The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | June 4th, 2024: Israel Divided & Republicans Take Aim At ICC

Episode Date: June 4, 2024

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:    Doubts are beginning to mount inside Israel over whether it is possible to achieve their stated objective of total victory over Hamas, as tempers flare between senior IDF generals and the army’s chief of staff. House Republicans are advancing legislation designed to punish the International Criminal Court with sanctions after they recently charged top Israeli leaders with war crimes in Gaza and issued international arrest warrants. 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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Let's get briefed. First, divisions are deepening inside Israel over. whether they can realistically achieve their objective of eliminating Hamas through a military campaign, particularly as international pressure mounts for Israel to take action on a ceasefire proposal. Also, House Republicans are pushing forward with an effort to sanction the International Criminal Court, the ICC, as punishment for their recent decision to charge Israeli leaders with war crimes and issue international arrest warrants. But first, our afternoon spotlight. Doubts are beginning to mount inside Israel over whether it is possible to achieve their stated

objective of total victory over Hamas as tempers flare between senior IDF generals and the army's chief of staff. Echoing the sentiments of defense officials in the U.S., the former chief of the Israeli Foreign Intelligence Service, or Mossad, recently appealed directly to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to commit to a diplomatic solution to the war, saying Israel cannot realistically defeat Hamas on the battlefields. Danny Yatom, a former Israeli politician who once served as the head of Mossad, argued that the only way to save the remaining hostages was to pursue a ceasefire. He pointed to ongoing rocket launches by Hamas's Al-Kasam brigades as evidence that,

even after more than seven months of fighting, the IDF has struggled to eliminate the group's military infrastructure. He painted a grim picture saying, quote, we are unable to achieve the goals of the war in the north and the south. There are still many hostages in the Gaza tunnels, thousands of displays who are far from returning to their homes, and Hezbollah is destroying our towns in the north, end quote. Yatom argued that even if the IDF stays deployed inside Gaza for several more months, they would not be able to eliminate every fighter, particularly due to the tunnel networks and guerrilla tactics employed by Hamas to target the Israeli military. Yatom said,

quote, despite the Israeli army's military presence throughout the Gaza Strip, Hamas and Islamic Jihad will not be defeated by military actions, and the hostages will not return under military pressure without political arrangements, end quote. His concerns reflect the reality on the ground recently described by senior Israeli officials, who have said the military is struggling to maintain control over the enclave, as reconstituted Hamas battalions try to retake areas of northern, Gaza. A U.S. intelligence assessment from May also raised significant questions about the effectiveness

of the current IDF campaign in Gaza. According to estimates, only 30 to 35 percent of Hamas's fighters have been killed and about 65 percent of its tunnels are still intact. For some context, prior to the 7 October attacks, the Al-Kasam Brigades were estimated to have between 30 to 40,000 fighters. That would mean, at the low end, close to 20,000 Hamas terrorists remain active in the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, the U.S. intelligence has also estimated that the terror group has been able to recruit thousands of new fighters over the past several months, leveraging the war to radicalize new members. The situation is sharpening internal divisions over the war, particularly as international pressure on Israel mounts. The growing internal discord bubbled to the surface,

during a meeting between senior IDF of generals and Army Chief of Staff Hersey Halavi on Monday, according to a report from the Times of Israel. The generals and Halavi reportedly clashed over the current state of fighting with the generals saying their troops were, quote, treading water in Gaza. They accused army leadership of failing to make decisive decisions. As we discussed earlier on the PDB, amid the internal strife, Netanyahu is facing enormous international and domestic problems. pressure to act on a proposed ceasefire deal announced last Friday by President Biden. On Monday,

however, a senior Israeli official told NBC News that Biden's description of the ceasefire proposal was, quote, not accurate, and added that they remained committed to their stated objective of, quote, destroying Hamas's military and governing capabilities, end quote. Meanwhile, Israeli operations in Gaza and beyond continue. As we discussed earlier, Israel is suspected of carrying out an airstrike on Monday, targeting facilities linked to Iran near the Syrian city of Aleppo, and that's their second reported strike on the country in less than a week. The strike reportedly killed a general with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who was serving in an advisory rule to military forces allied with the Assad regime.

It marked the first death of an Iranian official and an Israeli strike since the April 1stair strike against an Iranian diplomatic compound in Damascus. That strike led to a counterattack by Iran on Israel and, frankly, was the closest we've come to a wider war in the region since the 7 October attacks by Hamas. Coming up after the break, House Republicans are advancing legislation designed to punish the International Criminal Court, the ICC,

with sanctions after they recently charged to top Israeli leaders with war crimes in Gaza and issued international arrest warrants. I'll be right back. Some follow the noise. Bloomberg follows the money, whether it's the funds fueling AI or crypto's trillion-dollar swings. There's a money side to every story. Get the money side of the story.

Subscribe now at Bloomberg.com. Welcome back. Despite public opposition from the Biden administration, Republicans in the House are pushing forward with plans to sanction the international criminal court, following war crimes charges from its top prosecutor against Israeli leaders amid their ongoing fight with Hamas. The House Rules Committee, chaired by Republican Representative Mike Burgess, voted 9 to 3 to send legislation to the floor, and that vote was strictly along party lines. The legislation would punish ICC officials who, quote, engaged in any effort to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute any protected person of the United States and its allies, end quote.

The sanctions would include blocking U.S. property transactions, deeming individuals inadmissible to the U.S., and revoking any visas. As we reported last week, the White House has rejected the idea of sanctions against the ICC, with National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stating that the president doesn't believe it's the right approach. The administration doubled down on that opposition earlier this week, stating its belief that there are more effective ways to defend Israel. However, some pro-Israel Democrats in the House are bucking the White House, announcing their support for the sanctions package. Democrat Representative from New York, Ritchie Torres, who's in favor of the sanctions, said, quote, if the ICC can target the Israeli government, what's to stop the ICC from targeting the president or from targeting members of Congress? It sets a dangerous precedent, end quote.

Another House Democrat planning on voting for the bill, who spoke to Axios, predicted that there will be a, quote, good group. of Democratic votes for the legislation. That group would undoubtedly include at least 19 House Democrats who signed a letter last week demanding the administration immediately imposed sanctions on ICC officials. The legislation is expected to pass the House later this week, and then it'll be sent to the Senate, where frankly it faces an uncertain fate. There's a good chance the Senate's Democratic leadership will ignore the bill, allowing it to die on the vine. It's worth noting that although the White House is publicly opposing sanctions, it hasn't announced its intention to veto the legislation,

so it does appear that President Biden is keeping his options open. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Tuesday 4 June. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at PDB at thefirsttv.com. And if you want to listen to the show ad-free, remember, be sure to check out our premium membership at pdbpremium.com. I'm Mike Baker. back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed, stay safe,

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