How the confession was extracted – transcript of Amiram’s statement about the police interrogation after the confession was taken from him by force: 2015

Question: What do you have to say about the suspicions against you and after consulting with a lawyer?

Answer: First of all, I’m glad you’re giving me a platform to give my side of the event. I want to retract the confession I gave during the Shin Bet interrogation. The confession was extracted from me by force and through aggressive means, and I will elaborate. First, I was arrested violently almost four weeks ago. Although I did not resist, they shackled my hands and feet and laid me down on the floor of a vehicle… Afterwards, they took me into the interrogation facility and interrogated me for hours at a time, day and night. They handcuffed me to a chair by both hands and feet, with my hands behind my back. During the first week, my legs were also shackled. I was deprived of a great deal of sleep. There were times when they interrogated me for almost three days straight. They wouldn’t let me sleep through the night and told me I’d better start talking, because if not, by this time tomorrow I’d definitely start talking. That’s how they kept interrogating me until the following evening.

They gave me two hours of rest and then brought me back in for further interrogation. Four tough and intimidating interrogators entered the room and asked me if I wanted to talk. I maintained my right to remain silent, and an interrogator named William slapped me and said, That’s it, it’s over. You don’t know what a Shin Bet interrogation is. You can’t remain silent and I’d have to start talking. When I continued to remain silent, he wrapped my hands in bandages like bracelets, then handcuffed me with short handcuffs behind my back. He spun me around on the chair and together with another interrogator, forced both my legs under the chair legs and sat me in a position where my back was tilted backwards at a 45-degree angle. I tried several times to straighten up, but they didn’t let me, until after about half a minute, when I simply collapsed backward from exhaustion.

I screamed in pain. My shoulders hurt, my legs, my chest hurt, with especially unbearable, inhuman pain in my lower back. They continued abusing me in this way and ignored my screams. They chatted casually among themselves. From time to time they lifted me up and brought me back down, grabbing me by the shirt. They yelled at me that they were my nightmare and that they would crush my bones. After about twenty minutes I could no longer bear the horrible pain and suffering, and I begged them to stop. I confessed to everything they wanted, all just to end the torment and torture.

Later in the interrogation, when I didn’t give them the answers they wanted, they resumed torturing me on the chair. They used two other methods: they sat me on a chair with my back pressed against a table and my hands cuffed behind my back. They stretched my arms out across the table, which caused severe pain in my shoulder, arms, and elbows. They also made me stand in a position where I had to crouch on the tips of my toes, with my hands cuffed behind my back – a position impossible to maintain for more than half a minute. I kept collapsing onto my back, but they didn’t care and repeatedly forced me back into that position. That was the only reason I agreed to cooperate with them. They raised their hands against me, slapped me, all this after many hours of sleep deprivation and complete isolation from any normal person. All these things caused me to confess to acts I never committed – things I never did – the murder and arson in the village of Duma. I never did those things. I have no connection to them whatsoever. I’ll also add that throughout the rest of the interrogations, they forced me to cooperate while threatening that if I didn’t cooperate in the way they wanted, they would resume the torture.

A brief excerpt from the minor A.’s testimony before the judge describing how his confession was extracted

They tortured me all night. I screamed and cried, and they laughed. I told them: Kill me, just don’t do this to me. ’ I beg you, Your Honor, I can’t take it anymore” (the suspect is crying). Blindfolds, slaps, being forced backward. They stick fingers under my chin and lift it forcibly. My neck hurts and I can’t breathe. They press on my ribs, grab the shoulder muscle, dig their fingers into the muscle. They shake me, scream, curse, and humiliate me. They punch my calves while my back is arched, and that makes the pain worse, until I break and ask, What do you want me to confess to?

Authorization of the Supreme Court that Ben Uliel was subjected to torture. 2022

Judges: Izsak Amit, Yosef Elron, Shaul Shohcat

On 17 December 2015, at 23:40, a “necessity investigation” began, which continued until 7:00 the next morning (hereinafter: the first necessity investigation). During this investigation, “special measures” were applied to the appellant. Shortly after the use of these measures began, the appellant admitted to carrying out the Duma attack. It should be noted that, according to the respondent, the timing chosen for implementing these special measures was based on the results of investigations involving the minor on 15 December 2015 and 16 December 2015, which significantly increased the suspicion of the appellant’s involvement in the attack.

Approximately three hours after the end of the first necessity investigation, the appellant’s interrogation resumed and continued until around 15:00. During this interrogation, the appellant repeated his confession, even though no “special measures” were used. The respondent did not request to admit as evidence the results of this interrogation or those of the first necessity investigation

 

What Hamas Taught Mamdani: Lessons in Populist Propaganda and Totalitarian Takeover

Zohran Mamdani’s 2025 campaign for New York City mayor, framed as a progressive crusade for economic justice, bears conspicuous similarities to Hamas’s 2006 electoral campaign in the Palestinian legislative and presidential elections. Both Mamdani and Hamas’s campaigns leverage populist economic grievances to mask radical ideological agendas, blending reformist rhetoric with revolutionary objectives. Hamas’s victory in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, built on promises of economic reform and anti-corruption, offers a playbook that Mamdani appears to follow, consciously or not, in his bid to remake New York—a radical structure anchored in communist and Islamist worldviews. This convergence is not merely tactical but ideological, reflecting the broader dynamics of the Red-Green Alliance—a coalition of far-left socialism and radical Islamism that threatens pluralistic societies with dystopian outcomes.

Hamas’s Economic Promises: A Template for Populism

Hamas’s 2006 campaign under the “Change and Reform” banner promised economic independence, poverty reduction, and infrastructure development. Their manifesto outlined disengaging from Israel’s economy, issuing a Palestinian currency, and reforming fiscal policies to combat unemployment and stabilize prices. These pledges resonated with Palestinians disillusioned by Fatah’s corruption, securing Hamas’s electoral success.

Similarly, Mamdani’s platform appeals to working-class New Yorkers struggling with the rising costs of essentials like chicken, rice, and milk, proposing radical solutions such as city-owned bodegas and fare-free transit. These policies, while pitched as progressive, echo the inefficient, state-controlled systems of the Soviet Union, representing a regressive step toward centralized economic control rather than genuine reform.

