reappointment of the prime minister, Mostafa Madbouly, has elicited controversy. Under his tenure, which began in 2018, the economic conditions of ordinary Egyptians have worsened due to higher inflation rates and currency devaluation. The share of the Egyptian population that earns less than $6.85 per day this year is 68.38 percent. The newly appointed minister of education, Mohamed Abdel Latif, has faced criticism over his alleged fake doctoral degree from the U.S.-based Cardiff City University. The New Arab, a London-based news site, reported that the school is an “unaccredited institution” that “offers fake degrees in return for money. A PhD degree costs US$10,000 as per the official website of the alleged university.”
The choice of Mohamed Shimey as minister of the public business sector has raised eyebrows as well. Until the day of his appointment, he was the CEO of Energy Cadence Company, which is owned by businessman Ibrahim al-Organi. Al-Organi’s other company, Hala Consulting and Tourism, which is tied to Egypt’s security services, charges Palestinians thousands of dollars each to aid their departure from Gaza. Before the war sparked by the Hamas attack of October 7, Gazans paid $350 to travel to Egypt. Since the conflict began, its fees have risen to $5,000 — a 14-fold increase.
Lastly, the appointment of Badr Abdelatty as foreign minister has raised concerns regarding the cabinet’s commitment to human rights. As spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 2013 and 2015, he defended his government’s crackdown on journalists. When he was Egypt’s ambassador to Germany from 2015 until 2019, his embassy monitored Egyptian students living in Berlin who opposed the regime. At the airport in Cairo, Egyptian security forces often harshly interrogated students traveling to Germany in order to intimidate and dissuade them from criticizing the Sisi government while abroad.
Sisi has long prevented cabinet ministers from serving in their positions for too long, hoping to avoid public frustration against individuals that would harm the regime’s image. Thus, unlike former President Hosni Mubarak’s era, Sisi’s rule is characterized by a lack of power centers outside his close circles. Under Mubarak, well-known ministers such as former Defense Minister Mohamed Hussein Tantawi held their positions for decades. Similarly, in 2017, Sisi placed limits on the authority of judges and pushed a law that allowed him to choose the heads of judicial bodies from among several candidates. By the same token, he fired key officials who assisted him in ousting the Muslim Brotherhood, such as intelligence chief and longtime mentor General Mohamed Farid al-Tuhami in 2014 and Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim in 2015. The reshuffling of the cabinet is mainly an attempt by Sisi at the beginning of his third term to send a message of hope to domestic constituents and boost confidence among outside observers that his regime is serious about tackling dire socioeconomic challenges. Yet his appointments appear to suggest more continuity than change.
*Haisam Hassanein is an adjunct fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Haisam and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow Haisam on X @HaisamHassanei1. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based nonpartisan research institute focusing on foreign policy and national security.

European Union Is Funding Iranian Aggression
Majid Rafizadeh/Gatestone Institute/July 22, 2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/07/132345/
The continued funding of Iran's regime by the EU is crucial in bolstering Iran's ability to attack its neighbors and US troops in the region, both directly and through its proxies -- Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Houthis -- and to accelerate enriching uranium to complete its nuclear weapons program. The regime's actions appear part of a broader strategy aimed at ultimately annihilating not only Israel but also oil-rich Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. While the EU loves to portray itself as a front-runner in human rights, often lecturing the world about those values and global security, its actions -- all mercenary, all the time -- tell a very different story. The continued funding of Iran's regime by the European Union is crucial in bolstering Iran's ability to attack its neighbors and US troops in the region, both directly and through its proxies -- Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Houthis -- and to accelerate enriching uranium to complete its nuclear weapons program. The Iranian regime, largely thanks to the backing of a powerful ally, the European Union, has managed to sustain and even increase its revenue streams. The continued funding of Iran's regime by the EU is crucial in bolstering Iran's ability to attack its neighbors and US troops in the region, both directly and through its proxies -- Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Houthis -- and to accelerate enriching uranium to complete its nuclear weapons program. Support from the EU has enabled Iran to continue its regional and international militaristic endeavors without the looming threat of financial insolvency.
The EU continues to engage, shamelessly it seems, in business transactions with Iran, which simply uses the revenues to further its expansionist ambitions, such as launching an aggressive war against Israel and firing on US troops in the region more than 170 times just since October, close off maritime shipping in the area, and bring its nuclear weapons program to near completion. The regime's actions appear part of a broader strategy aimed at ultimately annihilating not only Israel but also oil-rich Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. This ongoing relationship raises serious ethical and political questions about the EU's stance on global security and its commitment to standing against a regime that threaten peace and stability in the region.
Iran's regime, since the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has also extended significant support to Russia, both diplomatically and militarily. Iran has also consistently voted against United Nations resolutions condemning Russia's actions, and has actively contributed to the Russian military effort by supplying weapons, including advanced attack drones such as the Shahed 131 and Shahed 136. Iran's unwavering support for Russia underscores its broader geopolitical strategy and its alignment with other authoritarian nations that desire to disrupt the existing international order.
Some countries within the EU have actually increased their trade with Iran. There has been a substantial growth of imports from Iran by several EU member states. Iran's state-controlled outlet Mehr News even boasted regarding January's trade figures:
"Greece's imports from Iran tripled and reached €2.3 million. Dutch imports from Iran have also almost doubled, from €3.5 million in January 2023 to €6.8 million in January this year. Romania's imports from Iran also increased by 47 percent to €3.4 million, and Italy's imports by two percent to €12.2 million."
Iran's top trading partner in Europe continues to be Germany, followed closely by Italy and the Netherlands as the second and third-biggest European trade partners of the Iranian regime.
