It seems the Empire State may have lost some of its appeal. According to a new study, young affluent New York residents are swarming out of the state. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
It seems the Empire State may have lost some of its appeal. According to a new study, young affluent New York residents are swarming out of the state. The research published by the website SmartAsset, based on an analysis of IRS data, says that between 2015 and 2016 about 4,867 residents, under-35 with gross adjusted incomes of $100,000 or higher, left New York. This one –year exodus is higher than any other across the country. “That is more than twice the number of rich millennials leaving Illinois, which has the second-largest decrease of rich millennials in our study,” said Kara Gibson, representative for SmartAsset.
As reported by the NY Post, the study indicates that a bulk of these successful millennials headed west. Some 3,597 moved to California and 1,920 moved to Washington state. Other top destinations were Texas, Colorado and Florida. While the study did not investigate the motives, it’s not very puzzling to see why.
For one thing, young execs are looking to keep more of their hard earned money. New York residents pay a good chunk of their income to state and local taxes, in addition to federal taxes. “Washington state doesn’t have income tax, which for New York is a big difference,” explains Levi Sanchez, founder of the Seattle-based financial planning firm Millennial Wealth. “And there’s no income tax in Seattle either.” For NY, this can be a dangerous development, as the state is heavily dependent on the income taxes derived by affluent professionals.
The booming tech industry in the West Coast is also without a doubt a deciding factor, in drawing away the state’s talented techies. “A lot of the big tech companies are here now, so that would be part of the driving force,” Sanchez said.
For some, there are just too many reasons to ignore the prospect of moving to another state. In one example, financial planner Rick Vazza, 30, moved with his wife from Brooklyn to San Diego because it would be less expensive to raise a family. Escaping the cold and unpredictable weather was just an added bonus. “We have 3,000 hours of sun a year — it’s 70 and sunny most of the time,” he says. With the high cost of living and real estate in NY, even his $400,000 salary wasn’t going as far as it could. “As we — me and my wife — thought about what it would take to raise a family there, that’s when we kind of started deciding we’d be interested in exploring some other options,” said Vazza.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office contended the study’s data, saying the figures are old and “fail to mention that New York state taxes are down across the board, property taxes have been capped permanently [and] private-sector jobs are hovering at an all-time high.”
The Big Apple’s largest office building is back on the path to full occupancy. Justworks, the digital-payroll and benefits systems specialist, just signed a lease to fill 270,000 square-feet of space at 55 Water St. Photo Credit: 55Water.com
The Big Apple’s largest office building is back on the path to full occupancy. Justworks, the digital-payroll and benefits systems specialist, just signed a lease to fill 270,000 square-feet of space at 55 Water St. The 53-story behemoth which boasts a total of nearly 4 million square feet, now only has about 400,000 square feet available. The building is the country’s second-largest office tower by floor space, since the Twin Towers were destroyed on 9/11, only behind Chicago’s Willis Tower. “We have more demand than available space,” said Howard Fiddle, leader of a CBRE leasing team. He said that he’s “trading paper” with several large possible tenants.
As reported by the NY Post, Just works’ relocation is one of the year’s largest corporate moves. The company was formerly at the Starrett-Lehigh Building in West Chelsea. Justworks was represented in the deal by Cushman & Wakefield’s Chris Helgesen, Peter Trivelas, Dirk Hrobsky and Gary Ceder.
Located at 55 Water Street in the financial district of Lower Manhattan, the building’s largest tenant is S&P Global, with close to 1 million square feet. Other tenants include fashion icon Hugo Boss, who also moved its corporate offices there from the Starrett-Lehigh Building in 2014. “Our new-economy type tenants like the large floors and proximity to Brooklyn,” Fiddle noted. “A few years ago, a company like Justworks wouldn’t have considered 55 Water St.”
In 1993, the 687-foot-tall skyscraper was purchased by Retirement Systems of Alabama, which oversees three pension funds, from developer Olympia & York. Millions of dollars have been invested in the building to upgrade it and keep it competitive. The property is valued at roughly $1.5 billion and reportedly brings in $155 million annually in rent revenue. Things weren’t always so rosy. In 2012, the building owners had to scramble to save the building from ruin after Superstorm Sandy flooded the lower floors. Over 32 million gallons of seawater were pumped out of the first three floors and lower level, and the towers were successfully reopened after less than a month.
While the building lobby and its street lack charm in comparison to newer buildings in the city, the third-floor has been beautifully landscaped. Known as the Elevated Acre, the space is open to everyone and features a bar and grill overlooking the East River. It has become one of the city’s finest privately owned public parks. Furthermore, the price and size of the building offset the negatives. Asking rents at the building are at about $58 a square-foot, which is a bit of a bargain in the Midtown area. Also, while an office spanning 65,000-square-feet is scarce in some places, “we have 50 of them,” said Fiddle.
May 15, 2019: Jeff Bezos arrives at the Statue Of Liberty Museum Opening Celebration at Battery Park. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
The Amazon founder and CEO has reportedly picked up three condos—including a penthouse that was previously listed for $58 million—at 212 Fifth Avenue, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The building is developed by Madison Equities, with Thor Equities as a partner, Curbed New York reported. Located in NoMad, the stunning luxury building is adjacent to Madison Square Park at the much sought after 212 Fifth Avenue address.
Jeff Bezos owns a condo on Central Park West. Photo Credit: Street Easy
The apartments that Bezos is reportedly purchasing include a 10,000-square-foot penthouse that first listed in 2016 for $68.5 million and has subsequently gotten a price bump (to $74 million in 2017) and another price cut (to $62.8 million). The penthouse is a triplex with five bedrooms, five bathrooms, and nearly 6,000 square feet of outdoor space, Curbed NY described. The observatory on the third floor of the penthouse opens up into a 950-square-foot terrace that offers up views of the Empire State Building, the Flatiron Building, and the World Trade Center. Bezos allegedly also bought two other apartments within the building, totaling $28 million.
In January, hedge fund manager Ken Griffin closed on the most expensive apartment in the U.S. for $238 million, while uptown, an unknown buyer set a new townhouse record by shelling out $77 million for financier Philip Falcone’s Upper East Side mansion. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
Luxury sales were down 3.2 percent during the first quarter, while days on market rose 23.5 percent, according to data from appraisal firm Miller Samuel, however even with the slump many records have been set in NYC. Jeff Bezos set a downtown record with his $80 million triplex purchase; the Real Deal pointed out.
“It’s clearly a paradox where you have a softening super-luxury market segment that occasionally churns out all-time records,” Jonathan Miller (Miller Samuel) explained to The Real Deal.
“There was a perfect storm of a flood of capital looking for higher returns after the financial crisis and a lot of wealth creation coming out of Asia that didn’t exist a decade ago,” he said.
