The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | April 15th, 2024: Israel Mulls Retaliation & Iran's Role In The 7 October Attacks

Episode Date: April 15, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:    In the wake of the Iranian retaliation against Israel over the weekend, the international community is sending a clear message to leaders in Jerusalem: do not respond. We are learning that the Iranian general whose death triggered Iran’s attack on Israel this weekend was directly involved in planning and executing the savage 7 October attacks. 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 PDB Afternoon Bulletin.  Email: [e-mail] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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It's Monday, 15 April. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. Let's get briefed. First, in the wake of the Iranian retaliation against Israel over the weekend, the international community is sending a clear message to leaders in Jerusalem. Do not respond. Also, we're learning that the Iranian general,

whose death triggered Iran's attack on Israel this weekend, was directly involved in planning and executing the brutal 7 October attacks by Hamas. But first, our afternoon spotlight. With the world on a knife's edge, following Iran's bombardment of Israeli territory with drones and missiles this weekend, the international community is urging restraint from Israel in the hopes of preventing the conflict from spiraling into a full-scale war. As we discussed this morning, Iran launched over 300 attack drones and missiles into Israel on Saturday in retaliation for a suspected Israeli air strike on their consulate in Syria. Some estimates put the number at around 350 in total, including ballistic and cruise missiles and the drones.

It was an unprecedented display by the Islamic regime and marked the first time that Iran has launched a direct strike on Israeli territory. Israeli air defenses managed to intercept roughly 99% of the enemy drones and missiles, that's according to IDF sources. Officials from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany all encouraged Israel on Monday to forego a military response to Iran's attack, instead pushing for diplomatic measures that will squeeze Iran financially and help further isolate the regime on the global stage. That's according to a report from the Times of Israel. We should note that both the UK and France, along with the U.S. and Jordan, stepped up to aid Israel's defense as they came under attack on Saturday. British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that while Israel had every right to respond to Iran's assault,

they should, quote, think with its head as well as its heart. He framed the events over the weekend as a, quote, double defeat for the Islamic regime, as it failed, he said, to cause any major damage to Israel and showed the world that Iran remains the true malign influence in the region. French president Emmanuel Macron echoed that sentiment advocating a policy of isolation through targeted Western sanctions. Germany also urged a diplomatic response, saying Israel had, quote, won defensively during the weekend assault. President Biden, meanwhile, held a phone call with

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu following the attack, during which he made it clear that the U.S. would not participate in any offensive operations against Iran. Biden also framed the events of the weekend as a win for Israel, arguing the attacks were largely unsuccessful, demonstrating the defensive capabilities of the Israeli military. The U.S. will, however, be pushing for diplomatic action against Iran through the UN. Oh, well, that'll be helpful, though the specifics of what that might look like are, well, not yet clear. Israeli leaders have urged the Western world to hit Iran with significant sanctions in the wake of the attack as they mall their response options. During an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council on Sunday evening, Gelaide Erdan, Israel's ambassador to the UN, called on the diplomatic body to formally condemn Iran,

reimposed sanctions and most significantly designate Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terror organization. Erdan said, quote, The snooze button is no longer an option. The only option is to condemn Iran and utilize every means necessary to make them pay a heavy price for their horrible crimes, end quote. Well, as an aside, if anybody realistically expects the UN Security Council, which includes Russia and China, to take any meaningful action, condemning Iran or imposing meaningful sanctions, well, look, I don't want to sound overly cynical, but there's little to zero chance that that will happen. It remains unclear how Israel will proceed,

particularly in the face of Western pressure to de-escalate the situation. The War Cabinet convened for a three-hour meeting on Sunday afternoon, but no decision was reached as far as a response. The War Cabinet met for another session on Monday, but details of what was discussed are not yet known. Reports indicate that some ministers, including Benny Gantz, are pushing for a swifter military response against Iran. However, Netanyahu is so far showing restraint. According to a CNN report, one of the options under consideration is a targeted strike against an Iranian facility that would avoid casualties. However, some have reportedly questioned whether this can realistically be achieved. We should note, Iran's attack on Saturday has thrown a wrench into Israel's plans for an offensive

into Hamas's last remaining stronghold in the southern Gaza city of Rafa. Civilian evacuation plans that were set to begin Monday have reportedly been put on hold until the war cabinet decides what to do with Iran. Officials have added, however, that Israel remains committed to carrying out operations against Hamas in the city. Coming up after the break, we'll discuss reports that indicate the Iranian general whose death triggered Iran's attack on Israel this weekend was directly involved in planning and ex-execis. executing the medieval 7-October attacks in southern Israel. I'll be right back.

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Taxes and fees extra. See full terms at mintmobile.com. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. New details have surfaced about the Iranian general, whose April 1st death in a Damascus airstrike, along with the deaths of several other senior IRC officers, preceded Iran's retaliatory attack on Israel this weekend. Reports have now emerged that General Muhammad raises Ahedhi, who, was one of seven members of the Iranian regime who were killed in the presumed Israeli strike

played a central role in planning and carrying out the Iranian-backed Hamas attack on Israel on October 7th of this past year. Now, this report comes to us from the Middle East Media Research Institute, or memory, a U.S.-based organization that provides translations of Middle Eastern media. According to the Institute, an Iranian ultra-conservative political organization linked to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini, called the Coalition Council of Islamic Revolution Forces, published an obituary of General Zahidi shortly after he was killed. Now, here's what the obituary said in part, quote, the strategic role of the martyrs of Haiti in consolidating and strengthening the resistance front

and in the planning and execution of al-Aqsa flood are part of the great pride that will transform the quiet efforts of this great commander into the eternal history of the struggle against the occupation by the Zionist regime. Now, Operation Al-Aksa flood, which is referred to there in the obituary, is the name that Hamas gave to the October 7th attack in southern Israel. The Iranian group published this on April 3rd, just two days after the strike that killed Zahadi. This is an explicit acknowledgement of not only Zahidi's, but Iran's role in the October 7th attack, which, as we know, resulted in the death of approximately 1,200 people, predominantly civilians, and the abduction of over 250 others. This is a direct contradiction to

Ayatollah Khomeini's denial that his country had any involvement by Iran in the atrocities. Wait, wait, what? An Iranian leader might have been misleading. On October 10th of last year, Khomeini said, quote, the supporters of the Zionist regime have been spreading rumors over the past two or three days, including that Islamic Iran was behind this action. They are wrong, end quote. However, our report by the Wall Street Journal the following day contradicted this, indicating Tehran had prior knowledge of the attacks with information sourced from within Iran and Hamas. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Monday, 15 April. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to

me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And be sure to check out our new premium membership at pdb premium.com. You get the same excellent news along with exclusive content, and we've surgically removed the ads. I'm Mike Baker. I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe, stay cool.