Israel, and its neighbors

[Crafty_Dog]

Now or Never: Israel Makes Its Move Against Iran
By Reva Goujon
VP of Global Analysis, Stratfor
In this photograph, Russian military police guard a road outside Damascus, Syria, after it reopened May 15, 2018.
(LOUAI BESHARA/AFP/Getty Images)



    An unusual set of circumstances is enabling Israel to scale up attacks against Iran in Syria and risk a broader confrontation in the process.
    As Israel raises the stakes in its conflict with Iran, it will look to lock in U.S. security commitments in the region for the long haul.
    The White House's decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal is a long-shot bet on regime change at odds with U.S. attempts to reduce its military burden in the region.
    Russia's bark is often worse than its bite, but it will retain the clout to narrow the scope of U.S. and Israeli ambitions against Iran.

"Better now than never." These were the words of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a recent tweet affirming his country's resolve to block Iranian aggression at any cost. Perhaps no statement could better encapsulate the current Israeli mindset and resolve to block Iranian aggression at any cost. When else will Israel have the ear of a U.S. president willing to tear up a diplomatic deal and double down on Iran, the freedom to strike with impunity against targets in a state already ravaged by civil war, and a young Saudi prince willing to openly collaborate with the Jewish state against the Islamic republic?

Israel cannot escape the fact that it is a tiny state in a hostile geopolitical environment that depends on a great power patron. Historical tragedy has a way of molding a state to rapidly seize opportunities that come along ever so rarely and are always laden with risk.

The Big Picture

Stratfor forecast that Israel would take advantage of a window of opportunity to escalate its confrontation with Iran in Syria. That window widened with the insertion of Iran hawks in the White House over the past quarter, leading to the U.S. decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal. As the United States tries to reduce its security commitments in the region, Iran will remain the big hindrance to those plans, giving Russia an opportunity to deepen its leverage in the Middle East.
See Middle East and North Africa section of the 2018 Annual Forecast

Israel's strategic goals in Syria are threefold: to prevent advanced weaponry from reaching Hezbollah in Lebanon, to prevent the Syrian civil war from spilling into the Golan Heights and to prevent Iran from militarily entrenching itself on its northern frontier. In this carpe diem moment, Israeli airstrikes against Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria have picked up. Three major attacks have occurred in the past two weeks alone, and at least 150 strikes have taken place since the civil war began in 2011. By accelerating and widening the scope of the strikes, Israel is deliberately entering a cycle of attacks and counterattacks that could spiral beyond its control.

Its war rhetoric is also on the rise. Israeli ministers in recent weeks have threatened not only to topple Syrian President Bashar al Assad if he "lets Iran turn Syria into a military base against us" but also to take the fight to the Islamic republic if it dares to attack their country. The move is a notable departure from Israel's usual modus operandi of selectively and discreetly carrying out strikes from the shadows when targets of opportunity arise. If Israel is going to risk a broader confrontation with Iran spanning from the Levant to the Persian Gulf, then it needs to beat its war drums hard enough for both Washington and Moscow to hear.

Baiting Uncle Sam

Israel knows that in this age of emerging great power conflict, it cannot take for granted the United States' long-term commitment to the Middle East. On the one hand, the U.S. administration has been vocal about trying to reduce its overseas commitments, demanding that regional players step up to the plate so it can remove its own forces. The last thing the White House wants is to get pulled into a confrontation with a major power such as Russia over a minor power such as Syria. On the other hand, the White House under President Donald Trump is bent on recasting Iran as an international pariah and is evidently willing to risk confrontation with Tehran, even if doing so ends up prolonging the United States' presence in the region.

Israel's objective is to steer the United States toward the latter course. If Israel is to seize its opportunity to weaken Iran, which also entails taking on more risk, then it needs to do so in a way that keeps the United States engaged. The heightened pace of strikes in Syria recently was the crescendo building to the dramatic U.S. decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). As Iran works to avoid retaliatory actions that could drive Europe closer to the U.S. position on sanctions, Israel is taking advantage of Tehran's relative restraint to scale up its attacks.

And who could forget Netanyahu's prime-time PowerPoint performance in the lead-up to Trump's pivotal decision? The Israeli prime minister didn't pull out the 2,000-point text in Times New Roman to declare "Iran lied" about its nuclear intentions for analysts like me who would quickly conclude that there was nothing particularly revelatory or incriminating about the statement. The simple and blunt message was meant to galvanize the U.S. president and his supporters against Iran to justify bigger and bolder action under the shelter of an American-made security umbrella.

Who could forget Netanyahu's prime-time PowerPoint performance in the lead-up to Trump's pivotal decision to withdraw from the JCPOA?

The Russian Factor

But Netanyahu and Trump must first get around their Russia problem. Moscow may not carry as much clout as it claims, but it has the power to at least narrow the scope of U.S. and Israeli ambitions against Iran.

The presence of Russian forces dispersed across Syria's main conflict zones is a vexing issue for military planners trying to target Syrian and Iranian assets without creating an international incident with Moscow. Russia's presence does not preclude military action, but it does require careful diplomatic attention to deconflict with Moscow, giving Russian President Vladimir Putin an opportunity to make demands in return.

Russia also has a penchant for playing spoiler with air defenses. Before the JCPOA materialized, when Israel was trying to goad a reluctant United States into a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities, Russia often used the threat of supplying the Islamic republic with advanced surface-to-air missile systems to raise the cost of a military strike. (Russia finally ended up delivering the S-300 system to Iran in 2016.) Moscow dusted off the old tactic recently when it claimed in the wake of a U.S.-led strike on Syria in April that it would put the S-300 system directly in Syrian hands.

Russia has since walked back the threat, and it was probably bluffing all along. Its leverage in Syria rests on its ability to dial the pressure up and down as it maneuvers in negotiations with its chief adversary, the United States. Frequent cease-fire violations and major transgressions like the latest Syrian chemical attack in Douma only expose the limits of Russia's influence over Iranian, Syrian and Lebanese forces in Syria. Moscow doesn't necessarily want to further dilute its clout by improving Damascus' chances of shooting down Israeli, U.S. or other coalition aircraft and risk drawing it into a bigger conflict. Nor does Russia want to suffer an even bigger hit to its credibility if Israel promptly blows up the S-300s.

