Rivlin, Kochavi on diplomatic trip in Europe warn of lurking Iranian danger
Ashkenazi flies to Moscow days after Russian foreign minister meets with Hezbollah official
President Reuven Rivlin with IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen Aviv Kochavi, and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, embarked on diplomatic missions in Europe on Tuesday with a clear message: Israel will continue to oppose all Iranian activity in the region.
On the first leg of his tri-state visit to Europe, Rivlin met on Tuesday with German President Frank Walter Steinmeier and Foreign Minister Heiko Maas. Rivlin is due to meet with his Austrian counterpart on Wednesday, and his French counterpart on Thursday.
Although Rivlin was primarily interested in discussing how to prevent Iran from further developing nuclear arms; the intensified activities of Hezbollah and the need to mobilize European support for Israel in relation to the International Criminal Court, which is deliberating on whether Israel should be tried for war crimes, the conversation also included diplomatic developments in the Middle East, the Palestinian elections and the pandemic.
Ashkenazi left for Moscow on Monday, just two days after his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov met with a Hezbollah representative. The Russian foreign minister met with Mohammad Raad, the head of Hezbollah’s bloc in the Lebanese parliament, Russian state media TASS reported this week.
In Germany, Steinmeier praised Israel’s vaccination campaign. Germany, he said, shares Israel’s concerns over the dangers posed by Iran and Hezbollah, and noted it was “imperative” for a two-state solution to be negotiated as soon as possible with the Palestinians. He did acknowledge however, that Israel was not to blame for the protracted delay in reaching a solution.
Rivlin called the Abraham Accords “a ray of hope” but noted that extremist forces – primarily Iran and Hezbollah – were attempting to derail them.
Kochavi spoke in Germany of “the fundamental difference between us and our enemies.” “While we do everything we can to prevent harming innocent civilians, our enemies do everything they can to harm
our civilians, who are entirely innocent. We are in a new era of warfare, which is highly complex, and the ICC must adapt itself to the new reality. Your soldiers [Germany’s] could face the same problems in other
parts of the world, and so your support now is very important to us.”
An Israeli diplomatic source said the Foreign Ministry views the timing of Lavrov and Raad’s meeting as coincidental, and not an intentional slight.
Ashkenazi plans to meet with Lavrov on Wednesday, and intends to ask him what was discussed in the meeting with the Hezbollah representative, the diplomatic source said.
The foreign ministers are also expected to discuss diplomatic and security issues, including Iran. Russia supports an American and Iranian return to the 2015 nuclear deal.
Syria is also on the agenda, with Israel and Russia having an open line of communication about Israeli actions against Iranian proxies in Syria.
They will likely discuss Russian efforts to recover the bodies of Israelis missing in action in Syria since the first Lebanon war in 1982, and of masterspy Eli Cohen, hanged in Damascus in 1965.
In addition, Ashkenazi seeks to achieve Russian acceptance of Israeli “Green Passports,” for people who have been vaccinated against or have recovered from COVID-19. However,this may be diplomatically awkward as the Israeli Health Ministry does not accept the Russian COVID-19 vaccine.
The diplomatic source said Israel has proposed that Russians seeking to visit the country undergo a PCR or serological test to show they have antibodies against coronavirus before visiting, but they will not have to go into quarantine upon arrival.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the topics for the meeting with Ashkenazi will also include “counteracting attempts to revise the history and results of World War II.” Russia and other Eastern European countries, especially Poland, have been involved in diplomatic spats about their respective roles in World War II and the Holocaust.
Before his meeting with Lavrov, Ashkenazi is expected to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow.
Ashkenazi will also take part in an unveiling ceremony for a Holocaust Memorial at the Israeli Embassy in Moscow.
WASHINGTON – Twelve House Democrats and 12 House Republicans wrote to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week arguing that the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran did not sufficiently ensure that the Islamic Republic could never obtain a nuclear weapon.
“We urge you to work with our allies and consult with Congress in a bipartisan and bicameral fashion to outline a better, comprehensive deal with Iran that would block its path to a nuclear weapon and blunt its global malign activities,” the letter reads.
