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David McCormick has stepped down from his position as CEO of Bridgewater Associates as he prepares for a Senate bid in Pennsylvania. In a statement Monday, Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio announced that Israeli-born Nir Bar Dea and Mark Bertolini would assume the co-CEO position of the world’s largest hedge fund. More below.
Speaking on the second anniversary of the killing of Iranian Gen. Qasem Suleimani, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi threatened retaliation against the United States unless former President Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo face trial for ordering the targeted killing.
Two Israeli pilotsdied in a military helicopter crash off the coast of Haifa on Monday. A third pilot was evacuated to a hospital and was in stable condition.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nidesextended his “deepest condolences to the families and friends of the two @IAFSite aircrew members who died in last night’s helicopter crash,” in a tweet. “May their memories be a blessing. I am also praying for a swift and full recovery of the other crew member who was injured,” he wrote.
bed-foes
Are Israel and Iran competing on the same side in Ethiopia?

A soldier from the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) looks on in Hayk, Ethiopia, on December 13, 2021.
When reports surfaced a few months ago that Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had deployed combat drones in his government’s fight against local militant groups, Israel was paying close attention. Sharing the concerns of other nations, including the United States, that the fighting could destabilize Africa’s second most populous nation, Israelis were also troubled by which countries were among those supplying the East African nation with the latest armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Jewish Insider’s Ruth Marks reports.
Iranian involvement: Diplomats and analysts monitoring the 13-month-long civil war in Ethiopia, a fight between government forces and the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a regional force that once controlled the federal government, have determined that these arms came from three main sources: Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and, particularly concerning for Israel, Iran.
Sensitive position: Iran’s influence on the African continent is not new. The Islamic Republic is known for spreading its extremist ideology, whether via terror proxies or financing mosques and cultural centers, in certain African states. But its appearance in a new conflict, in a country with which Israel has particularly warm relations — including providing arms and military assistance in the past — as well as a place where an already vulnerable Jewish community resides, has placed Israel in a sensitive and curious position.
Strange bedfellows: “It does make for strange bedfellows that Israel and Iran would seemingly be on the same side in a conflict,” Cameron Hudson, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council think tank, told JI. Just last week, Israel’s ambassador to Ethiopia, Aleligne Admasu, posted photos on Twitter of aid Israel donated to the Ethiopian Ministry of Women and Social Affairs, saying it was for “the war-displaced people in Ethiopia” and “a symbol of Israel’s diplomatic and people-to-people commitment to Ethiopia.”
View from Washington: “Iran’s intervention in Ethiopia should be triggering alarm bells in Jerusalem that it will use these drones as an instrument of political influence and terror,” FDD’s Mark Dubowitz explained. “Israel is in an awkward situation because of its ties to Ethiopia,” Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran told JI, also warning that there has been “an uptick in arms exports and terror, especially in recent months — with Ethiopia as ground zero for both.”
Strategic asset: Observers also say that for Tehran, Ethiopia is a strategic asset – close to the Arabian Peninsula and Yemen – and the ideal location to wield its influence and build political connections, particularly after losing its traditional base in Sudan, which last September seized control of multiple lucrative assets belonging to Hamas, one of Iran’s main proxies. The move came less than a year after Sudan normalized ties with Israel.
One-off event: So far, Israel has downplayed Iran’s appearance in Ethiopia, hoping the drones sale was a one-off event for a leader desperate to stay in power and that a cease-fire soon will leave Ethiopia free of sanctions. In the meantime, the Jewish state is trying to balance its concerns with sensitivities amidst a renewed push to bring to Israel up to 5,000 Ethiopian nationals whose relatives have already made aliyah. There are roughly 160,000 Israelis of Ethiopian descent currently living in Israel, including a government minister and a member of Knesset, and many still have relatives in Ethiopia.