Still, the threat itself was enough to compel Netanyahu to show up as Putin's special guest for a military parade May 9 (Russia's Victory Day), donning the politically loaded ribbon of St. George — a symbol of Russian irredentism — as the latest models of surface-to-air missiles rolled past in Red Square. Netanyahu's best hope for persuading Putin to stay out of his way in Syria is to make abundantly clear that Israel is on a relentless drive to rout Iran there and that it has U.S. backing to help mitigate any fallout from its plans. Israel is also signaling to Russia that it may even consider targeting the Syrian president should Iran entrench itself too deeply under Moscow's watch.

But just as Russia was bluffing with the S-300 threat, Israel is likely bluffing about its willingness to risk the all-consuming consequences of attempting regime change in a war zone that has become a breeding ground for radical Islamists. The question that neither country can reliably answer, however, is how far the Trump White House is willing to go in its building confrontation with Iran.

No Room for Nuance With Iran

The U.S. decision to unilaterally pull out of the JCPOA and to increase sanctions to the "highest level" possible is another exercise in "maximum pressure" tactics against an adversary, but to what end? By opting for full withdrawal right off the bat, the Trump administration is deliberately cutting diplomacy out of the process. Neither Trump nor Netanyahu realistically expects a drastic change in behavior from Iran as a result of their pressure tactics. Instead, the move is designed to strip the nuance from the U.S. containment strategy. It doesn't matter that the JCPOA was negotiated to focus exclusively on Iran's nuclear program; if it doesn't address Iran's destabilizing actions in the region or ballistic missile program, then it's null and void in the eyes of the White House. Along the same line of thought, trying to parse out the various pragmatists and principlists among Iran's moderates and conservatives to steer the country toward cooperation is a waste of time. Unlike Barack Obama's administration, which saw the JCPOA as a tool to boost Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's moderate camp, the Trump administration sees shades of radicalism across the whole Iranian political spectrum.

Iran can only assume then that the U.S. move on the JCPOA was designed in part to get the ball rolling on regime change in Tehran. Ditching the agreement already has destroyed any sense of a guarantee that the Iranian government thought it had secured from the previous U.S. administration. By ratcheting up economic pressure while social stress is mounting in the Islamic republic, the United States is compounding the frustration of Iran's numerous aspirant youth who had put their hopes in an opening with the West after years of economic isolation. That frustration can be harnessed to create a post-Islamic Iran, at least according to some in the White House.

Iran can only assume that the U.S. move on the JCPOA was designed in part to get the ball rolling on regime change in Tehran.

That's a big bet. The last time Iran underwent a revolution, it ended up as a theocracy founded in opposition to the United States. Another heavy dose of the "axis of evil" treatment from Washington could drive Iranian politics down a more radical course and create a more intractable U.S.-Iran relationship down the line. Unlike many of its peers in the Gulf region, Iran's political system allows for a degree of competition among factions to air dissent. And though it faces significant pressure from large segments of the population who are in economic and social anguish, the country's powerful security apparatus has been effective — at least so far — in quashing unrest early on. Iran also is no stranger to the resourcefulness and strain that come with running a resistance economy.

The Moscow-Tehran Axis Deepens

Furthermore, Iran knows that in its more vulnerable state it will have little choice but to turn to Russia, the only other global power invested in the Middle East that shares a need to push back against the United States, as well as an extreme aversion to regime change. Iran is in the throes of a debate over the risks of returning to a nuclear path. Since the U.S. sanctions are designed to whittle down Iranian exports over time, Tehran will have less and less incentive to stay in the JCPOA. At the same time, however, Iran isn't necessarily looking to hand the United States and Israel a casus belli, especially when there's a distinct possibility Trump's successor could take a more moderate approach.

Either way, Iran will be looking to Russia for ways to build up its defenses and complicate any U.S.-Israeli military contingencies in this murky interim. Russia already has been trying to use its heavy involvement in Syria over the past year to secure basing rights in Iran. A naturally wary Iran has rebuffed that request, but it may not be able to do so in the future. Russia will also likely float sales of advanced air defense systems, including the S-300, the Pantsir-S1 and possibly the S-400, to Iran while reserving the right to veto U.S. attempts to sanction such transactions through the United Nations. The U.N. arms embargo against Iran — which exempts air defense weaponry — is set to expire in July 2020, and then Russia could sell an even wider array of weapons to the Islamic republic.

The United States' instinct may be to reduce its security commitments in the Middle East so it can focus on the emerging great power competition after 15 years of costly wars in the region. But Iran, for now, will remain the spoiler to those plans. Israel has an opening to tie down its American ally while Russia widens the playing field with its U.S. adversary. It's better now than never for both countries to raise the stakes in their relationship with the United States.

[ccp]

"Iran can only assume that the U.S. move on the JCPOA was designed in part to get the ball rolling on regime change in Tehran."

I don't know about that.  As far as i can tell it is all about them giving up their nucs and terrorist funding activities - period .

[Crafty_Dog]

Fascinating!!!

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9090/soviet-union-palestinians

[Crafty_Dog]

http://carolineglick.com/heeding-democratic-warnings/

[Crafty_Dog]

https://israelunwired.com/you-wont-believe-what-this-arab-has-to-say-about-israel-as-an-apartheid-state/

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.memri.org/reports/shift-saudi-medias-attitude-israel-%E2%80%93-part-i-saudi-writers-intellectuals-iran-more-dangerous

https://www.memri.org/reports/shift-saudi-medias-attitude-israel-%E2%80%93-part-ii-saudi-writer-who-visited-israel-we-want-israeli

[Crafty_Dog]

https://israelunwired.com/priest-stabbed-by-muslim-in-bethlehem-caught-on-security-camera/

[Crafty_Dog]

    Lebanon's new electoral law, which allocates parliamentary seats according to the proportion of the vote a party receives, cost Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri's Future Movement party about one-third of its seats in the latest elections, as projected.
    Nevertheless, al-Hariri launched an investigation and a subsequent purge in his party, ostensibly in response to its dismal performance in the vote.
    Contrary to the prime minister's stated reasons for the reorganization, al-Hariri probably undertook the shake-up to ease Saudi Arabia's concerns over his party's ties with Hezbollah.