The observatory on the third floor of the penthouse opens up into a 950-square-foot terrace that offers up views of the Empire State Building, the Flatiron Building, and the World Trade Center. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
In January, hedge fund manager Ken Griffin closed on the most expensive apartment in the U.S. for $238 million, while uptown, an unknown buyer set a new townhouse record by shelling out $77 million for financier Philip Falcone’s Upper East Side mansion. Other massive deals this year included hedge funder Robert Smith’s $59 million purchase at the Getty, the priciest downtown deal until Bezos closed.
The number of billionaires in Asia dropped 13 percent to 677 in 2018, according to the research firm Wealth-X and was reported by The Real Deal. Meanwhile the number of billionaires in the U.S. grew 3.7 percent to 705, thanks to a strong U.S. dollar, interest-rate hikes and tax reform. The Wealth-X report also found 15 cities were home to 30 percent of the world’s billionaires in 2018 — including New York, with 105, Real Deal pointed out.
Get your check books out: luxury condos at New York City’s famed 88-year-old Waldorf Astoria hotel are on the market. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Get your check books out: luxury condos at New York City’s famed 88-year-old Waldorf Astoria hotel are on the market.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Douglass Elliman has been tapped to sell 375 apartments on behalf of Anbang Insurance Group. the company, based in Beijing, China, purchased the Waldorf in 2015 for just under $2 billion.
The decidedly upscale homes range from the small – a single room – to roomy apartments with as many as five bedrooms. They are reportedly being managed by Hilton Worldwide, along with over a thousand hotel rooms.
“It’s a chance to own a piece of New York history and all the stories that go with it,” Susan de França, chief executive of Douglas Elliman Development Marketing, told the Journal.
Prices among luxury housing in the city are dipping, but the apartments are projected to sell for millions each anyway. Newly levied taxes on homes with sale prices topping $1 million have also helped slow business down.
“The Journal report notes that Chinese buyers are under pressure from the Chinese government to keep capital in the country and have held back on home purchases in New York,” writes Crain’s New York Business.
The Waldorf project “will have plenty of competition from new Manhattan skyscrapers aimed at wealthy condo buyers. The historical pedigree of the building, which has hosted U.S. presidents and a long list of foreign dignitaries, combined with the mix of unit sizes, should help the Waldorf apartments stand out,” reported Bloomberg News.
If the Waldorf’s hallowed history contributes to sales of the condominiums, Bloomberg continued, “it has also highlighted the prolonged closure of the hotel portion of the Waldorf, with lavish public spaces that received landmark protection in 2017. Anbang — which is shedding assets, including a portfolio of 15 hotels — was seized by its Chinese government regulator last year, raising questions about the future of the iconic property.”
“In additional to continued oversupply in the New York luxury condo market, ongoing U.S.-China trade tensions may present further challenges for sales at a Chinese government-controlled property, which has already raised national security concerns,” added therealdeal.com.
“Though Douglas Elliman declined to discuss pricing for the apartments,” the Wall Street Journal noted, “other brokers told the Journal that prices would likely reach $3,500 per square foot or more, among the city’s priciest.”
The Waldorf, located at 301 Park Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Midtown Manhattan, is a 47-story Art Deco landmark designed by architects Schultze and Weaver, which was completed in 1931.
A long-time realtor and one who has her finger on the pulse of the Long Island City building boom, Evi Kokalari-Angelakis offers a background and perspective on the genesis of this ill-fated Amazon business plan.
In the aftermath of the mind-numbing reversal of corporate giant Amazon in establishing its HQ2 in the Long Island City section of New York City, those engaged in the local real estate industry have conducted incisive analyses as the proverbial post-mortem continues and the trauma still reverberates.
At these times that try men’s souls, it is comforting to know that such real estate fixtures as Evi Kokalari -Angelakis of Golden Key Realty can offer a painfully truthful perspective while injecting a sanguine tone that is predicated on reality.
A long-time realtor and one who has her finger on the pulse of the Long Island City building boom, Angelakis offers a background and perspective on the genesis of this ill-fated Amazon business plan.
“For a number of years now, the average observer can see that the entire face of Long Island City has dramatically transitioned from a run-down industrial neighborhood to a hub of vibrant commerce. This is evidenced by the increasing number of office spaces being taken in luxury buildings as well as an expanding upscale residential area that boasts a wide variety of rental and condo options; with all the amenities of city buildings, “Angelakis declared.
“Amazon and others made great deals with the city. They were in an advantageous position to obtain the land necessary for “a song.” There were a number of environmental hazards plaguing the LIC area but they invested in rectifying these issues. Major developers from Brooklyn and Queens wanted “a piece of the action” and initiated building in Long Island City as well. They converted these dilapidated industrial buildings into condos and office space and this seedy area, once left for dead, suddenly saw an explosive revival that no one thought possible,” said Angelakis
Angelakis recalls the sequence of events with remarkable clarity and insight. “Amazon was going to rent a million square feet from Citicorp and then another 8 million square feet. That is hugely significant if one considers the fact that Hudson Yards is composed of 18 million feet. At that juncture, Amazon was a week away from signing a lease,” she said.
She added that, “I must say that it was a huge relief to know that Amazon was coming in. Contracts went out in the 4th quarter of 2018 and everything was moving at a fairly rapid pace.”
Angelakis said that in November, Amazon made the announcement of their impending arrival. “We learned that 8,000 brand new rental properties and condos would go up for sale. The question that was consistently raised among real estate industry professionals was how the market was going to absorb this as the pricing was plummeting.”
According to Angelakis, quite a formidable economic boom was percolating in the background and the entire scenario appeared rife with possibilities. “At a minimum, 25,000 new jobs were available with accompanying salaries in the $150 thousand per year range. Many construction jobs were being offered as Amazon sought to buy land for the express purpose of constructing residential buildings. It was clear that they were definitely seeking more square footage in terms of residential buildings for all these new employees to live.”
At this juncture, matters took a different turn. Says Angelakis, “Political wrangling and the pursuit of nefarious agendas by elected officials played an impactful role in ‘raining on Amazon’s parade’ so to speak.”
“Amazon then said that this situation was not the prime scenario. We were then left with an over supply of condos and rentals, “ she added.
Angelakis said that it is important to bear in mind that developers need to see results. “For developers, they saw their rate of return decreasing and they are concerned about repaying construction loans. Certainly, they are going feel the effects. Just remember, by the conclusion of 2020, almost 12,000 units were to be built.”
Apparently, the public transportation options to and from Long Island City which are absolutely essential for a thriving business community were in place.
The number 2 and 3 IRT subway lines were routed to accommodate Citicorp. Additionally, the train that connects Long Island City with Hudson Yards was also gearing up to carry commuters on a daily basis.
Then, of course, the proverbial bubble seemed to rattle the world as it burst in front of our collective eyes. Says Angelakis, “The ‘dark money’ began to emerge in the aftermath of the midterm congressional elections in November of 2018. Suddenly, there was Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the New York City scene as this freshman congresswoman clearly had an anti-Amazon bias and was not timid about vocalizing it.”
