https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/390097
Despite the US administration's threat to freeze arms shipments to Israel, due to the IDF's ground maneuver in Rafah, the arms shipment that had recently been delayed has arrived in Israel, Kan 11 News reported on Thursday.
A US official said that the decision to resume the transfer of weapons was made after Israel undertook to inform the United States in advance before expanding the ground maneuver in Rafah.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/04/25/us-iran-israel-hamas-war-nuclear-deal-biden-trump-obama/
But even the administration of former President Donald Trump did not deviate much from the path set by Obama and now followed by President Joe Biden. In 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from the JCPOA and announced the start of a so-called maximum pressure campaign toward Iran. Yet his administration did not come up with any plan for dealing with the ballistic missile program or regional interventions—despite Iran’s activities in Syria having become more extensive than they were during Obama’s time in office.
https://time.com/6146540/trumps-iran-failures-biden-deal/
Once President, Trump’s closest national security advisors begged him not to tear up the deal. They told him the deal was working. Iran had lived up to its promises, shut down major parts of its nuclear program, and allowed the inspectors in. And that unlikely coalition Obama had constructed on Iran policy—America, Europe, China and Russia—was now assembled and ready to get to work on Iran’s other malevolent behavior, like its support for terrorist groups in the region. America was safer with the deal in place, they told him.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/389891
A National Security Council official told the New York Post today (Monday), “We have already been helping Israel target Hamas’ leaders, and that work continues on an ongoing basis."
“We’re not holding anything back,’’ the official said. “We believe Sinwar should and indeed must be held accountable for the horrors of the October 7 attack.”
Last week, the Washington Post reported that the Biden Administration was using the intelligence on the locations of Hamas leaders as leverage to stop Israel's operation in Gaza.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/house-gop-pushes-israel-weapons-bill/story?id=110228315
New York Rep. Dan Goldman, a pro-Israel Jewish Democrat, called it a "misleading" measure brought by Republicans he said were seeking to score election-year political points.
Goldman said the "Republicans' latest messaging bill does nothing to materially help Israel's security, fundamentally mischaracterizes the President's statements and steadfast support for Israel since October 7, and simply requires commitments that the Administration has repeatedly made."
"As an American Jew, I am offended by the politicization and partisan manipulation of these very serious issues," Goldman said.
Sanhedrin (91b) Whoever witholdeth a halachah from his disciple is as though he had robbed him of his ancestral heritage, as it is written, Moses commanded us a law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob: it is an inheritance destined for all Israel from the six days of Creation. R. Hanah b. Bizna said in the name of R. Simeon the Pious: Whoever withholds a halachah from a disciple, even the embryo in its mother's womb curses him.
Bava Basra (165a) Most people are guilty of robbery, a minority of lewdness, and all of slander. Of slander? How could one imagine such a thing! But implied slander is meant.
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/4657038-mike-johnson-illegal-voting-voter-fraud/
The GOP unveiled a bill last week to bar noncitizens from voting in federal elections — prohibiting something that’s already illegal to address a problem lawmakers can’t prove exists.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was candid last week in telling reporters that Republicans are motivated by intuition in seeking another law that would limit voting to U.S. citizens.
“We all know, intuitively, that a lot of illegals are voting in federal elections. But it’s not been something that is easily provable. We don’t have that number. This legislation will allow us to do exactly that — it will prevent that from happening. And if someone tries to do it, it will now be unlawful within the states,” Johnson said in a Wednesday press conference on the Capitol steps.
Having previously reported that 9,500 women and 14,500 children had died during the war (some 69% of all fatalities), OCHA is now reporting far lower numbers, stating that among “identified” deaths, 4,959 women have died, along with 7,797 children (or 52% of the total number of identified deaths in the war).
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/05/14/trump-trial-lawyers-mistakes-00157734
These decisions are so obviously wrong as a strategic matter that it is frankly hard to believe that Trump’s defense team all agreed with them. These lawyers are not a bunch of hacks, and they aren’t dumb either. We may never know what went on within Trump’s legal team headed into this trial — most if not all of that information is likely to remain shielded from public view — but they almost certainly tried and failed to talk Trump down from some of these approaches.
The latest weapons package includes the potential transfer of $700 million in tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds, the officials said. There are still additional steps before the weapons would be approved and delivered.
The decision to proceed with the approval process underscored the Biden administration’s reluctance to deepen its rift with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Rafah operation by restricting longer-term weapons deals with its closest Middle East ally.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/389958
The Biden administration notified Congress on Tuesday that it is moving forward with more than $1 billion in new weapons deals for Israel, US and congressional officials told The Wall Street Journal.
The latest weapons package includes the potential transfer of $700 million in tank ammunition, $500 million in tactical vehicles and $60 million in mortar rounds, the officials said.
The munitions are intended to replenish stocks used during the war against Hamas, according to the report.
The news comes less than a week after the White House paused a shipment of bombs to Israel due to US opposition to a planned Israeli attack on the Gazan city of Rafah.