“Going forward, the administration should make use of existing leverage to sharpen the choices available to Tehran,” the lawmakers continued. “The world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism must be held accountable for its nuclear enrichment and undermining regional peace and stability.”
House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) led the letter.
“I think we have the upper hand here, and we shouldn’t allow them to threaten the United States or our allies,” Gottheimer told The Jerusalem Post in an interview on Monday.
“I think we need to continue to tighten the grip. And yes, they’re going to lash out – but we, as we’ve seen, will respond in kind,” he said, adding that “I don’t think the Iranians have a lot of good options. And obviously, under the right conditions, we can open conversations and discussions with them.”
Gottheimer said that the maximum pressure campaign has been an effective strategy against the Iranians. “We need to keep up the maximum pressure sanctions regime,” he said. “I think they’ve been successful in putting pressure on the Iranians. It’s crippled the Iranian economy and it’s made it clear to the Iranians that we will not accept their aggressive nuclear program or terror program.”
LAST WEEK, Blinken testified at the House Foreign Affairs Committee and vowed not to give Iran any concessions.
“I was pleased to hear the secretary testify as such,” Gottheimer said. “Iran has clearly demonstrated an unwillingness to show good faith when it comes to their nuclear program or their terror program, or just their recent actions or [those of] their proxies.
“They have consistently failed to demonstrate a willingness to comply. So as far as I’m concerned, they’re only going to respond to strength,” he said.
“I think that there are certain pockets in the Democratic Party that are willing to take a more trusting approach, and I think we need to take a more hardline approach against Iran and give the United States the tools to drive a hard bargain in any negotiations going forward,” he added.
Gottheimer also called on the administration to closely consult with Israel. “We need to make sure that the United States knows that there are many of us in Congress who stand with them with a strong posture, with tough sanctions against a harbor of terror and a country that has failed to show any good faith measures except to threaten our allies and our country,” he said.
“You can’t move right back into the JCPOA,” the congressman added. “We need to be vigilant on new sanctions and be prepared. I’m always for seeking a diplomatic channel if one is available, and I think we should. But I think the deal is going to have to look different than JCPOA, which I was opposed to.”
MCCAUL, who led the letter with Gottheimer, told the Post that “Congress feels very strongly about ensuring the Biden Administration holds a hard line against Iran, given the national security implications should the administration continue to make concessions to the regime.
“Congress has the responsibility to conduct oversight of the administration’s foreign policy on behalf of Americans – and given the history of sanctions relief with Iran, we must make sure the American people have a voice in any proposal with serious national security implications,” he said.
He praised the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign on Iran and said that it cost the regime over $70 billion in oil revenue, “creating leverage for the Biden administration to secure a better deal.”
“They must use that to their advantage,” McCaul said. “A new deal must not include sunset clauses; it must allow the IAEA access to all nuclear sites, stop Iran’s ballistic missile development, end Iran’s support for terrorism and call for the release of all hostages illegally held in Iran.”
FOLLOWING BLINKEN’S announcement that Washington
is ready to engage diplomatically with Tehran, several members of Congress led similar measures, calling on the administration to seek a comprehensive agreement that addresses the regime’s ballistic missiles program and sponsorship of terrorism as a part of any future agreement.
Last week, a bipartisan group of 140 Congress members – 70 Democrats and 70 Republicans – sent a letter to Blinken, calling for any future agreement with the Islamic Republic would address “the comprehensive range of threats that Iran poses to the Middle East region.”
“As Democrats and Republicans from across the political spectrum, we are united in preventing an Iranian nuclear weapon and addressing the wide range of illicit Iranian behavior,” they wrote. “There is consensus within Congress that allowing one of the world’s leading state sponsors of terrorism to obtain nuclear weapons is an unacceptable risk. We recognize that there is not a singular diplomatic path forward on these objectives and we look forward to working with you as partners to achieve lasting peace in the region.”