Michael Gianaris, who represents New York’s 12th State Senate district, which includes the Queens neighborhoods of Astoria, Long Island City, Sunnyside and parts of Woodside, Maspeth, Ridgewood and Woodhaven began to insert himself in the Amazon scenario, according to Angelakis. To say that his position was effectively anti-business would be a gross understatement.
Angelakis recalls that Gianaris bickered with New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo over the course of negotiations with the retail powerhouse. “Gianaris refused to sit down with executives from Amazon and thrash out concerns and points of contention. He also made it clear that he had no interest whatsoever in meeting with the local developers in Long Island City. It appeared that all Gianaris was angling for was publicity and playing to the same base that Ocasio-Cortez was,” she added.
Nerves were indeed frazzled as business leaders and industry executives among many others began scratching their heads, asking, “what are we going to do now that Amazon is planning to leave?”
Published reports at the time indicated that Cuomo was willing to fork over $3 billion in tax incentives to Amazon, with the ostensible purpose of luring them into the deal. Says Angelakis, “Just remember that the return on the $3 billion that the state was going to offer Amazon would have resulted in the state receiving $27 billion back, so I think that is a pretty sound investment,” she added.
Angelakis said that Gianaris was concerned with an improved local infrastructure plan, but his adamant posture in not effectively communicating with business leaders and elected officials was the ultimate downfall.
“In my opinion, Gianaris could have gotten $5 billion for schools, housing and extra amenities for his district, but his objective was to garner as much attention as he could. Helping his constituents were definitely on a back burner” she said.
In the days preceding Amazon’s historic decision to pull the plug on New York City for their HQ2, Gianaris was contacted, according to Angelakis. “He said that Amazon was bluffing, but history has recorded that they certainly were not.”
On a more upbeat note, Angelakis has great hope for the future of real estate development and economic prosperity in Long Island City.
“One never knows when another big windfall will occur and the clients that I have served for many years are completely cognizant of this. In the meantime, we urge all New Yorkers and all people to come and visit Long Island City, come hear the success stories from those who lives have been changed immeasurably for the better in this area. Come visit the upscale retail stores, come and see for yourself that Long Island City is a place that is literally brimming with exciting possibilities.”
IDF Special Forces and members of the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces exchanged gunfire early Tuesday morning in an apparent operational mishap on the IDF’s part. Photo by Shlomo Melet/TPS on 11 June, 2019
IDF Special Forces and members of the Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces exchanged gunfire early Tuesday morning in an apparent operational mishap on the IDF’s part.
Members of an IDF undercover unit were driving through the city of Shechem (Nablus) in Samaria, which is under full PA control, when they encountered members of the PA’s security service on patrol. The encounter escalated into a gunfight.
No Israelis were injured, while the PA reports that two Arabs were lightly injured.
The IDF stated after the incident that during an operation to arrest terrorist operatives in Shechem, exchanges of fire broke out between IDF soldiers and those identified by the force as suspects.
In retrospect, it turned out that these were members of Palestinian security service.
The event will be investigated, the IDF stated.
The IDF did not state if it was successful in apprehending the terror suspects.
Reports indicate that the armored vehicles that the PA received a few weeks ago with Israel’s authorization were involved in the incident.
The IDF and the PA’s security forces usually maintain a close work relationship. The PA helps the IDF in its fight on terrorism, while the IDF helps the PA maintain its regime and thwarts attempts to overthrow it, specifically by Hamas.
Israel’s Police on Monday carried out a mass operation in the Arab village of Iblin in the north, during which they seized illegal weapons.
Police units seized two M-16 assault rifles, two Carl Gustav automatic weapons, a Glock handgun and a large amount of ammunition.
Two suspects, aged 20 and 23, were arrested for the possession of illegal weapons.
Since the beginning of 2019, the police have arrested 682 suspects in connection with the possession and the trafficking of illegal weapons.
Some 75 suspects have already been indicted, while about 100 remain under arrest and are waiting for a court appearance.
Police were successful in seizing hundreds of guns, including 75 automatic weapons, 177 handguns, 68 grenades, 49 explosive devices, 549 firebombs, and six RPG rockets.
“Police operations will continue in all areas in order to find suspects and prevent weapons from reaching the hands of criminals,” the police stated.
The Arab sector in Israel suffers from a comparatively high crime rate.
Data shows that Arab-Israelis are involved in 57 percent of all murder cases, 55 percent of the attempted murder cases, 59 percent of the arson incidents, 45 percent of the robberies, and 26 percent of drug cases.
Israelis Arabs represent about 20 percent of the general population.
According to the Israel Prison Service, the proportion of Arab inmates among Israeli citizens is twice their amount in the general population 43 percent.
Israel’s police have been attempting in recent years to curb the crime rate in the sector.
Israeli scientists at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have recently been successful in duplicating a blood-brain barrier outside the patient’s body using stem cells and microfluidic chips, producing a functioning copy of a patient’s brain structure and thus advancing personalized medicine. Photo Credit: Kobi Richter/TPS on 10 June, 2019
Israeli scientists at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have recently been successful in duplicating a blood-brain barrier outside the patient’s body using stem cells and microfluidic chips, producing a functioning copy of a patient’s brain structure and thus advancing personalized medicine.
Scientists do not currently have the ability to produce a living copy of the brain outside the body. However, scientists duplicated a critical brain structure, the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which functions as it would in the individual who donated the cells to make it.
Their achievement provides a new way to make discoveries about brain disorders and, potentially, predict which drugs will work best for an individual patient.
The blood-brain barrier acts as a gatekeeper by blocking toxins and other foreign substances in the bloodstream from entering brain tissue and damaging it. It also can prevent potentially therapeutic drugs from reaching the brain. Neurological disorders such as Multiple Sclerosis, Epileptic Disorders, Alzheimer disease and Huntington disease, which collectively affect millions of people, have been linked to defective blood-brain barriers.
For their study, a team co-chaired by Dr. Gad Vatine, of BGU’s Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell (RMSC) Research Center and the Department of Physiology and Cell Biology and by Clive N Svendsen, Ph.D of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, genetically manipulated blood cells collected from individual’s into stem cells, known as induced pluripotent stem cells, which can produce any type of cell in our bodies.
They used these special cells to make neurons, blood-vessel cells and support cells that together make up the blood-brain barrier. The team then placed the various types of cells inside microfluidic chips, which mimicked the body’s environment and allowed the cells to interact with each other and with blood.
The living cells soon formed a functioning unit of a blood-brain barrier that acted much as it does in the body, including blocking entry of certain drugs.
Significantly, when this blood-brain barrier was derived from cells of patients with Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome, a rare congenital neurological disorder, or from Huntington disease patients, the barrier malfunctioned in the same way that it does in patients with these diseases.
“By combining patient-specific stem cells and organ-on-chip technology, we generated a personalized model of the human blood-brain-barrier. BBB-on-Chips generated from several individuals demonstrated inter-individual variability in BBB functions. Thus, this approach allows the prediction of the best-suited brain drug in a personalized manner,” said Dr. Vatine.