Lebanon's recent parliamentary elections did not go as Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri had hoped. His party, the Future Movement — which his father founded in 1992 — lost 12 of its seats, including five in Beirut, one of its traditional strongholds. President Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, on the other hand, picked up eight additional seats to become the biggest bloc in parliament. The Shiite coalition made up of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement also gained a couple of seats, while its allies clinched important victories.

Less than a week after the May 6 polls, al-Hariri launched a purge to get his party back on track. He fired officials and dissolved Future Movement's parliamentary affairs department and elections machinery. At the same time, al-Hariri's cousin, Nader al-Hariri, the architect of Future Movement's alliance with the Free Patriotic Movement, resigned as his chief of staff. Al-Hariri undertook the reshuffle ostensibly because of the party's dismal performance in the parliamentary elections. But that's only part of the story. The reorganization was also an attempt by the prime minister to get back in Saudi Arabia's good graces.
A Clear Cause and Effect

Future Movement's losses in the elections hardly came as a surprise. For months leading up to the vote, Lebanese media reported how ill-prepared the party appeared for the race. Observers, in fact, pegged Future Movement as the contest's biggest loser thanks to a new electoral law that allocates parliamentary seats based on the proportion of votes a party receives. Al-Hariri endorsed the measure — a departure from the previous majoritarian system — at his chief of staff's urging as part of a political deal with Aoun, despite the fact that it would inevitably weaken his party. (In the process, he also lost the support of other Sunni leaders who, like al-Hariri, stood to lose seats for their parties in predominantly Sunni urban centers such as Beirut.) And sure enough, Future Movement lost about one-third of its seats in the elections.

With such a clear explanation to point to for the party's performance, al-Hariri's call for an investigation into the matter, culminating in the dismissal of so many party officials, sounded disingenuous. Enter Saudi Arabia. Evidence suggests the kingdom demanded Nader al-Hariri's firing for his push to improve Future Movement's relationship with Hezbollah, an ally and frequent proxy of Iran.
Unfulfilled Promises

In 2016, al-Hariri assured Riyadh that if it gave Aoun's presidency its blessing, he would be able to stop Hezbollah from meddling in the affairs of other countries in the region, such as Syria. The Saudis agreed, but rather than dialing back its regional activities, Hezbollah increased them. Riyadh made no secret of its frustration with al-Hariri's failure to follow through on his unrealistic promise. The kingdom's minister for the Gulf issued a statement in fall 2017 expressing outrage at the Lebanese government's silence over "the war on Saudi Arabia (by the) terrorist militia party (Hezbollah)." Al-Hariri responded that Saudi Arabia should not "hold us responsible for something that is beyond my control or that of Lebanon." A few days later, Saudi officials summoned him to Riyadh and then held him there, reportedly to coerce him to resign his post.

What pushed Saudi Arabia to try to force al-Hariri from office was the Lebanese prime minister's earlier meeting in Beirut with Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran's supreme leader. Worried about the collapse of his Saudi-based construction company, Oger, and about his shrinking wealth, al-Hariri hosted Velayati seemingly in an effort to secure his office by appeasing Iran and, by extension, Hezbollah. In his fixation on maintaining his power, however, the prime minister failed to consider how Saudi Arabia would take news of the meeting. French President Emmanuel Macron eventually stepped in to negotiate al-Hariri's release from Saudi custody and his return to office in Beirut.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman set as a condition for al-Hariri's release that he distance himself from Hezbollah and from Aoun. By dismissing his cousin as chief of staff, the prime minister may have been trying to do just that. Hezbollah, in turn, probably will announce that it is shifting its focus from regional issues to domestic affairs. That way, the prime minister will have room to reach an agreement with Saudi Arabia that will ensure Riyadh a place at the table in his next Cabinet.

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.timesofisrael.com/ambassador-david-friedman-republicans-support-israel-more-than-democrats/

[DougMacG]

https://www.timesofisrael.com/ambassador-david-friedman-republicans-support-israel-more-than-democrats/

Isn't it strange how true that is.  I thought it used to be either agreement of both parties or a contest of who supported our ally Israel more.  All my Jewish friends off the board are either still liberal Democrats or frustrated Democrats.  If they had their way politically, Palestinians and Muslim extremists would be empowered everywhere, and Israel would be alone to defend itself in very hostile world - as, I guess, an unintended consequence.

In America, majorities of Jews, Muslims, gays and blacks like Sharpton, Farrakhan, Ellison are all politically in one party.  What could possibly go wrong?

[Crafty_Dog]

Gaza's Economy is Hostage to PA-Hamas Rift as Israel, Egypt Weigh Easing Restrictions
by Yaakov Lappin
Special to IPT News
June 4, 2018
https://www.investigativeproject.org/7472/gaza-economy-is-hostage-to-pa-hamas-rift-as
 
 In 2007, Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip in a violent coup, overthrowing the Palestinian Authority (PA) and creating a rift between the two main Palestinian movements that lasts to this day.  In the years that followed, Hamas turned its enclave into an Iranian-backed armed base and used it to terrorize southern Israel for years.

In response, Israel placed the Gaza Strip under a security blockade, which has changed in form throughout the years, but which is still guided by one central goal: To prevent Hamas from being able to conduct a massive military build-up program.  Since taking over Gaza, Hamas's armed aggression against Israel has led to three armed conflicts, which have only increased the suffering and misery of Gaza's estimated 2 million people. Throughout this time, Hamas's relations with other regional players, namely, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt, hit rock bottom.

While international attention often focuses on Israel's security blockade, as well as attempts by Gaza's factions to break through it, less notice is given to the way Egypt and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have isolated Gaza throughout the years.