To maintain its trade relations with Iran, the EU has apparently thought nothing of offering condolences for the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, a mass murderer, known as the "Butcher of Tehran." He was a key figure on the "Death Committee" in Iran, responsible for the execution of tens of thousands of people, including pregnant women and children. This gesture by the EU, ostensibly to avoid disrupting its trade with Iran, once again underscores a willingness to overlook human rights violations for economic gains.
By continuing to do business with Iran, European countries knowingly fuel Russia's attacks on Ukraine, and even potentially on themselves, as Russia extends its aggressive ambitions across the continent.
Europe's trade relationships with Iran also provide the regime with the financial means to further its hostile actions against its neighbors, arm its proxies, further the regime's legitimacy on the international stage; intensify its repression of domestic dissent, and complete its nuclear weapons.
Instead of engaging in business with a country ruled by a predatory and rogue regime, the EU would do itself and everyone else an existential favor: instead of financing Iran's regime and its military, to curb Iran's destabilizing activities. The EU should immediately halt all trade with Iran, designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, and sever diplomatic ties with Iran. While the EU loves to portray itself as a front-runner in human rights, often lecturing the world about those values and global security, its actions -- all mercenary, all the time -- tell a very different story.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
© 2024 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.

How Iran’s leaders view US presidential election
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/July 22, 2024
https://eliasbejjaninews.com/2024/07/132345/
Iran’s leaders are closely monitoring the US presidential election campaign due to its significant implications for their country. The outcome of the election is expected to have a direct impact on Iran’s political and economic landscape. As a result, recent presidential debates and political discussions within Iran have increasingly centered on the US elections, with particular emphasis on the potential of Donald Trump securing another term in office. This heightened focus reflects the considerable interest in how the election result might influence US-Iranian relations and broader geopolitical dynamics.
The leaders in Tehran generally prefer it when Democrats win US elections due to the range of favorable policies and diplomatic approaches typically associated with the Democratic Party. Historically, Democratic administrations have shown a greater inclination toward negotiating and engaging in dialogue with Iran, rather than adopting a confrontational stance. This diplomatic engagement often includes a more lenient approach toward sanctions, which can alleviate some of the economic pressures faced by Iran. Such policies can create a more favorable environment for Iran’s economy and international relations.
This perspective was highlighted last month by Javad Zarif, the former Iranian foreign minister, during a televised discussion focused on international relations. Zarif made this observation in response to claims from the conservative side, which asserted that it was under President Ebrahim Raisi’s leadership that Iran managed to effectively market its crude oil, notwithstanding the restrictive US sanctions. As Zarif put it: “When Biden came to power, he adopted the policy of loosening the screws (of enforcing Iran sanctions). Let Mr. Trump return to power, and then see what your (conservative) friends will do.”
For example, in the first quarter of 2024, Iranian oil exports saw a dramatic increase, reaching 1.82 million barrels per day — a level not seen since October 2018, shortly before the Trump administration reintroduced sanctions on Iran’s oil sector. This rise in export volumes blatantly challenges the sanctions regime. The continued growth in exports has significant consequences for Iran’s financial situation, as oil revenues traditionally make up nearly 80 percent of the country’s total income.
Moreover, Democrats have been more open to reentering or renegotiating agreements that aim to address the Iran nuclear program. For instance, the Obama administration’s negotiation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was a significant step in this direction, providing Iran with sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear activities. A Democratic administration might be more inclined to revive or modify such agreements, offering Iran a path to greater international legitimacy and economic benefits.
In contrast, Republican administrations have been known for their hard-line policies, including Trump’s withdrawal from the JCPOA and the reimposition of severe sanctions. This approach increases the economic strain on Iran and heightens tensions. Therefore, Iranian leaders often view a potential Democratic victory as more advantageous, as it could lead to reduced sanctions, increased opportunities for negotiation and a less restrictive approach toward Iran’s nuclear ambitions, ultimately benefiting its strategic and economic interests.
For instance, during President Trump’s tenure, the situation was starkly different to today. By the time Trump left the White House, the Iranian government was facing severe political and financial difficulties. Tehran’s economy was nearing collapse, with inflation and unemployment reaching unprecedented levels. The regime struggled to pay its employees. The economic conditions in Iran became so dire that some officials even warned of a potential revolt and the possible collapse of the regime.
By the time Trump left the White House, the Iranian government was facing severe political and financial difficulties.
In addition, Iran was in survival mode and desperately needed cash to maintain its power, as oil exports dwindled under the Trump administration. Before Trump reimposed sanctions on Tehran and implemented the “maximum pressure” policy, Iran was exporting more than 2 million barrels of oil daily. However, by the end of Trump's first term, Iran’s oil exports had plummeted to about 70,000 barrels a day. Additionally, Iran’s currency, the rial, significantly depreciated in value, further exacerbating the regime’s financial struggles.
Under the Trump administration, sanctions exerted substantial pressure on the Iranian government, forcing its leaders to cut funding to militias, allies and terror groups. Militants reportedly did not receive their salaries or benefits, making it challenging for them to continue fighting on behalf of Tehran. As one Iranian-backed militia fighter in Syria told The New York Times at the time: “The golden days are gone and will never return. Iran does not have enough money to give us.”
Without Iran’s financial and military support, many militia and terror groups would struggle to survive. This point has been openly acknowledged by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who stated in 2016: “We are open about the fact that Hezbollah’s budget, its income, its expenses, everything it eats and drinks, its weapons and rockets, are from Iran. As long as Iran has money, we have money ... Just as we receive the rockets that we use to threaten Israel, we are receiving our money. No law will prevent us from receiving it.”
In conclusion, Iran’s leaders favor the election of a Democratic president due to the historical tendencies of the party’s administrations to engage diplomatically and offer more lenient policies toward Iran. From their perspective, the potential for renewed negotiations, eased sanctions and a less restrictive approach to Iran’s nuclear program represents a much better scenario for Tehran’s economic and strategic interests.