Economic Intifada as Political Warfare

Hamas’s economic promises were a gateway to broader political warfare, using socioeconomic grievances to build legitimacy while advancing a radical Islamist agenda. Mamdani’s campaign mirrors this approach, employing what can be termed an “economic intifada” to destabilize New York’s governance structures. His proposals—rent strikes, budget justice, and public ownership of grocery stores—are not just policy goals but tools to erode centrist coalitions and challenge capitalist frameworks. Like Hamas, Mamdani cloaks his agenda in the language of justice, appealing to the oppressed against the powerful, yet his policies risk undermining the economic foundations of a pluralistic city.

Ideological Radicalism Behind Reformist Rhetoric

Hamas’s 2006 platform combined economic populism with uncompromising rejectionism, delegitimizing Israel while promoting an Islamic state. Mamdani’s campaign similarly blends economic reform with ideological extremism. His full-throated support for the Palestinian cause, often veiled in democratic socialist rhetoric, aligns with Hamas’s narrative. In a 2017 rap track titled “Salaam,” performing as Mr. Cardamom, Mamdani expressed “love to the Holy Land Five,” referring to the leadership of the Holy Land Foundation, convicted in 2008 for funneling over $12 million to Hamas. This drew sharp criticism, with former Governor Andrew Cuomo calling it “disgusting” and raising concerns about Mamdani’s ties to Hamas-linked figures.

Mamdani’s visit to the Islamic Society of Bay Ridge during his 2025 campaign further underscores this alignment. The mosque’s imam, Sheikh Muhammad Al-Barr, has praised Hamas fighters and called for Israel’s annihilation. Mamdani’s social media posts from the visit sparked controversy, highlighting his association with radical Islamist sentiment. These actions suggest an ideological kinship with Hamas’s rejectionist stance, repackaged for a New York audience under the guise of social justice.

Globalizing the Intifada

Mamdani’s campaign reflects Hamas’s strategy of “globalizing the intifada,” a call to extend the Palestinian campaign of violence and subversion worldwide. His long-standing support for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, evident since his 2014 advocacy at Bowdoin College and his 2021 push for local candidates to back BDS, situates New York’s local battles within a global anti-American, anti-imperialist, and anti-Zionist framework. In 2021, he introduced a state bill to bar New York charities from donating to Israeli settlement organizations, a move critics labeled “purely antisemitic.” In a June 2025 interview with The Bulwark, Mamdani defended the slogan “globalize the intifada” as symbolic of Palestinian human rights, stating, “That is not language that I use … any incitement to violence is something that I’m in opposition to.”

To be clear, the phrase “globalize the intifada” is a call to violence and terror, rooted in the bloody history of the First and Second Intifadas, which involved suicide bombings, lynchings, and attacks by PLO and Hamas terrorists, resulting in the killing of more than 1,000 civilians. “Globalize the intifada” has been chanted at pro-Hamas rallies together with slogans like “From the river to the sea Palestine will be free.” It explicitly advocates spreading violence and terror globally, not peaceful protest. Unlike terms like “muqawama silmiya” for peaceful resistance, “intifada” evokes jihad and the Islamic notion of martyrdom and armed direct actions, carrying the same dangerous and deadly implications as phrases such as “globalize the intifada.” Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the phrase outright drew criticism from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and Jewish leaders, signaling his alignment with radical narratives.

This mirrors Hamas’s post-October 7, 2023, strategy, which co-opted global far-left discourses, particularly on American campuses like Columbia University, to fuel anti-Israel sentiment and accusations of genocide at the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice. Mamdani’s campaign similarly seeks to remake New York as a battleground for these global struggles, aligning with the Red-Green Alliance’s fusion of socialist and Islamist ideologies.

The Red-Green Alliance: A Shared Ideological Axis

The Red-Green Alliance unites far-left socialism and radical Islamism in a shared anti-Western, anti-capitalist, and anti-Zionist agenda. Both ideologies reject liberal democratic values, seeking revolutionary change through populist mobilization. Mamdani’s ties to this alliance are evident not only in his own actions but also through his father, Mahmood Mamdani, a member of the Gaza Tribunal’s advisory council, a UK-based group supportive of BDS and sympathetic to suicide bombers. In his 2004 book Good Muslim, Bad Muslim, the elder Mamdani wrote, “Suicide bombing needs to be understood as a feature of modern political violence rather than stigmatized as a mark of barbarism.” This intellectual framework, which normalizes extremist tactics, informs Zohran Mamdani’s political posture, blending socialist rhetoric with support for radical causes.

Parallels with Hamas’s 2006 Campaign

The parallels between Mamdani and Hamas are striking:

Economic Populism: Hamas promised subsidies and anti-corruption measures; Mamdani offers city-run bodegas and free transit, both exploiting economic discontent to gain support.

Political Radicalism: Hamas rejected bipartisan politics and security cooperation with Israel; Mamdani delegitimizes centrist governance and security institutions, framing them as tools of oppression.

Ideological Intransigence: Hamas’s anti-Israel stance mirrors Mamdani’s anti-Zionist rhetoric, both cloaked in narratives of resistance and liberation.

Mamdani is merely updating Hamas’s template for New York, replacing religious nationalism with intersectional socialism but maintaining a destabilizing posture that challenges democratic norms.

The Destructive Legacy of Radical Ideologies

The Red-Green Alliance’s blend of socialism and Islamism, though packaged as progressive, is inherently destructive. Hamas’s rule in Gaza since 2006 has turned the region into a dystopian landscape of violence and poverty, with Gazans themselves blaming Hamas for their suffering. Mohammed Attalah of Beit Lahia told CNN on March 26, 2025: “Our demand is that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. This chaos that they have created is enough.”

Mamdani’s vision for New York risks a similar trajectory, prioritizing ideological purity over practical governance. His proposal for city-run grocery stores, for instance, recalls the Soviet Union’s inefficient food distribution systems, a regressive policy dressed as progress. The radical extremism of both socialism and Islamism, when unchecked, leads to societal decay, as evidenced by Gaza’s ongoing crisis.

