WarSclerotic

Letter calls for suspension of aid to the Palestinians

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas / Getty Images

BY: Adam Kredo Follow @Kredo0
April 25, 2018 2:10 pm

Members of Congress hope to compel the State Department to disclose the amount of U.S. aid money the Palestinian Authority has given to convicted terrorists and their families, according to a congressional communication viewed by the Free Beacon that calls for a complete freeze in U.S. aid to the Palestinian government.

Reps. David McKinley (R., W.V.) and John Ratcliffe (R., Texas) are circulating a letter to Republican offices urging them to join an effort to compel the State Department to detail the amount of taxpayer money that has been used by the Palestinian government to pay terrorists under a longstanding policy known as “pay to slay.”

Following passage of the Taylor Force Act, which requires the Palestinian government to stop these payments or face a full cutoff in aid, the lawmakers are seeking to immediately freeze U.S. aid to the Palestinians until the State Department explains to lawmakers how it plans to enforce the new law.

The letter follows a recent Free Beacon report disclosing that the Palestinian Authority continues to spend U.S. aid dollars on terrorists. Palestinian officials have also made clear that they have no intention of following the new law and will continue to provide terrorists and their familiar with compensation.

“We urge you to immediately suspend all aid payments to the Palestinian Authority,” the lawmakers write, according to a copy of the letter viewed by the Free Beacon. “Further, we urge you to make the cessation of this abhorrent practice that incentivizes terrorism a pre-condition for any U.S.-brokered peace talks between the sovereign state of Israel and the Palestinian Authority.”

The lawmakers also demand the State Department outline in detail, “how many foreign aid dollars went to the PA that were then used to fund terrorists prior to passage of the Taylor Force Act?”

Lawmakers are additionally requesting information on what measures the administration is “planning to take to enforce the law and suspend aid to the PA, given the above statements and the content of their proposed budget?” according to the letter, which is addressed to secretary of state nominee Mike Pompeo.

The State Department is required to report to Congress this week on its implementation of the Taylor Force Act and explain what efforts it is taking to stop Palestinian payments to terrorists.

Asked about the state of play on Wednesday, a State Department official declined to provide information on the reporting requirement and further information showing the Palestinian government continues to provide salaries to terrorists.

Organizations tracking the Palestinian media recently disclosed that the PA is slated to spend at least eight percent of its 2018 budget on its so-called martyr’s fund. That figure amounts to about $355 million, according to Palestinian Media Watch.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in a recent speech, outlined his intention to continue paying terrorists, a point highlighted by the lawmakers in their letter to Pompeo.

“There is something that the Americans are telling us to stop—the salaries of the martyrs and the martyrs’ families,” Abbas was quoted as saying. “Of course we categorically reject this. We will not under any circumstances allow anyone to harm the families of the prisoners, the wounded, and the martyrs. They are our children and they are our families. They honor us, and we will continue to pay them before the living.”

The lawmakers go on to request the Trump administration require the Palestinians to abandon this  practice as a pre-condition for peace talks with Israel.

Other members of Congress are lining up behind the effort as well. 

“Congress took a bipartisan and resolute stance in the budget deal last month: We will not continue to provide aid to the Palestinian Authority if they use those funds to pay terrorists and their families. These evil individuals seek to harm the United States and our ally Israel,” said McKinley. “We call on the State Department to cease aid payments to the Palestinian Authority until it can be confirmed that they have complied with this requirement.”

Admiral Ali Fadavi says Americans will land in a ‘catastrophic situation,’ amid escalating rhetoric over endangered nuclear deal

By TOI staff and Agencies

Today, 9:14 am

https://www.timesofisrael.com/irans-navy-commander-threatens-to-sink-us-ships/

Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi. (Fars)

A top Iranian general has threatened to sink the United States Navy’s ships, warning that the US would find itself in a “catastrophic situation” amid an ongoing war of words between the countries over the possibility President Donald Trump’s could exit a landmark nuclear deal.

“The actual information that the Americans have about us is much less than what they think they have. When will they figure this out? When it is too late,” the Revolutionary Guard Corps’s navy commander, Admiral Ali Fadavim, told Iranian television on Saturday.

