October 13, 2023

Friday, October 13, 2023. Annette’s News Roundup.

I think the Roundup makes people feel not so alone.

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Joe is always busy.

U.S., Qatar agree to stop Iran from tapping $6 billion fund after Hamas attack

Wally Adeyemo, now the deputy treasury secretary, speaks in Wilmington, Del., in December 2020.

U.S. officials and the Qatari government have agreed to stop Iran from accessing a $6 billion account for humanitarian assistance in light of Hamas’s attack on Israel, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told House Democrats on Thursday, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the private remarks.


The decision not to permit access to the money comes just a few weeks after the U.S. and Iranian governments announced a deal to set up the humanitarian assistance as part of a prisoner swap aimed at easing hostilities in the region.

U.S. officials had to approve each transaction under the agreement. The fund is financed by Iranian oil sales.

U.S. officials say Hamas has received weapons and training from Iran, but there has been no evidence of Iran’s direct role in the slaughter, The Washington Post previously reported.

But President Biden has faced mounting bipartisan pressure on Capitol Hill to prevent the funds from being used by Iran, amid scrutiny of Tehran’s links to Hamas.

Adeyemo told House Democrats that the money “isn’t going anywhere anytime soon,” according to three House Democratic aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations. That comment was first reported by Punchbowl.
Senators of both parties, including Senate Banking Committee Chairman Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), have called on the Biden administration to renege on the agreement.

Rescinding the aid would embolden hard-line voices in Iran that have rejected working with the West, said Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a foreign policy think tank.

Parsi also speculated that such a move could shift opinion within the regime in favor of building a nuclear bomb.


“If this step is taken, that status quo falls apart — and it will have a very detrimental effect on the internal discussions in Iran, within the regime,” Parsi said. “If there is no prospect of a deal with the U.S., it will likely tilt Iran toward building a bomb — and that would be an extremely dangerous situation.”


Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has declared nuclear weapons forbidden by Islam and has vowed that Iran will never seek to build or acquire them. (Washington Post).

Blinken tells Netanyahu in Israel: U.S. "will always be by your side.”

Secretary of State Tony Blinken arrived in Israel on Thursday and met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the members of the "war cabinet," which was formed as part of the new emergency government to respond to the Hamas attack.

Why it matters: U.S. and Israeli officials say Blinken's trip to Israel is focused on showing solidarity and support for Israel. But he's also in the region to discuss a possible "safe passage" for Americans and other foreign nationals from Gaza.

• More than 1,200 Israelis and 1,350 Palestinians have been killed, thousands have been injured, and hundreds of thousands of others have been displaced since the fighting began.

• The number of Americans killed by Hamas rose to 25 on Thursday, Blinken said. At least 17 Americans are missing, and U.S. citizens are among those held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

What they're saying: Netanyahu told Blinken after their meeting that Hamas, which is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S., Israel and other countries, should be treated like ISIS. "No leader should meet them. No countries should harbor them and those that do need to be sanctioned," he said.

• Blinken told Netanyahu that he arrived in Israel not only as the U.S. secretary of state but also as a Jew. "My grandfather fled pogroms in Russia and my stepfather survived concentration camps," he said.

• Blinken said Hamas doesn't represent the Palestinian people or their national aspirations.

• "This is a moment for moral clarity. Everyone must condemn Hamas. Hamas doesn't stand for the future the Palestinians want for themselves. Hamas has only one agenda to destroy Israel and kill Jews," he said.

• Blinken said Israel is strong enough to defend itself by itself but stressed it has the full support of the U.S. "My message is this: As long as America exists we will always be there by your side," he said.

• The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said that Netanyahu showed Blinken photos of babies who were killed by Hamas. In one photo, a baby was shot in the head, and in another photo, a baby's body was burned.

State of play: Blinken said the U.S. has already supplied Israel with ammunition and interceptors for the Iron Dome missile defense system and more shipments are on the way.

• "As Israel's security needs evolve, we will work with Congress to make sure they are met. There is overwhelming bipartisan support in Congress for Israel's security," Blinken said.

• Blinken said Israel has the right to defend itself and create a reality that prevents Hamas from attacking it in the future, but he stressed "every possible precaution" must be taken "to avoid hitting civilians."

The big picture: Blinken also said the U.S. welcomes "the formation of the new emergency government and the unity in Israeli society." It was the first U.S. response to the dramatic political development in Israel.

• Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz agreed to the emergency unity government on Wednesday.

• The fact that Gantz, a member of the opposition, is joining the government underscores how big the crisis in Israel is as a result of the deadly Hamas attack.

• A new small "war cabinet" has been formed, with Gantz, also a former IDF chief of staff, as a member along with Netanyahu and current Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

• Former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eizencot, who is a member of Gantz's party, and current Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer is also part of the war cabinet.

