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In-Depth Issues:
Two Iraqi Tribes Declare Their Readiness to Carry Out Suicide Operations for Iran in a War with the U.S. and Israel ( MEMRI)
On Jan. 28 and 30, 2026, leaders in two major Iraqi tribes, the Anizah tribe and the Shammar tribe, announced a "general mobilization" and readiness to embark on " jihad" under the banner of Iraq's Iran-backed Hizbullah Brigades militia, to defend Iran and its leader, Ali Khamenei, in a war with the U.S. and Israel.
The tribal leaders declared that all their men are at Khamenei's command, prepared to sacrifice their lives for him.
These statements followed a call issued on Jan. 25 by the head of the Hizbullah Brigades, Abu Husayn Al-Hamidawi, urging jihad fighters worldwide to prepare for all-out war alongside Iran.
Gaza "Doctor" Who Slammed Israel in New York Times Op-eds Is Hamas Colonel - David Spector ( New York Post)
A Gaza doctor who slammed Israel in a pair of New York Times op-eds is a colonel with Hamas.
Hussam Abu Safyia was photographed in a Hamas uniform at a gathering celebrating the completion of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in 2016, according to Israeli watchdog NGO Monitor.
"Those who platformed Abu Safyia must do some serious soul-searching, and figure out how they ended up promoting the propaganda of a literal Hamas terrorist," NGO Monitor senior researcher Vincent Chebat said.
The Times referred to him as a "pediatrician," even though Palestinian media refer to him by his military rank.
He is also referred to as a colonel in a 2020 Facebook post on the Gaza Strip Medical Services page.
An IDF spokesman confirmed that Abu Safyia was a ranking member of Hamas.
Don't Betray Syria's Heroic Kurds - Bernard-Henri Levy ( Wall Street Journal)
The Kurds of Syria have been attacked, torn to pieces, humiliated and murdered by the Arab militias of Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former jihadist who became the new master of Damascus, who is in the process of dismantling the autonomy that the Kurds managed to win inside their Syrian prison - at immense sacrifice.
Failing to assist this people in danger would be a tragic mistake.
The Syrian Kurds are an exception in a region too often addicted to criminal extremism. They are heartfelt friends of the West and of Israel.
They believe in an enlightened, secular Islam compatible with freedom of conscience and civil equality. Their army includes battalions of women.
The Kurds of Rojava were on the front line of the fight against ISIS 10 years ago. I witnessed it and made documentary films about them.
Without their bravery, obstinacy and intelligence, knowledge of the terrain and tactical genius, the Islamic caliphate that had declared total war on the very idea of humanity would still be standing.
The Kurds are loyal, steadfast, and heroic allies. History will judge us harshly if we abandon them.
The writer is a philosopher and author of more than 45 books.
Israeli Military Tech Start-Ups Cash In on Two Years of War - Shira Rubin ( Washington Post)
A cohort of Israeli military tech firms were born out of, or scaled up during, the war against Hamas in Gaza and as Israel's military campaign spread to Lebanon and Iran.
Israel's success against Hizbullah in Lebanon, its intelligence operations in Iran, and commando raids to rescue hostages in Gaza have stoked foreign demand for the weapons and other technology used by Israeli troops.
Israeli start-up executives say that foreign requests to purchase their weapons and related systems are up sharply.
Industry experts predict that the trend will continue as the U.S. and other NATO countries surge defense budgets and Israel's arms manufacturers and private sector start-ups announce more partnerships with militaries around the world.
Hagai Balshai, founder of Robotican, a start-up developing remote-controlled robots, said that the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, prompted an awakening by Israel's military, which quickly turned to the private tech sector for help.
Overnight, systems such as drones, robotics and advanced sensors were rushed into use.
Dozens of Balshai's employees were called up. While on military duty, he said they used the robots they'd developed to scan booby-trapped buildings, detect noxious gases, and shoot at drones or militants.
When an Iranian missile hit Soroka Medical Center during the June war, Balshai outfitted his robots with thermal sensors to search for survivors in the devastated medical wards.
Those sensors were then adopted by Israeli special forces for missions "in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and beyond," he said.
