Dear Friend of EMET,
We are living in extraordinary times as we witness existential threats from the COVID-19 pandemic – a catastrophic event that will be recorded in the annuls of history and studied for hundreds of years.
While we are all experiencing great hardships and some will suffer the excruciating emotional pain from the loss of loved ones, we take some solace in the recognition that this worldwide upheaval will be finite and eventually the world will return to its pre-COVID-19 condition.
Because of COVID-19, we have been forced to cancel our annual “Rays of Light in the Darkness Dinner” for the first time in 14 years. This has been a very difficult decision for us to have to make. Not only has each year’s dinner proven to be incredibly inspiring and memorable, but it is also our one fundraising event of the year, and we will, most likely take a significant financial loss.
However, we will get through this. And hopefully, together with our lives and those of our loved ones in tack, as well as with a renewed sense of what is really important in life - our relationships with family and friends - and a renewed dedication to our incredibly important mission.
That mission involves educating staffers and members of Congress and the administration about the common enemies that both Israel and the United States share, from the forces of radical Islam, whether through Iran, and its Shiite forces of Hezbollah or through the myriad Sunni forces, and leading members of Congress and the administration to take the appropriate action.
Throughout this time of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been working as hard as ever. We have adapted from face-to-face meetings with members of Congress and their staffers to telephone conference calls and video conferencing. Since the days of the quarantine, we have been averaging no less than six congressional meetings a day.
The issues that we have been discussing include:
- Withholding U.S. funding of the LAF (Lebanese Armed Forces), as long as it maintains a close relationship with Hezbollah, a proxy of Iran: Hezbollah now possess approximately 150,000 missiles that are staring down at Israel from southern Lebanon. Since 2010, the U.S has provided the LAF with over $1.82 billion. As a consequence of the 2006 War in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, this assistance was given to the LAF to provide leverage against Hezbollah. However, the relationship between Hezbollah and the LAF has become increasingly cozy, so much so that LAF members have closely coordinated with Hezbollah, gone on joint patrols with Hezbollah, and have been known to frequently share their uniforms with Hezbollah. U.N. Security Council 1701 had mandated that all foreign forces leave Lebanon, which Israel immediately adhered to, yet Iranian-backed Hezbollah has increasingly dominated southern Lebanon to such an extent that most homes along the Israeli-Lebanese border store many of these 150,000 rockets. It is against American law to fund a US designated terrorist group, which Hezbollah is. We are now circulating a letter to make sure that we suspend our US taxpayer funds to the LAF until we investigate the nature of this relationship and are absolutely certain that none of that funding, directly or indirectly, falls into the hands of Hezbollah.
- Justice for US victims of Palestinian terrorism: America has a 1991 Anti-Terrorism Law that states any time an American is injured or murdered overseas by a terrorist, we have the right to extradite that suspect and have them stand for justice and meet their punishment in a US prisons. Jordan has signed an extradition treaty with the U.S. in 1995. The Jordanian government has refused to extradite to the U.S. is a Hamas terrorist, Ahlam al-Tamimi, the mastermind of the 2001 bombing of the Jerusalem Sbarro Pizzeria that killed 15 innocent civilians including two American citizens (Judith Greenbaum [31] and her unborn child, and Malka Roth [15]). She has been charged with murder and yet has been protected by the Jordanian government, where she is “hiding in plain sight,” in spite of her boast of her killing of Jews and Jewish children. As a result of our efforts, the State Department and the Justice Department have unsealed an indictment for her arrest, offered a $5 million reward for her capture, and have demanded her extradition. Ever since Ms. Tamimi has gone to Jordan, she has appeared repeatedly on Jordanian television and has been treated like a “rock star” where she has bragged about her crimes. Because of this celebrity status, the Jordanian government has denied that the U.S. has an extradition treaty with Jordan, despite the fact that they have complied with previous American extradition requests and have extradited three Jordanian citizens to the United States where they are serving lengthy prison sentences. We are now circulating a letter in Congress to the Jordanian Ambassador to the U.S. demanding Ms. Tamimi’s extradition and threatening to withhold the $1.7 billion we give annually to Jordan if the Hashemite Kingdom does not comply.
