Experts are warning that President Joe Biden&#8217;s latest plan for the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/middle-east" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Middle East</a> could spark a nuclear arms race in the region among Islamic nations.
The details were contained in a New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/17/us/politics/israel-saudi-arabia-gaza.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> about the administration&#8217;s attempts to revive a deal that would normalize ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which collapsed after Hamas&#8217; October 7 terrorist attack.
The administration wants Israel to reward the Palestinian people for the unprecedented terrorist attack from Hamas, a terrorist group that they elected to run Gaza, by agreeing to give them their own official state.
Saudi Arabia has informed the Biden administration that it wants a U.S.-Saudi mutual defense pact, which would counter the threat it faces from the Islamic Republic of Iran, and it wants &#8220;cooperation on a civilian nuclear program with uranium enrichment in the kingdom, the sale of advanced American-made weapons and, potentially, a trade deal.&#8221;
Israel is opposed to the deal because its government and people overwhelmingly oppose giving Palestinians their own state as experts warn that it will turn into a haven for Islamic terrorists.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, also known as MBS, has indicated that a nuclear program for the country is his most important priority and that if Iran develops nuclear weapons then his country will, too.
Andrea Stricker, Deputy Director &amp; Research Fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies&#8217; Nonproliferation &amp; Biodefense Program, said that the deal &#8220;guarantees a regional nuclear arms race.&#8221;
&#8220;The Biden administration is playing with fire if they open a door to or assist the Saudis with uranium enrichment,&#8221; she told The Daily Wire in a statement. &#8220;This would upend decades of American policy to prevent the spread of the means to make nuclear weapons.&#8221;
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&#8220;Congress must immediately pass a law making bilateral nuclear cooperation contingent on Riyadh ruling out enrichment and plutonium reprocessing and signing an enhanced IAEA inspection agreement, the Additional Protocol,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Otherwise, Biden and Sullivan will have left not Middle East peace as a legacy, but a new trigger for nuclear arms-racing.&#8221;
Rebeccah Heinrichs, senior fellow at Hudson Institute and the director of its Keystone Defense Initiative, slammed the Biden administration&#8217;s &#8220;mismanagement&#8221; of America&#8217;s relationship with Saudi Arabia, calling it &#8220;one of the biggest fumbles of the Biden’s foreign policy.&#8221;
&#8220;The U.S. and [Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] KSA have shared interests in countering Iran’s goal of Middle East hegemony and destroying Iranian terrorist proxies,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But KSA will inch closer to a nuclear weapon to the extent the U.S. permits Iran’s power to grow while restricting Gulf partners and allies in their effort to counter it. It’s in the interest of the U.S. to uphold nonproliferation goals but in its focus on resurrecting the Iran nuclear deal, team Biden may be courting disaster by initiating the groundwork for a Saudi one.&#8221;

French President Macron Hosts Working Lunch With MBS, Crown Prince, Prime Minister Of Saudi Arabia

Experts Warn Biden’s Latest Plan For Middle East Will Ignite Nuclear Arms Race In Islamic World

Executive

Global Politics

Nuclear Weapons

Saudi Arabia

World

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) pushed the Biden administration over the weekend to get a mutual defense agreement signed with Saudi Arabia to help calm tensions in the Middle East.
Graham made the remarks during a Sunday interview with Dana Bash on CNN&#8217;s &#8220;State of the Union,&#8221; during which they discussed Secretary of State Antony Blinken&#8217;s trip to Saudi Arabia. Blinken said late last week that he thinks Israel and Saudi Arabia can normalize relations even without a ceasefire in Gaza.
&#8220;I have been working with Tony and [national security adviser] Jake [Sullivan], and I have talked to President Biden twice,&#8221; Graham said. &#8220;I want to help them normalize Saudi Arabia and Israel. Saudi Arabia wants a mutual defense agreement with the United States. We have been working on this for weeks. To Tony and Jake, get on with closing the deal on the treaty.&#8221;
&#8220;Without the treaty, [Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman] cannot recognize Israel, and part of the deal will be coming up with a solution to the Palestinian problem,&#8221; he continued. &#8220;Saudi Arabia wants a defense agreement with the United States. They want to enrich the 7 percent of the world&#8217;s uranium they have, but we will control enrichment. And they will recognize Israel, but we have got to deal with the Palestinian problem. We&#8217;re running out of time. This would be an historic agreement, building on the Abraham Accords, and I&#8217;d like to see it happen. I&#8217;d like to help President Biden get this done.&#8221;
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&#8220;Without this deal, there is no solution to the Palestinian problem,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Without this deal, everything gets worse. So let&#8217;s get the deal done. We&#8217;re running out of time.&#8221;
WATCH:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Graham Joins Dana Bash to Discuss Trump Legal Matters and Saudi-Israel Normalization" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/CDhlMgaqRDE?start=291&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Graham

