The IDF’s Chief of Staff, Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi, met with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, at the Pentagon on Monday.
Discussions reportedly included the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear program, the situation in Gaza, and the need to replenish the Iron Dome missile defense system after much of interceptor rockets reserves were used in the course of the recent conflict with Hamas and other Gaza-based terror organizations.
An IDF statement said that Kochavi set out the Israeli position that a return to the Iran nuclear deal is “dangerous” during the meetings. Per the statement, the IDF’s commander-in-chief made clear that “every effort should be made to prevent Iran from acquiring military nuclear capabilities.”
While Kochavi’s arrival in Washington maked the first official Israeli delegation to visit the US since Naftali Bennett was installed as prime minister, another world leader, President-elect Ebrahim Raisi of Iran, has rejected the notion of meeting with President Joe Biden. In a televised news conference in Tehran, Raisi declared that negotiations pertaining to his country’s ballistic missile program, are simply not an option. “It’s nonnegotiable,” Raisi said, asserting instead that the US “is obliged to lift all oppressive sanctions against Iran.”
Yahya Sinwar, Hamas’s leader in Gaza, is demanding that Israel green-light the transfer of millions of dollars in Qatari funds and has turned down “all of the offers” made by the United Nations for an extended period of calm, according to Israeli news reports.
After UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process Tor Wennesland met with Sinwar on Monday in a bid to strengthen the current ceasefire, Sinwar emerged saying he had rejected Israeli “provocations” and threatened instead to escalate hostilities against Israel unless its demands are met.
For its part, Israel is committed to Hamas freeing two Israelis who fell into captivity in Gaza, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers believed killed during fighting in the summer of 2014, before countenancing any decision to allow millions of dollars to enter Gaza from abroad.
After the PA rejected a deal for Israel to transfer approximately 1 million Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses, Israel revealed that it is using doses with the same expiration date. Israel is currently overseeing a vaccination drive for children aged 12 to 15.
“We didn’t deliver a single vaccine that had expired. We delivered the exact same vaccines that we are using right now for our people and our children,” Levy told Israel’s Channel 12 news, adding that while the first load of vaccines was due to expire shortly, consequent batches would have expired later.
“The vaccines came out of the storehouses, under the most stringent controls, with the correct temperature. Everything we gave them was valid,” he added.
After pressure from EU lawmakers, the European Commission released a previously buried report on Palestinian Authority (PA) textbooks. According to the study, the Palestinian curriculum encourages children to seek martyrdom, incites hatred of Jews, and includes calls for violence.
The explosive report had reportedly been ready since February but was likely concealed. However, after German investigative journalists published some of the findings, European MP’s pressed the European Commission to release the comprehensive research to the public.
The EU found that, in addition to promoting antisemitism and terror, most textbooks used in the West Bank and Gaza use maps that completely erase the State of Israel: They exclusively refer to the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea as “Palestine.” Furthermore, the examined books call Israel the “Zionist occupation” and reject all efforts towards peace.
The body of the EU report aligns with previous findings by IMPACT-se, an independent research institute that analyzes schoolbooks and curricula for compliance with international standards.
The United Kingdom plans to boycott the UN event marking the 20th anniversary of the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR), also known as the Durban Conference, due to concerns over the antisemitic nature of the convention.
“Following historic concerns regarding antisemitism, the UK has decided not to attend the UN’s Durban Conference anniversary event later this year,” a Foreign Office representative said. The US, Canada and Australia had announced their intention to boycott ‘Durban IV’ earlier.
The highly controversial 2001 event featured some of the vilest antisemitism since WWII. In the eyes of many, it kicked off the campaign to exploit the language of anti-racism and human rights to demonize and isolate Israel. The impact of this so-called ‘Durban Strategy’ is felt to this day: experts trace the roots of the ongoing Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement back to Durban.
Earlier this month, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan announced he intends to organize an alternative event to this year’s Durban Conference, geared towards combating all forms of racism, including antisemitism.
HonestReporting is pleased to inform you that it is organizing a mission to the Jewish state from October 5-12, 2021.
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Recommended Reading
- Will New Leadership in Iran Doom the Nuclear Deal? (Dan Schnur, Jewish Journal)
- A Changing of the Guard, as Bennett’s New Government Hits the Ground Running (Tal Schneier, Times of Israel)
- American Jews Need Wait No Longer, the Barbarians Have Arrived (Benjamin Kerstein, Algemeiner)
- German Publishing Boss Tells Workers to Find New Jobs if They Oppose Israeli Flag (Cnaan Liphshiz, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
- Retired Israeli Diplomat Finds Forgotten Jewish Surnames in Alexandria (Benjamin Weinthal, Jerusalem Post)
