Much excitement has been expressed about the possibility of Saudi Arabia becoming a part of the Abraham Accords. Saudi Arabia, that vast expanse of 830,000 square miles, of mostly arid desert, is the custodian of the two holiest Islamic sites, Mecca and Medina, where every Muslim must bow when he prays.

Saudi Arabia is also the world’s largest oil producer, generating nearly 15% of world oil output. It is not surprising that Saudi Arabia has a dominant voice in the decisions of OPEC. Understandably, the Saudis have a dominant voice in any important geostrategic decision that any Gulf nation would take, albeit under the table. Therefore, it is inconceivable that the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, or Sudan would agree to join the Abraham Accords without the quiet consent of the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammad bin Salman.

.... Read more here

Last month, America First Legal filed a lawsuit against President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken for violating the Taylor Force Act, federal legislation that prohibits the government from providing funds to the Palestinian Authority until it stops supporting terrorism including its pay-for-slay program that financially rewards terrorists and their families for killing Jews. Signed into law by President Trump in 2018, the Taylor Force Act led to all economic aid to the PA being put on hold until the State Department certifies that the legislation’s requirements were met. Unfortunately, upon entering office, President Biden and his State Department have ignored the law and reinstituted sending hundreds of millions of dollars to the PA annually subverting the will of Congress and the American people.

We had a discussion of what led to the passage of the Taylor Force Act, why its enforcement is critically important, and the litigation that will hopefully lead to U.S. policy that ends sending U.S. taxpayer dollars to the terrorists in Israel. We were joined by plaintiffs Sarri Singer, a survivor of a Palestinian terror attack in Jerusalem, and Stuart Force whose son Taylor was murdered on the boardwalk in Jaffa by a Palestinian terrorist and serves as the namesake of this important piece of legislation, and Julie Strauss Levin, one of the AFL lead attorneys representing the plaintiffs in this case.

About the Speakers:

Stuart Force has a distinguished record of service to our country. From 1973-1982, he served as an Officer and Pilot in the United States Air Force and the Colorado Air National Guard. After retiring from the Air Force, Mr. Force was a commercial pilot for Southwest Airlines until his retirement in 2009.

Stuart and his wife Robbi Force were instrumental in passing vital legislation aimed at ending the Palestinian Authority’s policy of financially rewarding Palestinian terrorists. The bill, known as the Taylor Force Act, was named in honor of the Forces’ son Taylor who was tragically murdered by a Palestinian terrorist while in Israel in 2016. Since then, Stuart and Robbi have dedicated themselves to honoring their son’s memory by working to enact meaningful reform through efforts like the Taylor Force Act.

Julie Strauss Levin is an attorney with extensive experience in the for-profit and non-profit spaces.  Julie is currently senior counsel at America First Legal Foundation and is also principal of IGMP, LLC.  She previously served as General Counsel of Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce and as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of Feld Entertainment, Inc.

Julie was honored to be appointed by President Donald J. Trump to the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad as well as the 1776 Commission. She was also appointed this past year by Governor Glenn Youngkin to sit on his newly created Commission to Combat Antisemitism and serves on the Virginia Israel Advisory Board.

Julie devotes significant time to multiple pro bono and charitable causes.  She is on the Board of Directors of Our Community Salutes, the lay Advisory Council of the Coalition for Jewish Values, and the Advisory Board of the Gross Family Center for the Study of Antisemitism and the Holocaust. Julie also counsels and advises Young Jewish Conservatives, and previously served on the Executive Board of EMET.

Sarri Singer: On June 11, 2003, Sarri Singer was on Bus 14 in Jerusalem when an 18-year-old Palestinian terrorist dressed as a religious Jew boarded and blew himself up. 17 people were killed, including all those seated and standing around her, and over 100 people were injured. Sarri was hospitalized for two weeks and then returned to New Jersey to be with family. Her story became high profile. She appeared on television and radio interviews and spoke before Congressmen and Senators in Washington, D.C., and politicians in New York and New Jersey.

