In recent days, we’ve seen terror attacks claim three lives in Israel, Iran’s continued threats concerning American oil sanctions, and an Iranian-backed terror group was finally(!) formally sanctioned by the U.S. government.

Unrelenting Palestinian Terror

On Saturday, Shay Nigreker (60) and his son Aviad (28) stopped at a gas station and got their car washed. As they were waiting, a terrorist walked up to them and fatally shot the two innocent people in cold blood.

Two days later, Batsheva Nigri (42), an Israeli kindergarten teacher and mother of three children, was gunned down by another Palestinian terrorist in a drive-by shooting. The man whom she was riding with was gravely wounded. Thankfully, Batsheva’s twelve-year-old daughter, who was in the backseat of the vehicle during the unprovoked attack, was not physically harmed.

As readers of the Update know, we’ve seen a dramatic rise in the quantity and lethality of Palestinian terrorism in Judea and Samaria since at least the beginning of 2023. Israel is of course doing everything in its power to protect the innocent from the bloodthirsty terrorists in the area. But it is not as cut and dry as using military might and sophisticated intelligence to disrupt Palestinian violence.

If Israel’s actions are too strong, the Palestinian Authority could collapse, and the more violent, anarchical terrorist groups like Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad could take over Palestinian-controlled territories in the West Bank. This would, of course, result in a complete calamity.

On the other hand, if Israel’s actions are not robust enough, terrorists are able to kill more innocent people. And no matter what Israel does, she will be blamed for everything bad that happens in the region by the international media.

There are no simple solutions to this challenge, but rest assured we are doing our part by backing legislation to keep the Palestinian Authority accountable for their support for terrorism and unconditional U.S. aid to Israel, thereby ensuring that Israel, at a minimum, has the military capability to defend herself – and by extension the rest of the free world - from those who would wipe the Jewish state and democracy as we know it from the map.

U.S. Follows Through

Speaking of entities that wish to destroy Israel, as you read this, Iran is in a bit of a huff because a few months ago the U.S. allegedly took custody of a ship containing suspected illicit Iranian oil and this past week that oil was finally offloaded to a different ship just south of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico.  The Iranians are not pleased.

Since the tanker carrying their illicit cargo was seized, the Iranians have captured two oil tankers, including one belonging to Chevron. Iran possesses an enhanced opportunity to seize ships that traverse the Strait of Hormuz, a choke point in the Persian/Arabian Gulf through which around a quarter of the world’s oil travels every day.

As a result of Iran’s malign activities in the Strait, the U.S. has increased the presence of vessels and Marines in the area. That’s right, we’ve returned to a world where brave men and women of the U.S. Navy and Marines Corps are risking their lives to protect key shipping lanes from what are effectively state-sponsored terrorist pirates. And while Iran endangers U.S. and allied merchant ships, the regime is exporting record levels of oil – with most recent reports putting the number at 2 million barrels a day. Needless to say, advancing the CUFI-backed Stop Harboring Iranian Petroleum (SHIP) Act is as important as ever.

Better Late Than Never

In June of 2022, the head of the IDF’s Military Intelligence Unit gave a briefing on Green Without Borders (GWB), a supposedly environmentally oriented, nongovernmental organization operating in southern Lebanon, that was in fact a front group for Hezbollah.

The general’s comments may have been new to the audience, but this group’s ties to Hezbollah have not been a well-kept secret. For example, the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, a well-respected think tank staffed by former Israeli government officers, released a policy paper giving a strong overview of GWB’s Hezbollah connections at the beginning of 2020.

As such, we welcomed news this week that Washington has finally decided to formally acknowledge GWB’s terrorist connections and sanction the group and its leader accordingly. But it took years for this to happen, and GWB has already set up more than a dozen outposts along Israel’s border which are now being used by Hezbollah.

It’s worth noting that the reason the U.S. designation of GWB likely took place now is that the UN is currently discussing the mandate of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) which expires in a few weeks. The debate is over UNIFIL’s freedom of action and movement, which is directly impacted by Hezbollah and its front groups like GWB.

Sounds like an important discussion, right? Sorry but no; the reality is the debate is largely irrelevant. Last year the UN gave UNIFIL soldiers more leeway to actually get their job done and serve as a buffer between Hezbollah terrorists and Israel. It didn’t matter; UNIFIL did not fulfill their mandate and they never have. The IDF is the reason Hezbollah does not attack Israel, not the UN.

Moreover, the international community is, unsurprisingly, missing the point. We know who the enemy is, and we know what needs to be done to thwart their malevolent plans. Unfortunately, because Washington and the bulk of the Europeans hold onto the fantasy that there is a deal to be had with Iran, they slow-walk sanctions, and everyone who cares about peace and stability ends up worse for it.

From the GWB case and Hezbollah to the illicit Iranian oil sales, the slow yet also schizophrenic Western policy towards Tehran is the reason Iran feels they can seize ships, arm terrorists and develop nuclear weapons. The only thing to which Iran has ever responded in a manner that shows even some flexibility is a robust campaign of maximum political, economic, and diplomatic pressure coupled with a robust military posture in the region. That’s not what’s currently happening, but we’ll keep pushing that policy every single day.

Sincerely,

The CUFI Action Fund Team