The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), the oldest pro-Israel group in the country, has completed its analysis of President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster’s behavior and determined him to be a threat to Trump’s agenda.

The organization, which is backed in large part by Trump ally GOP mega-donor and Israel defender Sheldon Adelson, is calling for President Trump at the very least to reassign McMaster to a different administration position where he can do no more harm to Israel and efforts to battle radical Islamic terrorism.

The analysis and recommendation from ZOA president Morton Klein was provided to Breitbart News exclusively ahead of its public release, and represents the first comprehensive connective tissue explaining the serious implications of McMaster’s troubling activities during his time as National Security Adviser. It is worth noting that throughout the below analysis, Klein cites several previous ZOA statements on McMaster that criticized him before–but now this has risen to the level where Klein and ZOA have lost confidence in McMaster altogether in the National Security Advisor position.

The analysis walks through how McMaster purged Trump loyalists who support Israel and are critical of Iran and radical Islamic terrorism from the National Security Council and installed people throughout the council who have problematic backgrounds that do not mesh with what President Trump believes and campaigned on. It also walks through McMaster’s positions on various issues like terrorism, Israel, and questionable parts of his background and decisions he made, such as clearing former President Barack Obama’s National Security Advisor Susan Rice.

Breitbart News is including the entire analysis here, broken up into various sections, starting with the opening headline and details of the analysis:

MAJOR ZOA REPORT ON TOP NSC ADVISER LT. GEN. H.R. MCMASTER

ZOA: National Security Advisor McMaster Opposes Trump’s Anti-Iran, Pro-Israel, Radical-Islamist-Terrorism-Fighting Policies; He Should Be Reassigned to a Position Unrelated to These Vital Issues

 

Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) National President Morton A. Klein; ZOA Director of Special Projects, Elizabeth Berney, Esq.; and ZOA Director of Center for Mideast Policy, Daniel Mandel, Ph.D. released the following report:

The duties of the National Security Council (NSC) include “coordinat[ing] and direct[ing] the activities of the United States Government relating to combating transnational threats.”  50 U.S.C. § 3021(i). It is thus alarming that National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster purged from the NSC those officials who were carrying out President Trump’s policies of combating Iranian and radical Islamist transnational threats, and purged from the NSC those officials who support the U.S.-Israel alliance – an alliance that is vital to America’s ability to combat radical Islamist terrorism.

Instead, General McMaster has appointed officials who are holdovers from the Obama administration, who favor the Iran nuclear deal and are hostile to Israel – officials who are diametrically opposed to President Trump’s policies.  Moreover, new revelations demonstrate that General McMaster’s ideology is antagonistic to the President’s policies on these vital issues. The ZOA thus urges President Trump to remove General McMaster from his current position and reassign him to another position where he can do no further harm on these critical national security issues. General McMaster should not maintain a position where he can continue to undermine President Trump’s policies on Iran, Israel and the fight against “radical Islamic terrorism” – a term that General McMaster believes should not even be used.

From there, ZOA’s analysis breaks down McMaster’s purge of Trump loyalists who were working to implement the president’s pro-Israel, anti-Iran, anti-radical Islamic terrorism policies:

McMaster Fired Officials Carrying Out President Trump’s Pro-Israel, Anti-Iran Policies That McMaster Opposes

As highly respected journalist and Jerusalem Post senior editor Caroline Glick pointed out, all the Trump loyalists whom General McMaster purged from the NSC “are pro-Israel and oppose the Iran nuclear deal, positions that Trump holds.” General McMaster has purged the following officials from the NSC, who were carrying out the president’s policies:

  • K.T. McFarland: McFarland is a staunch Iran deal opponent, opponent of the Islamist global jihad against western civilization, and a highly respected and experienced pro-Israel national security professional, who served on the NSC during the Nixon, Ford and Reagan administrations. President Trump’s appointment of McFarland as deputy national security advisor was widely praised.  (See “Trump Assembling Team of Fierce Iran Deal Opponents,” by Adam Kredo, Dec. 5, 2016.)  General McMaster promptly forced out McFarland, who was then nominated to be the U.S. Ambassador to Singapore. (WH Press Release, May 19, 2017.)
  • Ezra Cohen-Watnick: President Trump’s former NSC appointee, General Michael Flynn, appointed Cohen-Watnick as the NSC’s senior director for intelligence. Cohen-Watnick was a staunch opponent of the Iran nuclear deal and Islamist terrorism, who “wanted to revamp counter-Iran efforts in the Middle East, and sought to reform the intelligence community to rein in the ‘deep state’ of unaccountable bureaucrats with rogue agendas.” (“Trump Loyalist Ezra Cohen-Watnick Fired from NSC: McMaster’s Purge of Conservatives Continues,” by Jordan Schachtel, Conservative Review, Aug. 2, 2017.)  Cohen-Watnick also exposed the Obama administration’s eavesdropping on Trump officials.  Foreign policy expert Daniel Greenfield noted that General McMaster fired Cohen-Watnick because “there’s no room for anyone telling the truth about Islamic terrorism at McMaster’s NSC.” (“McMaster’s NSC Coup Against Trump Purges Critics of Islam and Obama: The National Security Council is Becoming a National Security Threat,” by Daniel Greenfield,Frontpage Mag., Aug. 4, 2017; see also “McMaster Pushes Cohen-Watnick, Iran Hard-Liner, Out at NSC,” by JTA, Jerusalem Post, Aug. 3, 2017.)
  • Rich Higgins: Higgins was the NSC’s director of strategic planning, until General McMaster fired him on July 21. Higgins was an “Iran hawk” (“McMaster Pushes Cohen-Watnick, Iran Hard-Liner, Out at NSC,” cited above), and also had sought to declassify Presidential Study Directive 11 (PSD-11), the secret blueprint of Obama’s support for the Muslim Brotherhood.  Former House Intelligence Committee Chair Pete Hoekstra linked PSD-11 to the rise of ISIS and called for its declassification. Higgins had stood by Trump during the Khizr Khan attacks. Higgins also wrote a memo warning of the strategic threats from the left’s alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood, Islamic terrorism, Sharia and the Hijrah colonization by Islamic migrants. As expert Greenfield noted: “Like [Derek] Harvey and Ezra Watnick-Cohen, Higgins had warned of an enemy within. And paid the price.” (“McMaster’s NSC Coup Against Trump Purges Critics of Islam and Obama,” cited above.)
  • Adam Lovinger: Caroline Glick reported:  “In May, Adam Lovinger, a pro-Trump national security strategist on loan from the Pentagon’s office of net assessment was summarily informed that his security clearance was revoked.  He was fired and escorted from the White House like a spy and put on file duty at the Pentagon. Lovinger is a seasoned strategic analyst who McMaster hated because he supported India over Pakistan, among other things.”Journalist Daniel Greenfield noted that: “When Adam Lovinger urged that ‘more attention be given to the threat of Iran and Islamic extremism,’ his security clearance was revoked.”
  • Steve Bannon: Early in the McMaster era, General McMaster removed Steve Bannon from the NSC’s principals committee. Bannon is a strong opponent of the Iran deal, and a staunch supporter of Israel.
  • Derek Harvey:  Former U.S. Army Colonel Harvey – one of the CENTCOM’s most trusted advisors on Iraq, who had also warned of Al Qaeda early on – was eminently qualified to serve as the NSC’s top Middle East advisor in the Trump administration.  Harvey vocally advocated for a tougher policy on Iran and Iran’s proxies. Harvey also reportedly constructed a comprehensive plan on how to scrap the Iran nuclear deal – a Trump campaign promise that General McMaster apparently opposes. Harvey also uncovered the holdovers from the Obama administration who were leaking to the press.  Instead of firing the Obama loyalists and leakers, General McMaster fired Harvey. (See, e.g., “McMaster, On ‘Warpath,’ Purges Key Trump Allies From White House NSC,” by Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, Aug. 3, 2017; and “McMaster’s NSC Coup Against Trump Purges Critics of Islam and Obama,” above; and “McMaster Fires Iran Hawk From NSC: Another Flynn Holdover Has Been Removed,” by Kate Brannen,Foreign Policy, July 27, 2017.)

More Firings to Come: General McMaster reportedly has a list of additional senior Trump allies whom he intends to purge from the NSC, if he is not stopped. (See, e.g., “McMaster, On ‘Warpath,’ Purges Key Trump Allies From White House NSC: McMaster Has List of Senior Officials He Plans to Fire,” by Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, Aug. 3, 2017.)

The ZOA analysis then ventures into who McMaster has replaced these pro-Trump officials with, and their troubling backgrounds. One person he tried to put on the NSC in replacement was someone involved in crafting the false talking points during the Obama administration in response to the Benghazi terrorist attack back in 2012:

McMaster Appointed Replacements to the NSC Who are Pro-Iran, Hostile to Israel Opposing Trump’s Policies

General McMaster’s appointees to the NSC are hostile to Israel, favor the Iran deal, and are weak on, or seek to appease, Islamists. These include the following:

  • Kris Bauman:  The ZOA previously objected to General McMaster’s appointment of hostile critic of Israel Kris Bauman to be NSC advisor on Israel-Palestinian matters.  McMaster-appointee Bauman is a protégé of hostile-to-Israel, Iran-deal negotiator John Kerry. Bauman’s plans for Israel include: Israel’s retreat to indefensible borders; creating a Palestinian-Arab (terrorist) state; sending in U.S. and Palestinian Arab troops to areas currently controlled by Israel; and “engaging” genocidal terrorist organization Hamas. Bauman also falsely blames and accuses Israel of inciting Palestinian Arab violence and derailing peace. (See “ZOA Concerned: NSC’s McMaster Appoints Kris Bauman – Hostile Israel Critic,” May 17, 2017.)
  • Dina Habib-Powell: After General McMaster forced out the highly experienced K.T. McFarland from her role as deputy national security advisor (see above), General McMaster appointed Egyptian-born Dina Habib-Powell to the position – someone without any background in national security.  Habib-Powell has been called Huma Abedin’s “Republican doppelganger,” and she defended Abedin. (“Hillary’s Mystery Woman: Who Is Huma?,” by Spencer Morgan, The Observer, Apr. 2, 2007.) Politico noted that Habib-Powell “has strong relationships with senior Democrats including outgoing Obama White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.”Journalist Daniel Greenfield also explained that: “Habib-Powell had attended the Iftar dinner with members of Muslim Brotherhood front groups.  You can see her photographed at the American Task Force of Palestine gala. The ATFP was originally Israel-basher Rashid Khalidi’sAmerican Committee on Jerusalem. She was there as a presenter at the Middle East Institute after a speech by [Israel-basher] Hanan Ashrawi.  Her achievements under Bush included cultural exchanges with Iran, as well as cash for the Palestinian Authority and for Lebanon after the Hezbollah war with Israel. While President Trump fights to restrict Muslim immigration, at his side is the woman who had once bragged on CNN, ‘Over 90% of student visas are now issued in under a week, and that is in the Middle East.’ But that is typical of the McMaster revamp of the NSC. It’s populated by swamp creatures who oppose the positions that President Trump ran on. And who are doing everything possible to undermine them.”

After that, the ZOA analysis continues, explaining serious policy concerns with McMaster at the helm of the NSC:

McMaster’s Ideology and Actions Undermine President Trump’s Agenda

Since “personnel is policy,” it speaks volumes that General McMaster purged Trump loyalists from the NSC who were dedicated to the President’s policies on Israel, Iran and combatting radical Islam – and that instead, General McMaster retained or appointed Obama holdovers and their ilk. General McMaster’s additional actions that warrant his removal from his current position and his reassignment to another include the following:

  • McMaster Supports the Iran Deal; Refused to Publish Side Deals: Caroline Glick reported that “McMaster supports the [Iran] deal and refuses to publish the side deals Obama signed with the Iranians and then hid from the public.”  (See Caroline Glick post.)

The Washington Free Beacon reported that “McMaster . . . ha[s] aggressively urged maintaining [the Iran deal]. ‘That’s why they took [Derek] Harvey out,’ explained one source, . . . [Harvey] is said to have constructed a comprehensive plan on how to scrap the nuclear deal.  Another source described the Trump administration’s Iran policy as ‘completely gutted’ in the aftermath of [McMaster’s] firings.” (“McMaster, On ‘Warpath,’ Purges Key Trump Allies From White House NSC,” by Adam Kredo, Washington Free Beacon, Aug. 3, 2017.)

At that point, ZOA National President Morton Klein issued his policy recommendation for President Trump as a result of all of the above — a recommendation that includes the specific prescription of removing McMaster from the position of National Security Adviser:

We are deeply concerned about General McMaster’s actions in his role as the Trump administration’s top national security adviser.

We find it hard to understand how someone who clearly has animus toward Israel, who supports the disastrous Iran nuclear deal, who opposes calling out radical Islamist terrorists, who fires Trump loyalists and supporters of Israel and opponents of Iran, who hires those opposed to President Trump’s policies especially on Israel and Iran, who refused to acknowledge that the Western Wall is in Israel, who opposes Israeli counterterrorism measures, and who shuts down joint U.S. counterterrorism programs that are of enormous value to U.S. security, can faithfully serve President Trump as top national security advisor. President Trump made it crystal clear, both before and since his election, that supporting Israel and the U.S.-Israel alliance, abrogating or at least vigorously enforcing the Iran deal while calling out and sanctioning Iran’s violations, confronting radical Islamist terrorism, and draining the Washington swamp, were key, distinguishing policies of his administration.

General McMaster’s record during these past few months can only lead to the conclusion that McMaster is opposed to President Trump’s basic policy positions on Israel, Iran, and Islamist terror. General McMaster is not the appropriate person to serve the Trump White House as top national security adviser. The ZOA strongly recommends that General McMaster be reassigned to a different role in this administration, unrelated to these critical issues.

This piece has been updated.