“They will definitely figure it out when their ships are sunk, or when they find themselves in a catastrophic situation,” Fadavi threatened in an interview with IRINN TV, according to a translation by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

Trump is threatening to tear up the 2015 agreement aimed at curbing nuclear efforts unless European capitals agree to supplement it with tougher controls on Tehran’s missile program and future ability to return to nuclear fuel enrichment.

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday warned the US that it would face serious consequences should it pull out of the deal, which Washington says falls short of preventing Iran from producing atomic weapons.

“I am telling those in the White House that if they do not live up to their commitments, the Iranian government will react firmly,” Rouhani said in a speech broadcast live on state television, according to Reuters.

“If anyone betrays the deal, they should know that they would face severe consequences,” he added.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif gives a speech during the Munich Security Conference on February 18, 2018 in Munich, southern Germany. (AFP PHOTO / Thomas KIENZLE)

Iran has been upping the rhetoric, with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warning Saturday that Tehran was ready to “vigorously” resume uranium enrichment if the US ditched the accord.

Zarif told reporters in New York that Iran is not seeking to acquire a nuclear bomb, but that its “probable” response to a US withdrawal would be to restart production of enriched uranium – a key bomb-making ingredient.

Other Iranian officials have threatened withdrawal from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

Trump has set a May 12 deadline for the Europeans to “fix” the agreement, which provided for curbs to Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from financial sanctions.

On Monday Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that he had agreed with his Chinese counterpart that the two countries would “obstruct” any attempt by Trump to “sabotage” the deal.

by Adelle Nazarian24 Apr 2018

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2018/04/24/iran-threatens-withdraw-nuclear-non-proliferation-treaty/

AFP/ASIF HASSAN

A senior Iranian official said on Tuesday that Tehran may withdraw from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) if President Donald Trump scraps the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), or Iran nuclear deal.

Iran has been party to the NPT since 1970.

“This is one of three options that we are considering,” Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said about the possibility that Iran will withdraw from the NPT if Trump dismantles the nuclear Iran deal. According to Reuters, Shamkhani made the statement during a news conference broadcast on state television and also stated that the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran was ready for some “surprising actions” if the nuclear deal was scrapped.

Also on Tuesday, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani reportedly warned Trump that there would be “severe consequences” if he “betrays the deal.”

“If anyone betrays the deal, they should know that they would face severe consequences,” Rouhani said in Tabriz. He reportedly added, “Iran is prepared for all possible situations” and said, “I am telling those in the White House that if they do not live up to their commitments … the Iranian government will firmly react.”

Last week, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif threatened that the United States would face an “unpleasant” response if Washington decides to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal saying, “Definitely, the measure that the Islamic Republic would take and the reaction that the international community would show to the US move would be very unpleasant to the Americans.”

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Washington, DC, on Monday in a last-ditch attempt to keep America in the JCPOA.

During his joint press conference with the leader of the free world, Macron said it was time to work on a new Iran deal, saying, “I can say that we have had very frank discussions on that, just the two of us. We, therefore, wish from now on to work on a new deal with Iran.”

During the press conference, Trump warned Iran against restarting its nuclear program. “You’ll find out about that. It won’t be so easy for them to restart. They’re not going to be restarting anything. They restart it, they’re going to have big problems, bigger than they’ve ever had before,” Trump said.

Source: Israel, US concerned by recent Iranian cargo flights to Syria — report | The Times of Israel

Officials said to fear the planes are transporting weapons which could be used to attack Israel

Technicians prepare Ilyushin Il-76TD long-haul cargo aircrafts for the upcoming MAKS-2015, the International Aviation and Space Show, in Zhukovsky, outside Moscow, on August 21, 2015. (AFP/KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV)

US and Israeli intelligence officials are concerned over a number of cargo flights that have flown from Iran to Syria in recent weeks, CNN reportedon Wednesday.

A US administration official confirmed to the network that the US and Israel fear the planes are being used to transport weapons for troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad or Iranian forces operating in the country, which could then be used to attack Israel.

Although there have been shipments from Iran to Syria in the past, these recent flights were said to have been noted as they arrived in the wake of the April 13 US-led strikes on Syrian military targets in response to an alleged chemical gas attack on the town of Douma that killed dozens.

A Twitter account tracking air traffic around the world recently published details of at least two Syrian Air Force IL-76 cargo flights between Iran and Syria, and the US official told CNN that other flights including at least one Iranian cargo plane have also been monitored by intelligence services.