Apple Acquires Israeli Audio AI Startup Q.ai for $1.6 Billion - Stephen Nellis ( Reuters)
Apple on Thursday said it has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli startup working on artificial intelligence technology for audio, in a deal valued at about $1.6 billion.
Apple said Q.ai has worked on new applications of machine learning to help devices understand whispered speech and to enhance audio in challenging environments.
See also What Is Q.ai's Technology? - Israel Wullman ( Ynet News)
Q.ai, which Apple is acquiring, says on LinkedIn: "In an era where human communication is everything, we have found a way to take it to the next level, enabling extremely high bandwidth, unprecedented privacy, accessibility, multilingualism and more."
According to leaked reports, the technology allows devices such as headphones and smartphones to "understand" what is being said near them, even when it is whispered, and to capture extremely basic sound in noisy environments.
Patent applications filed by the company focus on decoding human speech without using voice, through computer vision sensors capable of detecting micro-movements of the facial skin, cheeks and jaw during internal speech or whispering, even when these movements are invisible to the human eye, and translating them into words or commands.
This technology could dramatically boost the performance of Apple's personal assistant Siri, the Apple Watch and the Vision Pro headset.
It would allow users to operate these devices or communicate through them using lip movements alone, and possibly even through thought.
Q.ai's system can also perfectly separate background noise from the user's speech, enabling unprecedented noise reduction during phone calls.
Israeli Deni Avdija Named NBA All-Star - Dror Fisher ( Israel Hayom)
Deni Avdija of the Portland Trail Blazers has become the first Israeli ever selected for the NBA All-Star Game. He has been averaging 25.5 points per game.
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- U.S. and Iranian Officials to Meet in Istanbul on Friday - Ben Hubbard
Steve Witkoff, President Trump's Middle East envoy; Jared Kushner; and Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, are expected to meet in Istanbul on Friday for talks aimed at de-escalating the crisis between their countries. Also expected to attend are senior officials from Turkey, Qatar and Egypt.
The talks will mark a rare face-to-face encounter between U.S. and Iranian officials. Two Iranian officials said Iran is willing to shut down or suspend its nuclear program.
(New York Times)
- Before Any Strike on Iran, U.S. Needs to Bolster Air Defenses in Mideast - Lara Seligman
American airstrikes on Iran aren't imminent, U.S. officials say, because the Pentagon is moving in additional air defenses to better protect Israel, Arab allies, and American forces in the event of a retaliation by Iran and a potential prolonged conflict. The U.S. military could conduct limited airstrikes on Iran if the president were to order an attack today, but the kind of decisive attack that Trump has asked the military to prepare would likely prompt a response from Iran, requiring the U.S. to have robust air defenses in place.
The Pentagon is deploying an additional THAAD battery and Patriot air defenses to bases where U.S. troops are stationed across the Middle East, including Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. "The air defense question is key - the extent to which we have sufficient materiel to ensure that our troops and assets in the region are going to be protected from some kind of Iranian retaliation," said Suzanne Maloney, a former State Department official on Iran policy.
The U.S. has deployed three squadrons of F-15E fighters to Jordan, which could play a role in shooting down Iranian drones. Those fighters targeted Iranian drones when Tehran attacked Israel in April 2024 in what the U.S. Air Force called the "largest air-to-air enemy engagement in over 50 years."
The U.S. now has eight destroyers within range to shoot down Iranian missiles and drones, including two near the Strait of Hormuz, three in the North Arabian Sea, one near Israel in the Red Sea, and two in the Eastern Mediterranean.
(Wall Street Journal)
- The U.S. Plan to Disarm Hamas in Gaza - David Ignatius
The U.S. plan to disarm Hamas begins with the missiles and heavy weapons that threaten Israel; then the AK-47s and other small arms that threaten Gazans. Both are essential, because a new Gaza requires a "monopoly on force" by the governing authority, as the Board of Peace argues. Hamas will also have to turn over maps of its underground tunnels and destroy its weapons-making facilities.