Gaza's near total regional isolation and economic distress continue to worsen, to the point where Hamas today fears that the Gazan economy could simply collapse, sparking a revolt and threatening its rule. In such a scenario, Hamas would likely choose war against Israel as a last ditch effort to distract attention from its failings as a government.
Throughout this complex and explosive situation, Israel's defense establishment has been taking steps to try and keep Gaza's economy from collapsing.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officers who deal with Gaza actively encourage the Strip's business community to grow, increasing the number of permits for them to leave Gaza, and fostering Gazan exports.  They also keep a close watch over the state of Gaza's vital civilian infrastructure, in a bid to keep it running. Israel keeps a daily supply of a variety of goods, fuel, gas, medical equipment, food, and construction material flowing into the Strip. But these steps are not enough to defuse the time bomb that is Gaza.

Now, Israel's defense establishment appears to be open to the idea of further improving Gaza's civilian economy, but only if this can be done without allowing Hamas to step up its dangerous military build-up programs.

As Israel weighs up how much it can relax the blockade without risking its security, the Palestinian Authority – driven by a desire to punish Hamas for splitting off from it, and for maintaining its own, separate armed force – continues to place its own sanctions on Gaza. The PA has cut salaries to its personnel in Gaza, sought to reduce the electricity flow (and was pressured by Israel to reinstate electricity payments last month), reduced medical assistance, and generally put the squeeze on the whole of Gaza.
Israel's dilemma here is complex. If it sends generators into Gaza to help with the energy crisis, past experience shows that many will end up in Hamas combat tunnels, which are dug in the direction of Israeli communities for the purpose of attacking them.

Still, Israel's defense establishment recognizes the need to do what is possible to develop Gaza economically.

The PA, on the other hand, is unwilling to contemplate such a course of action until Hamas surrenders to its demand of disbanding the military wing.  PA President Mahmoud Abbas is determined to keep Gaza in economic lockdown as long as Hamas continues to 'rebel' against him. In recent months, an attempt by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to break out of isolation by holding reconciliation talks with the PA, came to nothing, because Hamas is unwilling to hear of disarming.

From the PA's perspective, that means it will continue to try and choke Gaza. Abbas refuses to accept any deal that would leave Hamas operating much like Hizballah does in Lebanon. That means that Abbas rejects the idea of Hamas monopolizing military power, while allocating some symbolic political power to a wider government.

The real hatred in place between the PA and Hamas is too deep to bridge, and Abbas is activating his main weapon against Hamas as a result: Withholding money from the Gaza Strip. It is Abbas's main available maneuver, and he is using it on a daily basis.

For its part, Egypt has kept its border with Gaza shut most of the time. The border is opened so rarely that when Egypt does open it, it makes news.

Egypt has now opened its Rafah crossing with Gaza for the month of Ramadan, representing the longest period that Gazans have had to pass through in years. The move might signal the start of a more lenient Egyptian policy, which until now has seen the Rafah Crossing sealed shut.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi's administration views Gaza's militant Islamist rulers as a direct threat to Egyptian national security.

This situation threatens Hamas's ability to pay for its armed wing and challenges the Hamas government's future. It also leaves the people of Gaza feeling hopeless.
When it established a government in 2007, Hamas became the first sovereign Muslim Brotherhood regime that controls a territory. To endure, it must find a way to break out of its isolation and allow the money to start flowing into Gaza.

With the PA so far ruling out any cooperation on this front, that leaves Egypt and Israel as parties that could potentially ease the blockade. That can only happen, however, if Hamas agrees to roll back its guerilla-terrorist army build-up.

If Hamas is able to convince Egypt and Israel that it is willing to do this, a situation might arise in which the Israeli and Egyptian blockades on Gaza might be eased.
Egyptian, PA, and Jordanian foreign ministers and chiefs of intelligence met in Cairo last week to look at ways of dealing with the unfolding Gaza crisis.

The meeting follows the biggest security flare up since 2014. In recent days, Palestinian Islamic Jihad – the second largest armed Gazan terror faction, and the closest Palestinian organization to Iran – together with Hamas fired more than 150 mortar shells and rockets at southern Israel, and the Israeli Air Force responded by striking more than 65 high value enemy targets.

In this flammable, complex Middle Eastern maze, Gaza's civilians continue to pay the price. The near future will indicate whether this chronically unstable situation will collapse into another conflict or whether Gaza's economy can be pulled back from the brink, thereby preventing war.

Yaakov Lappin is a military and strategic affairs correspondent. He also conducts research and analysis for defense think tanks, and is the Israel correspondent for IHS Jane's Defense Weekly. His book, The Virtual Caliphate, explores the online jihadist presence.

[DougMacG]

Fascinating!!!

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9090/soviet-union-palestinians

I don't want this to slip by without notice.  This is perhaps the post of most international significance ever posted on the forum.  The quotes below are from the original link and from several sources that were linked in the original story.

At first glance, I thought, says whom?  How do we know this is true?  In closer reading and source checking below, WSJ and NYT, the sourcing looks to be rock-solid. A lot of this is long known but not widely told.

This is still extremely relevant today.  Putin is still a product of and leader of the KGB no matter what that agency or power is called today.  The terminology and arguments used to support the 'plight of the Palestinians today is still in place.  It is still amazing how many countries that constitute the rest of the world as opposed to the parties to this conflict still side against Israel and the US and side with what I would call - with some bias - far more sinister forces.  The "Russians" are still trying to meddle and intervene in the US, the Middle East and many other places, and that is far easier today in the age of the internet.