The news network also reported concerns that the transports were replenishing anti-aircraft missiles depleted when Syria targeted Israeli jets carrying out a raid in February.

Israel carried out strikes on targets in Syria after an explosives-laden drone was flown into Israeli airspace on February 10. The Israeli military said at the time that between one-third and one-half of Syria’s air defenses were destroyed during the strikes.

During a Syrian counterattack against the Israeli jets, one F-16 was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed in a field in northern Israel after the pilot and navigator ejected from it.

The mobile command center from which Israel says an Iranian operator flew a drone from Syria into Israeli airspace on February 10, 2018. (Israel Defense Forces)

Western officials have accused Iran of using seemingly civilian airlines as fronts for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to conduct military transport missions to Syria from Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport.

Pouya Airlines, for instance, was subjected to US sanctions in 2014 for “transporting illicit cargo, including weapons, to Iran’s clients in the Levant,” according to the US Treasury Department.

Over time, the IRGC began setting up its own facilities on Syrian military bases and air fields.

Reported Iranian attempts to bring advanced weaponry into Syria come at a time of unprecedented tension between Jerusalem and Tehran, including mutual threats of attack. Most recently, Iran has vowed revenge over an airstrike on the T-4 airbase in Syria in April that was said to have killed several Iranian military figures and has widely been blamed on Israel, which has not confirmed it was behind it.

A photo released by Iranian media reportedly shows the T-4 air base in central Syria after a missile barrage April 16, 2018. (Iranian media)

The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council said Tuesday that Tehran “will choose the time and place” to mete out its “inevitable” response for the strike on the T-4 base.

“The entity that gives itself the right to attack the sovereignty of another country and to target forces fighting terrorism must certainly have thought about the results and consequences of that attack and the corresponding reaction,” Ali Shamkhani told reporters.

Shamkhani’s words came days after the IDF released a map showing five Iranian-controlled bases in Syria that would apparently constitute potential targets for an Israeli response should Iran carry out any kind of attack.

Iran has access to a variety of surface-to-surface missiles, from short-range Fajr-5 rockets to medium-range Fateh 110 missiles, which have a range of approximately 300 kilometers (190 miles) to long-range Shehab ballistic missiles capable of hitting targets over 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) away.

To counter those threats, Israel has a multi-tiered missile defense system consisting of the Iron Dome for short-range rockets and mortar shells, the David’s Sling for medium-range missiles and the Arrow for long-range ballistic missiles.

Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report

Source: Iran says will punish Israel for alleged air strike in Syria – Middle East – Jerusalem Post

However, the timing and other specifics were unclear as of yet.

 A ballistic missile is launched and tested in an undisclosed location, Iran, March 9, 2016. . (photo credit: REUTERS)

The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani said on Tuesday that the Islamic Republic will definitely punish Israel for the air strike on the Syrian T-4 airbase near Homs, in which several Iranian officers were killed, Iranian affiliated PressTV boadcasting agency reported.

“The Israeli regime’s aggression against Syria is a breach of this country’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity and runs counter to all international regulations and principles,” he said in a news conference which was broadcast on state television.

“When a regime assumes the right to violate another country’s airspace in a planned move and also to target forces fighting with terrorism, it should have definitely considered its consequences and retaliatory reactions before,” Shamkhani emphasized.

However, the timing and other specifics were unclear as of yet, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council added. “The punitive measures of the Islamic Republic of Iran are definite but when, how and under what circumstances this will happen is in the hands of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

Reiterating the Iranian regime’s stance that through its actions it is pursuing peace and stability in the region, Shamkhani added that “The Islamic Republic of Iran has paid a considerable price in order to establish regional stability and fight against Takfiri [inter-Muslim] terrorism. Therefore, it cannot remain indifferent to the worrying increase of destabilizing measures by the US, the Zionist regime [Israel] and some of their regional allies.”

Tensions between the Islamic Republic and Israel started rising after the infiltration of an armed Iranian drone into northern Israel in February and the April 9 air strike on a Syrian T-4 airbase that killed seven Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) members, something that Israel has not confirmed or denied but was blamed for by Iran as well as Russia.

Rhetoric has been riding high in this latest spar between Israel and the Islamic Republic. Last Friday, when speaking at a festive cabinet meeting honoring Independence Day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that anyone who harms Israel will pay a heavy price.