Sarri is the Founder and Director of Strength to Strength (www.stosglobal.org), which focuses on bringing together victims of terrorism together from around the world and assisting with long-term psychological needs. Sarri has addressed audiences throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, and Israel and continues to share her unique insight into the ongoing struggle for victims of terror in Israel and around the world.

Thursday, February 2, 2023 12 PM ET
(Please note this is on Thursday, not Wednesday, as per usual)

The late December murder of an Irish member of UNIFIL, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL has once again brought some attention to the failed state of Lebanon. UNIFIL was established in 1978 to temporarily maintain the peace between Israel and Hezbollah. Forty-five years after its formation, we are examining whether it is fulfilling its mission, what its relationship is with the Lebanese Armed Forces and its relationship with Hezbollah.

The state of Lebanon was once known as the “Riviera of the Middle East”. However, since the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, Lebanon has become a hostage of the Iranian terrorist group, Hezbollah, and is considered a success story for the Iranian regime. They have dreams of replicating further Shiite proxy states of Tehran throughout the globe.

Listen to David Schenker, a renowned expert on the Levant, as he examines whether UNIFIL has succeeded in its mission, what its relationship is with Hezbollah, and with the Lebanese Armed Forces.

About the Speaker: David Schenker is the Taube Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute and director of the Program on Arab Politics. Confirmed by the Senate on June 5, 2019, he served as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs through January 2021. In that capacity, he was the principal Middle East advisor to the secretary of state and the senior official overseeing the conduct of U.S. policy and diplomacy in a region stretching from Morocco to Iran to Yemen, with responsibility for eighteen countries, the Palestinian Authority, and Western Sahara. He also supervised more than 9,000 staff and administered an annual budget in excess of $7 billion.

In policy terms, he led the bureau's efforts to advance American interests abroad and strengthen U.S. partnerships and alliances across the region. Via diplomacy and the effective allocation of resources and assistance—as well as through imposition of sanctions—he worked to promote human rights, deter terrorism, fight corruption, and push back against regional adversaries. In addition to developing and implementing the U.S. strategy on China in the region, he worked to heal the Gulf rift between Qatar and neighboring states, resolve intractable conflicts in Libya and Yemen, consolidate the Abraham Accords, and counter malign Iranian influence in the Middle East.

Prior to joining the State Department, Schenker worked as the Aufzien Fellow and director of the Beth and David Geduld Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute from 2006 to 2019. During that period, he authored dozens of op-eds, journal articles, and PolicyWatches about Jordan, Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Egypt, among other topics, and contributed chapters to Institute monographs such as Beyond Islamists and Autocrats: Prospects for Political Reform Post Arab Spring (2017) and No Good Outcome: How Israel Could be Drawn into the Syrian Conflict (2013). He also published a chapter on U.S.-Lebanese relations in Lebanon: Liberation, Conflict, and Crisis (Palgrave, 2009), and authored Egypt’s Enduring Challenges (2011), an Institute monograph focusing on the post-Mubarak situation.

Previously, from 2002 to 2006, Schenker served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as Levant country director, the Pentagon's top policy aide on the Arab nations of the Levant. In that capacity, he advised the secretary and other senior Pentagon leadership on the military and political affairs of Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the Palestinian territories. He was awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service in 2005.

Prior to joining the government in 2002, Schenker focused on Arab governance issues as a research fellow at The Washington Institute, and worked as a project coordinator for a Bethesda-based contractor responsible for large, centrally funded USAID programs in Egypt and Jordan. He also authored the Institute books Dancing with Saddam: The Strategic Tango of Jordanian-Iraqi Relations (copublished with Lexington Books, 2003) and Palestinian Democracy and Governance: An Appraisal of the Legislative Council (2001). His writings on Arab affairs have appeared in a number of prominent scholarly journals and newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, and Jerusalem Post.