Free Republic

Trump admin 'must conduct rigorous oversight of this type of funding, which the Biden administration quietly noticed at the 11th hour,' says Rep. McCaul.. The Biden administration, weeks before leaving power, funneled more than $3 million in taxpayer cash to the Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF), according to a nonpublic notice transmitted to Congress that was reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. Those funds allowed the PASF to conduct "firearms and ammunition" training—and came after its members carried out scores of attacks against Israelis.... The Jan. 3 funding notice outlined more than $20 million in funding for regional security projects,...

The newly installed House, led by Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.), is set to vote Thursday on legislation that would sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, over efforts to arrest Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to lawmakers and congressional sources briefed on the matter.The legislation first passed the House in June with support from Republicans and 42 Democrats, but then-Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) did not bring it to the floor of the upper chamber for a vote. Its resurgence comes weeks after top Republicans—both in Congress and in the incoming...

Anti-Israel protesters flooded Senate building in illegal protest urging members to vote for arms sale blockIn the Biden-Harris administration’s eleventh hour, Senate Democrats are launching a campaign against the Jewish state aimed at drumming up support for blocking arms sales to Israel.Led by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), the congressional offensive consists of three Senate disapproval resolutions that call for an immediate pause in American arms sales to Israel and accuse the United States of supporting mass war crimes in the Gaza Strip. Sanders—along with Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.), Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.), Peter Welch (D., Vt.), and...

When Israeli forces examined Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar's body after killing him in a surprise ground operation on Thursday, they discovered several curious items, including grenades, an assault rifle, nearly $11,000 in cash, and a passport belonging to an employee of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.Those items, experts told the Washington Free Beacon, suggest Sinwar may have been attempting to flee the embattled Gaza Strip when Israeli forces stumbled upon him inside a house in the territory's Rafah neighborhood, Hamas's stronghold along the border with Egypt...The presence of an UNRWA passport in Sinwar's belongings is another blow to...

Israeli war cabinet promises 'harsh response' to Iranian ballistic missile barrage.. Israel's war cabinet met Wednesday to plot its "harsh response" to Iran's recent ballistic missile barrage, all but solidifying an impending—and significant—retaliatory strike on Tehran. The Jewish state, under pressure from the Biden-Harris administration, refrained from executing such a strike in the wake of Iran's April attack. This time, it will not be deterred, a U.S. official briefed on the matter told the Washington Free Beacon. "We see indications that Israel will likely not be deterred from an appropriate response this time around," the official said. "The Biden-Harris administration...

The State Department grossly mishandled its suspension of scandal-plagued Iran envoy Robert Malley, allowing him to continue accessing classified information and sensitive data after he was disciplined, according to an inspector general report reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. The department's assistant inspector general gathered congressional staffers Wednesday afternoon for a closed-door briefing on the agency’s missteps after Malley had his security clearance pulled in 2023 for mishandling classified information. The briefing revealed that Malley was permitted to engage in classified activities even after his clearance was pulled, representing a breach of federal protocol, according to attendees. Malley was also...

Hamakom synagogue leased space to Islamic group and covered up pictures of Israeli hostages.. A California synagogue axed its leadership and is struggling to retain members after leasing its facility to a Muslim group that brought in an anti-Israel speaker who compared Israel to Nazi Germany. Hamakom synagogue, a conservative congregation of around 900 families located in an upscale Los Angeles suburb, says it was trying to ease tensions between the Jewish and Muslim communities when it decided to lease its space this month to the Islamic Society of West Valley, a neighboring Muslim faith group that needed space to...

Harvard University is obstructing a congressional probe into campus-wide anti-Semitism, leading lawmakers to warn the Ivy League school that it will face a deluge of subpoenas if it continues to stonewall the investigation. "Harvard's responses have been grossly insufficient, and the limited and dilatory nature of its productions is obstructing the Committee's efforts," Rep. Virginia Foxx (R., N.C.), the chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, wrote to interim Harvard president Alan Garber on Wednesday. Harvard has until Feb. 14 to produce documents outlining its internal response to a growing wave of anti-Semitism on campus, including records...

It looks like part of the Washington press corps has finally caught up with our own Adam Kredo's reporting on President Biden's envoy to Iran, Robert Malley, who is now under FBI investigation for mishandling classified information. Now that the scandal is out in the open, it's worth recalling some of Kredo's prescient scoops. Before Malley was formally announced as the Biden administration's point man to revive the 2015 nuclear deal, Kredo smelled a rat. On January 25, 2021, he reported that a senior adviser to Iran's then-president, Hassan Rouhani, welcomed the selection of Malley to the post. [snip] For...

The White House announced on Thursday that Karine Jean-Pierre, a veteran anti-Israel activist who is married to CNN correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, will replace outgoing press secretary Jen Psaki, raising potential ethical quandaries. The announcement drew celebratory headlines in the mainstream press: Jean-Pierre is the first black woman and openly gay person to serve in the role. But her relationship with the CNN reporter raises ethical questions about her new role. The White House did not respond to a request for comment about whether Jean-Pierre would recuse herself in dealing with CNN. Malveaux's colleagues include Valerie Jarrett's daughter, CNN justice correspondent...