Graham Pushes The Biden Admin To Get Defense Agreement Done With Saudi Arabia

Antony Blinken

Congress

Israel

Lindsey Graham

Politics

Last night, Israel finally struck back against Iran. 
Last weekend, Iran struck Israel with some 350 drones and missiles. Israel was expecting that it was going to have to fire back against Iran in some form or fashion. 
There are a few different options that were tabled that had been considered. One was a full-scale attack on Iran&#8217;s nuclear facilities, completely degrading their nuclear program. Another option would have been to do virtually nothing, which is what Joe Biden wanted to do. 
Israel last night decided on a third option that would be a targeted strike, limited in nature inside Iran, to warn the Iranians that if they decided that they were going to escalate this confrontation, Israel would get to them much more than they would get to Israel. 
That is what Israel pursued last night: a useful means of deterrence, probably the best available scenario for both America and for America&#8217;s allies in the region. If Israel had gone really heavy, there was always the possibility of serious escalation via Hezbollah in Israel&#8217;s north that could have turned into a larger, full-blown war.
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1951-israel-strikes-back-against-iran-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h4>
Now, would it have been more in Israel&#8217;s interest to completely destroy Iran&#8217;s nuclear facility? Sure. It also would have been a lot riskier. Right now, the United States and Israel have been in this very fraught negotiation over what the United States will allow Israel to do. And so the Israeli government took a middle road by issuing this targeted strike against Iran. 
The message was “Listen, you guys fired 350 drones, missiles. We knocked nearly all of that down. We basically can hit you anytime, anywhere we want, so you guys better stand down.” 
That was the goal of the Israelis. And it also offered, because it was so limited in nature, the Iranians an off-ramp, to deny that any of this ever happened or minimize it, which is exactly what Iran did. Iran had been mouthing off a lot about the idea that if Israel launched a serious strike into Iranian territory, then Iran would up the ante with a broader retaliatory strike and then you would have an escalating conflict. Israel issued a strike limited in nature so as to allow the Iranian government the possibility of basically denying that anything had ever happened. 
Israel is playing a different game than Joe Biden is used to. Israel is playing in the Middle East, where what you do matters a hell of a lot more than what you say. Joe Biden has spent his entire career in places where what you say matters a hell of a lot more than what you do. He is completely unfamiliar with the foreign policy realm where what you do matters an awful, awful lot. 
That’s why reality keeps clocking Joe Biden directly in the face. Forget about Israel and Iran for a second. Think about the Saudi Arabian government. When Joe Biden was a candidate for the presidency of the United States, he was extraordinarily critical of Mohammad bin Salman, the heir-apparent in Saudi Arabia and the de facto ruler of the country. Biden suggested that he was a mass human rights violator. 
This meant that the United States had to take a very harsh tactical look at our alliance with Saudi Arabia, up to and including giving the green light to the Houthis in Yemen, an Iranian proxy group, by de-listing them as a terror group. 
And then it turns out that reality intervened. And the Houthis, as it turned out, hate the United States more than they hate the Saudis. It turns out that the Saudis have control over oil supply. And Joe Biden had to go on bended knee to Mohammed bin Salman because what you say in the Middle East does not matter nearly as much as what you do. 
So Israel, without making a big statement, made it clear to Iran: we are going to knock you guys back to the Stone Age. Israel simply did the thing and they let Iran know that if, in fact, Iran decides to escalate, it will do significantly more damage to the Islamic Republic than it will do to Israel. 
All of this again was prefaced by the U.N. Security Council being a completely useless and garbage institution. Israel did what it had to do because the U.N. Security Council could not even bring itself to condemn Iran for a full-scale attack on another nation, an act of war. The U.N. Security Council not only did not condemn Iran for that attack last weekend, they allowed Iran to then lecture Israel, suggesting, “Israel must be compelled to stop any further military adventurism against our interests.” 
The absolute unmitigated sheer gall of that is astonishing. Consider that it is Iranian military adventurism that has led to the entire conflagration in the Middle East, from Iraq to Syria to Lebanon to the Gaza Strip to Judea and Samaria to Yemen. That is Iranian military adventurism that has led to all that and the U.N. Security Council — because the United Nations is the Mos Eisley of international politics, a wretched hive of scum and villainy — the U.N. Security Council was never even willing to take up the possibility of condemning Iran. 
They did, however, take up the possibility in the last 48 hours of a resolution to unilaterally declare Palestinian statehood, which would be an incredibly audacious and stupid move, considering there is no actual government for a Palestinian state. The Gaza Strip is currently governed by Hamas, a terror group that is in an existential war with the state of Israel. The Palestinian Authority has so little control over the West Bank that there is open warfare between Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Palestinian Authority. 
You may as well simply declare a state of unicorn land in a random part of the earth that has no government as declare a Palestinian state — except unicorn land presumably would not necessarily turn into a terrorist state, whereas a Palestinian state already has turned into a terror state and remains as such. 
Israel decided that it was going to do what it had to do and restore the status quo ante before October 7. That is really what this is about. Remember, October 7 was launched specifically with the green light of Iran in order to scuttle a burgeoning Israeli/Saudi peace deal. Israel and Saudi Arabia were establishing a regional alliance in terms of defense to deter Iran and its proxies in the region. And that alliance de facto included Egypt, Jordan, and a bunch of the Saudi-sponsored states like UAE and Bahrain. A variety of these states had basically formed an alliance, and it was just a matter of toppling that last domino in Saudi Arabia for the alliance to go full-scale. 
And if Donald Trump had been elected, there is no doubt in my mind — or the mind of the Israelis or the Saudis — that that deal would have gotten done. 
Even Biden’s stupidity didn’t get in the way. Because Joe Biden had been so conciliatory toward the Iranians, the Saudis had basically gone to the Israelis and said we don&#8217;t trust that Joe Biden is going to come to our defense if Iran attacks us. So let&#8217;s form a regional alliance against Iran. That was really, really close to happening. 
Iran saw that and activated Hamas to go into Israel and kill 1,200 people and take 250 hostages back to the Gaza Strip in the hopes that this would start a conflagration that would burn down the possibility of a Sunni-Israeli deal. 
Now it appears that the status quo ante is now being reinforced. Why? Because Israel has actually preserved its own ability to deter and militarily destroy its enemies. The whole reason for a Saudi peace deal with the Israelis is not because Israel and Saudi Arabia see eye-to-eye on matters of religion. Obviously, they do not.
The reason for the restoration of the status quo ante is that Saudi Arabia looks at Israel and sees Israel is capable of deterring Iran; Israel is capable of destroying its enemies on the battlefront. Israel is an extraordinarily powerful and innovative military machine and they want to be allied with that. 
What Hamas did by striking at Israel was to try to dent that perception in the Saudis. But now Israel has reinforced the perception, the prior perception, by its successful military action in the Gaza Strip, which is why they are now going to go in and finish off Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. And the last two weeks have shown that Israel not only is capable with its allies of repelling a mass Iranian attack, but also that Israel can strike pretty much where it wants to in Iran. And so Iran had better not escalate because it&#8217;ll be worse for Iran than it will be for Israel. 
And Saudi Arabia wants to sign on to that.

