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Ted Cruz to Push Resolution Forcing Biden to Abandon Floundering Gaza Humanitarian Aid Pier
US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaking at a press conference about the United States restricting weapons for Israel, at the US Capitol, Washington, DC. Photo: Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is reportedly planning to put forward a War Powers Resolution that would force President Joe Biden to abandon his administration’s floundering Gaza humanitarian aid pier initiative.
The senator argued that the humanitarian aid pier has become a magnet for attacks since its construction, potentially endangering American servicemen. He also suggested that the aid flowing through the pier will end up in the hands of Hamas — the Palestinian terror group which rules Gaza and launched the ongoing war there by invading Israel on Oct. 7 and murdering 1,200 people — instead of Gaza residents.
The Biden administration issued a directive to erect the $320 million pier in response to allegations that the Israeli government has not done enough to ensure a sufficient flow of humanitarian aid into the war-torn enclave.
“The Biden White House’s foreign policy is utterly backwards,” Cruz told Punchbowl News. “He is blocking weapons to Israel … and he has just recently spent hundreds of millions of dollars building this pier in Gaza to continue providing aid to Gaza that will go directly to Hamas.”
War Powers Resolutions are of privileged status, meaning that a political party holding a majority in the US Congress cannot prevent the resolution from being brought to the floor for a vote. Democrats currently hold a majority in the Senate, where a Republican-led initiative challenging the foreign policy of Biden, a Democrat, would be difficult to pass.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has indicated that he would not approve of a direct vote regarding the Gaza pier on the Senate floor, claiming that the White House has already issued a veto threat.
“The power of the War Powers Resolution is that Schumer can’t block the vote,” Cruz said.
Cruz acknowledged that the resolution is designed to place vulnerable Democrats in a difficult position. Democrats have become increasingly critical of the Israeli war effort in recent months, with some suggesting that the Jewish state has committed “genocide” and pressuring the Biden administration to secure a ceasefire.
“This War Powers Resolution is a mechanism for forcing a vote and getting every Democrat on record — where do you stand? Do you support undermining Israel and supporting Hamas?” Cruz said.
Since the completion of its construction, the Gaza pier has not lived up to expectations.
During a Tuesday press conference, Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, the US Defense Department’s press secretary, revealed that none of the 569 metric tons of humanitarian aid delivered to the pier has been distributed to Palestinian civilians. Other reports claim that local gangs have ransacked the trucks and stripped them of their aid, complicating aid delivery logistics.
Last weekend, portions of the pier itself were dismantled when violent waves caused four transportation vessels to detach from their moorings and beach on shore. On Tuesday, multiple media outlets reported that the pier’s operations would be suspended after a part of it broke off, rendering it temporarily inoperable. Bad weather was believed to be the reason that the part had broken off.
Cruz also plans on advancing a bill to guarantee US arms shipments to Israel. The “Assuring Resupply of Munitions Act of 2024” would prevent the Biden administration from obstructing weapons deliveries to the Jewish state until a year after the Israel-Hamas war has concluded.
“I will use a War Powers Resolution to force a showdown in the Senate on Joe Biden’s policy toward Israel,” Cruz tweeted earlier this month. “What he’s doing is obscene. He’s pressuring Israel to defend his Gaza Pier from Hamas while denying Israel the weapons it needs to counter Hamas.”
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Terrorist Responsible for Death of 21 Soldiers Eliminated
An Israeli F-35I “Adir” fighter jet. Photo: IDF
i24 News – Khalil Abd al-Nasser Mohammed Khatib, the terrorist who commanded the terrorist cell that killed 21 soldiers in the southern Gaza Strip on January 22, 2024, was killed by an Israeli airstrike, the IDF said on Sunday.
In a joint operation between the military and the Shin Bet security agency, the terrorist was spotted in a reconnaissance mission. The troops called up an aircraft to target him, and he was eliminated.