The legislators noted that Iran has continued to test ballistic missile technology, “funded and supported terrorism throughout the Middle East, and engaged in cyberattacks to disrupt the global economy.”
Additional initiatives aimed at giving Congress oversight over a future deal. Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) introduced a bill last week seeking to deprive any funds to the State Department or the executive branch for purposes of renegotiating the JCPOA without first submitting it to the US Senate as a
treaty, triggering the advice and consent and the oversight that comes with that.
In a conversation with the
Barr said that the new legislation is not a symbolic move
Post,
but rather a substantive way to increase the ability of Congress to review the agreement.
“It’s not symbolism; it’s intended to be a very substantive legislative proposal, and I’m
going to be asking a question related to it to Secretary Blinken and the House Foreign Affairs Committee this week,” said Barr, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
With Passover less than two weeks away, much of the Jewish world is focusing on preparing for the Festival of Freedom, and Jews in Muslim lands are no exception.
Matzah baking is well underway in Iran and Bahrain, delivery of essential Passover items is gathering steam, and preparations for the seder, as well as pre-holiday events, are in full swing.
In Tehran, the matzah factory, which begins operating approximately three weeks before Passover begins, has been churning out several tons of machine-made matzah for the local community, overseen by Chief Rabbi of Tehran Rabbi Yehuda Gerami.
There are approximately 12,000 Jews in Iran, mostly in Tehran but with communities also in Shiraz, Isfahan and beyond.
In addition to the locally made matza, some 250kg. of “shmura matza,” produced with greater stringency and by a more difficult process than regular matza, often used specifically on seder night, was imported into Iran from Azerbaijan.
And the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States (ARIS), an association of rabbis serving Jewish communities in 14 Muslim-majority countries, has been busy sending matzah to Jews in some of the most politically perilous places in the world, including Syria, Afghanistan, Libya and Lebanon.
In addition, the organization has sent several thousand seder boxes, including seder night essentials, to Jewish communities ahead of Passover, across the Muslim world, including Turkey, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Nigeria, and beyond.
In Uzbekistan, Rabbi Shlomo Babaev from the capital city of Tashkent, prepared 560 bottles of wine for use at the seder and over Passover, and slaughtered 120 chickens brought to him by members of the Jewish community for consumption over the holiday.
“It is heartwarming to see how rabbis in Muslim countries are helping each other in providing logistics and assistance in transportation of matzah, to assure that every Jew is able to celebrate the holiday,” said chairman of the alliance Rabbi Mendy Chitrik.
“This year, the rabbis at the Alliance of Rabbis in Islamic States have provided Matzah
and Pesach amenities to 14 ARIS member countries and to individuals in eight additional Muslim countries. The assistance of our governments in assuring that we can have our Passover religious needs cannot be overestimated.”
On the Arabian peninsula, the newly established Association of Gulf Jewish Communities imported some 300kg. of matzot for local communities in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and beyond.
There are around 1,200 Jews living in the Gulf countries, the overwhelming majority of whom are expats from around the world but they also include 50 Jews in a community dating back some 140 years in Bahrain.
The Bahraini Jewish community also produced some locally made matzah as well.
The Jewish Council of the Emirates, one of the major Jewish community organizations in the country, will be hosting a communal seder in Dubai on seder night next Saturday night, and expects between 100 to 150 guests.
Additionally, the AGJC leadership has been invited to Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi where the JCE’s Chief Rabbi Yehuda Sarna and Senior Rabbi Eli Abadie, together with military chaplains and the Jewish Welfare Board, will host a Passover celebration with holiday food and conversation for US troops stationed at the base.
The program will also be webcast for other US bases in the Gulf, with an estimated 1,000 Jews.
Abadie will be leading a Zoom talk on the topic of “Seder Essentials,” with a 30-minute seder focusing on the themes of the holiday and a question and answer session.
“It is very exciting to see such demand for Passover programming in the Gulf this year,” said Rabbi Abadie. “As many will be leading their own seder this year due to less travel because of the pandemic, we are looking forward to offering the Seder Essentials webinar in order to provide them with tools and tips for doing so.”