Daily Discussion - April 24, 2024

Israel Blames U.S. For International Criminal Court Arrest Warrants

From Israel N12 News:

"Sources at The Hague said that it is impossible that the chief prosecutor would have decided on such a dramatic step, in a war that is still ongoing, with very little evidence, if he had not at least had a "green light" from the Americans. If this is true, this is another and unprecedented low in relations between Israel and the US, at a very sensitive time, on the eve of the ground entry to Rafah.

Relays that have recently arrived in Jerusalem indicate that the chance of issuing arrest warrants has increased dramatically, possibly as soon as next month.…  Read more Last week, an urgent discussion on the issue was held in the Prime Minister's Office, in which serious concerns were raised about allowing the issuance of arrest warrants against senior Israeli security and political leaders, including against Netanyahu himself."

U.S. Asks China To Suspend Trade With Russia

Secretary of State Blinken will press Chinese officials on a wide range of issues, including its support for Russia, cheap Chinese exports that U.S. officials say threaten American jobs, and Chinese ships’ aggressive maneuvers in the South China Sea, a senior State Department official told reporters in a telephone briefing.

Western officials have grown increasingly vocal about concerns that China is backing Russia in its war in Ukraine.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, during her own visit to China earlier this month, warned of “significant consequences” if Beijing provides material support.

Chinese officials are likely to bring up American support for Taiwan, the self-governing island that China claims, and trade restrictions that Beijing calls discriminatory.

U.S. Secretly Shipped New Long Range Missile System To Ukraine

The United States last week secretly shipped a new long-range missile system to Ukraine, and Ukrainian forces immediately used the weapons to attack a Russian military airfield in Crimea last Wednesday and Russian troops in the country’s southeast overnight on Tuesday, according to a senior U.S. official.

The missiles can reach deeper into occupied Ukraine, including Crimea, a hub of Russian air and ground forces, and supply nodes for Moscow’s forces in the country’s southeast.

In a major policy shift, President Biden secretly approved the decision to send more than 100 of the longer-range missiles in mid-February.

Administration officials kept the shipment secret to avoid tipping off the Russians.

Hamas publishes propaganda video of Israeli-American hostage with hand missing

Hamas published a propaganda video showing Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin on Wednesday on their Telegram channel.

In the video, Goldberg-Polin notes that he was hanging out with friends at the Nova Music Festival when Hamas attacked the festival and kidnapped him and his friends, countering claims that Hamas leaders have made in the past that they did not target civilians.

Goldberg-Polin was seriously injured by a grenade during the Hamas assault on the Nova Music Festival and lost his left hand.

Nancy Pelosi Calls On Netanyahu To Resign

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should resign, calling him an obstacle to a two-state solution.

Speaking about the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and the prime minister's counteroffensive, Pelosi said Netanyahu is ultimately responsible.

"We recognize Israel's right to protect itself. We reject the policy and the practice of Netanyahu. Terrible," she said in an interview with RTÉ's Six One News in Ireland. "What could be worse than what he has done in response?"

"I don't know whether he's afraid of peace, incapable of peace, or just doesn't want peace, but he has been an obstacle to the two-state solution," she added.

Pakistan and Iran Strike Trade Deals In Threat To U.S.

Pakistan has been looking to revive a project to build a gas pipeline from Iran, which has been delayed for decades due to the risk of sanctions from the US. Last month, Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu said in a congressional hearing that the Biden administration will uphold all sanctions related to Iran when he was asked about the Pakistan-Iran pipeline.

Pakistan and Iran need to boost bilateral trade to about $10 billion in the next three to four years.

This week, Iran and Pakistan agreed to ban terror groups operating on each other’s soil, Pakistan’s Interior Ministry said…  Read more in a separate statement. Raisi, the first Iranian president to visit Islamabad in eight years, concluded his visit on Wednesday.

U.S. Tests A.I. Weapons Against Russia In Ukraine War

The US military is reportedly using the Ukraine conflict to test a new artificial intelligence technology that helps detect targets on the battlefield using drone footage.

Dubbed Project Maven, research into the technology was initially picked up as a government contract by Google six years ago, according to the outlet. However, after pushback from engineers and employees, who did not want to take part in building an AI tool for military use, the tech giant stepped away from the project, which was picked up by other contractors.

Now, the technology is being tested on the front line in Ukraine,…  Read more the NYT claims, as Western and Ukrainian officers, along with some of Silicon Valley’s top military contractors, are “exploring new ways of finding and exploiting Russian vulnerabilities.”

North Korea And Iran Officials Meet To Discuss New "Cold War"

A high-profile North Korean delegation is making a rare foreign visit to Iran, the state-run KCNA news agency has reported. The last time officials from Pyongyang made a publicly announced trip to Tehran was in 2019.

Last week, South Korea’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service (NIS), said it is “keeping tabs on whether the North Korean technology was included in Iran’s ballistic missiles launched against Israel, given the North and Iran’s missile cooperation in the past.”

Embracing the idea of a “new Cold War,” North Korean leader Kim Jong Un…  Read more is pushing to build up cooperation with countries confronting the United States, as his intensified weapons tests prompted the U.S. and South Korea to expand their military drills.

Senate Passes Ukraine, Israel Aid

The Senate passed a long-delayed $95.3 billion foreign-aid package sending much-needed ammunition and military equipment to beleaguered Ukrainian soldiers and fortifying Israel’s missile defense systems, while also forcing the sale of Chinese-controlled TikTok in the U.S.

The 79-to-18 vote brought to a close months of wrenching debate over Ukraine that sharply split the Republican Party, with rank-and-file members openly rebelling against their leaders. The fight also called into question both how far the U.S. would go to defend the country, now in the third year of trying to repel Russi…  Read morea’s invasion, as well as America’s leadership role in the world.