This is in stark contrast to the more robust stance typically associated with Republican administrations, particularly that of Trump, whose presidency was marked by America’s withdrawal from the JCPOA and the imposition of severe sanctions. Therefore, a Democratic victory is seen by the Iranian leaders as offering a more favorable environment compared to the challenges posed by a potential return to power of Trump.
• Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian American political scientist.
X: @Dr_Rafizadeh

No, Ed Husain, the Jihad Conquest of Palestine Was Not a 'Liberation'
Andrew Bostom/Gatestone Institute/July 22, 2024
The jihad conquest of Palestine created an Islamic state under Sharia jurisdiction for the surviving Jews, Christians and Samaritans, with all its accompanying religious and socio-political discriminations. There was nothing "liberating" about the jihad waged against the vanquished "dhimmi," per Qur'an 9:29: "Fight against those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth [i.e., Islam] from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they give the jizyah1 willingly while they are humbled."
This verse, and its interpretation by seminal Muslim Qur'anic commentators and jurists, was the key rationale for Sharia-based restrictions on non-Muslims' religious practices, as well as their pauperizing taxation, disarmament and inequality in penal law.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali may have taken Husain's full measure — still unchanged — 17 years ago during an illuminating debate: "[I]f we continue to deny, those of us who were brought up in Islam, that there is anything wrong with the faith, then there is no point in having a debate on reformation or renaissance or any sort of change. Because if it is perfect – as most Muslims want us to believe – then there's nothing to change."
It certainly appears that Hirsi Ali identified the complete obstruction to real change posed by this "ex-jihadist Muslim" turned apologist for Islam, whose replacement fanaticism is his angry denial of normative Islamic doctrine, and related history, past as prologue. Regardless, the jihad conquest of Palestine was not a "liberation," and most assuredly did not "reinstate Judaism and Jewishness to Jerusalem."
The Islamic conquest of Palestine, which began in the year 634 C.E., had devastating and decidedly "non-liberating" consequences, characterized by massacre, pillage, enslavement and deportation of the indigenous Palestinian Jewish, Christian and Samaritan populations.
Ed Husain, self-styled ex-Hizb ut Tahrir and ex-Hamas "former radical," now "anti-Hamas/Muslim Brotherhood" campaigner, spoke on July 9, 2024 on a panel entitled, "Islam, Israel, and the West," at the fourth National Conservatism Conference.
Husain is an "ex-jihadist Muslim," turned apologist for Islam. Despite his recent assertion to the contrary, the jihad conquest of Palestine was not a "liberation," and most assuredly did not "reinstate Judaism and Jewishness to Jerusalem."
Oddly, Husain provided a counterfactual, hagiographic formulation of the early Islamic jihad conquests, in particular, of historical Palestine (modern Israel, Jordan, Judea, Samaria and Gaza). Adding insult to irony, Husain's narrative comports with the idealization of these conquests in classical Islamic jurisprudence, histories, and their roseate treatment by a Muslim theologian Husain vehemently "rejects": the late Yusuf al-Qaradawi, "spiritual guide" of Husain's alleged "antithesis," The Muslim Brotherhood.
For Qaradawi (here; here), like Husain, the sanguinary, imperialistic Islamic jihad conquests somehow "liberated" the "oppressed and weak" of Palestine, as well as the rest of the Levant, Egypt and North Africa. Husain stated at the National Conservatism Conference:
"I don't see anything wrong with the early conquests of the Muslim armies...[A]s I highlighted earlier, they reinstated Judaism and Jewishness to Jerusalem. Muslims took the sword, and liberated Jerusalem."
Relying upon the definitive study of this period, Moshe Gil's 1992 A History of Palestine 634-1099, and other corroborating scholarly sources, the following is a summary of the devastating and decidedly "non-liberating" consequences of these jihad campaigns, characterized by massacre, pillage, enslavement and deportation of the indigenous Palestinian Jewish, Christian and Samaritan populations.
The entire Gaza region up to Caesarea was sacked and devastated in the campaign of 634 C.E., which included the slaughter of 4000 Jewish, Christian and Samaritan peasants. Villages in the Negev were also pillaged, and towns such as Jerusalem, Gaza, Jaffa, Caesarea, Nablus, and Beth Shean were isolated. In his sermon on the Day of the Epiphany 636, Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, bewailed the destruction of the churches and monasteries, the sacked towns and villages, and the fields laid waste by the invaders. Thousands of people perished in 639, victims of the famine and plague wrought by this wanton destruction. The Muslim historian Baladhuri, maintained that 30,000 Samaritans and 20,000 Jews lived in Caesarea alone just prior to the Arab Muslim conquest; afterwards, all evidence of them disappears. Archaeological data confirm the lasting devastation wrought by these initial jihad conquests, particularly the widespread destruction of synagogues and churches from the Byzantine era, whose remnants are still being unearthed. The total number of towns was reduced from 58 to 17 in the red sand hills and swamps of the western coastal plain (namely, the Sharon). Massive soil erosion from the western slopes of the Judaean mountains also occurred due to agricultural uprooting during this period. Finally, the papyri of Nessana were completely discontinued after the year 700, reflecting how the Negev also experienced destruction of its agriculture, and the desertion of its villages.
When Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab visited Jerusalem during 638, mainly to end some of the wanton destruction wrought by his jihadist forces, he immediately built an unostentatious mosque on the Temple Mount — hardly an act of "reinstating Jewishness and Judaism" to Jerusalem! Moreover, Umar's treaty of submission for the Christians included abiding their prohibition on Jewish settlement in Jerusalem. Three years later, in 641, Umar did allow very limited Jewish re-settlement of Jerusalem, but for politico-religious reasons, advantageous to the Muslim rulers: to spur economic activity and weaken Christian claims of exclusivity to the city. By the end of the 7th century, the triumphal Dome of the Rock was constructed on the Temple Mount under the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik and his sons, giving Jerusalem a Muslim, not a Jewish "aura of sanctity," transforming it, "into a center of attraction to visitors from all over the Muslim world."
