An Update from CUFI Action Fund
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With Congress out of session, it's a relatively quiet week in
Washington. Nonetheless, there's one meeting that Israel's
supporters should be aware of; so, we'll unpack that today. In
addition, some things are going on between Israel and Lebanon - and
they're not what you might expect.

The Diplomats Meet

On Wednesday Secretary of State Tony Blinken will meet with his
counterparts from Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). As some
readers of the update may recall, this past June, a CUFI delegation met
with UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi as sell
as Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in Jerusalem. Those meetings went
very well, and despite having not met with either leader in the past,
both top diplomats were warm and welcoming to the CUFI delegation. We
got a very good sense of the Arab and Israeli gentlemen leading their
country's engagement with the world, and we expect both Middle Eastern
leaders will approach Secretary Blinken with identical messages on
several key issues.

One of the reasons this trilateral meeting is a net positive is that it
indicates that the Biden administration has more fully embraced the
Abraham Accords. When President Biden took office, the impression we had
was that the administration begrudgingly accepted that the Trump
administration-backed peace accords were a positive development. With
this meeting, it appears the Biden administration has gotten over any
misgivings about who enabled this historic achievement to occur and is
ready to support enhancing and expanding the accords.

It's worth noting that the diplomats' meeting comes on the heels of a
visit by a group of Bahraini officials, leaders and activists to
Jerusalem's Western Wall. Both that visit and this week's meeting in
Washington would've been unthinkable just a few years ago.

Top of the Agenda

The common threat with which the Americans, Israelis, and Emirates must
contend is Iran. The Islamic Republic oppresses its people, seeks to
dominate its neighbors, is advancing its illicit nuclear weapons program
and, Israel recently announced, is trying to build an army on Israel's
border with Syria.  Iran is the region's and world's preeminent
pariah.

From their wholesale destruction of a functioning Lebanese society to
the terror they support through proxies around the world, Iran is the
malicious force with which the Israeli and Emirate foreign ministers
will be concerned. When Arab and Israeli leaders are in lockstep on an
issue, Washington and the world should listen. Secretary Blinken would
do well to heed the warnings of these two American allies.

We've no doubt that the post-meeting press conference will send an
important message to Tehran, but the true test of the Biden
administration's mettle in this context will come in the weeks and
months ahead.

Loving Thy Neighbor

As we've discussed here and in other venues recently, Lebanon remains
in crisis due rampant corruption and mismanagement enabled by Iran's
proxy Hezbollah. The economic havoc wreaked by Lebanon's dysfunctional
leadership has been so significant that the Lebanese people's daily
existence is dramatically regressing. Despite the fact that the two
neighbors remain officially at war, and that Lebanon's rulers
regularly condemn Israel, the Jewish state is poised to enable Egypt and
Jordan to help provide the Lebanese people with the fuel they need to
power basic necessities.

In fact, according to one report, "Egyptian gas is "mixed
together" with Israeli gas, and Jordanian electricity is also supplied
by means of Israeli gas." Put another way, Israeli natural gas may
very well relieve some of pain the Lebanese people are currently
suffering - and unlike when Iran sends shipments of fuel to Lebanon,
the valuable commodity will not be used by Hezbollah to try to exert
further control over the people.

This development shouldn't come as too great a surprise to regional
observers as Israel has consistently sought to help those in distress,
including, for example Syrians wounded during that country's brutal
civil war. There are a lot of reasons to stand with Israel. And the
Israelis often make such a stance rather easy because when all is said
and done, it's at times of crisis that one can separate the caring
from the callous, and Israel is always on the right side of that
equation.

Sincerely,

CUFI Action Fund Team

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