“We hear the threats from Iran, and the IDF and security forces are prepared for every possible Iranian move. We will fight whoever tries to harm us. We will not shy away from action against those who threaten our security. They will pay a heavy price.”

Israel last week also released details about what it described as an Iranian “air force” deployed in neighboring Syria, including civilian planes suspected of transferring arms, a signal that these could be attacked should tensions with Tehran escalate.

Hossein Salami, second-in-command of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, immediately responded by saying: “Do not trust your airbases, they are within the range of fire. Our fingers are on the trigger and the missiles are ready to launch. The moment the enemy decides to act against us, we will launch them. We have learned ways to overcome our enemies, and we can harm the enemy’s vital interests anywhere we want.”

Reuters contributed to this report.

The State Department ceased using the term “occupied” in references to Judea and Samaria, sparking Palestinian anger. 

Apr 24, 2018

By: United with Israel Staff

https://unitedwithisrael.org

Construction in Efrat, Judea. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday condemned the US State Department for dropping the term “occupied  territories” when referring to the Judea and Samaria region in its annual human rights report.

The ministry said in a statement that “this act is another one in a long list of US actions and policies targeting Palestine and the Palestinian people”.

“The current administration of US President Donald Trump has abandoned its respect for international law and has actually taken steps that violate this law by implementing illegitimate and illegal positions on Palestine and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,” the Palestinians charged.

“The American administration is not only biased towards Israel, but fully embraces its illegal policies to a point they have become part of US ideology and policies,” said the Foreign Ministry.

The Palestinians stressed, however, that by dropping the term “occupied territories” from the US State Department report, “it does not in any way mean anything and does not eliminate the concept of occupied territory according to international law and international legality, but it reveals to the world once again the reality of the US positions, especially for those who refuse to see them as they are.”

In it latest annual report on human rights,  the State Department did not use the controversial term “occupied” in references to various territories in and adjacent to Israel.

Israel liberated Judea and Samaria and unified Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War. Israel has since annexed those liberated parts of Jerusalem.

While the term “occupied” had been used in such reports since the Carter administration, the 2017 version drops this term, which is generally used pejoratively to criticize Israeli policy following military victories through which the Jewish state acquired control of various territories.

The change comes after US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman advised the department in December to stop using the “misleading” term “occupied” in references to Judea and Samaria.

The term “occupied” is considered by many to be a loaded phrase intended to demonize Israel with regard to its activities in disputed areas.

In response to the State Department’s change in terminology, Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman tweeted over the weekend, “the lie of the occupied Palestinian territories begins to be revealed. They say that a lie repeated often enough becomes true, but the truth is forever stronger. The State Department report is proof of that.”

April 24, 2018

World Israel News – Latest News from Israel

The presidents of the US and France announced their commitment to correct flaws in the current nuclear agreement with Iran.

President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

By: World Israel News Staff

At a press conference in Washington with US President Donald Trump by his side, French President Emmanuel Macron issued a joint call for a new direction in the multi-national nuclear agreement with Iran.

After “very frank discussions” between the two leaders, Macron announced that the US and France would “from now on … work on a new deal with Iran,” reported AFP.

“I think we will have a great shot at doing a much bigger, maybe, deal,” declared Trump at the press conference on Tuesday. The president reiterated that the current agreement is “a bad deal, a bad structure.”

According to Macron, the revised agreement would address not only Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but also Tehran’s ballistic missile program, its influence throughout the Middle East, and post-2025 activity.

While Trump has repeatedly threatened to walk away from the 2015 deal, under which Iran enjoyed relief from crippling sanctions and was guaranteed a civilian nuclear program, European powers have urged the US to stay in the deal.

May 12 represents the next deadline for Trump to decide whether to demand changes to the deal by refusing to re-certify it, a step that European powers claim would be a breach of the agreement.

In response to potential challenges from the US, Tehran continues to threaten to accelerate enrichment activities. The Islamic Republic has also become increasingly belligerent in Syria, posing an imminent threat on Israel’s border with its war-torn neighbor.

Trump took the opportunity on Tuesday to respond to Iran’s most recent threats, warning, “They’re not going to be restarting anything. If they restart it, they’re going to have big problems, bigger than they ever had before. And you can mark it down.”