Fdd's overnight brief

Israel

The Israeli military said soldiers shot and wounded a Palestinian woman after she attacked them with a knife in the occupied West Bank late on Monday. – Associated Press 

CIA Director Bill Burns was set to arrive in Israel on Tuesday amid reports that the US is considering alternative ways to get Iran to stop advancing its nuclear program as negotiations to return to the 2015 Iran deal stall. – Jerusalem Post 

The Hezbollah operative who fired a salvo of 20 rockets towards Israel on Friday was identified by the IDF as Ali Kajak, and he had been documented near the border in civilian clothing several times. – Jerusalem Post 

The central threat to Israel and most important for its security must remain Iran, outgoing National Security Council adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat said Monday. – Jerusalem Post 

US Vice President Kamala Harris called President Isaac Herzog Monday to congratulate him on his inauguration as Israel’s head of state. The two discussed the importance of deepening the US-Israel relationship, with Harris expressing the Biden administration’s commitment to Israel’s security, both offices said. – Times of Israel 

Israel has asked the Biden administration to use its bully pulpit to encourage several Palestinian families facing Israeli eviction from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah to accept a compromise proposed by the Supreme Court that would allow them to stay put for the foreseeable future, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Monday. – Times of Israel 

The Biden administration is continuing to work behind the scenes to advance the opening of a Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem, and according to a report in the Israel Hayom newspaper, the issue is likely to be raised during the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to the United States at the end of the month, in the premier’s talks with President Biden. – Arutz Sheva 

On this day, 20 years ago, a suicide bomber killed 15 civilians, including four children, and injured 130 others at the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem in 2001. On August 9, 2001, Palestinian terrorist Ahlam Ahmad al-Tamimi led the suicide bomber to the Sbarro restaurant during lunchtime, when the restaurant was packed with customers and pedestrian traffic near the pizzeria was at a peak. – Jerusalem Post 

Yonah Jeremy Bob writes: But at key moments when risky action may need to be taken or might be avoided by sufficient understanding, the Burns-Barnea meeting and connection will have fateful consequences for Israel, the US and the Middle East. – Jerusalem Post 

Dan Diker writes: Clearly, Israel should be judged by the same principles and standards as other nations to prevent the current international obsession of defaming, delegitimizing, dehumanizing, demonizing and denying Israel’s existence and its citizens’ collective rights, as former Canadian Justice Minister Professor Irwin Cotler has argued. Respectful civil discourse on Israel including well-reasoned contextualized, balanced and rationally considered policy debate must now be embraced as the new universal moral standard in the international diplomatic, media and public dialogue. – Jerusalem Post 

Arabian Peninsula

More aid from the U.S. is on its way to stave off famine in Yemen, where a six-year conflict reached an impasse as international peace talks continue to falter. – Newsweek 

Bahrain’s ambassador to the US said Monday that the Abraham Accords helped end the recent Gaza war and mitigate damage from the fighting. – Times of Israel 

US Central Command (CENTCOM) has indicated that Iran has an anti-ship version of the long-range delta-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that has previously been used to attack Saudi oil facilities. CENTCOM released a statement on 6 August identifying the UAV that was used to attack the tanker Mercer Street off the coast of Oman on 30 July as the same type that was used against Saudi Arabia in 2019 and has been supplied by Iran to the Houthi rebels in Yemen. – Janes 

Middle East & North Africa

Russian flights landed in the Egyptian resorts of Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada for the first time in nearly six years on Monday after Moscow had banned them following a deadly plane crash. – Reuters  

Gideon Rachman writes: “Autocracy” can sound tolerable in the abstract but it usually means torture, murder and injustice. Previous generations of Arab autocrats were able to try and buy some legitimacy with subsidised food and services, and plentiful government jobs. But that option may now be closed off because so many governments are highly indebted. Experiments with democracy have failed to solve the Middle East’s problems. Renewed autocracy is unlikely to be any more effective. – Financial Times 