Although scientists have created blood-brain barriers outside the body before, the investigators said they believe this is the first time such a structure has been created from induced pluripotent stem cells that were derived from a patient, matched the patient’s DNA, and displayed a characteristic defect of the patient’s disease.
The study’s findings create dramatic new possibilities for precision medicine, Vatine added.
“This is of particular importance for neurological diseases like epilepsy or schizophrenia, in which several FDA-approved drugs are available, but current treatment selections are largely based on trial and error. We’re aiming to understand each individual case, in order to meet the unique needs of each individual patient,” he said.
The project was supported by the Israel Science Foundation, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the Sherman Family Foundation.
An eight-year-old Israeli chess prodigy won second place in a chess championship held in Romania.
Israel has produced another chess prodigy.
Eight-year-old Or Shatil took second place in the European School Chess Championships, held last week in Mamia, Romania.
Shatil triumphed over the undefeated Ismayilova Khanim, who is from Azerbaijan.
Shatil started at a disadvantage, as she was playing the black pieces. White pieces have a slight advantage, as the first move in a round is made with a white piece.
Shatil’s win is made more significant as Israeli players have faced severe discrimination by countries hostile to the Jewish State. Numerous stories of anti-Semitism have been publicized against Israelis participating in various competitions worldwide.
For example, 15-year-old Iranian chess champion Alireza Firouzja refused to compete with Israeli Or Bronstein at the Grenke Chess Open, held in Germany this past April.
Iranian chess player Aryan Gholami forfeited his chance to win $10,000 when he balked at playing with Israeli Ariel Erenberg at the Rilton Cup, held in Sweden in January.
In July 2018, seven-year-old Israeli chess champ Liel Levitan was denied the chance to compete in the World Chess Championship in Tunisia, due to her nationality.
Recognizing that this type of discrimination is becoming more common place, Israeli chess player Lior Aizenberg founded the World Alternative Championship. Competitors from all over the world, including Arab countries, are invited to compete in Israel, where there is no discrimination against any people or nationality.
Official Palestinian Authority (PA) documents exposing corruption among the PA’s leadership have leaked to social media in recent days, enraging the street in the PA, while those implicated claim it’s an American plot to besmirch them ahead of the “Peace to Prosperity” workshop in Bahrain. Photo by TPS on 11 June, 2019
Official Palestinian Authority (PA) documents exposing corruption among the PA’s leadership have leaked to social media in recent days, enraging the street in the PA, while those implicated claim it’s an American plot to besmirch them ahead of the “Peace to Prosperity” workshop in Bahrain.
Mahmoud Al-Habash, Supreme Shari’ah Judge in the PA and PA head Mahmoud Abbas’ Advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs who is in the center of one the corruption cases, tweeted over the weekend that the US has employed “a strategy of defaming and assassination against all those who oppose the [US’] Deal of the Century, as part of its insane attempts to force its cursed ideas.”
Rabhi Halum, who has served as a PA ambassador in recent years, has exposed the involvement of several PA embassies across the globe in corruption cases. Halum, who has seen an 80-page document on the issue, has published on social media a long list of allegations involving the PA’s diplomatic corps, which he has dubbed a “den of corruption.”
Faiz Swatey, a journalist and rights activist, has been publishing reports on PA corruption on social media, for which he was arrested over the weekend. He said his life was threatened.
A group of lawyers and activists are demanding that the PA release Swatey.
One of the cases he exposed involves Hussain Sheikh, the PA’s Minister for Civil Affairs, who has sold PA businessmen travel permits to Israel at the total sum of $50,000. Sheikh dismissed the allegations as nonsense and the incriminating documents as a fabrication and pledged to find the forgers.
A senior source in Ramallah told TPS that Habash is behind the various recent exposures of other PA officials as a way of turning the limelight away from himself to other officials.
PA businessmen confirmed that Sheikh has several people working to collect the bribes for the work permits.
TPS has recently reported that Al-Habash is in the center of a corruption case, which is already sending shock waves through the PA. Habash is suspected of having established shell companies through which funds were laundered and then transferred from Dubai to Malaysia, where Hamas has broadened its activities in recent months.
Similarly, TPS reported that Yasser Abbas, son of PA head Abbas, is also involved in money laundering, illicit finances and corrupt deals.
Now Halum is claiming that the PA’s embassies have become a center for corruption and nepotism. For instance, Abed al Karim Hatib was appointed counsel in Turkey only because of his ties with Habash, and despite the fact that he has no diplomatic experience, Halum charged.
Halum also alleged that another Fatah official received public funds at the sum of a half a million dollars from a Jordanian bank, signed over by Abbas.
He further expressed fear that the embassies were becoming targets for espionage by elements that oppose the PA.
W.S., who holds a position within the PA, agreed that nepotism in the PA’s Foreign Service has worsened.
For instance, Kapach Uda serves as a PA envoy is Spain with a salary of $8,000 a year, his wife Hala receives similar pay for serving with the mission in Sweden, his brother Muhamad serves on the Latin America desk for $6,000 a month, and Kapach’s daughter Nur serves as a diplomat in Europe for 5,000 a month. Amar Ajmi, Nur’s husband serves as a minister aid for $7,000 a month.
Another official within the PA reported that Habash’s daughter was recently appointed to the consul in Turkey thanks to her father’s ties.
Other instances of corruption and favoritism have also been exposed.
Swatey explained that he decided to expose the materials he has because of the local press’ fear to do so and because Nasser Lahem, a senior reporter, has refrained from doing so because of his ties with Abbas.
Swatey has based his allegations on PA documents, reports from various research institutes and dozens of meetings with officials.
He underscored the disappearance of millions of dollars from the PA coffers, the arrest of officials critical of the regime, and payments and kickbacks through exaggerated wages and jobs.
He also exposed corruption in government companies, misuse of funds donated by countries for infrastructure and education, the sale of academic degrees, and bribes paid through plane tickets, the purchase of houses and vehicles.
The general picture he depicted was one of a thoroughly corrupt and dysfunctional government, in which even the anti-corruption elements were corrupt.
The anti-corruption authority confiscated NIS 6.5 million in funds tied with corruption in 2017, but its expenditures passed NIS 10 million. The pension paid out to the authority’s former head, Rafiq al-Natsheh, stands at $12,000 a month, against the PA’s own regulations.
Finally, the PA holds a fleet of 4,000 cars, way over its ability to maintain. Many of the cars were given to officials as a benefit.
“Donald Trump is a real rock star in Israel,” Yair Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister’s son, told BlazeTV, a conservative TV network founded by Glenn Beck, a former Fox News host. Photo Credit: Wikipedia
Yair Netanyahu said Trump “will be remembered in Jewish history forever.”
“Donald Trump is a real rock star in Israel,” Yair Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister’s son, told BlazeTV, a conservative TV network founded by Glenn Beck, a former Fox News host. The PM’s son posted a teaser of the interview to his Twitter account on Monday. The full interview will air today.