Will a group whose very existence is about armed struggle really agree to neuter itself? The Trump team thinks it has a chance because Qatar and Turkey, two of Hamas's biggest backers, pressured Hamas to sign the deal. The premise of the plan is that Gaza isn't Israel's problem anymore, but Trump's and the international community's. (Washington Post)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- Israel Expects U.S. Attack on Iran, Worries It Could Fall Short - Lilach Shoval
Israel's security establishment believes that despite intensive efforts to advance negotiations, the U.S. will ultimately strike Iran. The visit to Washington over the weekend by IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir and a number of other senior officials proves the close coordination between the U.S. and Israel ahead of a possible move against Iran. In the meetings, Zamir sought to present Israel's assessment of the various options and the consequences of each. Zamir also conveyed Israel's interests.
Israel's primary concern is a U.S. agreement with Iran that would be riddled with loopholes that fail to reflect Israel's core interests. These include dismantling Iran's nuclear program, preventing Iran from arming its proxies, and addressing Iran's missile program. In the meantime, Israel continues to refine its defensive posture and attack plans, while the wait for a U.S. decision could stretch from several days to several weeks.
(Israel Hayom)
- Israeli Opposition Leader: Israel Is United Against Iran - Keshet Neev
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said Monday, "The entire State of Israel is united in the face of Iran," following a security assessment with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "There are no disagreements between us about the importance of confronting this threat. It is important that Tehran knows that the State of Israel stands united against the terror of the regime." (Jerusalem Post)
- Rafah Crossing Reopens on Israel's Terms - Ariel Kahana
The Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt reopened on Sunday under vastly better terms for Israel than the situation that prevailed before Oct. 7. Before that date, under the Israeli 2005 disengagement plan from Gaza, the Rafah Crossing and the surrounding Philadelphi Corridor functioned as Hamas's smuggling heartland. Weapons flowed freely into Gaza, above ground and below it, leaving Israel without any ability to stop the flood of weapons.
An EU monitoring force ostensibly inspected those passing through the crossing, while Israelis watched from afar via cameras, with no real ability to intervene. When Hamas seized control of Gaza in June 2007, the European monitors fled for their lives, and even the minimal screening that had existed came to an end.
The Rafah Crossing has resumed operations, but only for people. Goods will not pass through it at this stage. Israel will approve the identity of every individual entering or leaving Gaza and will also determine the permitted numbers in each direction. More importantly, all those entering Gaza will be required to undergo additional security screening conducted by Israel.
As a result of Israel's insistence on both capturing the Philadelphi Corridor and the city of Rafah, and refusing under any circumstances to withdraw from them, the smuggling bonanza that once defined the area has come to an end. This marks a dramatic reversal of one of the most damaging consequences of the 2005 disengagement.
(Israel Hayom)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis:
Iran
- Iran Will Use Diplomacy to Preserve Its Nuclear Program - Brig.-Gen. (res.) Jacob Nagel
Cutting a deal with the Iranian regime would be nothing less than geopolitical malpractice. There can be only one legitimate objective for any future negotiations, should the U.S mistakenly choose to enter them: the complete dismantlement of all remaining and reconstructed nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities. There is no room for diplomatic games designed to buy time.
Any agreement that provides sanctions relief or financial windfalls would simply allow Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to pocket the cash, wait out President Trump, rebuild their terror networks, expand their missile arsenal, and sprint toward a nuclear weapon after 2028.
For decades, negotiations have served the Iranian regime well. Tehran perfected the art of extracting concessions, delaying enforcement, and emerging from talks stronger than before. Negotiations should not begin until Iran has already met concrete, verifiable demands.
We have seen this movie before. Under the Obama administration, Iran used diplomacy to preserve and legitimize its nuclear program. Israel's position is: zero uranium enrichment, zero heavy-water reactors capable of producing plutonium, and zero fissile material on Iranian soil. There is no longer any room for appeasement, enrichment, missile expansion, or terror sponsorship.
The writer, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, served as Israel's National Security Advisor. (Jerusalem Post)
- Iran's Greatest Danger Comes After the Fall of the Regime - Dr. Harold Rhode
It is essential to understand how Iranians see themselves before imagining an alternate future when Iran is again a respected member of the international community. Iran is not a homogeneous ethnic or even religious entity. Most Iranians share a cultural identity more than a political one.