The jihad conquest of Palestine created an Islamic state under Sharia jurisdiction for the surviving Jews, Christians and Samaritans, with all its accompanying religious and socio-political discriminations. There was nothing "liberating" about the jihad waged against the vanquished "dhimmi," per Qur'an 9:29:
"Fight against those who do not believe in Allah or in the Last Day and who do not consider unlawful what Allah and His Messenger have made unlawful and who do not adopt the religion of truth [i.e., Islam] from those who were given the Scripture - [fight] until they give the jizyah1 willingly while they are humbled."
This verse, and its interpretation by seminal Muslim Qur'anic commentators and jurists, was the key rationale for Sharia-based restrictions on non-Muslims' religious practices, as well as their pauperizing taxation, disarmament and inequality in penal law.
Although interrupted, in part, for nearly two centuries by the Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099–1291 C.E.), the oppressive imposition of Islamic law in Palestine persisted for over a thousand years, in total, through the mid- to late 19th century under Ottoman rule. Itinerant rabbi J.J. Benjamin in 1847, almost a decade after the initial failed Ottoman legal reforms, imposed by the Western powers, confirmed:
"Deep misery and continual oppression are the right words to describe the condition of the Children of Israel in the land of their fathers."
Despite Ed Husain's viciously anti-Zionist screed in 2007, which equated Zionism with jihadism and was published after he disavowed his radical ties, he now recognizes Israel's right to exist, albeit contingent on one (or more) contiguous Palestinian Muslim state(s), in addition to the 78% of the original Mandate for Palestine which comprises Islamic Jordan, which is Judenrein by law (article 3, #2). Seventeen years later, however, Husain has never published a formal mea culpa, categorical renunciation of his vitriolic 2007 anti-Zionist commentary.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali may have taken Husain's full measure — still unchanged — 17 years ago during an illuminating debate:
"[I]f we continue to deny, those of us who were brought up in Islam, that there is anything wrong with the faith, then there is no point in having a debate on reformation or renaissance or any sort of change. Because if it is perfect – as most Muslims want us to believe – then there's nothing to change."
It certainly appears that Hirsi Ali identified the complete obstruction to real change posed by this "ex-jihadist Muslim" turned apologist for Islam, whose replacement fanaticism is his angry denial of normative Islamic doctrine, and related history, past as prologue. Regardless, the jihad conquest of Palestine was not a "liberation," and most assuredly did not "reinstate Judaism and Jewishness to Jerusalem."*Andrew G. Bostom, MD, MS, is the author of The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the Fate of Non-Muslims, The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism: From Sacred Texts to Solemn History, , Sharia versus Freedom: The Legacy of Islamic Totalitarianism and other books and essays on Islam. His research focus has been on the impact of Islamic conquest, colonization, and governance on non-Muslims.
© 2024 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20797/jihad-conquest-of-palestine

Netanyahu comes to Washington as Biden withdraws from presidential race
Steve Hendrix and John Hudson/ The Washington Post/July 21, 2024
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/07/21/israel-netanyahu-dc-visit-biden-trump/
The shifting political winds in Washington could empower Netanyahu, analysts said, at a crucial time in Gaza cease-fire and hostage-release negotiations.
JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to land Monday in a Washington consumed by political turmoil, creating further uncertainty about U.S.-Israeli relations at a crucial moment in the Gaza war.
President Biden — who announced the end of his reelection bid on the eve of Netanyahu’s departure — has both championed Israel’s right to wage war against Hamas and chided the prime minister for his management of the conflict. Israeli officials didn’t confirm that the prime minister would meet with the president as planned until the day before takeoff; they now don’t know what the dramatic campaign upheaval will mean for the future.
Immediately after Biden’s announcement, a person familiar with deliberations in Netanyahu’s office said it was “too early” to say how the trip, and Israel’s war effort, might be affected. Like others in this story, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive topics.
Netanyahu is scheduled to address a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday. But it is the chaos of the presidential race that has transfixed observers, with Biden bowing to pressure to step aside and Donald Trump surging after a failed assassination attempt. The fast-shifting political winds could embolden the Israeli leader, analysts said, at a crucial time in Gaza cease-fire negotiations.
Netanyahu has been accused by critics of prolonging the war for his own political benefit, a charge he denies. He remains adamant that Israel must fight until Hamas has been destroyed, a goal his own generals have said is unachievable.
Officially, Netanyahu is neutral in American politics. But he has long been criticized for aligning with Republicans. And he made no secret of his delight with Trump, who tilted U.S. policy significantly in favor of the Israeli right during his term — moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights.
Netanyahu’s tense relationship with Biden has deteriorated greatly in recent months as Israel has defied numerous White House entreaties to increase the flow of humanitarian aid in Gaza and do more to protect civilians. The administration put a hold on 2,000-pound bombs to Israel in May, citing their use in populated areas. More than 38,900 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians but says the majority of the dead are women and children.
Netanyahu told reporters as he was preparing to depart Monday that he still expected to meet with Biden and to thank the president for supporting Israel throughout his long career. The prime minister said he intended “to tell our friends on both sides that regardless of who is elected to lead the American people after the presidential elections, Israel is its most important ally in the Middle East.”
But some of the prime minister’s allies had begun cheering Trump more explicitly, framing cease-fire talks as a partisan U.S. issue. Itamar Ben Gvir, Netanyahu’s far-right national security minister, warned colleagues last week that approving a hostage deal would be “a slap for Trump, which would be a victory for Biden,” according to Israeli media reports. Any agreement, he insisted, should wait until November.