Between the lines: The Biden administration has a close relationship with Gantz who visited the White House several days before the Hamas attack.

• Both Gantz and Eizencot have decades of close ties with the Pentagon.

What to watch: Blinken is expected to meet in Israel with the families of U.S. citizens who were killed and others who are still missing or were taken hostage by Hamas.

• Blinken is joined by Steve Gillen, the deputy U.S. special envoy for hostage affairs, who is expected to stay in Israel to work with the families and with the Israeli government on the issue.

• Blinken will travel to Jordan later on Thursday and meet King Abdullah II. He will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman on Friday.

• U.S. officials said Blinken may also travel to other countries in the region as part of the U.S. diplomatic effort around the war in Gaza.

Go deeper: Biden says U.S. "made it clear" to Iran it should not intervene in Hamas-Israel war (Axios).

Yesterday, the President entered what seems to be an ongoing debate about how babies were killed by Hamas.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden painted a vivid picture of the horrors of the Israel-Hamas war in remarks to Jewish community leaders Wednesday — but the White House later had to clarify his claims.

“I never really thought that I would see and have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children,” Biden said in broader remarks about his administration’s support for Israel amid its war with Hamas and efforts to free American hostages.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for further details about Biden’s remarks. Two senior administration officials said Biden was referring to reports from Israel about beheaded children and cited several media reports of beheadings.

NBC News has not confirmed those reports. IDF Spokesperson Maj. Doron Spielman told NBC News: "That specific report and that number I can’t confirm."

A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that toddlers and babies were found in Kfar Aza, a kibbutz in southern Israel, with their “heads decapitated” after Hamas’ attack over the weekend, CNN reported. (NBC News).

One more thing. Or two. On the subject of Israel.

Former Vice President Mike Pence lit into former President Donald Trump on Thursday for his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and praise of Hezbollah, just days after the attack on Israel.

“This is no time for any former president or any other American leader to be sending any message other than America stands with Israel,” Pence said on a New Hampshire radio station.

Speaking on News Radio 610 ahead of a two-day campaign swing in New Hampshire, Pence took aim at Trump’s remarks the previous night, in which the former president called Hezbollah “very smart.”

“Hezbollah aren’t smart, they’re evil,” Pence said.

And President Joe Biden’s White House pounced on Trump’s remarks, calling them “unhinged.” (Politico).

Touch the video 👇 to Watch the Tel Aviv City Hall display the American Flag.

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Other Matters.

No increase in inflation in September.

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GOP updates.

Hey, I know very little about GOP Representative Ken Buck of Colorado but keep your eye on him.

Finally.

It would only take 5 Republicans…

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U.S.A. Election News.

Election Day in America in 2023 is Tuesday, November 7th.

Are you and everyone you can think of and ask registered?

from Tim Kaine, Democratic Senator from Virginia.

From Democratic Congresswoman Abby Spanberger from Virginia.

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Judy Chicago Exhibition at the New Museum in New York City.

Judy Chicago, Beyond “The Dinner Party.”

Those who know the artist Judy Chicago only by her feminist installation piece “The Dinner Party” (1974-79) may be surprised by the eclecticism of her survey exhibition “Herstory,” opening Oct. 12 at the New Museum. In 1968, a year when police officers were busy tear-gassing peaceful protesters, she covered a Pasadena, California, street in benign white smoke. Similar performance pieces followed, and there’s a strong argument to be made that smoke is the medium in which she has done her finest work. In 1969, she briefly engulfed the façade of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art in a yellowish-orange haze (pictured). “I wanted to see if I could make it look like it was burning down,” she explained. “Museums were very inhospitable to women artists’ work.”—Jackson Arn (New Museum; through Jan. 14.)

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What time is the annular solar eclipse on Oct. 14? | Space.?

An annular eclipse will occur on Oct. 14 and be visible across the Americas.

The first U.S. location to experience the annular "ring of fire" stage of the eclipse will be Oregon at 9:13 a.m. PT (12:13 p.m. EDT, 1613 GMT) on Oct. 14. Prior to that, the partial eclipse stage of the eclipse begins off the West Coast of the United States at 11:03 EDT (1503 GMT.)

The eclipse will then pass through seven other U.S. states before moving across the Gulf of Mexico and over Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Brazil, making the famous "ring of fire" visible to millions of people. 

You can see the whole path of annularity including start and end times for different stages of the solar eclipse at each location in this interactive map created by French eclipse expert Xavier Jubier. NASA has also created a helpful interactive map for those interested in tracking the eclipse across the U.S. down to the last second and seeing what it will look like from select destinations along the route.

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Like many of you, I suspect, I find it hard to think about news other than that coming from Israel since October 7th. I continue to try.

Stay Safe.

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