Uncategorized
AIPAC’s gathering this week is focused on how to elect pro-Israel candidates in 2024
WASHINGTON (JTA) — With a new right-wing government in Israel raising alarm bells among many in the United States, the timing seemed ripe for a gathering by AIPAC, which regularly convenes bigwigs to talk about the U.S.-Israel relationship. But the group’s conference this week in Washington is focusing not on that relationship but on American electoral politics.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s “Political Leadership Forum” this week is closed to press. But it offers the latest signal of how the group’s activities have evolved from the days when its policy conferences were feel-good affairs that sought to elevate pro-Israel policy above nitty-gritty politicking.
The forum is bringing in “1,000 of our top political leaders to strategize for the 2024 election cycle,” an AIPAC official told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
It is the lobby’s first major gathering in Washington since the COVID-19 pandemic descended on the United States three years ago, just as the group was holding its 2020 conference. In the intervening years, AIPAC announced the establishment of two political action committees, ending a policy that had for decades been sacrosanct of keeping out of direct electoral politics.
“The meeting is an opportunity to review the results of the 2022 election and to inspire and equip our top activists as they prepare for the 2024 elections,” the official said. “They will hear from AIPAC leaders and top political practitioners about the political landscape the pro-Israel movement faces, and what they can do to continue and deepen their political involvement. As always, they will see how increased political involvement is an invaluable part of our efforts to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship.”
AIPAC’s political action committees include a conventional PAC, AIPAC PAC, which relies on smaller donations, and a Super PAC, United Democracy Project, which has unlimited spending power. Together, the PACs raised over $50 million. The success rate was high, with UDP’s preferred candidates prevailing in eight of the 10 races it involved itself in, and AIPAC PAC backing 342 winners out of 365.
That made AIPAC a force to be reckoned with in a shifting political landscape, but directly backing candidates also exacted a price at a complicated time in the history of U.S.-Israel relations. Liberals faulted AIPAC for backing more than 100 Republicans who would not certify Joe Biden’s presidential election even after a deadly insurrection aimed at keeping Congress from doing so. Conservatives wondered why AIPAC was backing Democrats who backed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal so reviled by AIPAC.
A theme of the get-together this week was how to navigate that polarized environment. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, a New Jersey Democrat, joined Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, to discuss maintaining bipartisan support for Israel, at a time when a vocal Israel-critical minority maintains a degree of influence among Democrats. “We are working to make sure that the U.S.-Israel relationship remains bipartisan and durable,” Gottheimer said. Gottheimer and Fitzpatrick co-chair the bipartisan Problem-Solvers Caucus.
There was policy as well, with a video conference address by Israel’s freshly elected prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and one in person by Lloyd Austin, the U.S. defense secretary. Netanyahu suggested in his remarks that differences with Democrats over Iran policy were no longer as sharp as they were when Netanyahu faced down President Barack Obama in 2015 over the Iran nuclear deal. (AIPAC’s opposition to the deal at the time spurred a similar fly-in of top activists in a failed bid to quash it in Congress.).
“It’s time to close ranks between Israel and the United States — and others,” Netanyahu said of the Iran issue. “And I look forward to discussing this issue with President Biden and his team. I think there is more of a meeting of the minds today than there has ever been.”
President Joe Biden initially sought to revive the deal, which former President Donald Trump quit in 2018, but those plans are moribund because of Iran’s deadly repression of pro-woman protests and its support for Russia in its war against Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration is carefully monitoring the moves made by Netanyahu’s new government, formed in coalition with right-wing extremist parties. The government is seeking to diminish the country’s judiciary, and some of its leaders are aggressively pursuing the annexation of the West Bank — a move that the Biden administration opposes.
Neither Netanyahu nor Gottheimer addressed Israel’s current political climate in the partial remarks that were released by their offices.
AIPAC shuttered its springtime policy conferences, which attracted more than 15,000 people, after its conference in March 2020 drew unwanted attention because of two of the conference-goers appeared to be spreaders of the then-unfamiliar COVID 19 virus. It has created a structure of videoconferences and smaller local get-togethers as a substitute and has not scheduled large gatherings even as other groups have resumed their pre-pandemic conventions Still, it has not counted out reviving the conferences.
—
The post AIPAC’s gathering this week is focused on how to elect pro-Israel candidates in 2024 appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
Greece Plans Extension of Territorial Waters Despite Turkish Warning
Greek Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis attends a joint press conference at the Foreign Ministry in Athens, Greece, Oct/ 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Stelios Misinas
Greece plans to extend its territorial waters further, including potentially in the Aegean Sea, Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis said on Friday, despite Turkey’s long-standing threat of war should Athens take such a step.
The NATO allies, but historic rivals, have eased tensions in recent years but remain at odds over where their continental shelves begin and end in the Aegean – an area believed to hold significant energy potential and with implications for overflights and airspace.
Greece has already extended its territorial waters in the Ionian Sea to 12 nautical miles from six, following agreements with Italy, and it has signed a maritime delimitation deal with Egypt in the eastern Mediterranean.
But it has avoided similar moves in the Aegean, where Ankara objected sharply.
In 1995, the Turkish parliament declared a “casus belli,” or cause for war, if Greece unilaterally extended its waters beyond six nautical miles in the Aegean, a position Athens says violates international maritime law.
Answering questions in parliament on Friday, Gerapetritis said further expansion was expected.