Yasser Arafat, father of modern terrorism, was not born in Jerusalem, he was manufactured by the KGB and taught terrorism and all the other tactics and rhetoric through them.
-------------------------------
The Atlantic in 2002: Yasir Arafat claims that he was born in Jerusalem, but he was actually born in Cairo. He claims to belong to the prominent Jerusalem family of Husseini, but he is at best only distantly related to it. He claims that he turned down a chance to go to the University of Texas, but according to one biographer, the Palestinian-born writer Saïd K. Aburish, it is highly unlikely that he was ever accepted. He claims to have disabled ten Israeli armored personnel carriers in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, but Israel didn't even have ten APCs in the sector he was in. He claims to have made millions as a businessman in Kuwait, but this, too, is almost certainly untrue.  Obviously, Arafat is a congenital liar. But there's more to it than that: his lies are all designed to create an aura of romance around himself and the Palestinian people.https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2002/07/a-brief-history-of-yasir-arafat/302532/
[Doug:  No mention of the Soviet Union or KGB]

The article posted by Crafty:
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9090/soviet-union-palestinians

"The Islamic world was a waiting petri dish in which we could nurture a virulent strain of America-hatred, grown from the bacterium of Marxist-Leninist thought. Islamic anti-Semitism ran deep... We had only to keep repeating our themes -- that the United States and Israel were 'fascist, imperial-Zionist countries' bankrolled by rich Jews." — Yuri Andropov, former KGB chairman.

[Doug: May you reap what you sow.]

Soviet Document Suggests Mahmoud Abbas Was a K.G.B. Spy in the 1980s
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/08/world/middleeast/mahmoud-abbas-israel-palestine-kgb.html?_r=0
 [And Putin was KGB in the 80s]

The PLO was dreamt up by the KGB, which had a penchant for "liberation" organizations. There was the National Liberation Army of Bolivia, created by the KGB in 1964 with help from Ernesto "Che" Guevara ... the KGB also created the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which carried out numerous bombing attacks... In 1964 the first PLO Council, consisting of 422 Palestinian representatives handpicked by the KGB, approved the Palestinian National Charter -- a document that had been drafted in Moscow. The Palestinian National Covenant and the Palestinian Constitution were also born in Moscow, with the help of Ahmed Shuqairy, a KGB influence agent who became the first PLO chairman

[Arafat] He was an Egyptian bourgeois turned into a devoted Marxist by KGB foreign intelligence. The KGB had trained him at its Balashikha special-operations school east of Moscow and in the mid-1960s decided to groom him as the future PLO leader. First, the KGB destroyed the official records of Arafat's birth in Cairo, and replaced them with fictitious documents saying that he had been born in Jerusalem and was therefore a Palestinian by birth.  - WSJ, The KGB Man
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB106419296113226300

Robert S. Wistrich wrote in A Lethal Obsession, the Six-Day War unleashed a protracted, intensive campaign on the part of the Soviet Union to delegitimize Israel and the movement for Jewish self-determination, known as Zionism. This was done in order to rectify the damage to the Soviet Union's prestige after Israel defeated its Arab allies:

After 1967, the USSR began to flood the world with a constant flow of anti-Zionist propaganda... Only the Nazis in their twelve years of power had ever succeeded in producing such a sustained flow of fabricated libels as an instrument of their domestic and foreign policy[1].

For this the USSR employed a host of Nazi trigger words to describe the Israeli defeat of the Arab 1967 aggression, several of which are still employed on the Western left today when it comes to Israel, such as "practitioners of genocide", "racists", "concentration camps", and "Herrenvolk."

Furthermore, the USSR engaged in an international smearing campaign in the Arab world. In 1972, the Soviet Union, launched operation "SIG" (Sionistskiye Gosudarstva, or "Zionist Governments"), with the purpose of portraying the United States as an "arrogant and haughty Jewish fiefdom financed by Jewish money and run by Jewish politicians, whose aim was to subordinate the entire Islamic world". Some 4,000 agents were sent from the Soviet Bloc into the Islamic world, armed with thousands of copies of the old czarist Russian forgery, The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

As early as 1965, the USSR had formally proposed in the UN a resolution that would condemn Zionism as colonialism and racism. Although the Soviets did not succeed in their first attempt, the UN turned out to be an overwhelmingly grateful recipient of Soviet bigotry and propaganda; in November 1975, Resolution 3379 condemning Zionism as "a form of racism and racial discrimination' was finally passed. This followed nearly a decade of diligent Soviet propaganda directed at the Third World, depicting Israel as a Trojan Horse for Western imperialism and racism. This campaign was designed to build support for Soviet foreign policy in Africa and the Middle East.[2] Another tactic was constantly to draw visual and verbal comparisons in the Soviet media between Israel and South Africa (this is the origin of the canard of "Israeli apartheid").

Not only the Third World, but also the Western Left ate all this Soviet propaganda raw. The latter continues to disseminate large parts of it to this day. In fact, slandering someone, whoever they are, as racist, became one of the Left's primary weapons against those with whom it disagrees.

In March 1978, I secretly brought Arafat to Bucharest for final instructions on how to behave in Washington. "You simply have to keep on pretending that you'll break with terrorism and that you'll recognize Israel -- over, and over, and over," Ceausescu told him [Arafat]... Ceausescu was euphoric over the prospect that both Arafat and he might be able to snag a Nobel Peace Prize with their fake displays of the olive branch.

... Ceausescu failed to get his Nobel Peace Prize. But in 1994 Arafat got his -- all because he continued to play the role we had given him to perfection. He had transformed his terrorist PLO into a government-in-exile (the Palestinian Authority), always pretending to call a halt to Palestinian terrorism while letting it continue unabated. Two years after signing the Oslo Accords, the number of Israelis killed by Palestinian terrorists had risen by 73%.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB106419296113226300

In his book, Red Horizons, Pacepa related what Arafat said at a meeting he had with him at PLO headquarters in Beirut around the time that Ceausescu was trying to make the PLO "respectable":

I am a revolutionary. I have dedicated my whole life to the Palestinian cause and the destruction of Israel. I will not change or compromise. I will not agree with anything that recognizes Israel as a state. Never... But I am always willing to make the West think that I want what Brother Ceausescu wants me to do.[3]

The propaganda neatly paved the way for terrorism, Pacepa explained in National Review.

General Aleksandr Sakharovsky, who created Communist Romania's intelligence structure and then rose to head up all of Soviet Russia's foreign intelligence, often lectured me: "In today's world, when nuclear arms have made military force obsolete, terrorism should become our main weapon."

