The President's Daily Brief - December 22nd, 2023: Contradictions on Gaza, Iran's Photo Phishing, & Texas' Migrant Move

Episode Date: December 22, 2023

In this episode of The President's Daily Brief:   Israeli officials send mixed signals on Gaza's future post-Hamas. We delve into the impact of these contradictory statements.   We cover the startling tactics of young Iranian women trained by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, who are sending provocative photos to IDF members for intel.   After over a year of silence, US and Chinese military officers reopen dialogue. We analyze the significance of this communication.   In the Back of the Brief, Texas takes dramatic action in the migrant crisis, flying over 120 people from the U.S.-Mexico border to Chicago. We investigate the implications.   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

It's Friday, December 22nd. Welcome to the President's Daily Brief. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First up, Israeli officials continue to give mixed signals about the future of Gaza once Hamas has been eliminated. We'll take a look at their contradictory statements. Later in the program, young Iranian women under the training an instruction of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the IRGC, are sending racy photos to members of the Israeli Defense Forces in an attempt to gain valuable intelligence. And U.S. and Chinese military officers speak for the first time in over a year. Finally, in today's back of the brief, Texas has escalated its efforts to deal with the migrant crisis by sending a plane carrying over 120 people

from the U.S.-Mexico border to Chicago. But first up, the PDB spotlight. The Israeli government seems to have a case of schizophrenia when it comes to the future governance of Gaza, with officials throwing out signals only to be contradicted hours later. We'll start with Israeli President Isaac Herzog. He offered insights into his government's plans for Gaza's governance post-conflict during a speech to the Atlantic Council this week.

Now, Herzog stated that Gaza will likely have to be governed by what he called an amalgamation of forces, with regional players coming together to take on the task. He emphasized the need for robust international cooperation to ensure Israeli security concerns are addressed, particularly regarding the prevention of Hamas and similar groups, from operating without repercussions or establishing what he termed an Iranian-led platform. near Israel. Now, Herzog wasn't very specific about who would be part of this amalgamation of forces, but maintained that Israel must play a role in Gaza's future. He stated, quote, we have to be reasonable about who is going to send forces to Gaza. It's a complex issue because without a clear

answer, only Israel can prevent terror from repeatedly emerging from the area, end quote. One thing that's notable is that Herzog did not mention the Palestinian Authority, which administers the West Bank, as having a role in Gaza's future governance. However, just days later, Tsachi Hanegbi, the National Security Advisor to Prime Minister Netanyahu, expressed a different view. In an article for the Arabic language news site Al-Av, Hanegbi opened the door to integrating the Palestinian Authority into Gaza. Now, Henegbi wrote, quote, Israel is aware of the desire of the international community and the countries of the region to integrate the Palestinian authority the day after Hamas. And we make it clear that the matter will require a fundamental reform of the Palestinian authority, adding that Israel is, quote, ready for this effort. Now, that statement was likely music to the ears of the White House. Henegby's American counterpart, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, was in Tel Aviv just last week

pushing for Israel to open the door to the Palestinian Authority. However, just as quickly as that door was opened, it was slammed shut. Shortly after Henegby's piece was published, a senior Israeli official clarified to reporters that Henegby's statements were being misinterpreted. The official asserted that involving the Palestinian Authority in Gaza was not feasible since they would refuse to confront terrorism and demilitarize the Palestinian enclave. The official told the press, quote, we cannot expect those who are not taking these actions in Janine to do so in Gaza. It's a non-starter, end quote. Now, the fluctuating positions

suggest that Israel may be as uncertain about the future of Gaza's governance as the rest of the world is. The only certainty here is that Hamas cannot remain in control of Gaza. Their stated intention to continue attacks on Israel similar to their brutal 7 October slaughter, not to mention their charter, which calls for the destruction of Israel, is all the justification that Israel needs to insist on pursuing their objective of removing Hamas. Now, the likelihood is that at the end of the conflict, there will be a need for a multinational peacekeeping force that can both ensure the enclave isn't a hub of Iranian-sponsored terrorist activity and can also provide clean governance, humanitarian support, and infrastructure resources.

All right, when we come back, young Iranian women, trained by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard, are sending provocative photos to IDF members to gather intelligence. and also top brass in the U.S. and Chinese militaries. They talk for the first time in over a year. I'll be right back. Welcome back. Reports are emerging that an Iranian network has been targeting Israeli citizens and troops in an effort to expand the Iranian regime's intelligence capabilities amid the war in Gaza.

Israel's Shimbet confirmed Thursday that Iranian security forces have attempted to recruit Israelis through social media and employment websites, and to use them in intelligence gathering operations, according to a report from the Times of Israel. The revelation comes on the heels of a report detailing what's referred to as a honeypot operation by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeting Israeli troops. According to the London-based outlet Iran International, the IRGC recruited young women who were fluent in Hebrew to contact IDF soldiers through social media. Now, the women who were trained by agents of the IRGC used some 22 fake accounts to send Israeli troops, sexually explicit photos, and videos in an attempt to learn sensitive information.