ISRAEL-POLITICS-ANNIVERSARY-INDEPENDENCE

Israel Strikes Back Against Iran

Ben Shapiro

Iran

Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

Middle East

Opinion

Readers Pass

<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/saudi-arabia">Saudi Arabia</a> reportedly publicly acknowledged on Monday that it helped defend Israel from an unprecedented attack over the weekend from the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The U.S., U.K., France, Jordan, U.A.E., and Saudi Arabia all participated in assisting Israel in repelling a combination of more than 300 missiles and drones.
A source from the Saudi royal family insinuated to KAN News that Saudi Arabia was involved in &#8220;thwarting Iranian attack drones bound for Israel the previous evening, citing that Saudi Arabian airspace automatically intercepts &#8216;any suspicious entity,'&#8221; according to the post on the royal family&#8217;s website highlighted by <a href="https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/saudi-arabia-acknowledges-helping-defend-israel-against-iran-797201">The Jerusalem Post</a>.
The post then accused Iran of pushing Hamas to launch its attack on October 7 to derail efforts by Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalize relations.
&#8220;The same figure takes a swing at Iran, accusing them of instigating a conflict in Gaza. This, they suggest, is a deliberate attempt to unravel the progress established towards normalizing relations with Israel,&#8221; the post continued. &#8220;In the words of the official, as put forth by Kan, &#8216;Iran is a nation that endorses terrorism, and the world should have curtailed it much earlier.'&#8221;
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The barrage from Iran was among the largest in modern history, The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/analysis-israel-repelled-irans-huge-attack-but-only-with-help-from-u-s-and-arab-partners-a7844065">reported</a>, noting that when Russia invaded Ukraine, a country 20 times larger than Israel, it only fired up to 200 missiles and drones.
“Iran was testing the missile-defense system, the resolve of the regional countries, the resolve of the United States,” said Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president of research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) in Washington. “Out of all of this comes a great risk. When two powerful parties engage in direct hostility, no one knows where this thing goes.”
Israel is expected to soon retaliate against Iran. It has a wide range of options in its playbook, which includes cyberattacks, military strikes, elimination of key figures, covert operations, and more.

INDIA-G20-SUMMIT

Saudi Arabia Publicly Acknowledges Defending Israel From Iranian Attacks: Reports