Zohran Mamdani’s 2025 mayoral campaign is not merely a bid for office but a case study in political warfare, drawing lessons from Hamas’s 2006 electoral strategy. By blending economic populism with ideological radicalism, Mamdani seeks to globalize the intifada, targeting New York’s civic, economic, and social foundations. The Red-Green Alliance’s destructive ideas, while well-packaged, threaten pluralistic democracy with dystopian violence and destruction, as seen in Gaza. New Yorkers must recognize this campaign for what it is: a totalitarian takeover dressed in the garb of reform.

Sources:

Hamas Election Manifesto (2006) https://www.hamascase.com/volume-i/06_hamas-manifesto/

Miller, Tim, and Cameron Kasky. “Zohran Mamdani: FYPod Crossover.” The Bulwark Podcast, 17 June 2025, https://www.thebulwark.com/p/zohran-mamdani-fypod-crossover.

NBC News. (2025) Asked to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada,’ Mamdani says mayors shouldn’t ‘police speech.’ Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggV2SeiGrVw (Accessed: 15 July 2025).

New York Post (12 July 2025) Mamdanis dad part of anti‑Israel group sympathetic to suicide bombers. Available at: https://nypost.com/2025/07/12/us-news/mamdanis-dad-part-of-anti-israel-group-sympathetic-to-suicide-bombers/ (Accessed: 15 July 2025).

Shorr, T. (2024) Palestinianism and the Red‑Green Alliance: Similarities in the Ideology and Practice of Marxists and Islamists. Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Available at: https://jcpa.org/article/palestinianism-and-the-red-green-alliance/ (Accessed: 15 July 2025).

From Arafat to Paramount

In   September 1993, while on IDF Reserve duty in Har Eval overlooking Nablus, the IDF distributed its monthly newsletter to the troops.

There was a surprising feature this time, describing a new peace profile of PLO  leader, Yassir Arafat.

The  IDF newsletter described peace initiatives  that Arafat was engaged in.

Found this to be a surprising development.

Called an Arab journalist  to verify the story.

The Arab journalist was just as befuddled .

Asked him if could dispatch a TV crew to follow Arafat around and film him as he spoke to his people.

 It was not long before a dozen clips recorded Arafat’s speeches which people in Israel were not aware of, although they were screened on the new Palestinian TV channel, the  PBC, which hardly presented a persona of peace.

And so began a new cottage industry, “the Arafat tapes”.

Eventually screened in the Knesset and the US Congress, which caused much consternation to the   circles which sought to buttress the image of Arafat and the PLO as harbingers of peace.

However the death of Arafat in 2004 and the creation of the Palestine Authority recognized by 135 nations ,did nothing to diminish incitement which our TV crews continued to film, especially their schools and their summer camps .

By summer 2024, had produced 26 movies filmed on location in UNRWA facilities in Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem and Gaza, where the violent PA curriculum was being used.

Although these movies could  be easily accessed, Israel’s four tv stations will not feature these movies, even though these films provided the living proof of  preparations for the current war.

Along came Paramount pictures.

 Their representative in Israel asked if they could purchase footage to these films

Paramount pictures will now produce  their own movie on Palestinian indoctrination to a war of terror, based on  footage from our movies, which can be viewed at: https://www.cfnepr.com/205640/Movies

Curses – ancient and modern

It is amazing how very often the weekly Torah portion that we read in Synagogues on Shabbat contains startling messages so highly relevant to our current situation.

This past Shabbat, Jewish communities around the world read the portion entitled BALAK.

It narrates the frantic efforts of a local warlord and leader to find and convince the leading non-Jewish prophet of his time to issue curses against the Israelites. The tribes were approaching the end of their forty-year trek from Egyptian slavery to the Promised Land. They had already defeated many opponents who had attempted to bar their way.

Balak was no fool.

He realised that conventional military tactics were unlikely to be successful against a battle-hardened group determined to reach their objective. Based on reports he had received, the Israelite tribes seemed, in his words, to be like an ox devouring everything in its path.

A radically different plan of action was therefore needed.

What better way to counter the seemingly supernatural force helping Moses and Joshua than by employing the services of the most famous prophet? If he could be convinced to employ curses against this menacing nation, perhaps they would be stopped in their tracks and prevented from advancing.

The power of cursing an entire People should not be underestimated.

Although reluctant at first, Bilaam was induced with bribes and rewards to publicly curse the Children of Israel and thus frustrate their eventual entry to Canaan.

Things don’t always work out the way intended, and at the end of the day, Bilaam felt compelled to bless the Israelite tribes. This dramatic change did not go down too well, and he was dismissed in disgrace.

Balak refused to give up and devised another strategy. Tempting the weary Israelite men with the prospect of a “fun time” with pagan women turned out to be more successful for a short time until even this ploy was aborted.

The Torah portion ends with the Israelites opposite Jericho, poised to conquer that strategic city and ready to establish sovereignty in the Land promised to the Patriarchs.

As I followed this reading, I couldn’t help but notice the eerie similarities with current developments unfolding before our eyes. Other worshippers also recognised the signs of the times as they continue to develop.

The ancient script, over three thousand years old, is sending us a clear message from the dawn of our history.

Once again, the power of cursing is being employed by individuals, groups and nations in an endeavour to defeat and frustrate the Jewish People.

The same techniques of defaming and besmirching are being utilised to undermine the legality of a Jewish sovereign presence in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem. Deliberate lies are spread about having any legal presence in the Land, with “from the river to the sea” becoming the national anthem of the slanderers and liars.

A fake history, creating a fake nation, claiming a fake right to Eretz Israel, has become the accepted narrative of the international community. Like Balak of old, today’s political leaders parrot the same mindless rhetoric. Having failed to prevent the return of the Jewish nation, they now concentrate on delegitimising its presence.

When Balak and his designated spokesperson, Bilaam, were strutting the world stage, the power of cursing others was confined to a relatively small audience. Today’s cursers have access to technology that spreads their vile utterances to millions at the flick of a switch.

Whereas once these purveyors of incitement and hate only represented themselves, the current crop recruits multinational organisations to their malign cause.