The Soviet general was not joking. In 1969 alone, there were 82 hijackings of planes worldwide. According to Pacepa, most of those hijackings were committed by the PLO or affiliated groups, all supported by the KGB. In 1971, when Pacepa visited Sakharovsky at his Lubyanka (KGB headquarters) office, the general boasted: "Airplane hijacking is my own invention". Al Qaeda used airplane hijackings on September 11, when they used planes to blow up buildings.

So where does Mahmoud Abbas fit into all this? In 1982, Mahmoud Abbas studied in Moscow at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. (In 1983 he went on to become a KGB spy). There he wrote his thesis, published in Arabic as The Other Side: The Secret Relations between Nazism and the Leadership of the Zionist Movement. In it, he denied the existence of gas chambers in the concentration camps, and questioned the number of Holocaust victims by calling the six million Jews who had been killed "a fantastic lie," while simultaneously blaming the Holocaust on the Jews themselves. His thesis supervisor was Yevgeny Primakov, who later went on to become foreign minister of Russia. Even after he had finished his thesis, Abbas maintained close ties with the Soviet leadership, the military and members of security services. In January 1989, he was appointed co-chairman of the Palestinian-Soviet (and then Russian-Palestinian) Working Committee on the Middle East.

When the current leader of the Palestinian Arabs used to be an acolyte of the KGB -- whose machinations have claimed the lives of thousands of people in the Middle East alone -- this cannot be discarded as a "historical curiosity," even if contemporary opinion-makers would prefer to ignore it by viewing it as such.

Although Pacepa and Mitrokhin sounded their warnings many years ago, few people bothered to listen to them. They should.
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9090/soviet-union-palestinians

[Crafty_Dog]

Outstanding work there Doug!

[DougMacG]

This is a great story.  Let's see where it leads.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-offers-israeli-water-tech-to-solve-irans-growing-environmental-crisis/

“It relates to water,” Netanyahu says in the video, after pouring himself a glass of water and drinking it. “The Iranian people are victims of a cruel and tyrannical regime that denies them vital water. Israel stands with the people of Iran.”

Netanyahu stressed a commitment to help the Iranians. “And that is why I want to help save countless Iranian lives,” he said in the video clip. “Here’s how: Iran’s meteorological organization says that nearly 96% of Iran suffers from some levels of drought.

“Issa Kalantari, a former Iranian agriculture minister, said that 50 million Iranians could be forced out of their homes due to environmental damage. 50 million!

“Millions of Iranian children are suffering due to mismanagement, to incompetence, and the theft of vital resources by the Iranian regime,” he said.

“Now, Israel also has water challenges. We’ve developed cutting edge technologies to address them,” he explained in the video. “Israel recycles nearly 90% of its waste water. That’s far more than any other country on earth. We invented drip irrigation. Our technology targets individual plants with exactly the nutrients they need for the plant.”

He then said that Israeli technology can help the Iranians.

“Israel has the know-how to prevent environmental catastrophe in Iran. I want to share this information with the people of Iran,” he said.

However, the prime minister said there was a catch — Israelis were unable to visit Iran to share their solutions.

“Sadly, Iran bans Israelis from visiting, so we’ll have to get creative,” he said in the video. “We will launch a Farsi website with detailed plans on how Iranians can recycle their waste water. We will show how Iranian farmers can save their crops and feed their families.”

He pointed out the contrast between the Israeli mentality and that of the Iranians.

“The Iranian regime shouts, ‘Death to Israel!'” he said. “In response, Israel shouts, “Life to the Iranian people!

“The people of Iran are good and decent. They shouldn’t have to face such a cruel regime alone,” Netanyahu said in the video. “We are with you. We will help so that millions of Iranians don’t have to suffer. The hatred of Iran’s regime will not stop the respect and friendship between our two peoples.”

“Over 90 percent of the country’s population and economic production are located in areas of high or very high water stress,” Claudia Sadoff, director general of the International Water Management Institute, has told Al-Monitor. This “represents more people and more production at risk than any other country in the Middle East and North Africa.”

[Crafty_Dog]

Fg awesome on so many levels!

[Crafty_Dog]

Russia, Israel: After Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone last week, the Jerusalem Post reported that the head of Russia’s military police visited Israel to discuss the withdrawal of all Iranian troops and Shiite militias from areas near the Israel-Syria border. Meanwhile, Israel’s domestic security service said it foiled a plot by 20 Hamas members in the West Bank to carry out bombings in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. These issues are perhaps geopolitically separate, but they are linked for Israel. Our first task is finding out whether Hezbollah and Iran are really pulling back from the border. Next is examining the intricacies of the Hamas bombing plot and whether we should expect more like it.

•   Finding: What looked like an Israeli-Russian understanding that Iranian and Hezbollah fighters would pull back from the Israeli border seems to be collapsing. Israel’s most recent airstrike in eastern Syria is a sign that Israel means business. It is unclear whether Russia has the leverage to do what Israel wants, or even if Russia was ever willing to go that far. Syrian leader Bashar Assad has made aggressive statements but also said there was still a chance for a diplomatic settlement in southern Syria. Regarding Hamas, Israeli pressure is taking a heavy financial toll on the Palestinian Authority. Hamas is trying to increase its influence in the West Bank with both protests and attacks against Israel. Hamas faces an uphill battle here, but Israeli pressure may be opening up some popular sentiments that Hamas can capitalize on.

[Crafty_Dog]

Report: U.S. Stops Palestinian Aid Payments
by IPT News  •  Jun 25, 2018 at 3:01 pm
https://www.investigativeproject.org/7501/report-us-stops-palestinian-aid-payments

[DougMacG]

Turns out it is all simpler when the US takes sides.

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-06-26/mideast-peace-trump-tells-palestinians-to-go-for-greed

[Crafty_Dog]

Israel Victory Gains Strength
by Daniel Pipes
Israel Hayom
July 03, 2018
https://www.meforum.org/articles/2018/israel-victory-gains-strength

TEL AVIV - What do Israelis think of the idea of Israel winning and the Palestinians losing?

It's a radical idea, very different from the 50-year-and-counting win-win assumption of "land for peace" that has transfixed governments and monopolized their attention. That old idea holds that putting Palestinians and Israelis in a room together will prompt them to settle their differences. On the cusp of the Oslo Accords' 25thanniversary, we know precisely how well that worked out: Israelis gave real land, Palestinians rewarded them with false promises of peace.

