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The annual report on national security threats facing the United States, submitted to Congress on Monday, said US intelligence agencies believe Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's “viability as leader” is “at risk.” It is evaluated as ”
The report states that “distrust in Prime Minister Netanyahu's ability to govern has deepened and widened among the population from its already high pre-war levels, and large-scale protests demanding his resignation and new elections are expected.'' “It will be done.” “There is a possibility that a different, more moderate government will emerge.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced intense criticism within Israel for his government's failure to predict or prevent the October 7 attack by terrorist group Hamas, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 240 hostages. Opinion polls show many Israelis doubt whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's overwhelming military offensive, which is now in his fifth month of seizing Gaza and killing tens of thousands of people, is the best way to get the hostages back. It also suggests that he has.
Intelligence reports indicate that the Israeli public broadly supports the destruction of Hamas. But nevertheless, the magazine's assessment of Prime Minister Netanyahu's political fortunes yields a scathing report about the leader that President Joe Biden once claimed to “love.”
This comes amid rising tensions between the two leaders over civilian casualties in Gaza, and a rift in public opinion.
The Biden administration is calling on Israel to allow more aid to the Palestinian enclaves amid mounting reports of civilian casualties, as well as starvation and disease. Biden warned in an interview over the weekend that Netanyahu is “hurting Israel more than helping it.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a separate interview that if Biden were to “suggest that I am pursuing private policies against the wishes of the majority of Israelis and that this is harming Israel's interests” Well, he's wrong on both counts.”
The US intelligence report also warns that Israel will have a hard time defeating Hamas militarily.
“Israel will likely face armed resistance from Hamas for years to come. They will have a hard time disabling infrastructure,” the report said.
Experts and military analysts have issued similar assessments, warning that Israel's aggressive bombing campaign could only serve to inspire future generations of terrorists.
Both al-Qaeda and ISIS are inspired by Hamas and have “directed their supporters to carry out attacks against Israeli and U.S. interests,” the report said.
The threat of terrorist attacks is 'widespread' in the US [other] FBI Director Chris Wray testified Monday at a hearing on the release of the Senate Intelligence Committee's report, the first since the Oct. 7 attack.
“Even before October 7, I told this committee that from a terrorism perspective, we were at a very high threat level, in the sense that this was the first time in a long time that we had seen a threat from domestic violent extremists. I think he was talking about jihadist-inspired extremists, domestic violent extremists, foreign terrorist organizations, state-sponsored terrorist organizations all being elevated at once,” Wray said. Told.
The so-called “Annual Threat Assessment” forms the backbone of the intelligence community's annual external message and provides Congressional leaders with an opportunity to publicly question the nation's top intelligence officials. It provides a non-classified snapshot from around the world of how intelligence agencies view the array of national security threats facing the United States.
The normally security-focused forum strayed into overtly political considerations on Monday, with Republicans on the committee repeatedly pressing intelligence leaders on security issues related to the U.S. southern border. In the final moments of the hearing, the committee's top Democrat, Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, traded veiled accusations with Republican Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho for politicizing the committee. Exchanged.
“One of the things I think we have always been proud of is that [in on this committee] “It means we can agree without questioning each other's patriotism, without questioning each other's motives,” Warner said. “And I hope that that tenor is maintained.”
Risch fired back, citing Warner and another Democratic senator who criticized the Republican line of questioning. “I've been on this committee for 15 years and it's doing a really good job until politics creeps in – and that's what happened here this afternoon.” With the last two speakers . ”
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and CIA Director Bill Burns, who testified before the committee, also gave stark warnings about the state of the war in Ukraine, where Russia is widely seen as regaining the lead and Ukraine is being forced to ration ammunition. uttered.
Burns said that without additional support from the United States, Ukraine “could lose ground in 2024, perhaps significantly.” A $60 billion aid package for Ukraine has stalled in the House due to Republican resistance to additional funding.
“Without additional support, we're going to see a lot more Avdiivkas in 2024,” Burns said, referring to cities recently captured by Russia. “That would be a massive, historic mistake for the United States.” It seems to me,” he said.
Burns said the CIA estimates that with additional military support, Ukraine will be able to “remain on its own on the front lines” and “take back the offensive initiative” by “late 2024, early 2025.” He said there was.
According to the intelligence report, Russia benefits from both “uncertainty about the future of Western military aid” and “stalemate” on the battlefield, which could lead to “Russia's strategic military advantage.” “The momentum is increasingly tilting in Russia's favor.”
The report also provides interesting clues about the extent of China's support for Russia in the conflict, which U.S. officials have long been wary of. Since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Beijing has more than tripled its exports of goods with potential military use to Russia, according to the report.
The report states that China has provided “economic and security support to Russia's war in Ukraine through support for Russia's defense industrial base, including the provision of dual-use materials and components for weapons.”
Trade between the two countries has increased since the start of the war, reaching more than $220 billion in 2023, 15 percent more than total trade in 2022. In return, Russia offers China lower energy prices and greater access to the Arctic. According to the report.