- United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, adopted on 2015, which prohibits Iranian armament and technological exports, or imports is about to expire on October 18, 2020: We know that Iran is engaging in illicit arms deals with many nations, and that it routinely violates this resolution with impunity, particularly in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon. We are also aware that many other nations are looking forward to the expiration date of this resolution so that they can trade with Iran with impunity and are preparing the sale of advanced weapons and technology to Iran. Also expiring are the travel restrictions on certain of Iran’s most notorious individuals who have long violated U.N. weapons and proliferation restrictions, including the newly named head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Esmail Ghanni. We are working with Senate staffers to garner signatures on S 509, a Sense of the Senate Resolution, sponsored by Senator Pat Toomey (R, Pennsylvania) and Senator Jackie Rosen (D, Nevada), upon the United Nations Security Council to extend the date that UN Security Council Resolution expires. We are also working with House staffers to gather signatures for a letter on this issue, sponsored by Chairman Eliot Engel (D, New York), and Ranking Member Mike McCaul (R, Texas), to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
- Combating antisemitism on college campuses: Thanks to an Executive Order signed by President Trump on December 11, 2019 – and long advocated by EMET in the form of the Antisemitism Awareness Act — Jewish students on college campuses are entitled to the same protections against hate speech as other groups have received. As a result, the Federal Government can withhold funding to any college or university[MOU1] that does not offer Jewish students these protections. However, with the order now in place, our job is to ensure its enforcement so that Jewish students are safe from the vitriolic anti-Semitism that often masquerades under the banner of the BDS movement or anti-Zionism. Of particular interest to us are the federally funded Middle Eastern Studies Programs under Title VI of the Higher Education Act. Most of these programs are virulently anti-Israel and anti-American and facilitate or promote anti-Zionism in addition to anti-Semitism. We are now collaborating with student groups on college campuses who are giving us up-to-date details to bring to the attention of the Administration as to why our federal taxpayers’ dollars should be withheld from these programs, which constitute nothing more than anti-Israel, anti-American, and antisemitic propaganda as a paltry substitute for a quality education.
Continuation of EMET-hosted Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Seminar Series:
Although Capitol Hill is closed to non-essential activity, that has not precluded the continuation of our monthly Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Seminar series. For one decade, these Seminars have convened international experts and scholars to report on the pertinent and current matters of the day. Although these events have always convened on Capitol Hill, until the COVID-19 is over, we will host these extraordinary Seminars via live video conferencing, enabling Members of Congress, Congressional Staff and you to gain insights from experts and thought leaders from around the world. You can find a playlist of our seminars and webinars here.
Last week was when we began our live video conferencing with the following presentations:
- A briefing that discussed THE INCREASING RUSSIAN PRESENCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA and featured three premier scholars: Aykan Erdemir of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Stephen Blank of the American Foreign Policy Council, and Diliman Abdulkader of the American Friends of Kurdistan. Watch here.
- A briefing by Alex Traiman, the Managing Director and Jerusalem Bureau Chief of JNS.org on THE TURBULENT ISRAELI POLITICAL PROCESS. Alex constantly has his finger on the political pulse in Israel and in his discussion, he provided an insightful perspective about the events occurring within the Israeli parliamentary system, up to that date. Watch here.
- However, because the events in putting together a coalition in the last few days have been rather turbulent, leading to a National Unity Government in Israel, and because of the tremendous popularity of his past webinar Alex very generously returned to give us a concise explanation of what is going on in the Knesset. Watch here.
- On Thursday, April 2nd, EMET’s webinar A VERY NARROWLY DEFINED DEFENSE TREATY BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND ISRAEL featured Dr. Michael Makovsky, the CEO and President of JINSA. Because of the exigency of this threat, Michael will discuss the possibility of the government of Israel abandoning its long-held military strategy of fighting all of its battles alone to consider a very, narrowly defined defense treaty with the United States. Watch here.
- Because of the constraints that COVID-19 has placed on Israel’s military, on Monday, April 6th, we will be featuring Dr. Efraim Inbar, President of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security who will be discussing THE SPECIAL CONSTRAINTS AFFECTING THE ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES THAT COVID-19 HAS PRESENTED, AND HOW THE MILITARY WILL FUNCTION UNDER THESE CONSTRAINTS. Register here.
- And on Wednesday, April 22nd, Elan Carr, The U.S. State Department Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, will be talking about THE SPREAD OF COVID-19 AND WHAT EFFORTS THE U.S. GOVERNMENT IS MAKING TO COMBAT IT. Register here.
- Also, on April 28th, Ambassador (Ret) Yoram Ettinger will provide his insights about THE PALESTINIAN TIME BOMB. Register here.
While uncertainty abounds, EMET will not stop the fight for these issues that we in the pro-Israel community consider to be of paramount importance. We feel it is important to communicate with our friends and supporters, particularly during these turbulent times, and to let you know that we will not allow a microbe like COVID-19 to ever extinguish our efforts in Washington.
We understand to our core the economic uncertainty that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused—and because it has forced us to cancel our annual dinner, we feel that uncertainty profoundly. We are always deeply grateful for every dollar of your support—even more so than during this historic period of uncertainty.
Wishing you, your families and communities to remain safe and germ-free.
Thank you very much,
Sarah Stern
|
|