Indeed, according to a poll commissioned by the Middle East Forum and carried out by Rafi Smith of Smith Consulting, only 33 percent of Jewish Israelis (and about half that number among those who voted for the current government) still believe in land-for-peace and about the same small number still believe in Oslo. So, the old ways not only failed but are deeply unpopular. What takes their place?

One alternative is the Middle East Forum's Israel Victory initiative, and it polls well. When asked, "Do you agree or disagree with the proposition that "it will only be possible to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians when they recognize they have lost their war against Israel?" Fifty-eight percent agreed. This has the makings of a revolution.

Drilling down deeper, an identical 58 percent also agree that "despite Israel's many victories over the Palestinians, most Palestinians continue to think they can eliminate the Jewish state of Israel." Fully 65 percent agree that "None of the military conflicts to date with the Palestinians have produced an Israeli victory or a decisive result, and therefore the Israeli-Palestinian conflict perseveres." An even larger number, 70 percent, hold that "is it necessary for the Palestinian Authority to recognize Israel as the Jewish state before Israel agrees to continue negotiations with it."

And 77 percent are ready, the next time Hamas attacks from Gaza or Hezbollah from Lebanon, to "Let the IDF win," meaning they want Israeli military operations to continue until the other side recognizes it has lost. (That is very much not current Israel Defense Forces policy, which is to halt military operations as soon as the other side agrees to a ceasefire).

After a quarter-century of lopsided negotiations in which the Israelis gave up tangible benefits ("land") in return for false promises ("peace"), these poll numbers confirm a hunger in Israel for truth and courage. Roughly two-thirds of the population has concluded that the conflict can only be ended by abandoning failed negotiations and instead showing the Palestinians that their case is hopeless.

But Israeli leaders are shy to assert this proposition because every American president from Carter to Obama has discouraged them from taking bold steps, insisting on the discredited but pleasantly neutral-sounding land-for-peace formulation. Enter Donald Trump. The Middle East Forum poll asked about him and 59 percent of Smith's Jewish Israeli sample calls him "certainly the most pro-Israel U.S. president to date."

As readers may be aware, I have my doubts about this judgment, seeing Trump as driven by an anti-Tehran project of which Israel is but a small part. But Israel Victory offers the president an unequaled opportunity to prove his Zionist credibility; if he lets Israel achieve the victory that both it and the Palestinians need to move forward, leaving a tedious and harmful conflict behind, he will have made a huge and constructive change for which all sides eventually will profusely thank him.

Mr. Pipes (DanielPipes.org,@DanielPipes) is president of the Middle East Forum. © 2018 by Daniel Pipes. All rights reserved.

[Crafty_Dog]

Oslo is Obsolete: Time for a Victory Mindset
by Gideon Saar
Jerusalem Post
July 06, 2018
https://www.meforum.org/articles/2018/oslo-is-obsolete-time-for-a-victory-mindset

[G M]

Oslo is Obsolete: Time for a Victory Mindset
by Gideon Saar
Jerusalem Post
July 06, 2018
https://www.meforum.org/articles/2018/oslo-is-obsolete-time-for-a-victory-mindset

Sadly, only China is willing to deal with muslims as they need to be dealt with.

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.breitbart.com/jerusalem/2018/07/17/caroline-glick-time-to-let-gaza-fail/

[ccp]

another point that is I believe a part of Trump Putin is that the Russians would agree to protect Israel's northern border

I am not sure how much they could be trusted but anyone have trust the Obama would have helped Israel?

I understand Netenyahu meets with Vlad.

[Crafty_Dog]

The Terrorist Semi-States of Hamas and Hizballah
by Yaakov Lappin
Special to IPT News
July 18, 2018
https://www.investigativeproject.org/7535/the-terrorist-semi-states-of-hamas-and-hizballah

[DougMacG]

 Some things are more important than a press conference or late show material.  If we made a reasonable agreement with Russia on Iran in Syria that protects Israel, we probably just avoided the next war. No big deal?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-19/syria-trump-and-putin-help-israel-limit-iran-s-military-presence

[Crafty_Dog]

Exactly!

===================
Great story here!
https://outline.com/N5Atq7

[Crafty_Dog]

http://www.jordantimes.com/news/region/knesset-okays-law-limiting-palestinian-access-courts

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/middle-east/268149/yaakov-amidror-israel-top-military-strategist

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=170&v=RkGTNM-2FTE

[Crafty_Dog]

Palestinian Authority Rushes Payment to Terrorist's Family Hours After Attack Kills Father of Four
by IPT News  •  Sep 17, 2018 at 4:38 pm
https://www.investigativeproject.org/7625/palestinian-authority-rushes-payment-to-terrorist

[Crafty_Dog]

Hizballah's Growing Partnership with Lebanon's Army Provides Operational Cover
by Yaakov Lappin
Special to IPT News
September 20, 2018
https://www.investigativeproject.org/7627/hizballah-growing-partnership-with-lebanon-army

[Crafty_Dog]

China's relationship with Israel is unlike any other Beijing is pursuing in the Middle East. Israel is the closest U.S. ally in the region and dependent upon American military aid to keep its armed forces on the cutting edge. Yet China is trying to use the heft of its financial investing to make inroads into Israel and the region. On Oct. 25, Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan completed a three-day trip to Israel, where he sought to expand the Belt and Road Initiative and undermine U.S. influence. The visit produced few new developments in their relations — only promises of future free trade and cooperation — but it did serve to heighten U.S. concern about Beijing's influence there.

In the short term, China is trying to get access to Israeli technology and the know-how behind its vibrant startup environment. In the long term, it is trying to build up a greater partnership to open doors for future strategic development in the Middle East. To do so, it must contend with Israel's close ties to the United States and any obstacles Washington could throw in its way.