“Today, our sovereignty in the Aegean Sea extends to six nautical miles,” Gerapetritis said. “As there was an agreement with Egypt, as there was an agreement with Italy, there will also be a (further) extension of the territorial waters.”
He didn’t specify which maritime areas could be extended.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry was not immediately available for comment.
In July, Greece took another step by unveiling the boundaries of two planned marine parks in the Ionian and Aegean seas. The Aegean park, covering 9,500 square kilometers (3,668 square miles), would initially expand around the southern Cyclades islands, further south of Turkey, according to the maps submitted by Athens. The announcement has drawn objections from Ankara.
Greece says the only issue it is prepared to discuss with Turkey is the demarcation of their maritime zones, including the continental shelf and an exclusive economic zone.
Uncategorized
Lebanon Detains Syrian Who Helped Funnel Funds to Pro-Assad Fighters, Sources Say
A person gestures next to a burning picture of President Bashar al-Assad, after rebels seized the capital and ousted the president, in Qamishli, Syria, Dec. 8, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
Lebanon has arrested a Syrian national who was helping senior associates of ousted president Bashar al-Assad finance fighters as part of a plot to destabilize Syria’s new ruling order, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday.
Ahmad Dunya was detained earlier this week, according to two Lebanese security sources and two of his former associates. The Lebanese security sources did not say what charges were linked to his arrest or if he would be extradited to Syria.
Reuters could not immediately reach Dunya or his legal counsel for comment.
His arrest came nearly a month after top Syrian security officials asked Lebanon to track down and hand over more than 200 officers who fled there after Assad was overthrown by rebel forces in December 2024 following 14 years of civil war.
That request followed a Reuters investigation that detailed rival plots being pursued by former Assad cohorts to finance potential Alawite militant groups in Lebanon and along the Syrian coast through financial intermediaries.
Dunya was one of those intermediaries and funneled money from Rami Makhlouf, Assad‘s billionaire cousin who now lives along with the ex-Syrian dictator in exile in Moscow, to prospective fighters in Lebanon and Syria, Reuters found.
A former associate of Dunya’s and a Syrian figure close to Makhlouf both confirmed that Dunya was a key financial conduit for his funds and was detained in Lebanon. The two sources said he managed extensive financial records, including payroll tables and financial receipts.
In recent months, Dunya had been skimming off the top of Makhlouf’s transfers, according to the two Syrian sources.
The Reuters investigation found that Makhlouf had spent at least $6 million on salaries and equipment for prospective fighters. Some of the financial records uncovered claimed that Makhlouf spent $976,705 in May, and that one group of 5,000 fighters received $150,000 in August.
A Lebanese security source said there were likely dozens of other financial handlers like Dunya still operating in Lebanon on behalf of Assad‘s former associates.
Uncategorized
Kremlin Says Putin Is Mediating in Iran Situation to Try to Deescalate
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks on the day he attends a documents signing ceremony with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 17, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/Pool
President Vladimir Putin is mediating in the Iran situation to try to quickly deescalate tensions, the Kremlin said on Friday, after the Russian leader spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.
Moscow, an ally of Tehran, has condemned US President Donald Trump’s threats of new military strikes after Iran cracked down on protests that broke out late last month.
Israel and the US last year both bombed Iranian nuclear sites, and Iran fought a 12-day war with Israel.
Russia has pursued closer ties with Iran since the start of its war in Ukraine, and Putin last year signed a 20-year strategic partnership pact with Pezeshkian. Moscow also has a long-established working relationship with Israel.
Putin in his call with Netanyahu expressed Russia’s willingness to “continue its mediation efforts and to promote constructive dialogue with the participation of all interested states,” the Kremlin said, adding he had set out his ideas for boosting stability in the Middle East.
No further details were given on Putin‘s mediation attempt.
Putin had then been briefed by Pezeshkian in a separate call on what the Kremlin called Tehran’s “sustained efforts” to normalize the situation inside Iran.
“It was noted that Russia and Iran unanimously and consistently support deescalating the tensions — both surrounding Iran and in the region as a whole — as soon as possible and resolving any emerging issues through exclusively political and diplomatic means,” the Kremlin said.
Putin and Pezeshkian had confirmed their commitment to their countries’ strategic partnership and to implementing joint economic projects, the Kremlin added.
WESTERN SANCTIONS
Separately, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes Russia, China, India, and Iran among others, said it opposed external interference in Iran and blamed Western sanctions for creating conditions for unrest.
“Unilateral sanctions have had a significant negative impact on the economic stability of the state, led to a deterioration in people’s living conditions and objectively limited the ability of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to implement measures to ensure the country‘s socio-economic development,” the SCO said in a statement.
Protests erupted on Dec. 28 over soaring inflation in Iran, whose economy has been crippled by sanctions, before spiraling into one of the biggest challenges yet to the clerical establishment ruling Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Any threat to the survival of the Iranian leadership would pose a serious concern for Moscow, 13 months after it lost another key Middle East ally with the toppling of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Earlier this month another Russian ally, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, was captured by the United States and brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges.
Asked what support Russia could provide to Iran, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Russia is already providing assistance not only to Iran but also to the entire region, and to the cause of regional stability and peace. This is partly thanks to the president’s efforts to help deescalate tensions.”
Western powers accuse Iran of having a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons, something Tehran denies. Russia says it supports Iran‘s right to peaceful nuclear energy.