In some cases, they were reportedly successful and passed the intelligence onto Hamas militants in Gaza. Now, there's no word on whether the Iranian regime intends to release a 2024 calendar featuring the girls of the IRGC. We'll try to keep you informed on that. Regarding the targeting of Israeli citizens, the Iranian operatives would use a variety of false pretenses to approach their victims, initially posing as salespeople, marketers, or people in search of private investigators. They would then ask these citizens to carry out various tasks in exchange for monetary payment. Officials with Shimbet said, while some of the requests were criminal in nature, others appeared more innocuous. Officials said the activities were,

quote, definitely intended to serve the Iranians and enrich the intelligence in their possession. In some cases, they asked Israeli citizens to confirm certain addresses or take photos of specific locations. In a more extreme example, screenshots show an Iranian operative attempted to bribe and Israeli into assassinating an unknown target for 60,000 euros. The network reportedly also made attempts to contact families of Israeli hostages taken during the 7 October terrorist attacks, as well as the families of IDF troops killed in combat. Officials said many of the Israeli citizens targeted by this network were spooked by the inquiries and reported them to Israeli security services. Shinbet agents said they were then able to gather detailed information regarding the identities of the Iranian operatives behind the fake social media accounts.

Shinbet officials said in a statement that since the outbreak of the war, quote, the activity efforts of Iranian security forces have greatly intensified while using digital space for the purposes of intimidation, conveying messages or advancing terror activities. Its purpose is to assist Hamas in its war and to damage Israel's national resilience and war effort, sowing demoralization and deepening social divisions, end quote. All right. Turning our attention to the Far East, top military officials for China and the U.S. held their first official meeting in more than a year yesterday in what many hope will be the first step towards greater military cooperation, or at least greater communication. The virtual meeting comes more than a month after President Biden and CCP leader Xi Jinping met at a summit in San Francisco,

where they agreed to restore military-to-military communications, according to a report by Reuters. The communication channel between the world's two largest militaries was suspended by China over the summer of 2022, following a surprise visit to Taiwan by former House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi. U.S. Air Force General and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, C.Q. Brown, spoke with his counterpart, General Liu Zhen Li of China's People's Liberation Army, on a range of global and regional security issues. In a statement on Thursday, Brown's office said, quote, General Brown discussed the importance of working together to responsibly manage competition, avoid miscalculations, and maintain open and direct lines of communication.

General Brown reiterated the importance of the People's Liberation Army engaging in substantive dialogue to reduce the likelihood of misunderstandings, end quote. While the meeting is welcome progress regarding U.S.-China relations, officials cautioned that creating an ongoing and more open dialogue with the Chinese military will take a lot of time and effort. The U.S. and China remain at odds on a laundry list of critical issues, particularly Taiwan. And as we learned yesterday, U.S. officials were alarmed when she broached the subject in a private meeting with President Biden at last month's APEC summit. According to three current and

former U.S. officials, she bluntly told Biden that he fully intends to reunify Taiwan with mainland China, saying it's only a question of when China will act. He allegedly said he would prefer to avoid military conflict and do this peacefully. Now, there's no indication of whether that thorny issue of Taiwan came up during Brown and Zen Li's virtual meeting yesterday. As we discussed on the PDB, while Xi has long spoken publicly about the reunification of Taiwan, officials were surprised that the Chinese leader would casually speak to his intentions in a private meeting at a summit aimed at improving relations with the U.S. All right.

Coming up in the back of the brief, Texas sends its first plane load of migrants to the city of Chicago, part of Governor Abbott's efforts to provide free transportation to Democratic-led cities across the country. I'll be right back. In today's back of the brief, we dive into the latest developments along the southern U.S. border. Texas Governor Greg Abbott took a controversial step this week

flying approximately 100 migrants to Chicago using a chartered private plane. This action is part of what's known as Operation Lone Star, which has relocated over 50,000 migrants to various sanctuary cities nationwide. The flight, which originated from El Paso, Texas, unexpectedly arrived at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport around 7.15 p.m. on Tuesday. Officials were taken aback as no prior warning was given, leading airport authorities to call the police when the aircraft landed. The mayor's office said two unidentified people who flew with the migrants left Chicago's O'Hare Airport in an Uber before police arrived. The flight comes after Chicago instituted a crackdown on what they're calling rogue buses

that have been flouting the city's rules for dropping off asylum seekers in the city. These measures were introduced after the city council instituted stricter penalties against those who break municipal regulations regarding the handling of migrants, including the requirement to notify the city in advance and the obligation to drop off migrants at specified locations. Now, just to give you an idea of the scale of this issue, as of October, Abbott's Operation, Operation Lone Star, and this is just Texas, has bust over 50,000 migrants to various sanctuary cities across the country,

and that includes over 12,500 to Washington, D.C., more than 18,500 to New York City, upwards of 13,500 to Chicago, and over 3,200 each to Philadelphia and Denver, and close to 1,000 to Los Angeles. And again, those totals, they don't include migrants from other states who have instituted similar busing programs, including Florida. It's also a drop in the bucket compared to the total numbers that are flowing over the border. U.S. officials have reported averaging more than 7,000 arrests a day recently, with several days over 10,000 a day along the southwest border. Now, given the record numbers of migrants flowing across that border this year and the apparent lack of interest by the Biden administration to secure the border,

it's understandable that the border states are keen to share the load with other states. And sending busloads of migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities, well, that's a logical move. After all, they're sanctuary cities. Now, what better way for those Democrat mayors and city councils to demonstrate their righteousness than to take in tens of thousands of migrants and to use their limited city resources to house, feed, and care for the new residents claiming sanctuary. And that, my friends, is the president's daily brief for Friday, December 22nd. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com.

I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back later today with the PDB afternoon bulletin. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.