Hamas

According to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/03/us/politics/trump-mohammed-bin-salman.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times</a>, former President Trump spoke recently with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the man who has attempted to modernize his country by loosening restrictions on women and likely making peace with Israel.
The Times reported Wednesday that the two leaders spoke &#8220;recently,&#8221; citing two people briefed on the discussion. No details about the focus of the talk have been disclosed and officials representing Trump did not respond to requests for comment.
The discussion is the first known time the two have had a conversation since Trump left office. It comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East and escalating political pressure on the Biden administration over its handling of the war in Gaza. The Times report also comes ahead of Trump&#8217;s Doral golf resort in Miami hosting a <a href="https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/sports/2024/04/03/how-liv-golf-miami-restored-trump-doral-as-a-masters-tune-up/73191943007/">tournament</a> with LIV Golf, the Saudi sovereign wealth fund-supported league.
Trump’s efforts in the Middle East to bring peace to the region bore tremendous fruit with the Abraham Accords, under which the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain recognized Israeli sovereignty; Sudan and Morocco soon followed suit. Saudi Arabia was expected to follow, but after President Biden was elected, that process ground to a halt. Biden reversed course with Iran, which Trump had hit with sanctions; following that, Iran has been suspected of fomenting the Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel in order to torpedo peace negotiations between their enemies, Saudi Arabia and Israel.
In June 2019, President Trump endorsed Prince Mohammed, calling him “a friend of mine” and asserting he had done “a spectacular job” in liberalizing his nation. He lauded Prince Mohammed for cutting off funding to terrorist groups. The two men discussed Saudi Arabia’s “critical role in ensuring stability in the Middle East and global oil markets,” and “the growing threat from Iran,” the Trump White House stated, as reported by <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-praises-saudi-crown-prince-for-doing-a-spectacular-job-11561778810" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Wall Street Journal</a>.
On the other hand, Biden has called the prince a “pariah” because of the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018 at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
“By the standards of his gruesome neighborhood, MBS is a dizzying reformer,” Andy McCarthy, the author of “The Grand Jihad,” has <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/10/mythmaking-about-khashoggi-has-disastrously-backfired-on-biden/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">written</a>. “He has lifted social restrictions on women, integrated them in the workforce, and curbed the sharia police. He insists that the Wahhabist Saudi Arabia of the last 40 years has been an aberration, and that he is ‘reverting to what we followed — a moderate Islam open to the world and all religions.’”
“Moreover, until Biden came along, determined to empower the Brotherhood and the Saudis’ Iranian enemies, MBS, like Sisi, was working with the United States on counterterrorism and other areas of mutual interest, while quietly building stronger security ties with Israel — the latter would have been inconceivable in the not too distant past,” he continued.

MixCollage-04-Apr-2024-10-39-AM-7263

Trump, Broker Of Abraham Accords, Speaks With Saudi Leader

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

Donald Trump

South Carolina GOP Senator Lindsey Graham asserted that the nascent peace deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which had looked imminent in the days before Iran’s proxy Hamas attacked Israel, still looks like it will come to fruition.
Graham appeared on NBC’s “Meet The Press” with host Kristen Welker, who noted, “So you&#8217;ve just gotten off of the phone with Israeli and Saudi officials. You have new information. What can you tell us?”
“I will be going to Saudi Arabia and Israel in the coming days with a group of senators,” Graham announced. “The drive to peace and normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel continues. There&#8217;s a desire by both parties to move forward in this effort to normalize relationships.”
“Israel is talking about humanitarian aid. They&#8217;re going to turn the water on in the South. They&#8217;re urging the Egyptians to let people from Gaza go into the Sinai,” Graham continued. “To our friends in Israel, you need the time and space to destroy Hamas. All Palestinians are not the same. If Hamas is destroyed, Israel is safer, and the pathway to peace between the Palestinians and the world gets wider. So I start this morning somewhat optimistic that Iran&#8217;s goal to destroy the peace process between Israel and Saudi Arabia will fail.”
“I&#8217;ve never felt better about the drive to peace by Saudi, Israel, and the United States shall continue,” Graham declared. “We need to change the world as it is. Nothing would change the world for the better more than Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the United States to form agreements to end the Arab/Israeli conflict as we know it.”
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Graham pointed out, “Israel is trying to find a safe place for Gaza residents. Hamas is trying to stop them from leaving. Israel is trying to encourage them to leave. Our friends in Egypt, you have it in your power to give Gaza residents a safe place. This will be a World-War-Two-type operation, where you go in and destroy the regime, Hamas, and over time, replace it with something else, like we did Germany and Japan. But the Israelis do not want to kill innocent people. They&#8217;re going to turn the water on. Every death going forward I blame on Hamas, not Israel.”
On the same program, Welker asked National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan if talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia were “off for now.”
“Actually, Secretary [of State] Blinken was just in Saudi Arabia, just had the opportunity to see the crown prince and other senior officials in that government as part of a region-wide tour where he&#8217;s been talking to the leaders of all or many of the major Middle Eastern countries,” Sullivan answered. “For the moment, the focus has to be on helping Israel defend itself against the brutal terrorism of Hamas. And we will have opportunities as we go forward to look at diplomatic initiatives like normalization that help lead to a long-term more stable, more integrated region.”

