Over the past week, we witnessed several European nations (with somewhat dubious relevant histories) formally recognize “Palestine.” We’ve also learned that Iran has continued to add to its quantity of near-weapons-grade uranium. But first, fighting in southern Gaza has intensified, so we’ll start there.

Latest in Gaza

Israel has moved deeper into the final Hamas stronghold of Rafah, with IDF tanks capturing a central junction. In addition, the Israelis continue targeted attacks against known terrorists. Tragically, in one incident, the terrorists were successfully targeted with small U.S.-supplied 17kg precision munitions which is believed to have set off a secondary explosion coming from a Hamas stockpile of weapons. This secondary explosion is believed to have set fire to a nearby tent camp with dozens of Palestinian civilians reportedly killed.

The Israelis continue to operate with precision in an effort to protect innocent life; nonetheless, there is a reason for the phrase “all war is hell.”

Like our brothers and sisters in the Land, we too weep for each innocent lost as a result of this conflict, and we hope for the day Hamas releases the hostages and surrenders.

But as that day does not appear to be coming, the United States should understand, respect and support Israel’s decision to engage in operations in Rafah. The Israelis, as a sovereign democratic nation, must be allowed to make decisions of war and peace free of effectively pro-Hamas international pressure. Moreover, those of us who count ourselves among Israel’s friends and allies know well the Holy and moral spirit of the IDF.  

In addition to operations increasingly within Rafah, the Israelis continue to operate along the Gaza-Israel border in an area known as the Philadelphi Corridor. Israel has declared operational control over the corridor, where it has discovered 20 tunnels leading into Egypt along with 82 access points to the tunnels.

Earlier this week Israeli and Egyptian troops traded gunfire, and, tragically, one Egyptian soldier was killed. While Egyptian-Israeli relations were already strained, based initially on what has come out of Cairo, Egypt seems to rightly blame the outbreak of gunfire on Palestinian terrorists who were engaged with Israeli troops in the area.

Both sides will investigate the matter thoroughly. The one thing we know to be true is that the death of the Egyptian soldier was an avoidable tragedy that happened, like so many thousands of others, as a direct result of Hamas’s evil desire to wipe the Jewish nation off the face of the earth.

The Axis of Appeasement

During World War II, several nations remained neutral throughout the conflict. Among those who stayed neutral were Spain, Norway, and Ireland (though some not so neutral as not to have political and economic ties with the Nazis).

As it happens, those three nations came together in recent days to announce their recognition of “Palestine.”

The Biden Administration responded in a statement rejecting the move saying that the conflict must be resolved between the parties.

For its part, Israel condemned the move and recalled its ambassadors from those countries’ capitals. In addition, Israel has summoned the ambassadors of those three nations in Israel to watch footage from the 10/7 Massacre, as was shared with Members of Congress and others to bear witness.

These European nations (and others) have been very busy finding new ways to condemn and torment Israel as she fights, ultimately, for her survival.

Dealing with Iran

Meanwhile, Hamas’s preeminent patron, Iran, has been stockpiling more highly enriched Uranium.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran has enriched several hundred pounds of uranium to 60%. From a scientific perspective, one more step, so to speak, in the enrichment process would bring the uranium to a state of 90% enrichment, which is weapons-grade. Some analysts believe Iran could make a bomb, if it so chose, in a week or so.  With that in mind it is particularly maddening that recent reports indicate the Biden administration is pressuring European allies not to move forward with efforts to censure Iran for their continued nuclear advancements.

This should disturb any conscientious person, but we cannot claim to be surprised. The nature of the Iranian regime is the root cause of Western angst with the Islamic theocracy acquiring nukes (among other things). There are leaders, however, who understand how this regime thinks and how to best approach them.

In an op-ed in The Atlantic, former CENTCOM Commander General McKenzie criticized Biden administration policy towards Iran, writing that America has been decreasing its military capabilities in the region, which emboldens Iran. Our leaders should listen General McKenzie, who was responsible for the successful military strike on IRGC Quds Force head Major General Qassem Soleimani:

"The attack, in early 2020, forced Iran’s leaders to recalculate their months-long escalation against US forces. Ultimately, I believe it saved many lives," wrote McKenzie, warning that the lesson learned from that strike was "going unheeded."

Poor leaders cannot be allowed to undermine the people’s will. And so long as we, the people, are strong and of good courage when we come to Washington in late July to stand beside Israel and before our leaders, we will be able to successfully safeguard the U.S.-Israel Relationship

Sincerely,

The CUFI Action Fund Team