Terror Attempts Likely To Soon Increase
Two major developments may soon translate into a spike in attempted terrorist attacks against Israelis, according to informed Middle Eastern security officials.
Firstly, the Iranian-backed Hizbullah terrorist organization has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars to recruit Palestinians in the West Bank to commit attacks against Israelis living in the territory and those inside major cities such as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
The officials say the Palestinian Authority, in part working with Israel, arrested Palestinians who admitted to being paid thousands of dollars each to work for Hizbullah.
Besides forming a cell to carry out attacks, the arrested Palestinians also were asked to spy for Hizbullah.
Some of those arrested include members of the official PA security apparatus, evidencing a possible problem of Hizbullah infiltration.
Hizbullah has also been investing money in weapons and training for cells inside the West Bank, the officials said.
In a second development, the security officials said Hamas has been reconstituting its military wing in the West Bank, where the rival Fatah party usually dominates.
The officials said PA President Mahmoud Abbas has been turning a blind eye to the resurgence of Hamas’s brigades in the West Bank to preserve the unity deal he signed with the Islamic terrorist group last month.
The Hamas-PA reconciliation agreement calls for an independent government, led for now by Abbas, while paving the way for new elections.
Hamas officials have stated many times that the unity deal does not alter the group’s commitment to jihad. They have affirmed Hamas will never recognize the existence of the Jewish state.
Boehner Gets His Facts Wrong
The statement by U.S. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, announcing his intent to form a new select committee to investigate the Sept. 11, 2012, Benghazi attack, contains elementary errors.
The statement argues that the Obama administration’s defiance of lawmaker subpoenas “compel the House to take every possible action to ensure the American people have the truth about the terrorist attack on our consulate that killed four of our countrymen.”
The only problem is there was no “consulate” in Benghazi. The attacked facility was not a consulate but a U.S. special mission.
A consulate typically refers to the building that officially houses a consul, or an official representative of the government of one state located inside the territory of another. Consulates at times function as junior embassies, providing services related to visas, passports and citizen information.
The attacked building in Benghazi, however, was a U.S. special mission according to government documents released by the State Department-sponsored Accountability Review Board (ARB), congressional and senatorial investigations, the White House, the Pentagon and the intelligence community.
The ARB divulged the mission was so special it possessed a “non-status,” making security provisions to the facility difficult. The ARB said the State Department made a decision “to treat Benghazi as a temporary, residential facility.”
The ARB report contains information that clearly contradicts any claim that the special mission existed to serve as a consulate. It documents that the local Libyan government did not know about the presence of the mission.
The U.S. facility in Benghazi was unique in almost every aspect as far as security was concerned, according to the State Department’s Libya desk officer, Brian Papanu.
The diplomat’s quotes were contained in the 98-page interim report on the Benghazi attack by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Regarding the unusual nature of the U.S. facility in Benghazi, the House report stated: “The State Department was operating a temporary residential facility in a violent and unstable environment without adequate U.S. and host nation security support.”