49th Edition Of ‘Cernobbio Forum’ Hosted By The European House-Ambrosetti

Graham: Peace Deal Between Israel, Saudi Arabia Will Still Happen

Saudi Arabia, which was engaging in months-long talks with Israel on normalizing relations, has reportedly paused discussions and shifted its focus to making a deal with Iran. 
Reuters <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-puts-israel-deal-ice-amid-war-engages-with-iran-sources-say-2023-10-13/">reported</a> that two sources familiar with the matter said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman spoke with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in an attempt to prevent further escalation in the region. Iran told the Saudi leader that Saudi Arabia would need to prioritize concessions for Palestinians for talks to continue between the two countries, according to one source. 
A senior Iranian official said the call with Saudi Arabia, which lasted 45 minutes, was “good and promising,” adding that its goal was to support &#8220;Palestine and prevent the spread of war in the region.” The call reportedly was approved by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran-backed Hamas launched a brutal attack on Israel last Saturday, killing over 1,300 people and targeting Israeli families, including infants. The Hamas attack came weeks after President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. would unfreeze $6 billion for Iran along with Iranian prisoners in exchange for Americans held captive by the Iranian regime. 
Tension in the region between the Arab world and Israel has boiled over under the watch of the Biden administration after former President Donald Trump oversaw the Abraham Accords, which normalized ties between Israel and the Gulf states of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. The Biden administration had hoped to build on the Abraham Accords with other Arab countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia, Reuters reported. Bin Salman <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0NxI44yBDM">told Fox News</a> in an interview last month that his country and Israel were getting closer to normalization “every day,” but stressed that any deal would “need to ease the life of the Palestinians.” 
Some experts said the attack by Hamas came in response to normalization talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia. A Hamas official said that the terrorist organization received support from Iran for the attack, and the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/wapo-confirms-that-iran-played-key-role-in-hamas-attack-on-israel">confirmed</a> that report with multiple officials, providing more details.
The Wall Street Journal reported that officers of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had been working with Hamas and other Islamic terrorists in planning the attacks, which included firing thousands of rockets and invading Israel by land, sea, and air.
“Details of the operation were refined during several meetings in Beirut attended by IRGC officers and representatives of four Iran-backed militant groups, including Hamas, which holds power in Gaza, and Hezbollah, a Shiite militant group and political faction in Lebanon, they said,” the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-israel-hamas-strike-planning-bbe07b25">WSJ report</a> stated.
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The Biden administration said that Iran was complicit in the attack on Israel but added that it did not have “specific evidence” of Iran being involved in the attack. “Iran has long supported Hamas and other terrorist networks throughout the region with resources, capabilities training,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. “And so in that regard, clearly, Iran is complicit here. But in terms of specific evidence on this, on these sets of attacks — no, we don’t have anything.”

Ali Khamenei/Mohammed bin Salman

Saudi Arabia Pauses Normalization Talks With Israel, Focuses On Making Deal With Iran After Hamas Attack: Report

Suspicion mounts against <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/iran" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Iran</a> after Hamas invaded <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/israel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Israel</a> on Saturday as experts weigh Tehran’s response and its interest in unsettling the Middle East.
Israel began retaliatory strikes against Hamas targets on Saturday under “Operation Swords of Iron.” Experts say the Hamas invasion likely could not have happened without significant help from Tehran.
“We condemn the unprecedented and unprovoked terrorist attack on Israel coordinated by the Islamic Republic of Iran through its proxy Hamas,” Heritage Foundation national security experts Victoria Coates and Robert Greenway said in a statement. “Absent significant training, equipment, and intelligence capabilities supplied by Iran, Hamas would never have been able to have carried out such an operation.”
Lina Khatib, director of the SOAS Middle East Institute at the University of London, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/israel-hamas-gaza-rockets-attack-palestinians/card/attack-of-this-scope-would-have-needed-months-of-planning-K4pM79bXyVFgSCNlUM3U" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>: “An attack of such scope could only have happened after months of planning and would not have happened without coordination with Iran.”
“Hamas, like Hezbollah in Lebanon, does not singlehandedly make decisions to engage in war without prior explicit agreement from Iran,” Khatib added.
Iran, the leading state sponsor of terror, uses an extensive terror network to wield influence in the Middle East. The loud support that Tehran has voiced for Hamas’ invasion of Israel has left some experts suggesting that Tehran may have pushed Hamas into acting in order to scuttle a budding relationship between Saudi Arabia and the Jewish state, according to <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/iran-hamas-attacks-against-israel-palestine-jerusalem/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Politico</a>.
Iran has been a vocal critic of the Saudi-Israel relationship, especially recently. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned against normalizing ties with Israel on October 3, saying, “the position of the Islamic Republic is that countries that make the gamble of normalization with Israel will lose. They are betting on a losing horse.”
The aggressiveness with which Hamas attacked Israel from Gaza left little doubt as to how Israel must respond. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war and promised that “the enemy will pay an unprecedented price.” The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/07/world/israel-gaza-attack/3fabe2fd-ae86-5e2a-a534-c815b26a0173?smid=url-share" target="_blank" rel="noopener">targeted</a> known headquarters of Hamas militants, who typically plant themselves in highly populated areas that risk civilians in any assault made against them.
Israel’s violent response appears to have already strained the tenuous Saudi-Israeli relationship. Riyadh issued a statement Saturday calling for immediate de-escalation after hundreds of Israelis were killed by Hamas terrorists.
“The kingdom calls for an immediate halt to the escalation between the two sides, the protection of civilians, and restraint,” the Saudi Foreign Ministry said, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/saudi-arabia-blames-israel-unprecedented-hamas-attack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Washington Examiner</a>. “The Kingdom recalls its repeated warnings of the dangers of the explosion of the situations as a result of the continued occupations, the deprivation of the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights, and the repeating of systematic provocation against its sanctities.”
The loss of a Saudi-Israeli relationship would be a blow to the U.S., as well, which has nurtured the relationship for years. The Biden administration’s Middle East goals have at times worked counter to each other, however. As Riyadh built ties with Jerusalem, the Biden administration sought to cool relations with Iran to score a new nuclear agreement. The Biden administration recently negotiated a controversial prisoner swap with Tehran that allowed Iran access to $6 billion in oil funds.
Whether Israel’s counterattack grows to include Iranian targets alongside Hamas remains to be seen.
“This is an unprecedented multidimensional attack on Israel designed to kill and abduct civilians and soldiers. Part of the Iranian network of terror,” former IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/iran-israel-responds-hamas-terror-attacks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. “As the extent of Israeli casualties will be confirmed, I expect an Israeli response never seen before. This is just the beginning.”