The United Nations and its associated bodies are the standard bearers of all those whose main aim in life is to smear Israel and consign it permanently to the “sin bin” of sanctioned outcasts. If one were to look for a modern-day successor to the Biblical Balak, one needs to look no further than Francesca Albanese. Her sole passion and task in life is to curse Israel at every conceivable opportunity.

At a recent meeting of the misnamed UN Human Rights Council, the following poisonous curse spewed forth: “Israel is responsible for one of the cruelest genocides in modern history.”  The assembled delegates erupted in rapturous applause.

Unlike in the Torah narrative, this woman’s curses are endorsed by other political players. It makes no difference whether they repeat the same lies or whether they mumble other inanities. Curses can be cloaked in diplomatic deceit. Kowtowing to ICC arrest warrants against Israelis, rewriting history by claiming non-existent Jewish connections to Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria are all part of modern-day efforts to deny Israel’s legitimacy.

Many try to cloak their enmity or ignorance behind a veneer of supposed friendship. President Macron loves to show his Gallic hypocrisy at every opportunity. He is working overtime to give birth to “Palestine” in the heart of the Jewish State. His claim that this will guarantee peace in the region is delusional, but no doubt will resonate with France’s fast-growing jihadist residents.

At the same time that he condemns Israel for its “crimes”, he lauds the establishment of the state of New Caledonia. Of course, this territory will still be a colonial possession of France, which “acquired” it in the 1800s. This exquisite piece of hypocrisy is naturally ignored by the mobs baying against supposed Israeli “colonial” crimes.

The number of professional associations and groups jumping on the curse Israel bandwagon grows apace.

The latest lemming to do so is the British Medical Association, which has decided to boycott Israeli doctors. Given the dire situation of the NHS, one can only shake one’s head at the idiocy of this decision. Taken to its logical conclusion, presumably, the BMA will now also boycott all Israeli medical devices and technology that help to save lives and treat diseases.

Likewise, America’s largest teachers’ union has voted to sever all relations with the Anti-Defamation League because of its “support” for Israel. This means that teachers will no longer use any resource issued by the ADL, and presumably, this is a boycott of teaching about Jew hate. Ignorance of and support for Jew hate in American schools will increase from its already abysmal level.

In Germany, the Protestant Church Assembly has just taken place. Taking pride of place at this gathering was a large map of the “holy land” with Tel Aviv missing. During its proceedings, massive anti-Israel bias was promoted. This modern-day version of cursing the Jewish connection to the Promised Land was amazingly subsidised by the German authorities to the tune of eleven million Euros.

Just as some Israelites at the time of Joshua strayed and embraced pagan practices, today’s self-flagellators delight in demeaning Israel and its war against terror. The media and haters love nothing more than the spectacle of dissident Jews joining those who dish dirt against their fellow compatriots. Nothing has changed over the millennia.

The burning question is why Bilaam, at the end of the day, balked at cursing the Israelites and instead ended up blessing them? What changed his mind, and could the same scenario happen with the current crop of cursers?

One has to remember that Bilaam was a leading prophet or seer of his generation. As such, even though he was a pagan, he was still able to see that there was something special about the Israelite tribes. He was receptive, albeit at first reluctantly, to seeing the error of his ways. At the end of the day, he switched sides. His blessings ended up ironically becoming part of our prayers as we enter the synagogue.

Nobody can truthfully claim that those who curse Israel and Jews today are on an equal footing with Bilaam. They are neither prophets nor seers, and their closed, bigoted minds preclude any sort of belated revelation. It is therefore futile to expect any sort of contrition or acknowledgment of guilt for propagating mistruths.

Ironically, however, or perhaps by some divine intervention, a shattering confession has surfaced. As reported in the Jerusalem Post, an Iranian official claimed that during the recently concluded 12-day war, Israel had received help from a mysterious source. According to this spokesperson, Israel had been helped by “occult forces and supernatural spirits.”

Who would believe it?

Here is an Iranian official admitting that behind Israel stands a force of supernatural dimensions. This revelation validates the Balak/Bilaam episode and the Jewish People’s direct connection with a “higher authority.”

We are certainly living in wondrous times.

The rabbi who knew the real reason for Arik Sharon’s “Disengagement”

The death of the Chief Rabbi Emeritus of Haifa, Rabbi Shaar-Yashuv Cohen, brings to mind the most stirring episodes in the history of the modern State of Israel.

Rav Shaar-Yashuv Cohen, wounded in the battle for the Old City in Jerusalem, was the last Jewish civilian who left the Old City as it fell, carried on a stretcher into captivity…And Rav Shaar-Yashuv Cohen, who served as the deputy Mayor of Jerusalem in 1967, was given the honor of being the first civilian allowed to enter the Old City in Jerusalem at the time of its liberation during the six day war.

Yet there is yet another mission to Jerusalem which was little known.

In August, 2005, Rabbi Shaar-Yashuv Cohen traveled to Jerusalem to attempt a last minute plea for then Prime Minister Ariiel (Arik) Sharon to reconsider his plan to retreat from Gush Katif, which involved Israel’s obliteration of the 21 Jewish communities there, including 325 thriving Jewish farms and 86 synagogues and Jewish study centers. Rav Shaar-Yashuv Cohen told me at the time that the rapport between Arik Sharon and himself had lasted since his days of captivity in the 1948 war and that Rav Shaar-Yashuv was the only Rabbi who was ready to speak with him at the time.

Sharon gave a clear answer to the rabbi: “This is what the US is demanding that I do and I must do it.”

It did not matter that half of the 9,000 Jews who live in Gush Katif had nowhere to go, and that their relocation plans were still up in the air.

It did  not matter that the Israeli government cannot offer more than two containers to each family to help them remove their possessions.

It did not seem to matter that the experts in Israel’s security establishment are warning that the result of Israel’s hasty retreat will be the creation of a new Islamic terror base.

Rav Shaar-Yashuv Cohen heard Sharon making it clear that he was under pressure from the US government and that is that, and that the myth of an autonomous Israeli policy in this regard had nothing to do with reality.

Indeed, one of the common assumptions was  that the Sharon government’s plan to expel Jews from Gaza and northern Samaria, and unilaterally hand the area over to an independent Palestinian entity, had been an entirely autonomous Israeli decision.

