Beltway Insider: Biden/Israel-Palestine War, Shocking Atrocities, GOP House Falters, Menendez Legal Issues

Details: Category: Beltway Insider; Published on Sunday, 15 October 2023 11:39; Written by Janet Walker

President Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestine Authority Leader Mahmoud Abbas condemning the terrorist organization Hamas, pledging support to the people of Palestine, and ensuring humanitarian supplies reach the citizens of Gaza.

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com, for the period ending October 15, 2023 decreased by 0.5% to 39.4% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness decreased by 2.3% to 54.0% of those polled who disapprove of his effectiveness. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

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White House Responds to Middle East War

President Biden spoke this week with both Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestine Authority Leader Mahmoud Abbas. He reiterated unwavering support for Israel and reiterated that Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people's right to dignity and self-determination.

He offered both leaders the support of the United States in securing humanitarian supplies reach the citizens and cautioned other regional bad actors who do not recognize the Israel's sovereignty about using the devastation to initiate an expansion or escalate the current violence.

Israel-Palestine Conflict Intensifies

While many developed nations rally expressing support of Israel, outrage over the atrocities, and shock over the unfathomable brutalities, the always unstable Middle East region has expressed widespread condemnation of Israel retaliation for the violation of their territorial sovereignty as many of these nations do not recognize the autonomy of the state of Israel.

"As Israel and Hamas entered into one of the bloodiest battles of the middle east, countries like the USA condemned the militant group and showed solidarity to Israel. On the other hand, several nations including Egypt, Canada, Iran, Turkey, and Sudan expressed their support to Palestine and Gaza," reported Mint.com, India's award winning business publication.

Twenty-eight United Nations recognized nations do not recognize Israel as a state, including 15 nations of the Arab-league, which includes nations that support and fund the efforts of several key enemies of Israel, including Hamas and Hezbollah.

The United Nations Security Council, known as the P5+1, comprised of original members United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom, added Germany, all recognize the State of Israel from the moment it became a state May 14, 1948.

Israel has confronted many conflicts and wars since its declaration as a nation. Even after building a global reputation for a military second only to the United States, and a secret service feared, and continued conflicts for more than a half a century, with the last as recent as two years ago, they were lulled into a belief of mutual deterrence.

"According to an analysis prepared in February by the intelligence directorate for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Israel and Hezbollah had settled into a posture of "mutual deterrence" since the conclusion of a historic agreement, in October 2022, in which Lebanon and Israel agreed to demarcate their contested maritime borders," The Washington Post reported.

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Lulled into Complacency

While many nations in the region are experiencing economic collapse, the economic stability of other members of the Arab-league is buttressed by a few oil-rich nations that do not recognize Israel as a state and willing to fund attempts to keep their enemy, Israel actively engaged in border conflicts, battles, injury, violence, destabilizing the region and undermining Israel's continued growth as a global power.

As neighboring enemy Lebanon's economy failed, so did its effort to attack Israel. The last 15 years Hamas has attacked Israel on five different occasions, and have been put down, like a rabid animal, each time with limited causality and death.

A persuasive belief of these small, easily controlled, and concluded, border clashes essentially created an belief of strength and, like the 9/11 terrorist attack on the United States, terror organizations only need to be successful once to inflict mass casualty, death and destruction.

Intel Failures Aid Hamas Attack

Israel and Hezbollah, who has issued public statements of restrained support for the Hamas attacks, have been each demonstrating to their people and the region their intent to exhibit strength while not really escalating into a war.

"Even during periods of heightened tensions," Israel and Hezbollah had intended "to display strength while avoiding escalation," according to the U.S. analysis. For example, the document explains, Israel might carry out sabotage operations in Lebanon or fire on empty land, while Hezbollah shoots down an Israeli drone or fires rockets into the northern part of the country," The Washington Post reported.

Shocking Atrocities

The recent attack by Hamas has escalated the tension of the entire region. The shocking brutality of the Hamas led invasion was reminiscent to the atrocities of the Nazi SS under Hitler's rule.

Evidence filtering out of the region closest to the border between the two nations has emphasized the objective of the well-orchestrated attacks was to inflict mass casualty, and create unsustainable sorrow, destruction, and injury.

The images coming out of the initial regions show the world the horrors. The intent, actions and aim, was annihilation, appalling obliteration of a people.

Peggy Noonan of The Wall Street Journal writes, "This is what happens when savages hold the day: They imperil the very idea of civilization. They killed a grandmother and uploaded pictures of her corpse to her Facebook page. They cut an unborn child from a mother's body and murdered both. This wasn't "soldiers morally brutalized by war who, in a frenzy, butchered people." Butchering people was the aim. It is what they set out to do. This wasn't cruelty as an offshoot; it was cruelty as an intention."