The Azeris and Persians, both deeply Shiite Muslims since the 1500s, have intermarried for centuries.
Azeris are Turks, but the Iranian Azeri identity is first and foremost Shiite. They identify strongly with their Persian Shiite brothers, much more than with the Turks in Turkey or Central Asia. Many other Iranians are Shiites, and that religious identity often unites them more strongly than their separate ethnic origins.
Iranians do not traditionally embrace the concept of one person, one vote. Decisions are almost always imposed from above, where the head of a unit, whether a family, clan, or community, is expected to take into account the needs of the group. Attempting to impose Western-style democracy is therefore likely doomed to failure.
Regime change in the country has historically been characterized as a descent into chaos. Historically, what usually happens is that a widely known military or political figure, or a charismatic individual, emerges and imposes his will on others, typically after a period of chaos during which the country descends into anarchy.
Without a central leader committed to unity and inclusion across ethnic, religious, economic, and familial lines, Iran would likely descend into chaos which most Iranians fear.
The writer, a fellow of the Jerusalem Center, served as an adviser on the Islamic world for the U.S. Department of Defense for 28 years. (Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)
- Is Europe Waking Up to the Iranian Threat? - Amb. Freddy Eytan
For many decades, liberal Europe naively believed that diplomatic dialogue with the Islamist regime in Iran would be the best way to get the Revolutionary Guards to renounce terror and international terrorism. They were unaware that the Revolutionary Guards are bloodthirsty terrorists responsible for the deaths of numerous French and American citizens, among others. Attacks were even thwarted on European soil at the last minute, thanks to valuable intelligence and warnings provided by Mossad.
In January 2026, everything changed. Demonstrations across Iran transformed into an unprecedented popular movement against the mullahs' regime. The authorities responded forcefully. The toll is very heavy: 30,000 killed and tens of thousands wounded.
European reactions are mixed. The Iranian government is politely asked to refrain from violence. In the streets of Paris, London, and Rome, the only sporadic demonstrations are from the Iranian diaspora. A scandalous double game persists. Protests will only be held in the streets against Israelis and in support of Palestinians. The Europeans waited three weeks before finally adding the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to the list of terrorist organizations.
Certainly, this is an important decision, but a resumption of negotiations between the Americans and Iran will indefinitely postpone the fall of the mullahs' regime.
The writer, a researcher at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, is a former Foreign Ministry senior adviser who was Israel's first ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. (Israel Hayom)
- The "Deal" in Iran Is Regime Change - Editorial
All that has happened since June 2025 makes the new search for a deal with Iran a dubious quest.
In June, Iran's nuclear program and top military echelon were devastated by Israeli and then U.S. strikes, which exposed Iran's weakness, penetration by Israeli intelligence, and vulnerability by air. In December and January, the Iranian people rose up to demand an end to their regime's failed rule. The regime subsequently massacred its own people by the thousands.
Before June's 12-day war, President Trump gave Ayatollah Khamenei two months to dismantle his nuclear program. The Supreme Leader refused, so Jerusalem and Washington did it for him. Concessions now on the enrichment of nuclear fuel - if the regime is even willing to make them - are far less meaningful.
The U.S. has also demand limits on Iran's missile program and an end to its support for terrorist proxies. Both are fine ideas, but they would amount to paper promises that the ayatollah would be unlikely to honor.
This regime is willing to impoverish and endanger its own country to pursue a "death to America" and "death to Israel" foreign policy. It is a regime bent on spreading revolution, not on living peacefully with its neighbors. (Wall Street Journal)
- It Is Time for Trump to Act Against Iran - Editorial
The massacre of protesters in Iran is a crime that the West has a moral obligation to stop. The Iranian regime has absolutely no intention of changing its ways at home or abroad. It will continue with bloody repression, the pursuit of nuclear weapons and the financing of terrorism until it is brought to heel.