In an interview with Jon Miller of BlazeTV, Netanyahu said, “President Trump is the best friend that Israel and the Jewish people ever had in the White House. He will be remembered in Jewish history forever, for moving the Embassy to Jerusalem and recognizing Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.”
“The Jewish people still remembers King Cyrus the Great from Persia who recognized Jerusalem 2,500 years ago. We have a long-term memory. The vast majority of Israelis adore America and adore President Trump. He is a real rock star in Israel,” he said.
Miller brought up the issue of the wall that the U.S. is attempting to build on the border with Mexico to stop illegal immigrants.
“I wanted to talk to you about the wall that separates Egypt and Israel because in America we’re dealing with our own issues on the southern border,” Miller said.
“We had a problem at the early 2000s and onward. We have a border with Egypt that is just an open desert,” Netanyahu said. “We started having a big flow of illegal immigrants crossing from Africa, because Egypt has a border with Sudan and from there, the rest of Africa. So they would just walk from Sudan to Egypt then right through the border of Israel then going all the way to Tel Aviv. So they could just walk from a Third World country into a First World country.”
“Israel is only eight million people. So tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, eventually would have led to the destruction of Israel. So in 2011 we built a wall, coast to coast, on the border with Egypt. And since the wall was completed, illegal immigration has completely stopped.”
Netanyahu’s son has become a known figure in Israel through his use of social media, often engaging in sharply worded attacks against critics of his family and Israel.
Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan stated that “for years, boycott promoters have disguised themselves as ‘human rights activists’, managing to raise tens of millions of euros from Western countries and citizens who thought they were contributing to causes supporting justice and equality.” Photo by Hillel Maeir/TPS on 11 June, 2019
Israel has been successful in an economic campaign it launched against BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) promoting organizations with ties to terrorism which led to the shut-down of 30 accounts over the past two years, the Ministry of Strategic Affairs revealed Monday.
The campaign, conducted together with pro-Israel organizations, exposed direct ties shared between the BDS-promoting organizations and terrorist groups or operatives. 10 of the accounts were closed in the US and 20 in European countries.
Following the release of an MSA report in February titled “Terrorists in Suits”, which revealed the ties between terror groups such as Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and organizations promoting anti-Israel boycotts, financial entities around the world have closed accounts associated with the organizations, significantly curtailing the influx of funds they receive.
Most recently, three accounts belonging to Samidoun were closed. The organization’s two representatives in Europe, Mustafa Awad and Muhammad Khatib, are both members of a terrorist group.
Awad was recently released from Israeli prison for his involvement in several terrorist organizations, including the PFLP, and for receiving training from the Iranian terrorist group Hezbollah.
Samidoun publicly responded to the closure of its accounts, accusing the Ministry of Strategic Affairs of hunting its organization and members.
The Ministry of Strategic Affairs notes that the closure of the accounts has disrupted Samidoun’s ability to carry out its activities and has significantly harmed their fundraising efforts. The organization admitted that the exposure of their connections to terrorist groups constitutes “one of its most significant threats.”
Other organizations impacted by the Israeli campaign include the BDS National Committee (BNC), the Ramallah-based leader of global boycott movements against Israel which consists of 28 Palestinian boycott groups, Al Haq, and Interpal.
Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan stated that “for years, boycott promoters have disguised themselves as ‘human rights activists’, managing to raise tens of millions of euros from Western countries and citizens who thought they were contributing to causes supporting justice and equality.”
However, Israel exposed that the “supposed ‘human rights’ NGOs are in reality, filled with anti-Semitic operatives with deep ties to terrorist groups fixated on destroying the State of Israel,” he said.
As a result of Israel’s actions, countries and financial institutions are now distancing themselves from these organizations.
“Our efforts have drastically undermined the boycott campaign, leading to it having much less finances to operate, and barred from receiving financial services,” he concluded.
CNN’s Jim Acosta has a contentious relationship with President Trump. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
In last week’s editorial we covered the bias against Israel that CNN espouses in what they consider their news reports. Today the focus will be on the similar pattern of hate the Jeff Zucker controlled network spouts against our own nation. Apparently, any good news for America, is bad news (reporting wise) for CNN. At this time, with President Trump boldly leading the nation, the loathing for any nationalism or love for America is a target for those who man the war rooms at what we refer to as the Communist News Network. And just who are the forces in front of the cameras that flash their propaganda across the continent? To name just a few: Christiane Amanpour, David Axelrod, Wolf Blitzer, Chris Cuomo, Van Jones, Brooke Baldwin and Jim Acosta. A lineup composed of Communists, hard line Progressives and unhappy (with President Trump) furrow browed, radicals hoping to destroy the First Amendment that guarantees them the right to voice their opinions no matter how far off the target of truth that is.
Amanpour, when interviewing former FBI chief, James Comey suggested that federal law enforcement should have “shut down” chants of “lock her up” at Trump rallies. “Do you, in retrospect, wish that the people in charge of law and order had shut down that language, that it was dangerous potentially, that it could’ve created violence, that it’s kind of hate speech? Should that have been allowed? Cuomo, who claims to have a law degree claims that “Hate speech is excluded from the Constitution.” He’s also been quoted thusly: “Our laws do not come from G-d, your honor, and you know that. They come from man..Our rights do not come from G-d. That’s your faith. That’s my faith, but not our country.” Brooke Baldwin, during the 2015 Baltimore riots suggested that veterans were responsible for the unrest, saying soldiers who become police officers “are coming back from war, they don’t know the communities and they’re ready to do battle.”
And back during the Democrat Presidential Pre- Primary debate between Hillary and Bernie, it was revealed that the former CNN contributor and then DNC Chair, Donna Brazile had shared a question with the Hillary campaign in advance of a town hall debate staged by that network. A felony election crime.
Under the false pretense of delivering true journalism, CNN has exhibited the worst “Fake News” to its viewers, readers and listeners. In fact, the verb, “Zuckered!” is used to help explain the ongoing collapse of CNN as a legitimate news organization. Another New York verbiage is “Going down the drain!” Sad, that a once great source of daily information has now been degraded to such terms.
The three legendary top city high schools, Stuyvesant, (pictured above) Brooklyn Tech and Bronx High School of Science will no longer screen its applicants based on an impartial test of knowledge, but will enroll kids of all shapes and sizes to artificially claim that all students have the same drive, dedication to learning and intelligence. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
If your family is (shamefully) of European ancestry, if you have great goals (like all bigoted white parents) of your kids getting a great education preparing for a super (privileged) future, then the NYC public schools are not for you and your offspring. And who says it? None other than the Big Apple’s Mayor and its School Chancellor, Richard Carranza. The new plans set out by the former Houston school chief will focus on combating a “white supremacy culture,” characterized by such concepts as “individualism,” “objectivity” and “worship of the written word” which he claims now negatively permeate the system It’s hard to imagine any educator or anyone with his head screwed on right, disparaging the written word, but that’s going to be the rule in the classrooms throughout the 5 boroughs from here on in.Bad news!