Some political observers here say Biden’s eroding position in recent weeks had already begun to free Netanyahu’s hand in Gaza.
Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington, said U.S. pressure on Israel to rein in its military campaign has eased in recent weeks. The administration has offered little public criticism of escalating attacks in areas packed with civilians, including in Mawasi, an area designated by Israel as a humanitarian zone. Massive strikes there this month targeting senior Hamas leader Mohammed Deif killed at least 90 people, according to health officials.
“The pressure has gone now,” Oren said before Biden’s announcement. “It’s nothing like it was.”
Biden’s team has backed off in part because of signs the attacks are making Hamas more amenable to a deal, Oren said, and what the president “really needs is a diplomatic win to show he can achieve big things internationally.”
U.S. administration officials denied, before the president dropped out, that Netanyahu had been significantly emboldened by Biden’s struggles. But they acknowledged that the president’s mounting problems have coincided with a hardening of the prime minister’s position. Netanyahu recently came forward with last-minute demands that U.S. negotiators feared would stymie the Cairo talks, according to diplomats familiar with the discussions.
Under the new conditions, Israel would not agree to withdraw its forces from the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egyptian border, said the diplomats, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive and ongoing negotiations. Israel would also not allow unrestricted access for Gazans seeking to return to their homes in the north — insisting that its forces be permitted to establish checkpoints to monitor the movement of the displaced.
“The fact that Netanyahu put these conditions out so publicly means he feels more confident,” Oren said.
Netanyahu was certainly paying attention to the churning U.S. campaign, Israeli officials say. “Everyone recognizes that Biden is weak,” said the person familiar with deliberations in the prime minister’s office.
But Netanyahu was far more focused on his own political challenges, they said.
The prime minister is squeezed between the Israeli public, increasingly angry at his failure to reach a hostage-release deal, and his far-right coalition partners, threatening to bring down the government if he agrees to stop fighting Hamas. Eight members of Netanyahu’s own Likud party went public in recent days with a list of “red lines” they could not support in a deal, including Israel’s withdrawal from central Gaza and the Egyptian border.
Netanyahu will be feverishly working to keep his coalition partners in line until July 28, when Israel’s parliament begins a three-month recess.
“The next weeks will be critical,” said the person familiar with deliberations. “Right now the pressure from the inside is far more significant that pressure from the States.”
Before Biden’s move, Netanyahu had no plans to seek a meeting with Trump during his Washington trip, officials said, or even with Vice President Harris, whom Biden quickly endorsed Sunday to take his place at the top of the ticket.
The prime minister was fully aware that no matter the outcome of the November election, Israel would be dealing with Biden for the remainder of his term, said Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute.
Netanyahu is likely to be on his best bipartisan behavior during this visit, unlike in his controversial address to Congress in 2015 when, at the invitation of Republicans, he slammed the Barack Obama administration’s Iran nuclear deal. Unlike now, that dust-up occurred just weeks before an Israeli election and was designed for domestic political impact, Plesner noted.
“It’s a totally different situation now,” he said. “Netanyahu needs President Biden every day.”While many Democrats remain bitter over Netanyahu’s 2015 trip, and scores of them plan on boycotting his address, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday that he had received a “broad preview” of Netanyahu’s speech last week and it did not appear partisan in tone — instead focusing on “how the U.S. and Israel are trying together to face down the terrorist threat” and coordinate on “regional challenges.”
Sullivan acknowledged, however, that “they’re going to keep working that speech until the very last minute, just like we do on our side.”Netanyahu will be in Washington at the peak of partisan frenzy, between the two party conventions and with Democrats scrambling to figure out their next steps. U.S. officials confided they were nervous about his visit at such a volatile time, worried he may say or do something that scuttles their Gaza diplomacy.
“It’s impossible to have confidence in how this plays out,” a U.S. official said.
Hudson reported from Washington.

Biden's withdrawal bad news for Israel on hostages, Iran - analysis
Tovah Lazaroff/Jerusalem Post/July 22/2024
The chaos in Washington, could sway Hamas to harden its stance in the hostage talks and give Iran that impression that now is the moment to increase military activity against Israel.
US President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the 2024 race for the White House could not have come at a worse moment for Israel concerning a hostage deal and Iran’s military threat against the Jewish state.
Some always lauded Biden’s strong support for Israel, particularly in the aftermath of October 7, and others felt he had not gone far enough to protect the Jewish state. Yet others charged that his actions were harmful.
The Israeli Right might even feel that it dodged a bullet, given its fear that Biden would have pressured Prime Minister Netanyahu into a Saudi deal that would have included a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank. It was not by accident that the Knesset voted against Palestinian statehood last week, in advance of a Washington trip that was scheduled to include a meeting between Netanyahu and Biden.
Irrespective of those arguments, Biden has done everything possible to secure a hostage deal. From the start, Biden had personalized the issue of retrieving the 251 hostages seized by Hamas and other terror groups on October 7. Granted, some of those were Americans, but unlike other nations that sought to bring about private deals for their citizens, he looked at all the captives as if they were United States citizens.
Biden worked tirelessly on behalf of the hostages
Biden worked tirelessly on behalf of the hostages, both behind and in front of the camera, with some of his top officials, including CIA Director William Burns, leading talks.He personally unveiled the latest proposal to retrieve the remaining 120 hostages in Gaza during a speech he delivered in the White House, a signal of the extent to which the power of his office was behind the deal. The hostages were seized in the context of a larger proxy war between Iran and Israel. The IDF is now battling the Iranian proxy groups: Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen. Israelis have often attacked Biden for being soft on Iran, especially concerning the Islamic Republic’s pursuit of nuclear weapons. He has, however, been strong with respect to the US commitment to militarily support Israel against attacks from Iran. He proved that in April, when his administration led a military coalition of five armies, two years in the making, whose air forces took to the skies to defend Israel from a direct Iranian drone and missile attack. His steadfast stance on hostages and his unwavering support for Israel’s military actions against Iran have been so consistent that Israelis may not fully appreciate its importance until it’s gone.