Satellite imagery shows that work is already underway at the Isfahan and Natanz nuclear facilities in what appears to be an attempt to recover assets which survived the bombing. Missile stockpiles are being assembled.
Tehran has been clear that it does not intend to end the slaughter of its own citizens, scrap its nuclear program, or desist from stockpiling missiles. The only way to change the intolerable situation in the Middle East is to take the initiative. (Telegraph-UK)
Gaza
- How Does Hamas Plan to Maintain Control of Gaza? - Yoni Ben Menachem
Senior Israeli security officials say Hamas has formulated a clear strategy for preserving its rule in Gaza, both militarily and civically. Hamas is not troubled by the establishment of the Gaza Technocratic Committee that is supposed to manage civilian life. Its twelve members are residents of Gaza with families living there, which means Hamas can, at any given moment, exert pressure on them and on their relatives to achieve its objectives.
Moreover, the Technocratic Committee intends to continue managing daily life through the existing governmental and municipal bureaucracy in Gaza, which numbers around 40,000 employees. These officials currently receive their salaries from Hamas, and there is no intention to dismiss them from their posts. This reality allows Hamas to continue ruling from behind the scenes.
Hamas has no intention of fully disarming. Israeli security officials assess that Hamas is now attempting to draw Israel and the U.S. into negotiations over disarmament to buy time. Hamas is relying on Qatar and Turkey to help soften President Trump's position so that it can retain light weapons and anti-tank arms.
Hamas's military force is estimated at 30,000. Many are expected to remain in civilian clothing, continue receiving salaries from Hamas, and operate covertly.
Gaza's civilian society still largely supports Hamas and its ideology, despite the enormous disaster it brought upon the population after Oct. 7. Hamas continues to grow stronger due to the massive flow of humanitarian aid trucks each day. Hamas imposes taxes on every shipment entering Gaza, generating revenue that it channels into military buildup.
In practical terms, Hamas plans to remain in Gaza with thousands of armed militants alongside public sector employees in key positions within the civilian system, thereby ensuring its full control. (Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)
Palestinian Arabs
- The U.S. Has Spent Millions to Train PA Security Forces; the Return on that Investment Has Been Minimal - Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch
The Palestinian Authority's "Pay-for-Slay" policy is much more than just terrorists receiving a salary. Their families enjoy a host of benefits. When released from prison, the terrorists are paid special grants and those who spent more than 20 years in prison are entitled to purchase a new car tax-free.
Terrorists who spent over ten years in prison are given a position in the PA, with the seniority of the position based on the time they spent in prison. If the PA does not call the terrorist to work, he may simply sit at home and enjoy the salary linked to the position.
The case of PA police officer Raed al-Sheikh is illustrative. On October 12, 2000, IDF reservists Vadim Nurzhitz and Yossi Avrahami mistakenly entered the PA-controlled city of Ramallah. The two were brutally lynched by a Palestinian mob inside the city's police station. Al-Sheikh was one of the leaders of the attack, personally participating in the killing. He repeatedly struck Nurzhitz in the head with a wrench. Convicted of murder, he was sentenced to two life sentences.
Al-Sheikh was released on Oct. 22, 2025, as part of the deal to secure the release of some of the hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023. While in prison, the PA paid al-Sheikh over NIS 1.4 million. When released after 25 years in prison, al-Sheikh was entitled to the rank of major general in the PA security forces.
While the U.S. has spent almost $1 billion from 2007 through 2025 to train and improve the PA security forces, unfortunately, the return on that investment has been minimal at best and is probably negative.
The writer, former director of the Military Prosecution in Judea and Samaria, is director of the Palestinian Authority Accountability Initiative at the Jerusalem Center. (Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs)
Antisemitism
- Information Warfare Attacks What You Know; Cognitive Warfare Attacks Who You Are - Jeffrey Kahn
What Jewish communities and the State of Israel face today is not merely bad messaging or misunderstanding. It is a sustained cognitive warfare campaign that deliberately blurs the line between Jewish identity, Zionism, and the State of Israel - placing Jews globally into a defensive posture for actions and policies over which they have no control. This distinction matters because public diplomacy and advocacy, and cognitive warfare, are not the same.