Khatib planned and took part in many other terrorist plots against Israeli soldiers.
i24NEWS’ Hebrew channel interviewed Dor Almog, the sole survivor of the mass casualty disaster, who was informed on live TV about the death of the commander responsible for the killing his brothers-in-arms.
“I was sure this day would come – I was a soldier and I know what happens at the end,” said Almog. “The IDF will do everything to bring back the abductees and to topple Hamas, to the last one man.”
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Stanley Fischer, Former Fed Vice Chair and Bank of Israel Chief, Dies at 81
FILE PHOTO: Vice Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve System Stanley Fischer arrives to hear Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney delivering the Michel Camdessus Central Banking Lecture at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, U.S., September 18, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo
Stanley Fischer, who helped shape modern economic theory during a career that included heading the Bank of Israel and serving as vice chair of the US Federal Reserve, has died at the age of 81.
The Bank of Israel said he died on Saturday night but did not give a cause of death. Fischer was born in Zambia and had dual US-Israeli citizenship.
As an academic at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fischer trained many of the people who went on to be top central bankers, including former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as well as Mario Draghi, the former European Central Bank president.
Fischer served as chief economist at the World Bank, and first deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund during the Asian financial crisis and was then vice chairman at Citigroup from 2002 to 2005.
During an eight-year stint as Israel’s central bank chief from 2005-2013, Fischer helped the country weather the 2008 global financial crisis with minimal economic damage, elevating Israel’s economy on the global stage, while creating a monetary policy committee to decide on interest rates like in other advanced economies.
He was vice chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2017 and served as a director at Bank Hapoalim in 2020 and 2021.
Current Bank of Israel Governor Amir Yaron praised Fischer’s contribution to the Bank of Israel and to advancing Israel’s economy as “truly significant.”
The soft-spoken Fischer – who played a role in Israel’s economic stabilization plan in 1985 during a period of hyperinflation – was chosen by then Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as central bank chief.
Netanyahu, now prime minister, called Fischer a “great Zionist” for leaving the United States and moving to Israel to take on the top job at Israel’s central bank.
“He was an outstanding economist. In the framework of his role as governor, he greatly contributed to the Israeli economy, especially to the return of stability during the global economic crisis,” Netanyahu said, adding that Stanley – as he was known in Israel – proudly represented Israel and its economy worldwide.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog also paid tribute.
“He played a huge role in strengthening Israel’s economy, its remarkable resilience, and its strong reputation around the world,” Herzog said. “He was a world-class professional, a man of integrity, with a heart of gold. A true lover of peace.”
The post Stanley Fischer, Former Fed Vice Chair and Bank of Israel Chief, Dies at 81 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Says Israel Blocking Ramallah Meeting Proof of ‘Extremism’
Saudi Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud attends a news conference at the Arab Gulf Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, December 9, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud said the Israeli government’s refusal to allow a delegation of Arab ministers to the West Bank showed its “extremism and rejection of peace.”
His statement came during a joint press conference in Amman with counterparts from Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain, after they met as part of an Arab contact group that was going to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
“Israel’s refusal of the committee’s visit to the West Bank embodies and confirms its extremism and refusal of any serious attempts for (a) peaceful pathway… It strengthens our will to double our diplomatic efforts within the international community to face this arrogance,” the Saudi minister said.
On Saturday, Israel said it would not allow a planned meeting on Sunday that would have included ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Palestinian Authority officials said.
Bin Farhan’s visit to the West Bank would have marked the first such visit by a top Saudi official in recent memory.
An Israeli official said the ministers intended to take part in a “provocative meeting” to discuss promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said blocking the trip was another example of how Israel was “killing any chance of a just and comprehensive” Arab-Israeli settlement.
An international conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, is due to be held in New York on June 17-20 to discuss the issue of Palestinian statehood.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said the conference would cover security arrangements after a ceasefire in Gaza and reconstruction plans to ensure Palestinians would remain on their land and foil any Israeli plans to evict them.
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