But the US government was behind it all along.

In meetings with concerned American citizens, Danny Ayalon, Israeli ambassador to the US at the time, clearly stated that Sharon’s Retreat Plan was  part of an overall Israeli-American agreement.

In late June, 2005, Ayalon met with representatives of the Orthodox Union, one of the largest contingents of American Orthodox Jews, and told them clearly that “Prime Minister Sharon is left with no choice. He is doing exactly what the US expects him to do.”

In an interview with the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, published on June 22nd, 2005, Ayalon reversed earlier Israeli government statements, saying that Israel does not expect the Palestinian Authority (PA) to dismantle terrorist infrastructure until after the planned expulsion. He mentioned that ending terrorism and anti-Israel incitement had been conditions Israel had demanded from the PA before carrying out the plan; however, Ayalon indicated that the agreement with the US was more important than an agreement with the PA.

The Israeli ambassador said, “Disengagement has to be viewed in the context of Israel-United States relations…. This pullout did not follow an agreement with the Palestinians, but it followed something which is much more important, an agreement with the United States. Disengagement is something that creates a common agenda between us and the United States.”

In the final interview given by Benyamin Netanyahu before his resignation from the Sharon government, he indicated that the current policy pursued by the government of Israel should be perceived as a threat to the security interests of the US and of all Western countries, since it created a terror base in Gaza, and since the Palestinian Authority incorporated the Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations instead of dismantling them.

Yet, the directive of the US State Department remained unaltered: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon must dismantle and withdraw any and all Israeli presence from every Jewish community in the Katif district of Gaza by mid-August.

When Israel did go ahead with the retreat of the  IDF and the expulsion of the Jewish communities from Katif and the Northern Shomron,  Rav Shaar-Yashuv Cohen told me that he wanted to tell the world that this policy was implemented  as a the result of a clear dictate to Arik Sharon issued by the government of the United States. This was not meant as rationalization for Sharon’s policy.

Few people want to hear the warnings of Rav Shaar-Yashuv Cohen that Israeli policy is often dictated from Washington.

“Déjà vu”: Gaza: David Bedein “Where Terror Rules” | September 7, 2005

Ariel Sharon’s government added a specific clause to the final version of the Disengagement Plan, a plan that was ratified by the Israeli government on June 6th, 2004 after an earlier version had been rejected by Sharon’s own Likud Party referendum on May 2nd, 2004. That clause mandated that all properties from evacuated Israeli communities be transferred to “a third, international party which will put them to use for the benefit of the Palestinian population that is not involved in terror.” The Prime Minister’s Disengagement legislation in English can be found at www.pmo.gov.il.

With such legislated assurance that all assets given over to the PA would not be handed over to any terrorist organization, Prime Minister Sharon was able to win successive Knesset (Israel’s parliament) votes and numerous suits in the Israel High Court of Justice that challenged the legality of the Disengagement Plan.

But open sources in the Palestinian Authority, monitored by the Israeli government, contradict that assurance that Israel’s real estate assets would not be handed over to terrorists.

In an interview with the popular “Islam On Line” website, on July 25th, 2005, at www.islamonline.net, three weeks before the Disengagement, Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath boasted that the United Arab Emirates had offered a 100 million dollar grant to transform one of the evacuated settlements into a housing project that would honor suicide bombers and provide housing for the children of suicide bombers.

Meanwhille, WAFA — the Palestinian Official News Agency — confirmed on August 24th, 2005 (www.wafa.pna.net) that the Hamas terrorist organization would indeed receive these assets. The agency quoted senior Hamas leader Yunis al-Astal as saying that he had been assured that “The colonies’ lands” will indeed be awarded to the “families and relatives of the martyrs (shahaida)” in honor of their suicide bombing attacks against Israelis.

At the same time, the Palestinian Authority has raised Hamas’s profile in its tightly controlled official media. Reports have highlighted the rising prominence of Hamas and its expanded role in the wake of the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Perhaps the most important step was the PA agreement to share authority with Hamas in a working committee that was formed with the PA’s dominant Fatah Movement. [1] That committee was established to monitor the Israeli withdrawal and the Palestinian takeover of areas of the Gaza Strip evacuated by the Jewish state.

That decision was regarded as one of the most important in the PA’s new policy of bringing Hamas into power. This new committee’s responsibility is to review all information and all PA plans for the Israeli areas of the Gaza Strip, and to access the $500 million in international funds allocated for development of the area. [2]

The most telling sign of Hamas’s power was not the committee itself. It was where Fatah and Hamas met to decide on the panel. The meeting took place on August 13th at the home of Hamas spokesman and titular leader Mahmoud A-Zahar in Gaza City. [3]

A-Zahar has become to the Palestinian Authority what Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah is in Lebanon — a leading non-state actor. “The Palestinian Authority has the right to administer the land [evacuated by Israel] after consulting with the committee, which consists of representatives of the national and Islamic factions,” A-Zahar is quoted as saying.

Unlike PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, A-Zahar does not occupy a daily presence in the PA media. But when he appears, A-Zahar’s views are given the utmost prominence.  PA dailies have been either quoting A-Zahar directly or reprinting the interviews that he gives to other Arab media.

Perhaps the most important article was an interview that A-Zahar gave to the London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat daily on August 18th, just as Israel was evicting its citizens out of its settlements.

The interview was reprinted the following day in Al Ayyam, a newspaper owned by the PA and edited by a leading Fatah operative. In that interview, A-Zahar outlined Hamas’s strategy of maintaining attacks against Israel until its complete destruction. He added that his movement would seek to destroy the 1993 Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The publication of Hamas’s platform in a Fatah-aligned newspaper would have been unthinkable even a year ago.

The Hamas platform declared that the PA had failed in its attempt to force the Islamic movement to end attacks against Israel or surrender Hamas weapons. A-Zahar continued that Interior Minister Nasser Yusef sought to confront Hamas operatives in the United Nations Jabalya refugee camp north of the Gaza City with armored vehicles, “But he quickly realized that he could not resolve the situation through military means.” A-Zahar further stated, “Now they seek dialog, which we welcome.”

