• U.S. Further Eases Financial Sanctions on Iran - Jay Solomon
  The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday released new guidelines for dealings with Iran that loosen restrictions on the country's ability to trade in U.S. dollars. Treasury also widened the potential business partners for non-American investors in Iran by announcing that U.S.-sanctioned Iranian entities can partake in projects provided they aren't the controlling shareholder.
      The U.S. maintains sanctions on Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is the dominant player in the Iranian economy. The Treasury has long dissuaded foreign companies from conducting any business with the IRGC. But the new measures indicate the Obama administration will now accept some Revolutionary Guard presence in international projects. (Wall Street Journal)
• UK Freezes Aid to PA over Terror Funding - Steve Hawkes
  Britain's International Development Secretary Priti Patel has suspended 25 million pounds of aid payments to the Palestinian Authority amid claims that taxpayers' cash is ending up in the hands of terrorists. Earlier this summer there were revelations that UK aid supposedly paying for civil servants in Gaza was being transferred to the Palestine Liberation Organization. One Hamas master bomber was alleged to have been given 100,000 pounds by the PLO. Other "salaries" are said to have gone to families of suicide bombers. (The Sun-UK)

• Two Israelis Are Killed by Palestinian Gunman in Jerusalem - Daniel K. Eisenbud
  Israel Police Staff-Sgt.-Maj. Yosef Kirma, 29, and Levana Malichi, 60, a former Knesset employee, were shot and killed, and six others were wounded, by an Arab resident of east Jerusalem during a drive-by attack in the capital on Sunday. The terrorist first opened fire on a male and female civilian near the Ammunition Hill light rail stop.
      "After shooting the two civilians, the suspect continued driving his vehicle into the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, where two officers on motorcycles from the Special Patrol Unit chased him. Shots were fired at our officers, who returned fire, and the terrorist was shot and killed at the scene," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. (Jerusalem Post)
• Daughter of Palestinian Terrorist: "We're Very Proud of Him and What He Did" - Jack Khoury and Nir Hasson
  The Palestinian assailant behind Sunday's Jerusalem shooting attack was set to begin a four-month prison sentence for assaulting a police officer, the Ma'an news agency reported on Sunday. The assailant, 39, a resident of east Jerusalem's Silwan neighborhood, was linked to the Mourabitoun, an outlawed Islamist group whose members demonstrate on the Temple Mount whenever Jews visit there.
      After the attack, the shooter's daughter told Ha'aretz that she and her family were "very proud of him and what he did." The shooter had served a year in prison for incitement on social media. (Ha'aretz)
      See also Fatah Honors Terrorist Murderer as "Martyr" - Itamar Marcus
  In two separate posts on its official Facebook page, Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement honored Musbah Abu Sbeih, the terrorist murderer who went on a shooting spree in Jerusalem on Sunday, referring to him as an Islamic martyr. (Palestinian Media Watch)
• Jerusalem Attacker Said to Belong to Hamas - Yaakov Lappin
  In a videotaped message, the terrorist behind Sunday's attack said his actions were designed to "safeguard Al-Aksa Mosque," vowing that Jerusalem would be "liberated from their [Jews'] contamination." This rhetoric is a reflection of the ongoing incitement in Palestinian media aimed at promoting the popular Palestinian conspiracy theory that Israel plots to harm Al-Aksa. Such incitement traditionally surges during Jewish holiday periods.
      The footage left behind by the terrorist was aired by Hamas' mouthpiece, Al-Quds television, and Hamas members in Gaza claimed the attacker was one of their own. (Jerusalem Post)
      See also Celebrations Outside Home of Jerusalem Terrorist - Judah Ari Gross
  On Sunday evening, crowds gathered outside the home of the Palestinian murderer to praise the attack. People handed out candies to passing motorists at the same time that the funerals of the two victims were taking place. The house was decorated with green Hamas flags and a huge poster calling him a martyr. His mother stood outside welcoming visitors who came to celebrate the killings. (Times of Israel)

• Iran's Game Plan in Syria: A Path to the Mediterranean - Martin Chulov
  After 12 years of conflict in Iraq and an even more savage conflict in Syria, Iran is now closer than ever to securing a land corridor that will anchor it in the region - and potentially transform the Islamic Republic's presence on Arab lands. A European official who has monitored Iran's role in both wars for the past five years said, "They will be able to move people and supplies between the Mediterranean and Tehran whenever they want, and they will do so along safe routes that are secured by their people, or their proxies."
      The route weaves across Iraq, through the Kurdish north into Kurdish north-eastern Syria and through the battlefields north of Aleppo, where Iran and its allies are prevailing on the ground. The plan also involves demographic shifts, which have already taken place in central Iraq and are underway in northern Syria.
      Ali Khedery, who advised all U.S. ambassadors to Iraq in 2003-11, said Iran's securing a Mediterranean link "should trouble every Western leader and our regional allies because this will further embolden Iran to continue expanding, likely into the Gulf countries next, a goal they have explicitly and repeatedly articulated. Why should we expect them to stop if they've been at the casino, doubling their money over and over again, for a decade?"  (Guardian-UK)
• Tip of the Iceberg: Russian Use of Power in Syria - Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror
  The Russians are determined to reacquire some of the status once enjoyed by the Soviet Union. They believe Western carelessness is to blame for the rise of Islamic State, and are using the Syrian theater to demonstrate their strategic capability. Some argue that Russia has become the most powerful superpower in the Middle East due to Russian President Vladimir Putin's ability to invest significant resources in the region, coupled with his willingness to take significant risks.
      Russia is still feeling the effects of the trauma of the Libyan crisis. In March 2011, Russia agreed to get on board with the UN Security Council resolution, which had been carefully worded so as to prevent an all-out war on late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's regime. Russia found itself surprised by Western powers, which - under the umbrella of the resolution - took out the regime in which Russia, and the Soviet Union before it, had invested considerable funds and political energy.
      Israel has some major disagreements with Russia, especially after the sale of sophisticated weapons to Iran and Syria and the transfer of many weapons systems to Hizbullah. On the other hand, Russia's willingness to tolerate Israeli Air Force operations over Syria reflects a certain understanding of Israel's position. Yet Israel should not rely on the hope that the Russians will limit Hizbullah's and Iran's operations against Israel or do anything to mitigate them. The writer is a former Israeli national security advisor and former Director of the Research Division of IDF Military Intelligence. (Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University)

American BDS Organization Takes Its Case to Capitol Hill - Dan Diker (Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)

• The "US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation," a national coalition of American Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions (BDS) organizations, will hold its annual conference on October 14-17 in Arlington, Virginia. The conference will include a "Lobby Day" on Capitol Hill targeting Members of Congress.
• The US Campaign supports BDS and calls for Israel's destruction as a Jewish state. Rather than opposing particular Israeli policies, it opposes Israel's very existence and rejects a two-state solution.
• The US Campaign leadership and key members support (and in some cases have ties to) designated terrorist organizations and have a track record of violence and incitement.
• The policies of the BDS campaign adopted by the US Campaign have frequently been described as discriminatory and anti-Semitic and may violate relevant anti-discrimination laws. Institutions facilitating the work of the US Campaign should carefully consider the possible legal implications of this facilitation.
• Members of Congress, regardless of their views on Israeli polices, should be wary of meeting with representatives of an organization that calls for the destruction of a U.S. ally, supports terror and violence, and promotes discriminatory and anti-Semitic policies.
  
  The writer is Director of the Political Warfare Project at the Jerusalem Center, which seeks to expose the strategy, tactics, and long-term ideological goals of the BDS movement and to uproot BDS at the source.