It’s not illiteracy, poor regent scores or the high rates of teacher and student absenteeism that Carranza will do away with. He will zero in on abolishing “toxic whiteness” in the system. Four top Department of Education (DOE) administrators, all white women, who, according to the New York Post, contend they were demoted or relieved of their duties are ready to sue the city claiming they were targeted and replaced with less qualified people of color. The three legendary top city high schools, Stuyvesant, Brooklyn Tech and Bronx High School of Science will no longer screen its applicants based on an impartial test of knowledge, but will enroll kids of all shapes and sizes to artificially claim that all students have the same drive, dedication to learning and intelligence. No more of that awful “White or Asian” supremacy in these schools, implied Hizzoner whose own son attended Brooklyn Tech. All kids have the same innate intelligence just as all pro-basketball aspirants have the same athletic skills.
According to David Bloomfield, a Brooklyn College and CUNY professor, “Since Carranza took office, he’s brought in a lot of new people.” This has resulted in chaos in the top levels as people battle for power, with those who are white obviously seeing that there is no future for them in the system and bailing out, leaving a vacuum of competency that will be hard to fill if only racial priorities are used to promote. History tells us that bringing in teachers and supervisors of color to raise the levels of aspirations of like hued students will surely fail, leading to doomed futures for the kids. Anyone old enough to recall the race-based hysteria of the Ocean-Hill-Brownsville school district back in 1968 knows that once the theme that white teachers cannot teach black kids invades the mindset of the bureaucrats who hold the cards, the system is doomed for failure. What competent white teacher would now apply to the BOE for a job? And what white parents would not consider a private or charter school education for their kids knowing the hatred for them radiating out of the office of the mayor and school chancellor? Look to the future when at high school graduations the Math Medal is awarded to the one kid who can recite the nine-times table by heart. It’s coming.
Pelosi embraces Al Sharpton and the Congressional Black Caucus who stand with and refuse to renounce open, unabashed, Jew hater Farrakhan. Pelosi said “Al Sharpton saved America”. Sharpton brought us the completely fabricated, racist Tawana Brawley charges against an innocent white police officer whose life was ruined, a man Brawley falsely accused of rape in 1987.
Pelosi defends Tlaib and Omar who peddle outright lies, slander and bigotry against Israel and Jews and…gets a Profile in Courage Award. “The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, said that “desperate attempts to smear” Tlaib and misrepresent her comments were “outrageous.” Tlaib was neither smeared nor misrepresented. It was Pelosi’s defense of her remarks that was outrageous. Worse, this is now part of a pattern by Pelosi of sanitizing and normalizing antisemitism.”
Tlaib rewrites history by attempting to whitewash the so called Palestinian Arabs’ siding with Hitler and waging war on Israel even before it was a nation, exactly the kind of anti-Semitic lies that are spread to delegitimize the state of Israel…”Palestinian leadership during World War II actually worked with Adolf Hitler. Far from giving their lives to provide safe haven for the Jews, as she claimed, the Arabs of Palestine did everything they could to stop them from coming in and slaughtered as many as possible. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al Husseini, formed a pact with Hitler that if he won the war, the Mufti would ensure that every Jew in the Middle East was exterminated.”
“Although Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar accused Israel of “hypnotizing the world” and prayed that “Allah awaken the people and help them see [Israel’s] evil doings,” Pelosi appointed her to the House Foreign Affairs Committee. And after Omar claimed that Jews use their money to suborn American politicians in the interests of Israel, Pelosi played down the remark. “
John F. Kennedy must be turning in his grave, he who stood for truth telling and courage. This was a man who could identify a real victim from an oppressor, insights that are lost on Pelosi. This award disgraces the Kennedy center and his legacy.
What does this say about the future of Jews in the USA when leaders who support Israel demonizers and hate peddlers get distinguished awards?
Sincerely
Ginette Weiner, Scottsdale, AZ
Concerned about the Measles Outbreak
Dear Editor:
Concerning the measles crisis that has plagued the Orthodox Jewish community in the New York City area, allow me to say that as a grandparent I am very concerned about my newborn grandson. He is only 4 months old and his older siblings all attend yeshiva and are in constant contact with other children. There is nothing wrong with that. What there is something wrong with is that my grandchildren have been vaccinated and there is a big chance some of the other kids they come in contact with are not. Like other grandparents, I would be devastated to learn that my newest grandchild would be susceptible to this horrible illness.
I would immediately advise all yeshivos, Jewish camps and synagogue day care centers to mandate that all parents present documentation that their children have been vaccinated. It is the least we can do to ensure that our children remain safe and unharmed.
Sincerely
Shirley Wasserstein
Proud of President Trump’s Trip to the UK
Dear Editor:
In regards to your cover story last week, “Trump Treated Like Royalty in UK; Calls London Mayor “Stone, Cold Loser,” allow me to say that I am exceptionally proud of how President Trump conducted himself while in London with Queen Elizabeth II and the entire royal family. His status as a brilliant diplomatic figure has just been considerably elevated and I thought this conduct was beyond superb.
Watching Trump on television, I wondered if the world was cognizant of the real historic significance of this visit. Yes, the visit focused on paying homage to the 10,000 brave American troops who lost their lives on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day (June 6, 1944) but I definitely think there is much more to it. Trump understands the power of a great trade deal and how it can positively impact the British economy. He also understands the deleterious effects of globalization and the proliferation of socialist democracies. I also think that he understands that the US-UK alliance could be tremendously strengthened after a real plan for Brexit has been crafted.
On another note, I also feel quite badly that British PM Theresa May has announced her official resignation from her post. Due to political wrangling and threats from opponents she tenure was way too abbreviated. The one thing, however, that I still cannot understand is how she can possibly say that the UK is in favor of the Iran nuclear deal. But I guess that issue is for a separate letter.
Sincerely
Marvin Greenspan
Big NY Yankees Fan
Dear Editor,
Start spreading the news! I was happy after reading your article “Yankees Ranked Most Valuable Franchise in MLB on Forbes List,” because, well, I am a big Yankees fan. I guess the Yankees won the MVF award, so to speak.
The Yankees Franchise bought back the YES Sports television Network, which broadcasts Forbes’ “SportsMoney” show, for $3.5 billion from Disney in March. The Yankees team is owned by Yankee Global Enterprises, an LLC controlled by the family of the late George Steinbrenner, a Cleveland-based shipbuilder, who bought the team in 1973 for $8.7 million.
It is no surprise that the world’s most successful sports franchises tops the MLB list for value, and it makes me proud to think of that value that is created right up in the Bronx. I think about how my late grandpa grew up in the shadows of Yankee Stadium and was a huge fan, having seen almost all of the greats walk out onto the field. It gives me some joy and comfort to think about how the franchise is still thriving and not going anywhere anytime soon. Here’s to hoping for more championships and more franchise success.