A-Zahar came across in the interview as the leader of Palestinian jihad or holy war. He stressed that Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank would influence the Arab and Muslim world in jihad. He said the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza would galvanize the Sunni insurgency in Iraq and the Taliban and Al Qaida campaign in Afghanistan.

A-Zahar said Israel did not choose to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. Instead, A-Zahar emphasized that  it was Hamas missiles, mortars and boobytrapped tunnels that drove the Israeli military out of the area. That message was consistent with that of Mahmoud Abbas who talked of jihad in the struggle against Israel, but had stressed that armed resistance was no longer necessary after the Israeli withdrawal. “[Hamas] wants to spread the culture of resistance,” A-Zahar said in a reference to suicide strikes. “We will enter the settlements and soil Israel’s dignity with our feet. We will stand on the ruins of the Israeli settlements and tell our people we have won.”

A-Zahar hasn’t been the only Hamas official given major publicity in the PA media. Sheik Hassan Yusef, regarded as the leader of Hamas in the West Bank, was given prominence in an interview with Al Hayat Al Jadida, the most ardent of pro-Fatah dailies.

Yusef reiterated the Hamas position that the movement would not surrender its weapons to the PA after the Israeli withdrawal. Instead, Yusef said the PA, including Abbas, never raised such a demand in meetings with the movement. The Hamas leader said the two sides would continue to coordinate.

“There are no moderates or extremists in Hamas,” Yusef said. “Our coordination with the PA has not been severed and talk of disarmament was not proposed.” [4] In essence, Hamas has become a full-fledged partner of the Palestine Authority–on a par with or even beyond that of Fatah. Hamas’s activities are deemed as legitimate and important. Indeed, PA-owned newspapers report on Hamas in greater detail and with greater prominence than Fatah.

The best example of the new PA policy was highlighted in Hamas preparations for the Israeli withdrawal. All of the three PA-aligned dailies [5] have reported on Hamas rallies to mark the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. The reports have been prominently placed in all of the dailies and often include photographs.

As a result, readers of PA newspapers now learned of Hamas rallies throughout the Gaza Strip and West Bank. All of these rallies were described as “huge” and included photographs of masked Hamas operatives in dune buggies in Nablus. [6]

In contrast, coverage of Fatah activities in the Gaza Strip appears marginal. Most important, articles on Fatah celebrations to mark the Israeli withdrawal do not include photographs, an acknowledgement that these events did not match the crowds at Hamas-sponsored marches.

Hamas, however, doesn’t need the PA to get across the message of jihad.

Abbas has enabled Hamas to maintain its own radio station in the Gaza Strip where it is free to preach holy war against Israel. Indeed, Hamas has launched an intensive media campaign to win support for the continuation of the so-called “armed struggle” in the goal to destroy Israel. The campaign has also been highlighted in the pan-Arab media as part of an effort to raise its profile in the months leading to the Palestinian Legislative Council elections, scheduled for January 2006.

The PA, which pledged to Israel and the United States to stop incitement, has not shut down the Hamas radio station. The PA has also not moved against Hamas’s Internet site, which encourages terrorism. The Hamas website provided data to support a claim that it has been the most active Palestinian group in the war against Israel.

The website said Hamas had conducted 145 out of the 215 insurgency operations in the Gaza Strip. [7] At the same time, Hamas claimed to have killed 646 Israelis since September 2000.  Hamas has also used its website to promulgate anti-Semitism. [8]

Hamas’s Voice of Al Aqsa radio station said the movement would continue to fire Kassam-class, short-range missiles toward Israel after its withdrawal. The message was accompanied by a song that praised Hamas operatives and called for “the raining of rockets on the settlers, preparing missile launchers and aiming them at settlements. Strap on the belts [of suicide bombers] and load them with TNT.” [9]

Hamas has used Voice of Al Aqsa to encourage Palestinians to launch holy war against the United States and the West too. The radio has broadcast interviews with Palestinian experts that asserted that the holy war against Israel would help what they term the global jihad.

“When all of Palestine has been liberated, the weapon of the jihad warriors can be moved to a different region where Islamists will wage war for the sake of Allah against the Crusader [Western], enemies of Allah — in Iraq, Chechnya and Afghanistan,” Salih Al Raqab, a senior Hamas official and lecturer at the Gaza City-based Islamic University, said. [10]

Hamas’s radio said Islam’s goal was to return Christians and Jews to their “natural state.” This state — promised by the Koran — was one of “humiliation and poverty.” [11]

For his part, Abbas has adopted the language of Hamas and made it clear that the movement would be a partner in government. Abbas, who also refers to “Jihad,” says that the PA has decided to allocate five percent of all government positions to the injured in the war against Israel. Given Hamas’s leading role in the war, that would mean Abbas would reserve the largest portion of government jobs to the Islamic opposition. [12]

Abbas’s policy of sharing power with Hamas, particularly regarding the future of the Gaza Strip, has not sat well with leading Fatah operatives. They see such a policy as encouraging Hamas to take over the Gaza Strip with its army of thousands of armed fighters. They said the PA-Hamas confrontation is one step away from blowing up into a major killing spree.

Yayha Ribah, a leading Fatah operative, asserts that Egypt prevented a Hamas-PA war. Yet he declared that Hamas has been violating all of the agreements with the PA, including the “ceasefire” announced by Abbas in February 2005.

To the question as to whether the PA or the Hamas will control the Gaza Strip. Ribah said the situation in the area has become volatile. “Today, we see a game being played in the arena, and it is a very dangerous game,” Ribah said. “Any simple violation could lead to a real tragedy.” [13]

At the time of writing of this piece, after the Israeli government has removed its citizens from the Katif districts of Gaza, and before Israel hands over any assets to the Palestinian Authority, our news agency asked Israeli government spokespeople about enforcing Cause Seven of the Disengagement Plan that forbids Israel from handing over any assets to Palestinians “involved in terror”.