Michael Rubin writes: Erdoğan may have charmed Musk in the same way he once charmed George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump; or perhaps Musk simply looks at the launch as a good business opportunity for SpaceX. […]Perhaps it is time for the Biden administration—and Republicans—to join and tell SpaceX to scrap its business with Türksat or risk its more lucrative contracts with the U.S. government. –  The National Interest 

China

A Chinese court reaffirmed the death penalty for a Canadian national convicted of drug smuggling in a case that has taken on increased geopolitical significance, given Canada’s detention of a prominent Huawei Technologies Co. executive at the behest of the U.S. – Wall Street Journal 

The United States and China clashed over Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea at a high-level U.N. Security Council meeting on maritime security Monday that also put a spotlight on attacks on ships in the Persian Gulf, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, and drug and human trafficking in the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean. – Associated Press 

Canada condemned a Chinese court’s decision to uphold the death sentence of a Canadian national convicted of drug trafficking, a decision that came as a Huawei Technologies Co. executive’s extradition battle enters its final stages in Vancouver. – Bloomberg  

Chinese and Russian military forces are engaged in joint exercises in northwestern China as ties grow between the two autocratic states amid uncertainty over instability in Afghanistan. – Associated Press 

Editorial: China’s plans underscore the need to modernize the U.S. nuclear deterrent. […]That would leave Americans exposed as the global threat landscape darkens. It would also push arms control further out of reach as China would have even less incentive to cooperate. Let’s hope the Pentagon’s political leadership takes Mr. Blinken’s observation seriously. Congress can help with persuasion. – Wall Street Journal  

Editorial: To be sure, a boycott would probably not change China’s behavior, while athletes who have worked their whole lives for a shot at Olympic gold would pay a heavy price. But if there is to be no boycott, then countries and companies must deny China the unchallenged showcase it craves. The United States and its fellow democracies should devise appropriate condemnations and time for them at the Olympics. […]No government, company or individual should be complicit in the glorification of the Chinese regime’s crimes. – Washington Post 

Tom Rogan writes: Beijing’s strategic rationale is twofold: ensuring that it can hold U.S. military centerpieces at risk during conflict and retaining credible nuclear strike options. On the stealth side, China is developing assets that would better allow its evasion of U.S. satellite-killer capabilities. […]Top line: China is innovating with a mind to winning a war against America. Recognizing China’s strategy, the U.S. must adapt accordingly. – Washington Examiner  

Anthony B. Kim and Cora Wack write: Put simply, China is working aggressively to spread its influence and promote its interests throughout the globe, exploiting nations and flaunting individual rights and sovereignty as it does so. And it’s doing a pretty good job. […]It is time to hold China accountable for such abuses. It is vital, however, that the U.S. and other Western nations not fall into the trap of countering the growth of Chinese influence by replicating authoritarian Chinese actions. – Heritage Foundation  

Asia

The shift in a region where China vies with the United States for influence underscores the limits of Beijing’s vaccine diplomacy. Countries such as Indonesia and Thailand once bet heavily on China’s Sinovac, despite warnings from medical experts, but their health systems have come under intense strain as the delta variant tears through towns and cities. – Washington Post 

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said on Tuesday she supports the implementation of a mainland Chinese law in the former British colony to respond to foreign sanctions, the strongest signal yet that the city is set to adopt the legislation. – Reuters  

Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and U.S. President Joe Biden held talks over the phone on Tuesday morning, according to Kyodo. – Reuters  

A protracted war in neighboring Afghanistan is Pakistan’s “nightmare scenario,” the country’s national security advisor said Monday. He also slammed relentless blaming of Islamabad for the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan. – Associated Press 

Myanmar’s foreign ministry said on Monday that an alleged plot in New York against United Nations ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, an opponent of the ruling junta, had nothing to do with the country and was a US domestic case. – CNN 

