The President's Daily Brief - April 23rd, 2024: Blinken in Beijing, Israel Intel Shakeup, & Campus Tension

Episode Date: April 23, 2024

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's upcoming visit to Beijing takes center stage as the west seeks to address China's support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. An in-depth analysis of the unfolding situation in Rafah, Israel, and the resignation of the nation’s chief of military intelligence. The escalating crisis at American universities: examining the protests at Columbia and Yale, and the impact on Jewish student communities. In today’s Back of the Brief, we’ll focus on the drug war in South America and Ecuador's aggressive new stance against drug cartels. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. We'll start today's show by examining Western efforts to reign in China as it continues to bolster Russia's war effort in Ukraine. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is scheduled to be in Beijing this week, where he's expected to deliver a warning to his Chinese counterparts. All right. Now, take that with a grain of salt. At best, there might be a stern statement. If he really gets outside the box, maybe some finger-wagging. Later in the show, as Israel prepares to carry out its long-delayed offensive in the city of Rafa, the nation's chief of military intelligence resigns over his failure

to prevent the October 7th brutal massacre by Hamas. Plus, American universities are facing a full-blown crisis as radicals at Columbia and Yale and other fine academic institutions, protest the war in Palestine and threaten Jewish students. Well, if you can't be anti-Semitic at a $90,000 a year university, I mean, what are you paying for? Maybe these kids just think that for that sort of tuition fee, they should be able to spew hatred.

All right, in today's back of the brief, we'll also turn our attention to the drug war in South America as Ecuador's government prepares to go to war with numerous drug gangs wrecking havoc on the country. But first, today's... PDP spotlight. With more than $60 billion in new aid for Ukraine almost certain to pass to the United States Senate this week, the White House is preparing a diplomatic offensive to assist Keeve, along with providing all that much-needed hardware. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken

will head to Beijing this week, in part to deliver what's referred to as a warning to China to curb its support for Russia's military. Ahead of Blinken's trip, a State Department official, told reporters, quote, we're prepared to take steps when we believe necessary against firms that severely undermined security in both Ukraine and Europe. We've demonstrated our willingness to do so regarding firms from a number of countries,

not just China, end quote. Now, the U.S. isn't alone in its efforts to rein in China during a meeting of the G7 this weekend. Top diplomats leveled their own warning against China. On Friday, German Foreign Minister Annalina Berbach told reporters, quote, we call on China to use its influence on Putin. In no case can we accept that any country in the world fires up Putin's war machine, end quote. Okay, to be fair, once again, and not exactly a warning. Now, as we've reported here on the PDB, Russia is receiving assistance

from a few nations, notably North Korea and Iran. Those two are providing vital weapons, like artillery shells and drones. But support from China has largely flown under the the radar, with the communist country attempting to portray itself as neutral. We don't want to take a stand, or we're neither this nor that, when in fact, it's been anything but neutral. Unlike Pyongyang and Tehran, China isn't necessarily selling any directly the weapons to Russia. There aren't train cars full of ammunition flowing from China to Russian army depots in eastern Ukraine. China's support has been more subtle, exploiting massive loopholes and sanctions against Moscow. Its assistance is coming mostly in the form of technology and dual-use hardware that's helping Russia to ramp up its own production of material and reconstitute its military.

According to U.S. intelligence reports from earlier this month, China has surged sales to Russia of machine tools, microelectronics, and other technology that Moscow in turn uses to produce weapons for the Ukraine war. For example, the Associated Press reports that in 2023, about 90% of Russia's microelectronics came from China. Russia then turns around and uses these components to make missiles, tanks, and aircraft. Nearly 70% of Russia's approximately $900 million in machine tool imports in the last quarter of 2003 came from, well, you guessed, at China. Chinese companies have also reportedly been working with Russian entities, to jointly produce unmanned aerial vehicles inside Russia, and China-based companies are providing optical components

for use in Russian tanks and armored vehicles. What exactly Secretary of State Blinken and the White House plan on doing about the relationship between Moscow and Beijing? Well, that remains to be seen. It's one thing to posture at home and announce that you're going over to Beijing to issue a warning. The reality, at least to date, has been that the Biden administration has been softening.

on sanctions, the most egregious example being the lack of aggressive and meaningful sanctions against both the Russian and Iranian energy sectors. As we've noted previously on the PDB, the White House is loath to do anything that could raise gas prices for voters in the U.S. ahead of the November elections. And they've also been reluctant to sanction Iran's oil sector over concerns that it would upset China, a major buyer of Iranian oil. So if I appear cynical that Secretary Blinken is going to suddenly turn into Action Jackson and strong-armed Xi Jinping and his regime into submission over their support to Russia, well, my cynicism is based on their actual track record to date.

