In recent weeks, we’ve seen a heartbreaking wave of terror across Israel, a possible glimpse of sanity from the Biden administration on Iran, and some good news in the efforts to combat antisemitism at the state level. So, without further ado, let’s dive in.
Palestinian Terrorists Are Killing Israelis
Over the past two weeks, 14 Israelis have been killed in a series of terror attacks across Israel. These acts, cheered by the likes of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and no doubt incentivized by the Palestinian Authority’s ongoing pay-to-slay program, are but a fraction of what the Palestinian terrorists had hoped for. Though four attacks achieved their desired result, dozens more were thwarted by Israeli security forces.
In one attack in the heart of Tel Aviv, a gunman shot and killed three people (two died at the scene and one later succumbed to his wounds) and injured several others. When the Israeli police found the terrorist hiding near a mosque, a firefight ensued, and the terrorist was killed. Israel and its allies often complain of bias in the media, and this inherent hatred for Israel amongst certain sectors of the press was on full display when the UK Guardian ran the following headline in its coverage of above described terrorist attack “Israeli forces kill Palestinian after Tel Aviv shooting leaves two dead.”
We get it, the folks at the Guardian would much rather mislead their readers and attack Israel than report the news. But just so the media gets it: this is precisely why trust in the press has cratered in recent years. Journalists who engage in this type of duplicity are not just killing their profession, they’re aiding and abetting terrorism.
A Line in the Sand?
For months we’ve been tracking and analyzing the news reports covering the world powers’ negotiations with Iran over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. We won’t rehash the opportunity the Biden administration squandered by taking a weak line in its indirect discussion with Tehran, or the astounding foolishness of allowing Russia to serve as the negations’ interlocuter.
Rather, this week, we are actually seeing a glimmer of hope. The Iranians have been demanding that their Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) no longer be designated by the U.S. government as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Given that the IRGC’s Quds Force serves as command and control for the likes of Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and others, the FTO designation should be nonnegotiable. And the latest reports are that the Biden administration has finally found something on which they are unwilling to capitulate to Iran.
Yes, the Biden administration screwed these negotiations up from the outset, but credit where its due. At this time, we are cautiously optimistic that Team Biden has finally decided to draw a line in the sand, and… well… better late than never.
This does not mean a bad Iran deal isn’t on its way, but efforts by both Republicans and Democrats to push back against some of the worst elements of a potential deal seem to be bearing fruit in impacting the negotiations.
Some Good News from the States
For a while there we were trying to end the Action Update on a positive note, but events don’t always enable us to do that. This week, however, we return to that effort with several pieces of good news to share.
On Friday, the Governor of Tennessee signed CUFI’s anti-BDS bill into law, making the Volunteer State the 34th state in the Union to pass such legislation. In Iowa, the Governor signed two CUFI-backed bills recently, one codifying the IHRA definition and another strengthening that state’s already existing anti-BDS bill. Finally, in both Missouri and Oklahoma, we’ve seen progress on Holocaust education legislation and those bills could make their way to the states’ respective governors in the coming days.
At every turn, whether it’s advancing state-level policy items or moving the ball forward in Washington, the Action Fund works across the partisan divide. We drive policy because we’re uninterested in spiking the football every time we get a win and don’t care about an elected official’s party affiliation. This is how the game is played and won. And all of it is made possible by your decision to stay informed and active in support of our holy mission. So, in closing, we wish to simply thank you for your commitment to standing with Israel.
