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As negotiations with Iran over a return to the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers have reportedly reached a critical juncture, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz again warned Tehran that Israel is not a party to the pact and would maintain its freedom to act “as much as necessary.”
Gantz will travel to Washington on Thursday, where he is expected to discuss the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with the White House’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, and General Michael “Erik” Kurilla, commander of US Central Command.
“We will do as much as we can to influence the agreement,” the Defense Minister stated ahead of the visit, while noting: “You need to remember — this is not an agreement between us and the Iranians.”
He added: “We are in contact with our American partners, and with countries in the region that are threatened no less by Iran — of course, without also going into details regarding our ability to defend ourselves and take care of things that will ensure Israel’s security for many years.”
Gantz’s trip comes as the Biden Administration is considering a draft agreement to revive the JCPOA brought forward by the European Union and revised by the Iranian regime. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said he hopes for a US response as early as this week.
On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid cautioned that in the latest offer, “there are new elements that go beyond the limits of the original JCPOA, and that it will pave the way for significant investment to flow into Iran’s terrorist network and to strengthening the Iranian military.”
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European Union Ambassador to Israel Dimiter Tzantchev and diplomats from 19 European countries demanded an explanation from the Foreign Ministry about last week’s raid of the offices of Palestinian NGOs tied to the EU-designated Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror group.
During the meeting with officials in Jerusalem, envoys raised their “deep concerns over the raids on the Palestinian civil society organizations,” Tzantchev tweeted, adding: “These actions are not acceptable. The EU is a firm supporter of free and strong civil society.”
On August 18, the Israel Defense Forces and Border Police raided the offices of seven Palestinian NGOs, sealing their doors. The groups in question are Al-Haq, Addameer, the Bisan Center, Defense for Children International-Palestine, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, and the Union of Health Work Committees.
Tzantchev this week stressed that Brussels would continue to support the seven Palestinian groups. According to the EU diplomat, “no substantial information was received from Israel so far that would justify reviewing our policy.”
HonestReporting has, on multiple occasions, highlighted publicly available data confirming links between the outlawed groups and PFLP terrorists.
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Israeli security sources told local media recently that they are not ruling out the possibility of a military escalation between the Iran-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah and the Israel Defense Forces in “the coming period.”
In a possible all-out conflict, Israel fears that the Ansar Allah Al Houthi group in Yemen, coordinating with the Houthi rebels and Hezbollah, will join the fighting. “The real danger that Israel faces is in Yemen,” a high-ranking source cited by i24NEWS said.
Experts suggested that the liquidation of leaders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in operations attributed to Israel, has shaken confidence in Tehran and caused “panic” within the regime. By ordering Hezbollah to attack the Jewish state, the Islamic Republic aims to restore the rules of engagement between the two parties.
The security official explained that Hezbollah is deceiving Israel by highlighting the northern front. However, Jerusalem is taking into account the possibility of a front opening in the south through Houthi missiles.
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The Bank of Israel this week raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.75 percent in a bid to curb inflation, which has exceeded 5% over the past year. The increase from 1.25% to 2.0% was Israel’s biggest in two decades. Yet analysts believe additional increases are on the horizon.
“We understand the pain of those taking loans, taking mortgages, but the pain today is to prevent a much greater pain in the future,” Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron told local journalists. He added that the bank is working on getting inflation back within the 1-3% annual target.
The interest stood at 0.1% in April, an all-time low set at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In July, the Bank of Israel raised the interest rate by 0.5% after inflation in the country crossed “the upper bound of the target range,” at the time 4.1 percent.
Governor Yaron said that Israel expects inflation to return to “within the target” range in two years. By 2025, it should converge back to “the midpoint of the range.”
Recommended Reading
- Israel Must Prepare for a Military Operation Against Hezbollah – Opinion (Omer Dostri, Jerusalem Post)
- Who Is Enforcing Antisemitic Land Laws in the PA? (Maurice Hirsch, Israel Hayom)
- To Help Its Immigrants, Israel Must Invest in Education (Barbara Birch, Jewish News Syndicate)
- Israeli Startup’s Fruit-picking Drones Address Global Farming Crisis (i24NEWS)
- Creator of ‘Shtisel’ Is Working on a Series About Theodor Herzl, Father of Modern Zionism (Philissa Cramer, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
- Israel Archaeologists Unearth 1,200-Year-Old Luxury Mansion During Excavations (Bradford Betz, Fox News)
Featured Image: IIPA via Getty Images, Kobi Richter via TPS