No one suggests that Diaspora Jews are responsible for Israel's air defense, border security, or intelligence operations. But Diaspora Jews are increasingly expected to defend Israel's legitimacy, explain its wars, rebut its critics, and absorb backlash. Jewish identity itself has been cognitively reframed as a proxy political position.
The burden shifts instantly to the individual to clarify, disclaim, or defend - often publicly, often under pressure, sometimes under threat. This is not a failure of public diplomacy: It is evidence of cognitive targeting.
Traditional public diplomacy assumes that facts can correct falsehoods and that reputational defense is primarily a communications challenge.
Information warfare attacks what you know; cognitive warfare attacks who you are. It is not about persuading the undecided. Identity overrides argument. Diaspora communities cannot counter a coordinated, transnational cognitive warfare campaign whose design, scale, and adversaries operate at the state and quasi-state level.
Antisemitism today is not only hatred of Jews: It is a tool for destabilizing democratic societies, eroding confidence in information, and turning identity itself into suspicion. Antisemitism is the early warning system - but Jews and Israelis are not the only targets.
(Jerusalem Post)
- The Most Dangerous Lie about Israel Is "Occupation" - Sharon Altshul
Few words have done more damage to Israel's legitimacy than "occupation." Speaking at an international parliamentary session on antisemitism at the Knesset in Jerusalem, Judge Alan Clemmons from South Carolina argued that modern antisemitism is sustained by language that is repeated until it becomes accepted as fact. "Once Israel is labeled an occupier, violence against its civilians can be rationalized as justified," he said.
Clemmons told JNS that the legal case is clear, but Israel has failed to counter the narrative aggressively enough. "It is clear that Israel has the simple title to the Land of Israel and is not an occupier of Judea or Samaria under international law, yet Israel allows herself to be branded as such. This lays the foundation for calling Israel a thief."
"When children are taught that murderers are heroes, and the world is taught that Israel is an illegitimate occupier, antisemitism becomes morally acceptable. At that point, violence no longer looks like hate. It looks like justice."
"Israel must reject the 'occupation' label outright, not hedge around it, not accommodate it. And we must push back at scale....If we don't contest those ideas early and aggressively, they harden. And once they harden, they are very difficult to undo." (JNS)
Observations:
- On Jan. 21, 2026, President Donald Trump, referring to the Iron Dome rocket interception system, said, "Bibi, stop taking credit for the dome. That's our technology, that's our stuff." The response in Israel was one of astonishment.
- In August 2005, the decision to begin the Iron Dome program was made by Brig.-Gen. Danny Gold, then head of the Directorate of Defense Research & Development in Israel's Ministry of Defense. In April 2007, Israeli defense technology company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and the Ministry of Defense signed an agreement for the development and procurement of Iron Dome. In April 2011, an Iron Dome battery in Ashkelon carried out the system's first operational interception.
- Rafael led development of the interceptor missile and the launcher. Israel Aerospace Industries unit Elta developed the radar, and the Israeli company mPrest Systems developed the command and control system. Yossi Druker, formerly VP and head of Air Superiority Systems at Rafael, says, "Without exception, Iron Dome was developed with Israeli money, and the technology is entirely Israeli."
- Dr. Yehoshua Kalisky, a senior researcher at Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies, says, "Adding radar to the missiles, the controls and the connections between them that turn everything into one system, that is an Israeli development. The people at Rafael did the simulations and Israeli scientists led these processes. They took the technology and made the great leap forward, and so Iron Dome is by definition an Israeli development."
- Today, the Americans do have a share in the project, not in the technological aspect but in the funding.
The interceptor missiles are manufactured both in Israel and the U.S. "Part of the U.S. military aid goes to the American factories that produce Iron Dome's interceptor missile, the Tamir. They financed that pretty much from the start," said Kalisky.
- Since 2012, Israel has received extensive funding for development of Iron Dome and other air defense systems. "Today the Americans do help Israel a great deal," says Druker. "The financing of the development was wholly Israeli, a large part of it from Rafael's internal development funds - and production is entirely U.S. financed."
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