Biden was able to wield an enormous amount of power in these areas, not only because he was the head of the United States, but also because he was a first-term president who could possibly remain in the White House for another four years.
His strong and nuanced knowledge of the Middle East, dating back more than five decades, and his relationship with its many leaders were also assets.
Now, he is suddenly a lame duck president with only six months left in office, and there are calls for him to step down immediately in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.
This means that the issue of retrieving the hostages and forming a military coalition against Iran could almost immediately fall into her hands.
The leadership chaos will be most acute in the next month, given that the question of Harris replacing Biden on the ticket can only be officially decided by the Democratic National Convention on August 19-22. This sudden potential shift in leadership comes as Biden and his administration are in the final phase of potentially closing a hostage deal. It also comes as Iran has increased its proxy attacks against Israel, with drone attacks by the Houthis against targets within the sovereign borders of the Jewish state.
The chaos in Washington could sway Hamas to harden its stance in the hostage talks and give Iran the impression that now is the moment to increase military activity against Israel. The problem is not just that Harris is untested on these issues, but more that Biden is now at his weakest point during a month when Israel most needs Washington to be in a strong leadership position. That will create difficulties with closing the hostage deal and make Israel seem more vulnerable to Iran.
Biden dropped everything to help Israel - would Trump have done the same? - opinion
Ben Sapit/Jerusalem Post/July 22/2024
Would any other president have come to Israel less than a week after the massacre? Trump despises losers, and on October 7, Israel was a loser. Biden was the last Democratic Zionist president.
I'm not sure if any other president in the US would have come to the defense of the Jewish state less than a week after the October 7 massacre. After all, Trump despises losers, and on October 7, Israel was a loser in a very significant way. Biden was the last Democratic Zionist president and we'll have to fight for the heart of the next American Democratic generation.
Although Joe Biden's presidency has been relatively positive, no American owes him more thanks than Israel does. Joe Biden did not save the United States of America. He pulled it out of an economic crisis and steered it through COVID-19, but America could have managed without him. Joe Biden did save Israel. He was the right person, in the right place, with the right club in the right direction.
He didn't hesitate, flinch, or make excuses. He saw the country he values and admires in its hardest hour, and he took decisive and simple action. He dropped everything and rushed to help. I'm not sure if any other president would have, in his place, collected himself at his age and arrived in the attacked and bleeding Jewish state less than a week after the disaster. This includes Donald Trump. In such a situation, I wouldn't count on Trump. We're lucky to have had Biden.
We must understand that a visit from an American president to a foreign country is a project planned months in advance. It's an enormous logistical operation, including a massive airlift, armored cars, various means, and hundreds of people. Americans plan such visits down to the toothpick, waiting for the last member of the presidential entourage. Very few times in history has an American president spontaneously flown to a distant country at war, bombed, shelled, bleeding, and threatened. Biden did it.
Not only did he do it, but he also brought with him all of America's might. He looked north to Beirut and east to Tehran and explicitly warned them that if they joined the war, the United States of America would fight them. To emphasize this, he hurried two aircraft carriers here. Each comes, as is known, with a war fleet that can defeat intense forces. Biden's visit to Israel after October 7 wasn't a political move
Biden then passed special aid in Congress of $14 billion to cover Israel's war expenses. And it wasn't easy. He did all this despite his deep disdain for Israel's prime minister and his administration's strong reservations about the composition of Israel's government. He did it because his love for Israel and Zionism far exceeds these political issues. Anyone who has followed Biden throughout his decades-long career knows how much he values Israel. This wasn't a political act. On the contrary, occasionally, he had to curb this devotion for political needs. When he visited Israel, he came out of love.
Biden's arrival in Israel is an event that will go down in history. These were the critical days of the war in which we've been embroiled for over nine months. During these days, the pressure on Nasrallah to join the war was at its peak. Sinwar and Deif pressed him to jump in. They still rode the waves of success from the October 7 attack. Netanyahu was at that time a nervous wreck. He sat with Major General Brick, he sat with Brigadier General Winter, he was deathly afraid of entering Gaza, and he was deathly afraid of a Radwan invasion in the north, which could have turned the blow of October 7 into a defeat. I find it hard to believe there's a country in the world that would dare execute what Biden, the president of the world's strongest power, declared after such a display. Two weeks later, the IDF began the ground maneuver in Gaza. The color started returning to Netanyahu's cheeks and the cheeks of other top Israeli political and military officials. This color was infused by Joe Biden.
It was sad to see him in recent weeks. It was even sadder to see the primitive and pathetic celebrations and dances in certain circles here at the sight of the old, confused president losing himself and his personal security at the most critical moments of the campaign. It was sad because it teaches us something about ourselves. About our ingrained ingratitude. About the growing perception among us that not only do Americans need to be pro-Israel, but they also need to enlist in the Jewish Power Party; otherwise, they're simply anti-Semites.
Joe Biden was the last Democratic Zionist president. In the next generation, nothing will be taken for granted. The next generation won't know the Holocaust. They didn't grow up with the survivors' generation and won't feel committed to any previous conventions.
We will have to fight for the heart of the next American Democratic generation. In this current battle, it looks as though Israel has no chance. But until that's determined, all we need to do is be grateful for our good fortune in having Joe Biden in our hardest hour and say to him, thank you, Joe. Take care of yourself as you took care of us. We are praying for you here in the Holy Land.

Netanyahu in Washington: Time to seal the deal - opinion
Moshe Emilio Lavi/Jerusalem Post/July 22/2024
As Netanyahu meets with US leaders, will he address Israel’s hostage crisis and leadership challenges effectively?