Israel's Iron Dome

Israel's Iron Dome, which many wonder if it was activated or in use during the recent Hamas attacks, is not an invisible shield resting over the most populated areas of Israel, as its names implied. Essentially the Iron Dome has four active and moving parts which intercept and deflect missiles determined to strike densely populated areas.

For the Iron Dome to activate, Israel's enemies fire rockets aimed at densely populated areas intended for mass casualty, death, and destruction, at that point the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) radar system detects the rocket and initiates tracking, step 3, a control system estimates impact point, and step four launches a missile to intercept striking the rocket before it reaches its target and before it reaches densely populated areas. The Iron Dome will ignore any missiles that are tracked and determined to strike in desert or unpopulated regions.

Israel Invasion

"Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return to Israel on Monday as the country prepares to launch an invasion into Hamas-controlled Gaza by air, land and sea, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Sunday," The Washington Post reported.

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Coronavirus Totals

The CDC has recommended every person from age six months, including senior citizens, should receive at least one shot of an updated covid vaccine.

Mandates have been altered or lifted in most urban areas with limited exceptions, and the population is encouraged to maintain personal protective practices. Masks are optional and tolerated. Vaccines and boosters are still considered the most effective agents against contracting the Coronavirus.

For the 7-day period ending October 15, 2023, the total of confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide reached 771,191,203 confirmed cases, an increase over the past 7 days of 39,979 cases worldwide. The total worldwide death toll increased by 231 to 6,961,014 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data from The World Health Organization).

COVID U.S. Totals

As hospitalizations and infection rates continue to rise in the United States, some jurisdictions are suggesting new mask mandates. For the 7-day period ending October 15, 2023, new Covid hospitalizations in the U.S. increased by 17,314 to 6,405,961. The coronavirus has claimed 1,147,253 total U.S. deaths, adding 1,295 deaths, over the past week. (Data from CDC).

Pentagon's Diary Gets Personal

Protecting for gain of function knowledge only aides those who initiated the constitutional violations. It does nothing to combat homegrown terrorism.

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GOP House Majority Lacks Leadership

As the fallout over the removal of former Speaker of the House Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) continues, the GOP led majority is faltering on electing a new speaker as the most recent withdrawal of Representative Steve Scalise (R-LA) from consideration leaving only Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) as a possbile candidate.

"Many Republicans consider Jordan as the only viable option and plan to see if he could win in conference Friday morning. First, Republicans will try again to amend their conference rules and raise the threshold to elect a speaker from a simple majority to 217, the number necessary to win on the House floor," The Washington Post reported.

With the deep House GOP division, with a polarized pendulum swing, that represents the range of moderate, hardline, and GOP extremists and of course, the Trump Loyalist in a category all to themselves, finding a candidate to secure the majority votes needed to secure the speaker position has and is expected to prove difficult.

The Republican's are now moving to change the rules to elect a speaker by simple majority so to avoid a repeat of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy's saga of 15 attempts, which brings with it media spotlight and glaring critic of the instability and failure of the party to unite.

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Menendez Charges Elevated, Acting as Foreign Agent

New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, and his wife, Nadine, are now facing additional charges in his ongoing legal battles as Damien Williams, The United States Attorney for the Southern District indicted the senator for second time in as many months filing additional charges.

"Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey was indicted on Thursday by federal prosecutors with an additional charge: that he conspired to act as an foreign agent of Egypt while he was also the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee," The New York Times reported.

Recorded conversation between Menendez, his wife and the Egyptian General Ahmed Helmy and General Abbas Kamel, indicates the levels at which the Menendez's were operating on behalf of the Egyptians including blocking cuts in U.S. Aid and to carry out the petition on the behalf of the Egyptians through crafted and persuasive attempt at influencing other members of the executive branch. Although specific mention to Espionage has not been directly stated, the attempts appear to be more than simply Washington influence wielding.

Menendez has vowed to fight the charges and also announced he would not resign his seat. Menendez who served in the House of Representatives representing New Jersey's 13th district which included parts of Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, and Union counties. He was appointed to the Senate in 2006, by former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, a former Goldman Sach President.

His reputation as a quid pro quo politician led to his initial indictment in 2015 which was allegedly gained through his dealings as Representative that oversaw the lucrative real estate development of the Hudson County waterfront projects post 9/11.

For more information on President Joe Biden w ww.whitehouse.gov.