Romney, Rand Paul, and Rob Portman vote with Democrats in support of State Dept nominee Three Senate Republicans shattered party unity to advance the nomination of a State Department nominee who has been accused of lying to Congress about the terms of a new nuclear agreement with Iran. On Tuesday, the nomination of Barbara Leaf, a veteran Democratic foreign policy hand who was nominated last year to serve as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee after three Republicans—Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah), Rand Paul (Ky.), and Rob Portman (Ohio)—abandoned their party...

Russia’s top state-controlled energy company is set to cash in on a $10 billion contract to build out one of Iran’s most contested nuclear sites as part of concessions granted in the soon-to-be-announced nuclear agreement that will guarantee sanctions on both countries are lifted. Russian and Iranian documents translated for the Washington Free Beacon show that Rosatom, Russia’s leading energy company, has a $10 billion contract with Iran’s atomic energy organization to expand Tehran’s Bushehr nuclear plant. Russia and the Biden administration confirmed on Tuesday that the new nuclear agreement includes carveouts that will waive sanctions on both countries so...

Findings come as anti-Semitic attacks on students have skyrocketed in recent years An overwhelming number of diversity, equity, and inclusion officers at American universities, who are ostensibly hired to create a welcoming space on campus, use social media to bash Israel and Jews, according to a study. Researchers reviewed the Twitter feeds of 741 diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) officials at 65 different U.S. universities to determine their attitudes on Israel and, for purposes of comparison, China. They found that DEI staff "tweeted, retweeted, or liked almost three times as many tweets about Israel as tweets about China." Of the...

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas authorized the payment on Sunday of $42,000 to the family of a terrorist who killed two Israelis through a policy that incentivizes and rewards terrorism against Israel. Laila Ghannam, governor of Ramallah’s Al-Bireh district, personally handed the money to the family of Muhannad Al-Halabi, a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group . Al-Halabi fatally stabbed two Israeli civilians in 2015 before being shot by police. The $42,000 payment was given to Al-Halabi’s parents "on behalf of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas ," according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which tracks regional media...

Dems divided as anti-Israel flank grows more vocal Democratic leaders convinced their colleagues on Tuesday to drop an effort championed by the party’s left flank that would have delayed U.S. military assistance to Israel as the country battles Iranian-backed terrorist groups. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D., Md.), the House’s second-highest-ranking Democrat, told reporters that after pressure from leadership, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D., N.Y.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC), abandoned efforts to delay over $735 million in arms sales to Israel. The Jewish state has used such weaponry during the past two weeks to battle Hamas terrorists as they...

It is 'critical for Israel' not to 'exacerbate tensions or take us further away from peace,' said spokeswoman Jalina Porter The State Department walked back comments from controversy-prone deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter, who last week singled out Israel for criticism and blamed the Jewish State for inflaming tensions with the Palestinians. The State Department distanced itself Friday from Porter's remarks, noting that "we have consistently called on both Israel and the Palestinians to avoid unilateral steps that exacerbate tensions and make it more difficult to preserve the viability of a two-state solution." The dust-up comes after Porter was asked at...

Leaked audiotape of Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif indicates he had no knowledge of covert Israeli military strikes before former secretary of state John Kerry provided him with the information, new details that contradict the State Department's recent defense of Kerry. These details are likely to further fuel calls from leading Republicans for Kerry's firing or resignation. The New York Times reported that Zarif said on the tape that Kerry told him Israel launched 200 airstrikes against Iranian interests in Syria. The Times did not provide further details on that issue. But an independent translation of the audiotape commissioned by...

A top official at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft is claiming the "Israeli lobby" in the United States is waging a coordinated effort to scuttle the Biden administration’s renewed diplomacy with Iran. Joe Cirincione, a distinguished non-resident fellow at Quincy, claimed during an MSNBC interview last week that special interest groups controlled by the Israeli government are surreptitiously working to undermine the Biden administration’s efforts to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. "There’s the Israeli lobby in Washington that’s very effective that’s pressing" against a new deal, Cirincione told MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan. Cirincione was likely referring to...

Nuclear watchdog: Tehran 3.5 months away from weapon The United States has evidence that Iran is stockpiling enriched uranium, the key component in a nuclear weapon, in direct violation of international restrictions on Tehran’s use of the fissile material. Nuclear experts predict that Iran is now just 3.5 months away from the "breakout time," a measurement of how close the country is to having the technology and materials to construct a nuclear weapon. It also now has the fuel to potentially construct two separate bombs. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) disclosed on Friday that Iran has nearly doubled its...

Television companies working with Cannon refuse to answer questions Fox Television and the producers of actor Nick Cannon's upcoming daytime talk show are remaining silent about the TV host's recent anti-Semitic tirade, which included comments claiming that Jews control the global banking system. Cannon, host of the Fox TV show The Masked Singer, praised anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan and claimed people of African descent are "the true Hebrews," a trope meant to undermine the Jewish people's connection to Israel. His comments, made on his YouTube talk show, have sparked a fierce backlash from pro-Israel and anti-hate groups,...