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to address the US Congress on July 24 and meet with President Joe Biden, the moment calls for a candid assessment of Israel’s dire situation. Under siege from Iran’s proxies—Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north, and as the Houthi intensify their attacks—Israel is grappling with a relentless onslaught. Furthermore, for months, Hamas has categorically refused to engage in meaningful negotiations to resolve the ongoing hostage crisis until realities on the ground and pressure from its middle ranks forced it to change its tune over the past few weeks as it considers Israel’s hostage deal proposal. Yet, their priority remains to perpetuate conflict with Israel, irrespective of the devastating impact on Gazans. This group remains steadfast in their rejection of surrender and exile, even though such actions could bring an end to the war and pave the way for a more stable future for both Israelis in the northwestern Negev and Palestinians in Gaza.
The international community’s response has been, at best, tepid and, at worst, counterproductive. Rather than uniting in support of the plight of ordinary Israelis and Gazans, many global actors have inadvertently emboldened Hamas. This failure is rooted in the politicization of international humanitarian law, as demonstrated most cynically by South Africa, the resistance in the Biden administration to utilize a carrot-and-stick approach regarding Qatar, and the persistent refusal to hold both Hamas and its sponsors, such as Iran and Turkey, accountable for their actions before and since October 7.
The international community – alongside the traditional media that more often than not parrot Hamas’ narrative, and disinformation agents online and on the streets – has exacerbated the crisis, allowing Hamas to continue its reign of terror with impunity, leaving Gazan noncombatants and the Israeli hostages held by the terrorist organization, including my brother-in-law, Omri Miran, defenseless. The time for half-measures and equivocation must end; Hamas, their accomplices, and their sponsors in the international stages can’t be part of the solution, as I argued back in November in an op-ed published in the New York Times ahead of the previous hostage deal.
However, it is impossible to ignore the significant failures within Israeli leadership, particularly concerning the hostage crisis. It brings us to the essential questions that President Biden and members of Congress — Republicans and Democrats —must pose to Prime Minister Netanyahu as he visits Washington D.C. this week amid the ongoing war on its southern and northern borders.The prolonged inability to secure a deal to bring home the hostages raises serious concerns about the priorities and strategies of the Israeli leadership. The obstacles preventing the resolution of this crisis are multifaceted and complex, but they demand urgent scrutiny. Are there more aggressive diplomatic or military options that should have been considered? It is crucial to understand whether the impediments are external, stemming from intransigent adversaries or international diplomatic challenges, or if internal political dynamics are playing a significant role in delaying a hostage deal that will bring an end to this war but not the long-term struggle against terrorism in the Middle East, including on Israel’s borders.Transparency is critical. The public deserves to know if political calculations have taken precedence over the lives of the hostages. Were there opportunities to resolve the crisis that were missed due to political maneuvering, especially given Prime Minister Netanyahu’s dire situation as he faces three charges in court and deals with coalition partners – and eight members of his party - that threaten to bring down the government if a hostage deal passes?
The potential for such a scenario is deeply troubling and warrants thorough examination, especially given the apathy some members of the coalition government, alongside state officials, such as the head of Israel’s National Security Council Tzachi Hanegbi, showed to the plight of the hostages and their families.
Leadership demands placing the welfare of the people above personal or political gain. Prime Minister Netanyahu must unequivocally demonstrate that the imperative drives his decisions to save lives, not political expediency. Israelis and Israel’s greatest ally, the US, need assurance that the Israeli leadership is acting with the utmost integrity and urgency to solve the crisis, refuting anonymous senior security and political figures who have suggested otherwise over the past few months.
October 7 haunts Israel 10 months later
The failures of October 7 remain a stark reminder of Israel’s vulnerabilities as the war enters its tenth month. How can the same leadership that failed to prevent such a catastrophe now be trusted to navigate Israel out of Gaza, ensuring the safe return of hostages and developing a robust, long-term strategy to neutralize Hamas? This question addresses the core of leadership credibility and competence. The Israeli government must prove that it has learned from past failures and can lead the nation through this crisis without thinking of the political implications of the post-war period.
The families of the hostages, the citizens of Israel, and US elected officials, who overwhelmingly supported Israel to ensure its success in the war, deserve clear, honest, and detailed answers to these questions. The stakes are too high for anything less. The fight against terror, the quest for peace, and the safety of Israeli citizens hang in the balance.
Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to Washington is an opportunity to address these issues head-on. He must articulate a clear and compelling strategy for securing the hostages’ release and outline a long-term plan for ensuring Israel’s security. This strategy must prioritize human lives over political gains and demonstrate a commitment to transparency and accountability. What an image it could have been to Israel’s strength if Netanyahu’s speech to Congress was given while the hostages were released in parallel as part of a deal that, according to Netanyahu’s Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant, alongside the heads of the three security branches – the IDF, the Shin Bet, and the Mossad - is within reach and is urgent. My sister Lishay and nieces Roni and Alma are waiting for Omri to return as part of that deal.
As Prime Minister Netanyahu stands before the US Congress he must provide the answers and demonstrate the leadership the moment demands. The citizens of Israel, who, according to all polls, support the current hostage deal that is on the table, are watching, and they ask the same US representatives who invited Netanyahu nothing short of demanding real accountability and decisive action to publicly endorse and seal the deal that bears his name, and bring home the hostages, those who were murdered in captivity to burial and those who are still alive, to reunite with their families.
**Moshe Emilio Lavi was born in Sderot, Israel. He is a former captain of the Israel Defense Forces and now works as a management consultant. His brother-in-law Omri Miran is a hostage in Gaza.

These are the issues Netanyahu must focus on now that Biden dropped out - opinion
LT-COL (RES) Amit Yagur/Jerusalem Post/July 22/2024
Israel must treat Netanyahu's visit to the US as a platform for in-depth discussion with the US on some of the most strategic issues on the table.