Coming up after the break, a look at Israel's next steps in Rafah and a high-level resignation, and then rising tensions at American universities over the Israeli-Khamas conflict. I'll be right back. Welcome back. With tensions easing between Israel and Iran for the moment, leaders in Jerusalem are once again setting their sights on the southern Gaza city of Rafa to root Hamas out of their last stronghold. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu vowed Sunday that Israel will follow through on their offensive operations in Gaza despite the interruption by Iran. Now, as a reminder, Israel was gearing up for an invasion of Rafa just prior to Iran's bombardment of the

barbment of their territory, calling up two reserve brigades in the middle of April for expanded operations in the enclave. Netanyahu said Sunday, quote, in the coming days, we will increase the military and diplomatic pressure on Hamas because it's the only way to release our hostages and achieve our victory, end quote. The operation will reportedly move forward despite significant international opposition, including from the Biden administration. The White House has warned that a full-scale grant ground assault in Rafa could trigger a humanitarian catastrophe, blocking aid from reaching the famished population. Now Rafa is currently home to more than approximately one million Palestinians who have huddled in the city to shelter from the war. The problem is that the last remnants of

Hamas are hiding among the population, using the civilians as shields in the hopes of their tactics will prevent Israel from moving forward with an assault. Leaders in Jerusalem, however, have long warned that if they do not press the offensive and eliminate the remaining Hamas fighters, the militants will be able to regroup and once again threaten Israel. Officials said that they've destroyed 20 of Hamas's 24 military battalions with the remaining hiding inside Rafa, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Israel's Air Force has already started laying the groundwork for a ground invasion, striking multiple targets inside Rafa in recent days. Several strikes on Sunday, reportedly killed at least 16 Palestinians, the majority of which were reportedly women and children.

Now, as always, we should note that those figures, all casualty figures, come from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health and cannot be independently verified. Critically, however, Netanyahu also said that Israel will be implementing evacuation plans for the civilian population before any formal ground operations begin. The plan involves constructing humanitarian enclaves, within the Gaza Strip that will provide food and water, shelter, and medical services. The evacuation will take an estimated two to three weeks, and once a ground invasion is underway, Israeli officials estimate that the fighting could last as long as six weeks. The plan defensive comes as Israel loses a key leader within their intelligence apparatus.

Major General Hron Haliva, Israel's military intelligence chief, announced Monday he would resign, taking responsibility for the multiple intelligence failures that preceded Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on 7 October. He's the first senior official in Israel to step down over the events of 7th October, but more resignations are expected. Now, staying within the Israel-Hamas conflict, the war is causing chaos within the elite academic institutions of the U.S. as anti-Semitism runs wild, and Jewish students increasingly fear for their personal safety. The situation reached a fever pitch on the campus of Columbia University in New York City late last week, as mobs of pro-Palestinian protesters set up tents and organized an encampment on school grounds as part of an unauthorized demonstration, according to a Reuters report.

That demonstration led to the arrest of more than 100 protesters last Thursday, angering Palestinian student activist groups who said they were peacefully assembled. It's a mostly peaceful protest. A separate group, however, has also been gathering outside the campus gates, where protesters can be heard chanting things like F Israel, and Israel is a, how would I say that, biach, or, quote, here's one, the 7th of October is going to be every day for you, end quote. With a Jewish holiday of Passover, set to begin Monday evening, administrators at Columbia University officially canceled in-person classes and announced that going forward students would have the option to attend class virtually. Well, look at that. COVID and anti-Semitism

both result in virtual classrooms. The climate at Columbia has reportedly gotten so bad that Rabbi Eli Bucler, who works at the school, recently sent a group message to some 300 Jewish students on campus, pleading with them to leave campus and not come back for the sake of their own safety. The rabbi said it was clear that, quote, Columbia University's public safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students' safety, end quote. The chaos at Columbia even garnered a reaction from the Biden administration, which put out a statement on Sunday, condemning the anti-Semitism proliferating at America's elite schools.

