Epstein Secrets

television studio in Tehran. Rajoub's Jan. 28 visit to Iran was extraordinary for a senior official of Fatah, the secular movement that dominates the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas. Iran has been the major sponsor of Hamas, the EFTA00684677 militant Islamist group that drove Fatah out of the Gaza Strip i

ittee, said he had a "very direct conversation" with Ron Dermer, Israel's ambassador to the United States, on the sanctions bill early last month. "AIPAC and Israel are in different places on this issue," Corker said of his conversation with Dermer, who he said supported the sanctions bill now and no

to oblige. Not just some of them. All of them. On crucial Capitol Hill votes, measures favored by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC, often pass unopposed. Last week was different. Very, very different. First, AIPAC was forced, in the wake of Democratic opposition, to retreat for

t considered red lines in the past." The timing of Hamas's outreach may have something to do with the US-led peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, says Talal Okal, a political analyst in Gaza. If a peace agreement is reached when Hamas and Fatah are cooperating, Hamas is more likely to share

its sense is to partially delegate to the government of Israel a decision that would take the United States to war with Iran. Senators report that AIPAC's advocacy of the bill has been intensive, even by its usual standard. In the end, this seemingly complicated story is actually quite simple. For

governing coalition wrote a letter insisting that "Israel will not return to the Oslo outline, and will not hand further parts of the motherland to the Palestinian Authority." The governing coalition is clearly not serious about a meaningful peace deal and the Israeli military, at the government's behest, is doing its u

igns of softening their positions. Their demands to maintain the current measures reflect, in part, the success of a concerted lobbying campaign by AIPAC. The pro-Israel group has sat out some recent potential fights over large- scale U.S. weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in

amas is more likely to share the political gains and gain international acceptance. It could also partake in the windfall that donors have promised the Palestinian Authority if it signs a peace agreement. Hamas may also feel less popular pressure to campaign for one of its founding principles: the liberation of Palesti

its sense is to partially delegate to the government of Israel a decision that would take the United States to war with Iran. Senators report that AIPAC's advocacy of the bill has been intensive, even by its usual standard. In the end, this seemingly complicated story is actually quite simple. For

ompromises, and overcoming resistance by Hamas and other terrorists. Without such institutions, no long-term solution is possible. Negotiating with the Palestinian Authority has less substance than negotiating with a hologram. Perversely, however, Obama treats Israel as the problem. Not apprehending these realities or

crease the chance that America would have to resort to military means to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. EFTA00684598 In the past, AIPAC generally got what it wanted from Congress, and that appeared to be the case this time around, as well. Fully fifty senators signed on before Presi