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Letter from top Dems to Biden: ‘Use all diplomatic tools available’ to stop Israeli judiciary reforms
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, is spearheading a letter from Democrats urging President Joe Biden to “use all diplomatic tools available” to get Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt his controversial legislation to sap the power of Israel’s top court.
The letter also opposes any potential Israeli annexation of West Bank territory and supports the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
The signers express “our deep concern regarding the planned changes to the structure of the Israeli judiciary, the fragile security situation in the West Bank, and the threat of partial or full annexation of areas that would most certainly be part of a future Palestinian state,” according to a copy that the Jewish Telegraphic Agency obtained before DeLauro’s deadline to obtain signatures. “We urge you to use all diplomatic tools available to prevent Israel’s current government from further damaging the nation’s democratic institutions and undermining the potential for two states for two peoples.”
The letter is notable for its alarmed tone. It also underscores Democratic concern at the direction of Netanyahu’s new governing coalition, which includes far-right politicians, and his plans to reform the country’s court system. The legislation being advanced by Netanyahu’s government would allow a majority of lawmakers to override Supreme Court decisions and would give the governing coalition full power over appointing the court’s judges. In the face of widespread protest of the plan, Israel’s president is urging a compromise.
The letter also addresses escalating violence in the West Bank, singling out Palestinian terrorist attacks on civilians and retaliatory Israeli military raids. More than a dozen Israeli civilians have been killed in terror attacks, and dozens of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli raids. Israel says most of the Palestinians killed have been militants, though a number of civilians have been killed as well, including a man who died amid a riot by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Huwara following a Palestinian terror attack last month.
“We are profoundly concerned that the recent violence and increased tensions could spiral into a major conflict, despite the recent steps taken,” the letter says. “U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William J. Burns recently warned that Israel appears to be on the brink of confronting a third intifada.”
The letter also cites weeks of massive demonstrations in Israel against the planned judiciary reforms. It comes ahead of a visit to the United States by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right politician who is speaking on Sunday to Israel Bonds, which sells Israeli government bonds to investors abroad. Biden administration officials have said they will not meet with Smotrich.
DeLauro, who is from Connecticut, has long been close to the mainstream pro-Israel community, earning an endorsement last year from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s affiliated political action committee.
Among other senior Democrats signing the letter are Jewish members including Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Jan Schakowsky of Illinois and David Cicilline of Rhode Island.
Not all Democrats were pleased with the letter. Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey and Jared Moskowitz of Florida, who are both Jewish, released a joint statement that did not directly address the letter, but that cautioned lawmakers not to interfere at this juncture in Israel’s internal debates.
“Regardless of our personal views and concerns, Congress should not publicly intervene in ongoing negotiations of a key democratic ally,” their statement said. “Doing so, especially in a partisan way, could undermine those negotiations toward a positive outcome.”
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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.
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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.
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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.