Primrose Riordan writes: As tensions between the US and China have ratcheted up, multinational companies in Hong Kong have struggled not to stumble on the tricky diplomatic path of keeping both powers onside. […]Either way, western companies must be aware they are in uncharted waters. As the past few weeks have shown, China is much less hesitant to disrupt financial flows for both regulatory and political reasons. – Financial Times 

Wes Martin writes: Instead of standing firm against human rights abuses, the United States seems to be trying to appease Modi and further gain his allegiance in an effort to curb China’s growing influence in the region. […]Concerning Modi actions, the United States has failed to examine the past, observe the present and predict the future. Today, it is the citizens of IIOJK who are paying the price of these failures. – The Hill 

James Clad writes: Kazakhstan retains a role it assumed thirty years ago when moving against the cold war nuclear nemesis. Careful political footwork balancing two powerful neighbors since then has helped it retain a nonproliferation focus, working also with Japan and other countries in the UN. […]In this context, monitoring Kazakh civil liberties and post-Soviet governance has its place. But it may also run the risk of weakening an important moderating voice restraining the development of de-stabilizing nuclear weapons delivery systems. – The National Interest

Europe

President Biden signed an executive order enhancing his ability to impose costs on the government of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko along with new sanctions targeting individuals and business entities, including the country’s Olympic committee. – Wall Street Journal  

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukaskenko struck a defiant note at an hourslong televised briefing a year after claiming victory in a disputed election, scoffing at Western sanctions and vowing never to cede power to his political opponents, whom he dismissed as foreign-backed agents. – Wall Street Journal  

The Lithuanian parliament will on Tuesday debate whether to build a high metal fence topped with razor wire on its border with Belarus to stop migrants who have been crossing in record numbers. – Reuters  

As cases of COVID-19 once more begin to rise in Germany, a study released Monday detailed how the pandemic has fueled antisemitic conspiracy myths, holding German Jews responsible for the spread of the virus and for government measures to contain it. – Algemeiner 

Latin America

President Biden’s presidency raised expectations among many Cubans of a return to the Obama days, when the United States sought to bury the last vestige of the Cold War by restoring diplomatic relations with Havana and calling for an end to the embargo. – New York Times 

Nicaragua has recalled its ambassadors to Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Costa Rica for “consultations,” the government said on Monday, deepening the Central American country’s international isolation over its crackdowns on the opposition. – Reuters  

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan raised concerns about Huawei (HWT.UL) equipment in Brazil’s 5G telecoms network during his visit to the country last week, a White House official said on Monday, but Brazil made no promises about whether it would use products from the Chinese company. – Reuters  

The European Union’s foreign policy chief said Monday that Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has crushed any prospect of free and fair elections in November by arresting dozens of opposition figures. – Associated Press 

Mike Gonzalez writes: The administration has also done nothing to expand Cubans’ internet connectivity, something else that needs to happen if the Cubans’ march for freedom is to have any success.  […]One thing delaying a rapprochement with the Cuban regime is that it would be a clear betrayal of the brave Cuban protesters, and that it would have a clear impact in elections in Florida, a key state on the Electoral College map. – Heritage Foundation  

Cybersecurity

China has hacked dozens of Israeli public and private sector groups as well as doing the same in Iran, Saudi Arabia and a variety of other countries, the international cybersecurity company FireEye announced Tuesday. – Jerusalem Post 

Beijing’s regulatory assault on China’s technology industry has lopped $87bn off the net worth of the sector’s wealthiest tycoons since the start of July, hitting the fortunes of magnates such as Tencent’s Pony Ma and Pinduoduo’s Colin Huang. – Financial Times  

Lucian Neimeyer writes: The federal government alone cannot make our society more cyber resilient and safe. More laws and regulations will have limited effect. Securing our critical infrastructure and all aspects of the technology in our environment requires a whole-of-nation effort that harnesses the ingenuity and innovation of markets and the private sector. […]It is time to stop admiring the cyber threat and to support a national program run by the private sector for cyber performance goals and incentives across the entire built environment. – The Hill