The Biden Administration has called on traditional Middle East allies to not oppose US foreign policy and urged countries to avoid taking military action to solve regional problems. Moreover, Washington said it would not turn a blind eye should its warning not be heeded.
In a recent document, titled Interim National Security Strategic Guidance, the White House outlined its regional interests and ways to implement them.
“We do not believe that military force is the answer to the region’s challenges, and we will not give our partners in the Middle East a blank check to pursue policies at odds with American interests and values,” the document said.
With respect to Iran, in particular, the Biden Administration’s Middle East policy calls for a halt to the nation’s nuclear program and interventionism: “We will work with our regional partners to deter Iranian aggression and threats to sovereignty and territorial integrity, disrupt al-Qaeda and related terrorist networks and prevent an ISIS resurgence,” the policy document read in part.
Regarding the Jewish state, the Interim National Security Strategic Guidance asserts that the US will keep its “ironclad commitment to Israel’s security,” while working to promote further normalization with Arab countries and a two-state solution to the conflict with the Palestinians.
India has concluded that Iran was behind a January blast outside the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi, with the remote control device used to detonate the bomb having been planted by a Tehran-backed Shiite group.
The attack was allegedly directed by the Quds Force, a branch of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) tasked with carrying out overseas operations. According to the Indian news report, there was an initial attempt to mislead investigators into blaming the Islamic State for the explosion, but counter-terrorism agencies have since confirmed that it was in fact an Iranian-sponsored attack.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week accused the Islamic Republic of attacking an Israeli-owned ship in the Gulf of Oman. Security officials believe that the IRGC’s naval force targeted the vessel in order to avenge last year’s assassination in a US drone strike of former Quds Force chief Qasem Soleimani, as well as the more recent killing of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in what is believed to have been an Israeli-led mission.
Israel has almost fully emerged from its third COVID-19 lockdown, as restaurants, cafes and other venues reopened on Sunday under an exit plan made possible by the country’s world-leading vaccination drive.
“Restaurants are coming back to life,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after he and Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion visited businesses in the holy city. “We still have to watch ourselves, we have to wear masks, keep distances that people require, social distances – but we’re coming out of it, and there’s not much more,” the premier stressed.
In just over two months, some 53 percent of Israelis have received at least one dose of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, while nearly 40 percent of the population has been fully immunized. As a result, the government has progressively reduced restrictions on economic activity and is gradually reopening schools and the nation’s main airport, albeit as some measures remain in place.
According to an ostensible Palestinian rights group, three Gaza fishermen over the weekend were killed by errant Palestinian fire.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which allegedly has ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist group, claimed the fishermen’s boat was two miles offshore when it was “completely destroyed” by a mortar shell, and that the incident “most likely occurred as a result of resistance training,” a reference to the activities of terror organizations based in the coastal enclave.
Groups such as Hamas often fire missiles towards the sea as part of their exercises.
This would not be the first time that technical malfunctions resulted in injuries or even the deaths of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. Accidental blasts have occasionally occurred while terrorists were building bombs or handling explosives.
ANTISEMITISM WATCH: Auction website eBay has removed at least 15 Nazi-themed toys, including SS figurines and tanks, from its online listings. The items violated eBay’s policy targeting products that promote hate.
eBay’s terms of use ban the selling of “Historical Holocaust-related and Nazi-related items, including reproductions, any item that is antisemitic or any item from after 1933 that bears a swastika [and that] media identified as Nazi propaganda.” Nazi coins are the only exception to this rule.
Other online retailers, including Amazon and Etsy, have also removed antisemitic items from their listings in the past after pressure from the public.
The Begin Symposium: Media, Policy & Perception: The Public Perception of Israel
How does the media’s portrayal of events and policy impact public perception of Israel? On March 10, a panel consisting of public figures in government, media, and global affairs will dive into this critical space. News coverage should come as close to the truth as possible, regardless of the media outlet. What can be done to hold the news media to this standard?
Join HonestReporting CEO Daniel Pomerantz and the rest of the panel for this exciting, topical conversation.
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