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• Amb. Leiter: Nature of US-Israel Aid May Change in Coming Years

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Amb. Leiter: Nature of US-Israel Aid May Change in Coming Years

Lahav Harkov reports on a recent interview with Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, in which he offered his perspective on the political pressures around a renewed US-Israel defense agreement, the future of the US-Israel alliance, and what's next in the war in Gaza.

Key points:

• Leiter suggested that the next US-Israel defense agreement might be based more on joint research and development between the two countries, rather than arms sales.

• The tremendous benefits to the US of military and intelligence cooperation with Israel far outweigh the costs.

• Israel's war against Iranian proxies in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran, along with the direct strikes on Iran by Israel and the US, have significantly changed the Middle East.

• These changes increase the chances of reaching "an Abraham Accords 2.0" with moderate Muslim states.

• The Israeli ambassador must navigate the hyper-partisanship of American politics, which has made support to Israel a top issue between the Trump Administration and his opponents on the left.

• The immoral plan of some European countries to recognize a Palestinian state in the coming weeks effectively makes October 7 into "Palestine Independence Day," a reward for slaughter and massacre.

Read Harkov's report here, or listen to the full interview here.

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Short Takes

US Revokes/Bans Visas to PA travel document holders

The United States is denying new visas and revoking old ones from individuals associated with the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority ahead of the annual UN General Assembly in September.

The Trump administration has also issued broad restrictions on visa applications by holders of Palestinian Authority travel documents. The US State Department cabled all US embassies and consulates around the world not to issue visitor visas to all persons carrying passports issued by the PA. The new policy reportedly goes beyond the suspension of all visitor visas for Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, which was announced on Aug. 16.

The new restrictions cover anyone holding only a PA travel document. They do not apply to Palestinian Arabs with dual nationalities who use their other passports, or those who have already obtained a US visa.

Abrams: There never will be a Palestinian state. So what’s next?

Why, after 80 years of efforts to partition the Holy Land, has a Palestinian state never been created? Why am I persuaded that this objective will never be achieved?

…[T]he problem is not the technical challenge of delineating borders or some diplomatic failing, that if solved will lead to Palestinian statehood. The problem is that Palestinian nationalism is fundamentally about destroying the Jewish state, not building a Palestinian one… State-building is not a Palestinian priority, and the absence of a state is not the cause of the conflict.

Three big lies about the Israel-Hamas war

Bernard-Henri Lévy writes that, "Foolish notions about Israel are being repeated morning and night," including the idea that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Levy responds to that lie: "A genocidal army doesn’t take two years to win a war in a territory the size of Las Vegas. A genocidal army doesn’t send SMS warnings before firing or facilitate the passage of those trying to escape the strikes. A genocidal army wouldn’t evacuate, every month, hundreds of Palestinian children suffering from rare diseases or cancer, sending them to hospitals in Abu Dhabi as part of a medical airlift set up right after Oct. 7. To speak of genocide in Gaza is an offense to common sense, a maneuver to demonize Israel, and an insult to the victims of genocides past and present.

JNS: Fiji to inaugurate Jerusalem embassy in mid-September

Fiji is scheduled to inaugurate its embassy in Jerusalem later this month, becoming the seventh nation to have its official representation in Israel’s capital, the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday… Six countries currently have their embassies in Israel’s capital—the United States, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Paraguay and Papua New Guinea.

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