An Israeli government spokesman said in response that Israel would be “watching very carefully to monitor every move of the Palestinian Authority in this respect.” However, the Prime Minister’s office has altered the Hebrew version of the web site version of its disengagement legislation to present only the April 18th version of the Disengagement Plan, a plan that  did not include Clause Seven forbidding Israel from handing over real estate assets to Palestinians who are “involved in terror.”  A version of the Prime Minister’s plan can be found in Hebrew at: www.pmo.gov.il.

So the question remains: will the government of Israel enforce Clause Seven of the Disengagement Plan to the letter of the agreement since Israel has removed every Jew, every Jewish home, every Jewish farm and even every Jewish grave in good faith gestures toward peace? Israel stuck to its part of the bargain and the message from the Palestinian Authority is that once again they will not do so.

Stay tuned for more in The War on Terror.

Notes:

  1. Al Hayat Al Jadida. August 14. Pg. 1
    2. Al Ayyam. August 23. Pg. 1
    3. Al Hayat Al Jadida. August 14. Pg. 1
    4. Al Hayat Al Jadida. August 20.
    5. Al Quds is not owned by the PA, yet it is influenced by PA policy.
    6. Al Hayat Al Jadida. August 23.
    7. The data was supplied by Hamas’s military wing Izzedin Kassam on the Hamas site.
    8. Hamas website contained a poster headlined: “Our Koran was right and your Talmud lied.”
    9. Voice of Al Aqsa on August 18
    10. Voice of Al Aqsa. August 21.
    11. Voice of Al Aqsa broadcast on August 19
    12. Al Hayat Al Jadida. August 21
    13. Al Hayat Al Jadida. August 14

Trump’s Peace Delusion Is Bringing Chaos To Southern Syria

I don’t say this lightly, because President Trump has done some good things in the past. However, the current US administration led by President Trump is sowing the seeds for more strife and war in the Middle East - especially in Syria. It will end up being a full failure unless President Trump changes his strategy.

On 14 May 2025, US President Donald Trump met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh during his Middle East trip. The meeting was hastily put together at the behest of the Saudis. That meeting eventually led to the lifting of sanctions on Syria and then up until the massacres of Druze at the hands of Syrian regime forces over the last two days, Trump’s team was attempting to push some sort of security agreement with the Syrian Jihadist Regime on Israel.

It is no secret that President Trump is after a Nobel Peace Prize and wants to rush through a series of “peace” agreements between Arab countries and Israel as soon as he can. There is just one problem. President Trump believes countries run by Jihadists can be peaceful if enough carrots are dangled in front of them.

Peace with Jihadists is not possible – no matter how they dress and. how much money they are given. If there was any doubt, the events of the last few days in Sweida should be proof enough. However, for Trump, the illusory “deal” was held onto even as Ahmed al-Sharaa’s men pushed south into Sweida in complete disregard of Israel’s warnings, assuming the Trump administration would hold back the Jewish State from acting – they gambled wrong.

It was reported that Trump told us not to intervene, but Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yisrael Katz disregarded the American directing and instead pounded the Syrian regime forces. That’s right, the Trump team would have allowed 700,000 Druze to be massacred in southern Syria in order to keep hope alive for some sort of “peace” agreement between Syria and Israel. If it wasn’t for Israel that massacre would have most surely happened. Israel blew up the national military headquarters in Damascus. More than 200 bombs were dropped in the vicinity of Damascus. The IDF took out regime convoys, tanks, fighters, and more - decimating al-Sharaa’s forces.

Unfortunately, the Trump team, including Marco Rubio dropped the ball in regards to the Druze and instead allowing Israel to finish off the Jihadist regime in Damascus, the State Department released what would be considered a “balanced” statement. ”The events in Syria are regrettable, and there is a lack of understanding between the Israeli and Syrian sides. We anticipate that there will be significant developments in the coming hours regarding the issue of tension in Syria, and we expect to see both Syrian and Israeli withdrawals from the conflict area and an end to the violence. We call on the Syrian government to withdraw its forces in order to allow all sides to achieve a de-escalation.”

Given the events over the last 48 hours there is no going back. Syrian forces led by Ahmed al-Sharaa massacred Druze in Sweida. Some counts are saying over 250 people were murdered. Videos show humiliation of Druze men before they are killed in cold blood. They also massacred sick Druze in the main hospital in Sweida. If it wasn’t for the IDF, the situation would have been disastrous.

As of the writing of this article Secretary of State Marco Rubio insists that there is an agreement between Israel and Syria for both sides to withdraw forces. There is some evidence that al-Sharaa has ordered his forces out of Sweida based on a ceasefire they reached with one of the Druze sheikhs.

However, the Military Council in Sweida issued this statement: “We do not recognize the agreement made by Yusuf Jarboo (the Druze sheikh Jarboo reached an agreement with the regime). He does not represent us. Only Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri represents us.” Hijri is very pro-Israel and is considered the most powerful of the sheikhs in Sweida.

The USA must understand that the only way to reach stability in southern Syria is to support Druze autonomy as an Israeli protectorate. Anything less is inviting the same sort of barbarism that has been on display over the last 48 hours.

Unfortunately, President Trump is far more worried about prizes and accolades than bringing an end to the Jihadist hordes that have streamed into Syria and threaten the existence of minorities there as well as posing a strategic problem for Israel. We all know that Trump speaks very highly of Turkish President Erdogan. Could there be a connection between that relationship and his softball attitude when it comes to the Druze in Syria? After all, the regime in Damascus is essentially an Erdogan project and President Trump has no problem with that at all.

Ahmed Al-Shara’s Foreign Jihadist Problem

When Trump met Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Shara, in Riyadh, he couldn’t stop praising him. “He’s a young, attractive guy—tough guy,” Trump said. “He’s got a real shot at pulling it together.” The White House cast the meeting as a breakthrough, announcing sanctions relief and backing engagement with Shara’s government as a path to stability and an opportunity to counter extremists.

Trump even sent longtime ally Thomas Barrack as a special envoy, who praised Shara for “taking meaningful steps” on tackling foreign terrorist fighters.

But in the weeks since, Shara has done exactly the opposite. Rather than removing extremists, he’s absorbing them into his unified national army. The new government’s approach folds groups affiliated with the world’s most dangerous jihadists into Syria’s armed forces.