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Experts Point To Iran After Hamas Invades Israel: ‘Would Not Have Happened Without’ Iran

Top lawmakers on the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations are asking for the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fbi" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FBI</a> and the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/department-of-justice" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Department of Justice</a> to provide unredacted documents on Saudi Arabia’s “role” in <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/9-11" target="_blank" rel="noopener">9/11</a> as numerous records on the subject have remained classified.
In a <a href="https://www.ronjohnson.senate.gov/services/files/4A131859-DDBB-4A6D-8D88-EA7A76631F14" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Sen. <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/ron-johnson" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ron Johnson</a> (R-WI) ask for unredacted documents so they can better understand <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/saudi-arabia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saudi Arabia</a>’s connection to 9/11.
“No one was more affected by these attacks than the families of those whose lives were lost on that day, and who have struggled to obtain accountability ever since. Our inquiry into Saudi Arabia’s attempts to influence U.S. affairs has underscored, yet again, the need for transparency, particularly regarding Saudi Arabia’s connection to the 9/11 attacks,” the senators wrote on Sunday, one day before the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attacks that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people. 
The senators said that they had previously asked in July for “the U.S. government finally provide full transparency into what it knows about the attacks, particularly as it relates to Saudi Arabia’s involvement,” but had not yet heard back. 
They said that they asked again on August 8 for an unredacted copy of a record on “Operation Encore,” but had not yet received a single document from the FBI or the DOJ. &#8220;Operation Encore&#8221; <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/09/11/senate-sept11-saudi-arabia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">was</a> the name given by the FBI to describe links between Saudi nationals and the terrorists who crashed the planes on 9/11. 
“Your failure to respond to our letter only adds to our concerns about the U.S. government’s longstanding refusal to provide full transparency to the American public, and particularly for the families of 9/11 victims, about Saudi Arabia’s role in the 9/11 attacks,” the senators wrote. 
Blumenthal and Johnson said that if the federal entities did not respond to their new call for unredacted documents, they could turn to other methods to ensure compliance with their request. 
Families and survivors of the 9/11 attacks have long pushed for more U.S. officials to press Saudi Arabia on the terrorist attacks. Ahead of President Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia in July 2022, the families and survivors asked Biden to discuss the attacks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
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“Please stand where no other President since 9/11 has stood, with the September 11 community in our pursuit for justice, and prioritize a full and complete discussion of the Saudis’ continued denial of their complicity in the attacks,” the families said in a <a href="https://911familiesunited.org/9-11-families-president-biden-must-demand-saudi-accountability-for-the-september-11-attacks/">letter</a>.
Although Biden has released some 9/11 documents, they have remained heavily redacted and lawmakers and victims have continued to push for more information.

The US Senators Ron Johnson Visits Kiev

Senators Push For ‘Transparency,’ Unredacted Documents On Saudi Arabia’s ‘Role’ In 9/11

Senators Push For 'Transparency,' Unredacted Documents On Saudi Arabia's 'Role' In 9/11

9/11

Christopher Wray

Department of Justice

Merrick Garland

Richard Blumenthal

Ron Johnson

The Left is fully dedicated internationally and nationally to the idea that they would rather have bad things happen to the globe than allow their political opponents to ever achieve a victory.
Here’s an example: It looks right now as though Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, may be able to cut a deal with the Saudis to normalize relations between the two countries. This would be an earth-shattering move. It would be amazing for the Middle East. You&#8217;re talking about one of the most powerful countries in the region moving in tandem with the most powerful military country in the region — one Muslim, one Jewish.
That would be amazing — like the Abraham Accords but multiplied a hundredfold. Saudi Arabia has every interest in signing on because they need economic growth to modernize their technology and their military. And they can work with Israel in order to do that, because Israel has a very, very modern military. 
Here’s where the rubber meets the road: Neither side cares one bit about terrorist organizations like the Palestinian Authority and Hamas and what they would think of such a deal.
You know who does care about that? The leftist writer Thomas Friedman of the New York Times. Friedman really hates Netanyahu. He despises him.
Friedman wrote <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/05/opinion/biden-middle-east-deal.html">a column in the New York Times</a> saying you can&#8217;t normalize relations with a government that isn&#8217;t normal, meaning Netanyahu’s right-wing government. So Friedman’s encouraging the Saudis not to make peace with Israel because he doesn&#8217;t like Netanyahu. 
<h4><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/the-ben-shapiro-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h4>
You have the Biden administration, run by a man who’s not sentient. You have the Saudi government, which is a dictatorship. And lastly, you have an elected government in Israel that&#8217;s been in place for roughly six months with a prime minister who&#8217;s been prime minister several times before.
But according to Friedman, the “not normal” government is the Israeli government? 
He writes, “The more I learn about the complex peace and security deal that the Biden team is trying to put together between the United States, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Palestinians, the more I’m convinced that if they pull it off, they’ll win both the Nobel Peace Prize and the Nobel Prize in Physics. Because finding a way to balance the different interests of all four of these parties makes quantum mechanics look as easy as tic-tac-toe.”
Here&#8217;s the truth: The Palestinian interests are of very little consequence to anyone because they have routinely undermined every peace agreement ever offered. The Palestinian leadership has been a terrorist leadership since Oslo and beyond. Mahmoud Abbas, the current leader of the Palestinian Authority (that&#8217;s the “moderate” group over there) gave a speech the other day saying that the Germans murdered the Jews in the Holocaust because the Jews were usurious, because they charged interest.
That’s who Israel is supposed to be handing concessions to? 
Friedman says, “Given the many permutations this deal could take, let me just focus here on the only one that is in America’s interest and that I would support. It’s a deal that would normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, forge a deeper security relationship between the United States and Saudi Arabia, and concretely advance a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians.”
Here’s news for Friedman: Who cares what you think? 
Friedman states, “I want to appeal directly to President Biden and the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman: Do not let Netanyahu make you his useful idiots.”
The only idiot here is Thomas Friedman. He is perceived as a foreign policy expert, which is absurd. His entire foreign policy expertise consists of going to foreign countries and being wined and dined by dictatorial regimes and talking to taxi drivers. What a garbage heap he is. 
Political polarization is one hell of a drag. 
If you hate someone enough, you&#8217;d rather watch the countries involved fail, even though it would make the world a much better place to allow that person to succeed.
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Ben Shapiro Editorial Series 11 copy