This column has been written while the political scene in the US is turbulent due to Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race. We can assume that the political drama will continue for many weeks and will also impact the prime minister's visit to the US
However, in an attempt to focus on what is important to Israeli interests, it is still too early to assess what the implications will be for the remainder of Biden's term until January 2025, and whether this term (which will likely see a president free of political constraints) will be negative for Israel or whether it will actually present an opportunity to shape reality in line with Israeli interests.
Nine months have passed since October 7, and we are at a strategic crossroads where many of the issues at hand have come to fruition. It is already a fairly open secret that the hostage deal on the table is not just about hostages and their return home but will actually be a comprehensive deal to end the war in its current form. As such, right now, some of the most critical strategic issues for the Israeli and regional reality in the coming years are at stake. Everyone already understands that the main discussion table is in the US, not in Doha or Cairo. In this context, the prime minister's visit to the US and the agreements made during it are very significant for our reality going forward.
This of course is assuming there is someone to talk to in the politically turbulent US and if the Israeli side chooses to engage with the current administration on the important issues at hand. It is clear that Israel should not treat this visit as a publicity and advocacy campaign for global media representation of its position, but as a platform for in-depth discussion with the US on some of the most strategic issues on the table.
Seven primary points that are essential to discuss with the US in a deep dialogue at the strategic crossroads we are at.
1. Stopping Iran
Everyone already understands (and simply refuses to call it by its name) that Iran has exploited the war for a “nuclear rush.” How does the US intend to act immediately to stop Iran, and is it essential and feasible to carry out active action (Israeli/American/jointly)? Aside from frequent statements by the International Atomic Energy Agency updating the international arena on Iranian steps, nothing active has been done so far to stop Iran in its race to nuclear weapons. Secretary of State Blinken went so far as to declare on July 20 that Iran is a week or two away from the breakout point of producing nuclear material for nuclear weapons.
2. Clarifying the status of an independent Palestinian state
It is no secret that the US and Israel do not see eye to eye on the “day after” the Iron Swords war. The US is pushing toward an independent Palestinian state. On the other hand, almost in direct contradiction after October 7, there is no Israeli public legitimacy for an independent Palestinian state, which was reinforced this week by a Knesset vote against such a state (involving both coalition and opposition). Moreover, several polls conducted by Khalil Shikaki's institute during the war show overwhelming Palestinian public support for Hamas, even in the West Bank, where there is full civilian control by the Palestinians.
Why is the Palestinian Authority a "failed state"? How does it resemble the situation in Iraq, Afghanistan, and even Yemen? How did the American experiment in democracy in Gaza and the American experiment in establishing a police force and state institutions in the West Bank fail? Why should there be a long interim stage where there is a clear separation between civilian issues (managed by the Palestinians – this time with Israeli veto power over textbooks in the education system) and security issues (which will be under IDF control)?
3. Isolating and outlawing the Hamas ideology in international law
From the American perspective, as long as Hamas is not the official ruler in the Gaza Strip, any solution agreed upon is good. For Israel, however, it is quite clear that if Hamas remains a legitimate power factor, even if it does not lead the leadership in Gaza, sooner or later, Gaza will reach the Hezbollah model in Lebanon. To clarify, this means that Hamas is the actual ruler of the Strip, and sooner or later, we will see a day of its military capabilities as well as its actual control over the population. How do we denounce the terrorist organization for its crimes against humanity and war crimes and outlaw it worldwide, including the associated symbolism, such as the Nuremberg Trials, for the organization's terrorists?
4. Security control in the Gaza Strip
The Philadelphi Corridor focuses on issues that cannot be dealt with by technological means alone while focusing on the proven problematic reliance on Egypt, whose interests differ from those of Israel.
What does Israeli security control mean? Are there means other than the physical security control of the IDF on the ground that will allow the protection of the Israeli interest, and how do we prevent misuse of the Palestinian-Egyptian border again? What type of Israeli control is required on the route, at least in the interim stage?
5. Permanently removing UN and UNRWA entities from involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
This must mean that Israel emphasizes their presence on the ground. The UN has shown throughout the war a biased, one-sided approach with biased and false reports that caused tremendous damage to the State of Israel. The UN aid organization UNRWA, operating on its behalf, served as a platform for Hamas terrorist elements to establish, disguise, and use UN infrastructure for terrorism. This is besides the fact that UNRWA essentially perpetuates the conflict rather than helps resolve it.
How do we remove the UN and UNRWA from the “day after” equation? Can the American aid organization USAID step into UNRWA's shoes, and what assistance can the US provide to Israel in re-freezing donor country contributions to UNRWA?
6. Reconstruction of the Gaza Strip
This is an imperative process. Unlike in the past, when Israel buried its head in the sand after every operation, this time it is appropriate for Israel, together with the US, to lead the process according to its interests and with contributions from the international community and regional countries.
7. Joint Israeli-American arrangement of the reality in northern Israel
This focuses on the northern Philadelphi Corridor, which constitutes Hezbollah's oxygen supply line in Lebanon and Iran's foothold in the region and the State of Lebanon. This is the factor enabling Hezbollah's armament and Iran's foothold close to Israel's borders.
Have we reached a common understanding that the disadvantages of the Assad regime outweigh its advantages, and if so, what can be done against it? What are the alternatives? Is the US willing to help Israel shape the area before the end of the war according to jointly defined common interests?
Despite the difficulty, the political drama may actually be an opportunity to shape reality in line with Israeli interests with an administration that is no longer in an election campaign, will not have to deal with the consequences later, and may show greater flexibility than before to Israeli ideas.
**Lt. Col. (Res.) Amit Yagur is the former Deputy Head of the Palestinian Arena in the IDF Planning Directorate and a former senior intelligence officer in the Navy