Up to 3,000 fighters from the Turkistan Islamic Party (TIP)—a Uyghur-led jihadist group tied to Al Qaeda—have been integrated into Syria’s new military under Shara’s watch. This isn’t happening in secret. “There is an understanding, with transparency,” Barrack said of the move, signaling that Washington gave it its blessing.

Some analysts argue that integrating the Turkistan Islamic Party into Syria’s army is a pragmatic move because TIP’s Syria branch has cut ties with Al Qaeda, its fighters cannot return home, and it is better to control them within the system than risk pushing them back into the arms of other extremist groups. Nevertheless, this argument ignores the fact that many of these fighters are still loyal to Al Qaeda’s leadership, have engaged in sectarian violence, and pose a serious threat to Shara’s authority, especially if he pursues policies they oppose.

Analysts who favor integration accept TIP’s claim that it no longer takes orders from its external leadership and Al Qaeda. But there is little indication that the TIP in Syria has severed its ideology or operations from Al Qaeda. Their leader, Abdul Haq al-Turkistani, is a longtime jihadist and member of Al Qaeda’s top leadership council, and according to the United Nations Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team, he still directs TIP’s operations inside Syria from Afghanistan. TIP targets China’s Xinjiang province, where it seeks to establish an Islamic emirate, but it also operates as part of Al Qaeda’s global network, with strongholds in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Shara promoted Abdulaziz Khudaberdi, the TIP’s Syria branch leader, to brigadier general in the Syrian army in December 2024. Audio recordings reveal Khudaberdi’s unwavering obedience to al-Turkistani, further showcasing the strong affiliation with the TIP leadership in Afghanistan and, by extension, Al Qaeda.

Shara and his associates have sought to convince Western interlocutors that bringing foreign fighters into the army would be less of a security risk than abandoning them, which could drive them into the orbit of Al Qaeda or the Islamic State.

Shara is partially right about that: The most hardline of these foreign fighters are already turning against him. They are angry that their former comrade in arms has not yet imposed Sharia law and have alleged that “he has cooperated with the United States and Turkish forces to target extremist factions.”

Instead, the authorities are setting clear guidelines outlining how they expect the foreign fighters to behave. They are to avoid inciting sectarian or political violence and to refrain from calling for attacks on other countries.

The claim that appointing foreign commanders is an effective way to insulate the regime from coups is right, but if these groups continue to maintain operational ties with their parent organizations abroad, they may just be biding their time to assert their own agendas. Their loyalty remains uncertain, and the threat of defiance persists, especially if they don’t agree with how Shara implements Sharia law or establishing a security relationship with Israel.

Additionally, taking Shara at his word that excluding foreign fighters will push them toward Al Qaeda or the Islamic State ignores the fact that many of the groups he seeks to integrate are already part of Al Qaeda’s network. That includes the newly formed 84th Division, a unit that Syrian commanders have filled primarily with TIP militants and other foreign combatants.

Among these combatants is a group named Katibat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (KTJ), an Uzbek and Kyrgyz faction that operates in both Syria and Afghanistan. Unlike TIP, KTJ is officially identified as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group by the United States, and KTJ has remained loyal to Al Qaeda.

In December 2024, Shara promoted KTJ’s leader, Saifuddin Tojiboyn, to the rank of colonel. Following his appointment, Saifuddin shut down his Telegram channel and vanished from public view—likely an attempt to “hide his extremist credentials and his allegiance to Al Qaeda while Syria seeks international sanctions relief,” according to Uran Botobekov, an expert on Central Asian Jihadi movements. The presence of an individual like Tojiboyn in Syria’s new army shows that Washington is at risk of greenlighting the enlistment of terrorists from its own blacklist into Syria’s military ranks.

Many of Syria’s foreign fighters committed human rights abuses during the violent clashes along the Syrian coast in March 2025. Among them were Turkmen and Chechen militants. According to a resident of an Alawite neighborhood, these foreign fighters “were everywhere.”

These incidents showed the lack of control Shara has over the foreign fighters. The Interior Ministry’s directive amid the clashes was that “all pro-government forces should adhere to procedures used during the offensive against the Assad regime, namely, no targeting of civilians.” However, the killings continued. The involvement of foreign jihadists directly complicates the situation, as many of these fighters came to Syria for explicitly sectarian reasons.

Shara and his government say that he wants the state to control these foreign fighters, but the attacks against the Alawites proved the opposite. These fighters acted with impunity, and their sectarian motivations endure despite their army membership. With the country still vulnerable to this type of conflict, their presence risks igniting further violence and bloodshed.

Now, with Washington greenlighting their integration and with a dedicated unit established for them, it will be difficult for the Syrian government to root out groups like the TIP that have already been absorbed.

At the very least, Damascus must ensure that these fighters sever all ties with Al Qaeda and stop receiving directives from al-Turkistani and the rest of the leadership in Afghanistan, as well as renounce their affiliation with TIP. It will also be sensible to keep these units away from sectarian flashpoints such as the Alawite-majority Syrian coast or the Druze-dominated Suwayda Governorate.

In addition, placing these units under the command of professional Syrian officers who will ensure the units train and learn properly, rather than becoming jihadi pockets within the Syrian army, will also help monitor and contain any insurrections, especially if Syria begins moving toward normalization with Israel. Additionally, Shara must demonstrate accountability for the perpetrators of the March massacres. The fact-finding committee, tasked by Shara, has yet to complete its final report on the incidents. Still, if he hands out token punishments for mass murder, it will show that putting extremists in the army may do more to legitimize them than empower Shara and the Syrian state.freestar

The Trump administration must also make clear to the Syrians that it will not tolerate the integration of foreign fighters designated as Specially Designated Global Terrorists or listed as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, such as Katibat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, into Syria’s new army.

The United States must also communicate to Syrian leadership that the use of Syrian territory for cross-border attacks is a red line and that Damascus will be held accountable for harboring groups that intend to export terrorism beyond Syria’s borders. Finally, Washington should be ready to impose direct sanctions on specific military units, such as the 84th Division, if they engage in sectarian violence against Syria’s ethnic and religious minorities.

Reprinted from: https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2025/07/11/ahmed-al-sharas-foreign-jihadist-problem/