“I want to be very, very clear, the violent threat, the threat that is ideological is very much from the right,” Mayor Bill de Blasio insisted, in response to numbers showing a 90% rise in anti-Semitic incidents, while denying that anti-Semitism exists on the Left. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
The 90th Precinct squats in a faded tan building on Union Avenue in Brooklyn. There are dirty windows and protruding air conditioners. During Chanukah, a testament to its presence in one of the densest Jewish neighborhoods in the city, the Williamsburg police precinct puts up a large menorah.
The 90th was also the precinct at the center of multiple hate crime attacks on Jews caught on tape.
In Williamsburg and Crown Heights, populations of Orthodox Jews intersect with African-American and Latino populations, and a new wave of hipsters. All three groups live uncomfortably with each other. None of them host the “white supremacist” movement that De Blasio was blaming for the problem. Photo Credit: Crown Heights Info
But the overall winner for the highest number of hate crime complaints was the 71st Precinct with 18 complaints. Of those, 14 were labeled as “anti-Jewish”, another as anti-White, another as anti-gay and two as ambiguous. All but one of the suspects arrested in the attacks in the 71st were black men.
The 71st is located in Crown Heights while the 90th is based out of Williamsburg. Both have some of the largest populations of Chassidic Jews, who dress distinctively and are easily identifiable, in the country.
They’re also at the center of a disturbing rise in hate crimes in New York City.
“I want to be very, very clear, the violent threat, the threat that is ideological is very much from the right,” Mayor Bill de Blasio insisted, in response to numbers showing a 90% rise in anti-Semitic incidents, while denying that anti-Semitism exists on the Left.
In Williamsburg and Crown Heights, populations of Orthodox Jews intersect with African-American and Latino populations, and a new wave of hipsters. All three groups live uncomfortably with each other. None of them host the “white supremacist” movement that De Blasio was blaming for the problem.
The two non-Orthodox groups in Williamsburg and Crown Heights are strongly identified with the Left.
Mayor Bill de Blasio may be under the impression that because Trump won precincts in Williamsburg, the area is a right-wing hub, but the 6 of 8 districts that he won are made up of Chassidic Jews.
Another hate crime took place recently in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The latest incident occurred when two black teens riding on bikes attacked an Orthodox Jewish man walking on Flushing Ave & Nostrand Ave. Photo Credit: Crown Heights Info
As the media noted after the election, “Nearly every election district that Trump won in Brooklyn was in a Jewish neighborhood.”
They’re about the only Trump supporters in the area. And they’re the victims of the violence.
The highest numbers of hate crimes in 2018 took place in the 71st precinct with 18, the 18th with 16, the 24th with 15, the 66th with 14, the 60th with 12, the 6th with 11, and the 90th with 10.
Jews were the single largest group targeted in the 18th, Midtown Manhattan, with 5 incidents, the 24th, the Upper West Side, with 12 incidents, the 66th, Borough Park, with 14 incidents, the 60th, Coney Island and Brighton Beach, with 10, the 6th, Greenwich Village, with 5, and the 90th with 8.
Many of these neighborhoods are heavily associated with Jews, but even in Greenwich Village, the home of Stonewall and the gay rights movement, there were more anti-Semitic incidents than anti-gay ones.
None of them are ideal platforms for a white supremacist movement.
In Borough Park, Trump won 69% of the vote. A New York Times reporter was unable to find a single Hillary voter. And that’s as close as the area gets to any kind of right-wing movement.
Who’s actually carrying out these attacks?
“Forty of the alleged perpetrators were white, 25 were black, two were Hispanic and two were Asian,” the JTA claimed last year.
The arrests however represent barely a third of the actual incidents. And the NYPD frequently classifies Hispanic suspects as white. The NYPD’s statistics also list multiple arrests of the same person.
The first quarter hate crimes report shows that six 28-year-old males were arrested for anti-Semitic hate crimes at the 94th Precinct in Greenpoint.
That would be statistically unlikely.
The highest number of hate crime complaints was at the 71st Precinct in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn with 18 complaints. Of those, 14 were labeled as “anti-Jewish”, another as anti-White, another as anti-gay and two as ambiguous. All but one of the suspects arrested in the attacks in the 71st were black men. Photo Credit: bkreader.com
28-year-old Glenn Murto was arrested and charged with 7 hate crimes for spray painting a whole bunch of Nazi graffiti around the area. Murto, not exactly a genius, confined the vandalism to most of the same places. Two cops were waiting when he next began spraying swastikas.
Age is the only useful metric for identifying a repeat offender. And unless there’s a rash of incidents and arrests, it can be very hard to know whether a suspect of the same age is also the same person.
Back in the 90th, four white men and three black men were arrested in anti-Semitic incidents. The white people in Williamsburg are mostly Orthodox Jews and hipsters with a sprinkling of old area holdovers.
In the 66th, 3 black men, 2 white and Hispanic males, and 2 Asians were arrested.
Asians are not known for engaging in anti-Semitic hate crimes. But Borough Park has large Chinese, Bangladeshi and Uzbekistani populations. It seems likelier that the perpetrators may have spoken Bengali or Uzbek than Fujianese. Muslims would have more of an anti-Semitic motive than Buddhists.
Meanwhile in the first quarter of 2019, the 71st has seen four anti-Semitic hate crime complaints and the arrests of 4 black men.
In the 112th and the 114th, three Asian teens were arrested in anti-Semitic incidents. Both precincts are located in Queens. The borough has the highest percentage of Muslims anywhere in the city.
But that’s speculation.
Compstat statistics leave plenty of room for ambiguity. What is reasonably clear though is that the rash of cases, especially the violent assaults, are not about white supremacy. Neo-Nazis in New York City usually limit themselves to some heavy blogging and social media trolling or light vandalism.
One of the fundamental problems with hate crime statistics is that they fail to distinguish between actual violent incidents, vandalism and more nebulous problems like bias intimidation.
The violent assaults on a number of Orthodox men in Williamsburg and Crown Heights are classed together with swastikas drawn on a playground. But it’s much easier to establish that graffiti has a bias motive, because of the physical evidence, than that a violent assault was a hate crime.
Last fall, a Jewish teen walking home from his Yeshiva in Queens was violently assaulted by a gang of teens shouting, “Kill the Jew” outside Masbia, a soup kitchen run by a Jewish religious organization. Even though the teen was hospitalized, the police claimed that there was insufficient evidence for hate crimes charges. But swastika graffiti in Queens this year was treated as a hate crime.
The paradox of hate crime charges is that they’re often useless for dealing with serious problems, like physical violence and arson, but come in handy when dealing with nuisance offenses like graffiti.
New York City’s presentation of statistics blur the line, but it’s clear that Mayor Bill de Blasio is wrong.
“I want to be very, very clear, the violent threat, the threat that is ideological is very much from the right,” he insisted at a press conference.
New York City does not have very much of a Right. That doesn’t mean the violence comes from the Left.
The Left is just very good at covering it up.