When The Left Hates Someone, Even Peace Takes A Back Seat

New York Times

Palestinians

Thomas Friedman

An Air Seychelles flight to Israel was forced to make an emergency landing at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Saudi Arabia on Monday evening. Flight HM22 <a href="https://apnews.com/article/israel-saudi-arabia-flight-464413aa6f694abf4f9f6af58a378ede">diverted</a> to Jeddah while flying over the Red Sea due to a technical electrical malfunction of the plane. There were 128 Israelis on board. 
The situation was closely <a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/376222">monitored</a> by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, as Israel does not have diplomatic ties or air links with the Saudi Kingdom, and Israelis are officially restricted from traveling to Saudi Arabia. 
&#8220;When they announced on the flight that we were landing in Saudi Arabia, it was really scary,&#8221; <a href="https://www.kan.org.il/content/kan-news/global/507853/">said</a> Sharon Licht-Patren, a passenger on the flight. &#8220;It wasn&#8217;t clear what would happen. Every now and then, the captain updated us that they were in contact with the Foreign Ministry and the authorities and that there still wasn&#8217;t approval to get off the plane. We were stuck for more than three hours without electricity or working toilets.&#8221;
Saudi officials soon escorted the Israeli passengers to an airport hotel, where they spent the night. A replacement plane was sent from Dubai to pick up the passengers, and they arrived safely in Israel on Tuesday. 
Israeli passengers were pleasantly surprised by the treatment they received from their Saudi hosts. &#8220;There was concern, but it turns out that Saudi Arabia is really surprising. We were told we were welcome. We didn&#8217;t expect it,&#8221; <a href="https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/376240">said</a> Emmanuel Carmel in an interview with Israeli Radio 103FM.
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Israeli passengers say they are treated courteously in Jeddah International Airport <a href="https://t.co/qHtW4Dkdq4">pic.twitter.com/qHtW4Dkdq4</a>
&mdash; Haisam Hassanein (@HaisamHassanei1) <a href="https://twitter.com/HaisamHassanei1/status/1696444848104980858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Another passenger, Chen Giladi, told <a href="https://www.ynetnews.com/travel/article/rkbx5eoa3">Ynet</a>, “They took us in buses to a lovely hotel at the terminal and they treated us very well. From the moment we disembarked, they greeted us with ‘shalom’ in Hebrew and made us feel good. They are very nice here.”
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אני מאוד מעריך את היחס החם של הרשויות הסעודיות לנוסעים הישראלים שהמטוס שלהם נקלע למצוקה ונאלץ לנחות נחיתת חירום בג&#39;דה. 
אני שמח שכולם חוזרים הביתה. 
אני מאוד מעריך את השכנות הטובה. <a href="https://t.co/XyVj0o9B1g">pic.twitter.com/XyVj0o9B1g</a>
&mdash; Benjamin Netanyahu &#8211; בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) <a href="https://twitter.com/netanyahu/status/1696458980090839376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2023</a></blockquote>
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Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu praised the Saudi Government in a video recorded in Hebrew with Arabic subtitles. “I greatly appreciate the warm attitude of the Saudi authorities toward the Israeli passengers whose flight was in distress,” he said while gesturing towards a map of the region behind him. “I greatly appreciate the good neighborliness,” highlighting the potential for improved ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
Though Saudi Arabia was not one of the Gulf and Arab countries that normalized ties with Israel as part of the 2020 Abraham Accords brokered under the Trump administration, the two countries have developed strong but informal connections in recent years over their shared concerns about Iran’s growing influence in the region. 
Speculation has grown about an impending deal as the Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/in-new-step-toward-israel-deal-saudi-arabia-offers-to-resume-palestinian-authority-funding-9e2dcc5">reported</a> this week that Saudi Arabia is considering resuming aid to the Palestinian Authority as part of its effort to lay the groundwork for a future recognition agreement with Israel. 
Saudi Arabia had previously been a staunch supporter and benefactor of the Palestinian Authority, giving over $5 billion to Palestinian causes, but Riyadh cut funding in 2016 amid allegations of incompetence and corruption. The resumption of Saudi aid, which would be contingent on the Palestinian Authority cracking down on militant groups and violence in Judea and Samaria, could play an important role in securing their support for the kingdom’s outreach to Israel. 
Netanyahu has long <a href="https://www.israelhayom.com/2022/10/24/i-intend-to-achieve-peace-with-saudi-arabia/">championed</a> a deal with the Saudis, saying that the big prize for Israel is a deep relationship with Saudi Arabia. It would grant legitimacy to the presence of a Jewish state in the mostly Muslim region and potentially open doors to normalization with other large Muslim nations such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
According to Daily Wire Editor Emeritus <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-hands-cash-to-iran-an-incentive-to-take-more-hostages">Ben Shapiro</a>, the Saudis are willing to normalize relations with Israel. However, the Biden administration has put pressure on the Saudis not to normalize relations unless Israel makes concessions to the Palestinians, and the Palestinians are governed by terror groups connected to Iran. 
Biden’s latest <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/biden-reaches-deal-with-iran-to-free-americans-in-exchange-for-iranian-prisoners-6b-in-funds">deal</a> with Iran, which unfroze nearly $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets in exchange for the transfer of five U.S. citizens from prison to house arrest in Tehran, only seems to bolden its sponsorship of terrorism. Terror in Israel is out of control, with more Israelis dead this year from Palestinian terror than any year since the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/israeli-mother-murdered-in-front-of-her-daughter-in-terrorist-shooting-attack-near-hebron">second intifada</a>, 20 years ago. Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has blamed Iran for the latest spree of violence, culminating yesterday with four terror attacks in a span of less than 24 hours.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Visits Berlin

Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu Thanks Saudi Arabia For Kind Treatment Of Stranded Israelis As Warming Relations Grow

Marvel&#8217;s &#8220;Spider-Verse&#8221; sequel has been banned from release in theaters in United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, and across the Middle East — reportedly over the inclusion of a &#8220;Protect Trans Kids&#8221; poster seen in the film.
&#8220;Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse&#8221; was previously set to hit theaters in the region on June 22, but those plans are reportedly now off after the highly-anticipated animated super hero film failed to &#8220;pass censorship requirements&#8221; in the area, <a href="https://www.esquireme.com/culture/film-and-tv/spider-man-across-the-spider-verse-banned-from-release-in-uae-saudi-arabia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Esquire Middle East</a> reported.
The report noted, that the word comes after speculation across social media prompted calls to in to local exhibitors, namely Vox Cinemas — the leading theatrical firm in the UAE and Saudi Arabia — and were told reportedly that film was not releasing.
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Spider-Man: Across The SpiderVerse has been banned across the Middle East, because of a &#39;protect trans kids&#39; flag that appears in the film. <a href="https://t.co/FVDySUBlYJ">pic.twitter.com/FVDySUBlYJ</a>
&mdash; Cinema Brainiac (@CinemaBrainiac) <a href="https://twitter.com/CinemaBrainiac/status/1669189360762363905?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 15, 2023</a></blockquote>
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In the region, films particularly geared towards kids — as this one certainly is — must meet certain guidelines that adhere to &#8220;local customs and values,&#8221; the outlet noted.
While there has been yet no official reason for the film being banned, <a href="https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/culture/spider-man-across-the-spider-verse-banned-in-uae-and-saudi-arabia/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gay Times</a> noted that it was reportedly because of the pro-Trans kids flag shown on screen in the room of one of the fictional characters Gwen Stacy.
In 2018, &#8220;Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse&#8221; had a successful run in the region throughout that year and early into 2019. However, the film did not include any blatant references to transgender kids or to the LGBTQ+ community.
In 2022, Disney&#8217;s Pixar film &#8220;Lightyear&#8221; faced the same fate, as it was also shelved and didn&#8217;t get released. That film&#8217;s ban was believed to be due to the animated movie&#8217;s inclusion of an LGBTQ love storyline and a kiss between two female characters, one of whom had a lead role in the film.
&#8220;Lightyear&#8221; was banned &#8220;due to its violation of the country&#8217;s media content standards,&#8221; the country&#8217;s media regulator said in a tweet, at the time, while not specifying which standard had been violated, as previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/disney-pixars-lightyear-banned-in-saudi-arabia-over-same-sex-kiss-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
It&#8217;s not the first time a movie was banned in the Middle East for homosexual content. <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/lightyear-banned-gulf-saudi-lgbt-1235163872/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hollywood Reporter</a> noted that in April, 2022, &#8220;Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness&#8221; was denied a theatrical release due to its inclusion of a gay character.
(Disclosure: The Daily Wire has announced plans for kids&#8217; entertainment content.)
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/did-sony-make-gwen-stacy-trans-in-new-spider-man-film">Did Sony Make Gwen Stacy Trans In New &#8216;Spider-Man&#8217; Film?</a>

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