Again, can you really call them elite? White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates said, quote, echoing the rhetoric of terrorist organizations, especially in the wake of the worst massacre committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, is despicable, end quote. Now, that's a good statement, but just a thought. The statement might have been a bit more powerful if the president himself had delivered it rather than a deputy press secretary, but to be fair, the White House is counting on most of those protesters' votes in November, so you wouldn't want to take too strong a stand. Governor Kathy Hokel and New York City Mayor Eric Adams issued similarly stern condemnations. We should note the discord is not exclusive to Colombia. On Monday morning,

more than 40 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested during a morning demonstration at Yale University, blocking traffic and demanding that the school divest from military weapons manufacturers. Pro-Palestinian protesters have also reportedly set up encampments on the campuses of MIT. NYU and at Boston's Emerson College. Alarmingly, many of the pro-Palestinian student groups appeared angered not at the anti-Semitism towards their Jewish peers, but by the negative media attention the stories have been getting. One student leader at Columbia even claimed to CNN

that the real threat to students was a continued harassment of Palestinian protesters by the NYPD, and honest to God, I am not making this up. The crisis on Columbia's campus as renewed calls by Republicans in Congress for the university's president to resign. Republican Representative Ali Stefani said the events of the past few days make it clear that the school leaders have, quote, lost control of its campus. Now, no offense, but most of these student protesters live in a bubble of self-indulgence and manufactured angst. I suspect that most have little to know life experience, particularly dealing with hostile or challenging overseas environments, much less knowing what it means to be in a place controlled by Islamic extremists.

Here's a pro tip for them. If you've got multicolored hair, maybe you're gender fluid, you support women's equality and LGBTQ plus rights, well, you're not welcome there. I mean, you're really not welcome there. Here's the thing. Many of these kids see an opportunity in the protests to be a part of something, even if they don't have a surface-level understanding of what that something is. At that age, when you're at university, being part of a community,

even one that's diving headfirst into anti-Semitism, well, it can be attractive. But here's a thought. Maybe we should look at who's organizing these protests, who's funding them, who's handling the communications and the guidance and the coordination. While the useful idiots for Hamas would like you to believe that it's all spontaneous and planned and executed by young students. I suspect if we dig a little deeper, and we will, that there's more coordination and non-student involvement than they let on. All right, coming up in today's back of the brief, the people of Ecuador just gave their

government the green light to go to war against nearly two dozen drug gangs causing mayhem in the South American country. We'll have more on that when we come back. In today's back of the brief. I want to turn your attention to Ecuador, a nation that over the past several years has been plagued by violence due to the activity of drug cartels. Now, the drug cartels have set up shop in Ecuador for a number of reasons, the most important of which is its strategic location between Colombia and Peru, the world's largest cocaine producers. This geographical position makes it ideal for drug traffickers aiming to transport their gear to major markets in North America and Europe and beyond. For several years now, Ecuador has been at the mercy of close to

two dozen drug gangs fighting over this valuable real estate. Just last year, Ecuador logged its highest homicide rate in history, 44.5 per 100,000 people. And yes, I know, that half in these statistics always confuses me as well. That's approximately triple the rate of 2021 and by far the highest in South America. And now, it seems like the people of Ecuador, have had enough. On Sunday, Ecuadorians voted by wide margins to give the nation's young president, 36-year-old President Daniel Naboa, proud powers to crack down on these powerful gangs. Among other things, the proposals now allow Naboas government to deploy members of the armed forces along with the police, increased sentences for criminals convicted of terrorism and drug trafficking, extradite suspects

and indicted in other countries and permit law enforcement to use weapons seized from gangs. The policies are inspired by El Salvador's president, Naid Buckele, whose government initiated mass arrests of suspected gang members back in 2022. That policy helped lower homicide rates in El Salvador by a massive 95%, not to mention a dramatic decrease of Salvadorans attempting to cross America's southern border. The vote is the latest indication, that Latin American countries are beginning to turn away from the live-and-let-live approach toward the war on drugs, an approach, by the way, exemplified by Mexican President Obador or

Amlo, whose so-called Hugs-Not Bullets policy has been a major boon for the country's drug cartels. And that, my friends, is the president's daily brief for Tuesday, 23 April. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. Now, to listen to the show Ad Free, that's without ads, become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting pdbpremium.com. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.