In response to the rash of anti-Semitic attacks, Martha Ackelsberg and Arielle Korman, two members of Jews For Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ), an anti-Israel and anti-Jewish group, wrote an editorial, claiming that, “policing cannot solve our problems” denounced “zero tolerance policies” and “armed guards”, while urging “education” and “restrorative justice, counselling and peer support.”
JFREJ’s site features a petition that doubles down on the left-wing group’s call for the decriminalization of anti-Semitic attacks on Jews by urging “transformative justice processes that focus on challenging and transforming the perspectives of people who do harm in our neighborhoods”.
Despite its false claims otherwise, JFREJ is well aware that the perpetrators of anti-Semitism in New York City aren’t white nationalists or Trump supporters.
JFREJ knows that better than anyone after the black foster son of one of its members set 7 fires inside synagogues and Jewish schools in Brooklyn, while scrawling, “Jew Better Be Ready” and “Kill All Jews”.
The Left isn’t behind the anti-Semitic violence in New York City. But it’s covering for those who are.
(Front Page Mag)
Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism.
The leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip are now offering themselves as a weapon in the hands of Iran to foil President Trump's peace plan. "No one should blame us for thanking Iran... Iran has provided us with rockets and money and helped us develop missiles that hit Tel Aviv," said Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar. Pictured: Sinwar in a 2018 television interview. (Image source: MEMRI video screenshot)
As the US administration prepares to roll out its long-awaited plan for peace in the Middle East, also known as the “Deal of the Century,” Iran appears to be increasing its efforts to help its allies in the region try to thwart the plan.
Recently, Iran seems to have stepped up its political and military support for radical Palestinian groups that are staunchly opposed to any peace agreement with Israel. These groups, including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, do not recognize Israel’s right to exist and are publicly committed to its destruction and replacement by an Iranian-backed Islamic state.
Iran, of course, has long shared the same ambition of destroying Israel and has never hesitated to make its position known to the world. In several statements during the past few decades, Iranian leaders have been frank about their wish that Israel be “a one-bomb country.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has several times referred to Israel as a “cancer” and threatened to “annihilate” the cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. He has also taken to Twitter to denounce Israel as a “barbaric, wolf-like and infanticidal regime.” Israel, he added, “Has no cure but to be annihilated.”
Earlier this year, the chief of Iran’s Air Force, Gen. Aziz Nassirzadeh, was quoted as saying that his forces are “impatient and ready to fight against the Zionist regime to wipe it off the Earth.”
Such threats by Iranian leaders and officials are not uncommon or new. In fact, they accurately reflect Iran’s long-standing policy of incitement against Israel and recurring threats to “annihilate the Zionist regime.”
To achieve their goal, the leaders of Iran have been providing financial and military support to their proxies in the Middle East, specifically Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah — three groups committed to Israel’s obliteration.
Now, the Iranians are focusing their efforts on foiling US President Donald J. Trump’s peace plan. The Iranians also appear to be angry with some Arab countries for allegedly colluding with the Trump administration to facilitate the implementation of the “Deal of the Century.”
On May 29, Khamenei told a group of university professors, academic elites and researchers that some Arabs were committing an act of treason by collaborating with the Trump administration. Although he did not mention the countries by name, it is clear that he was referring to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt.
Referring to the “Deal of the Century,” Khamenei said: “Of course, it will never be accepted and it will never be realized. The US and its cohorts will certainly face failure on this matter.”
The leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip are now offering themselves as a weapon in the hands of Iran to foil Trump’s plan.
“No one should blame us for thanking Iran,” said Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
“It is our duty to thank anyone who supports the goals of our people. Without Iran’s support, we would not have such military capabilities. We will continue to develop our weapons to face the occupation. Iran has provided us with rockets and money and helped us develop missiles that hit Tel Aviv. Those who support the resistance and Jerusalem are our friends, while those who want to sell Jerusalem are our enemies.”
Last year, Iran announced its decision to “endorse” all the families of Palestinians killed and injured in the weekly protests along the Gaza-Israel border. The protests, called the Great March of Return, were launched in March 2018. The endorsement means that Iran will provide financial aid to the families.
Walid Awad, a senior official with the Palestinian People’s Party, formerly the Palestinian Communist Party, praised the Iranian financial aid to the families. “We salute Iran for standing with the Palestinians and Arabs,” he said. “The option of resistance is needed to foil the Deal of the Century.”
Sources in the Gaza Strip revealed this week that Iran is also planning to provide financial aid to Palestinian employees who stopped receiving salaries from the Palestinian Authority (PA). In the past few months, the Palestinian Authority has cut the salaries of hundreds of employees in the Gaza Strip, including physicians and schoolteachers. The punitive measure comes in the context of the Palestinian Authority leadership’s efforts to undermine its rivals in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
Iran’s increased financial and military support for radical Palestinian groups is hardly the result of love for the Palestinians: rather, it is out of a desire to advance its own goals in the region. These include not only foiling Trump’s peace plan, but also seeing Israel destroyed. That is why it is supporting Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two Gaza-based groups that are committed to the annihilation of the “Zionist entity.” Iran is also supporting radical Palestinian groups because it seeks to undermine the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his regime in the West Bank, whom they consider traitors for their perceived moderate policies towards Israel.
Iran’s support for Hamas and Islamic Jihad also needs to be seen in the context of Tehran’s effort to undermine Arab states that have close relations with the Trump administration. Iran and its Palestinian allies are worried about the apparent rapprochement between Israel and some Arab countries.
Nasser Abu Sharif, the Islamic Jihad representative in Iran, said this week that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have become enemies of the Palestinians. Trump’s “Deal of the Century,” he added, “aims to pave the way for normalization” between the Arabs and Israel.
The Trump administration is planning to unveil the economic portion of the “Deal of the Century” during a “workshop” in Bahrain in late June or “when the timing is right.” The Palestinians have called on all Arabs to boycott the US-led “workshop” on the pretext that it is part of a scheme to “eliminate the Palestinian cause.”
This view is shared by the leaders of Iran, who are now calling on the Arabs to boycott the “workshop” and the Trump administration. “Regrettably, a number of Persian Gulf states are cooperating [with the US] because they are hoping that America will protect them in return for their betrayal of the Muslims,” said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif.
By boycotting the US-led conference in Bahrain, Mahmoud Abbas and his Palestinian Authority in the West Bank have placed themselves in the same league as Iran — a country that despises them, deems them traitors and bankrolls their rivals, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, in the Gaza Strip.
Even so, Abbas and Palestinian Authority officials match Iran’s incendiary rhetoric of violence at the US administration and its “Deal of the Century” by denouncing it as a conspiracy against Arabs and Muslims.
The Palestinian Authority’s actions and words serve to support Iran’s self-appointed task of meddling in Palestinian affairs and strengthening radical Arabs and Muslims in the region. Iran’s leaders have every reason to be satisfied with Abbas, whose every remark indirectly bolsters the Ayatollahs in their campaign to undermine any Arab and Muslim who wants to work with the US or make peace with Israel.
(Gatestone Institute)
Khaled Abu Toameh, an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem, is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