To get around these barriers, Beijing is dangling the prospect of investment. Israel wants the financial backing to build up its infrastructure, including ports at Haifa and Ashdod, the Carmel road tunnels in Haifa and light-rail transit in Tel Aviv. For Israel, the need is pressing: Projections indicate its population will double in 30 years. Also, the price tag for these projects is an estimated $200 billion — a substantial sum for a country whose gross domestic product is $350 billion a year. U.S. investment in Israel's infrastructure is currently negligible, on the other hand, and is primarily in the country's manufacturing sector. On Oct. 21, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin indicated that the United States wants to increase its financial support for Israeli infrastructure. But if and when it does, Beijing could already have a head start.

In exchange for Chinese investment, Israel is offering access to some of its high-performing universities, which would help Beijing boost its tech sector — especially beneficial as the trade war with the United States heats up. Israel has also expanded opportunities for tourism by signing a 10-year, multiple-entry visa agreement with China in 2016. That deal also benefits businesspeople traveling back and forth between the two countries.

Yet substantial differences remain between the two. Israel is aggressively pursuing an anti-Iran strategy, which is undermining the regional stability that China's Belt and Road Initiative needs to thrive. In turn, China has been a major buyer of Iranian oil, and a prominent backer of the nuclear deal with Tehran that Israel strongly opposed. China also has decades of votes against Israel in the United Nations, including most recently its condemnation of the U.S. decision to move its embassy to Jerusalem. Beijing has wanted to remain neutral in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and Israel increasingly expects its partners to overlook the problem. But China also wants access to Arab energy, so it may find itself navigating the thorny issue more often than it likes. To its advantage, Beijing has so little influence with either side or the peace process that it can largely sidestep the conflict.

China's record on industrial espionage and intellectual property theft also worries innovation-heavy Israel. Its government is considering creating an oversight committee to assess the risks of foreign investment and to head off any Chinese financing that could be a strategic threat.

In addition, there are no cultural and social connections between China and Israel like there are between Israel and the United States. China has no influential Jewish or evangelical community to serve as advocates, and the government keeps close watch on China's 67 million Christians. The Communist Party's official atheism renders the question of holy sites and religion moot — even though China has traditionally had friendly relations with Judaism. But while Israel has no cultural or religious ties in China, its connections to the United States have allowed it to maintain its influence and ties there through successive presidential administrations.

For now, economic transactions remain the primary means for China to gain ground in Israel. But such business deals are already attracting the attention of the United States and hindering relations — as was highlighted recently when the U.S. Navy warned it could no longer use a port in Haifa that was managed by a Chinese company. Those close U.S.-Israeli ties will continue to hamper Chinese efforts, and Washington's anti-Iran policy could further interfere with Beijing's moves in the region. Still, the United States does not meet all of Israel's economic needs, so Beijing will continue to find deals it can sign with Israel.

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/11/israeli-arab-cooperation-without-israeli-palestinian-peace/574564/?utm_campaign=the-atlantic&utm_term=2018-11-01T11%3A00%3A22&utm_content=edit-promo&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR0PkJcChD0tlkceVsih3mmPdMzDUzG-OeAru2PeVBQY90LhgoDDn8h_bas

[ccp]

"Progress Without Peace in the Middle East
The Arab street may still oppose Israel, but Arab governments are coming around."

Overall this is much more in US interests then the Kashoggi murder which IS horrendous no doubt.

But he fake news media is more interested in denying  anything positive from the shifting alliances and Trump's important role (and the "genius???"  Jared's role  ) just because they won't acknowledge him any praise.

The refusal of the Left wing media to grant any nod to the Trump administration
coupled with  the fact that Kashoggi was a part time fake news media "jurnalist" (spelled this way on purpose) and viola - we have this turned into more Trump bashing which is always the MSM's end game, and remarkably  even by (Leftist) Jews who are now more recognized as have converted to the religion of Progressivism and are "JINOs".

 This new religion is being taught all over academia .  With the professors being the new missionaries.  Ironically once the domain of Christian missionaries the new missionaries discourage Christianity and encourage one world socialist government with the mirage of equality and sameness and demote the notion of nationalism and Americanism.

[Crafty_Dog]

Israel has warned Lebanon that it is considering military action against Hezbollah. According to Israel’s Channel 2 news, the Israeli deputy national security adviser delivered the message to an adviser to French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country has close ties with Lebanon. Israel reportedly said that if Hezbollah’s production of rockets and missiles in Lebanese factories isn’t stopped through diplomatic means, then “Israel will act on its own.” Israel also reportedly indicated it would give Lebanon a chance to curb the construction of these factories, in which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed Hezbollah is making precision-guided missiles with Iran’s help. The slow, steady drumbeat of war continues. Though conflict does not appear to be imminent, Lebanon won’t be able to stop Hezbollah and Iran from making the missiles, and Israel won’t tolerate their existence

[Crafty_Dog]

Israel Is Making Arab Friends
‘Hatikva’ plays in Abu Dhabi, Netanyahu visits Oman, and the ‘cold peace’ with Egypt gets warmer.
40 Comments
By Joshua S. Block
Nov. 4, 2018 3:04 p.m. ET
Israeli sports and culture minister Miri Regev visits Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi, Oct. 28.
Israeli sports and culture minister Miri Regev visits Sheikh Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi, Oct. 28. Photo: israeli ministery of sports and//Shutterstock

The Middle East is changing. On Oct. 28 Israel’s culture and sports minister, Miri Regev, toured the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. She was in the United Arab Emirates for the International Judo Federation’s Abu Dhabi Grand Slam, where Israeli athletes were allowed to compete under their flag for the first time. The Israeli team took the gold, and its national anthem, “Hatikva,” was played in a country that does not formally recognize Israel.

Although Israel and the Arab Gulf states have long had clandestine diplomatic ties, recent public gestures of normalization have taken the relationship to a new level. Hours before Ms. Regev arrived in Abu Dhabi, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu returned from a historic visit to Oman, where he met with Sultan Sayyid Qaboos bin Said al Said.

The same weekend, Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Oman’s foreign minister, told a security forum in Bahrain: “Israel is a state present in the region, and we all understand this. The world is also aware of this, and maybe it is time for Israel to be treated the same [as other states] and to also bear the same obligations.” He added: “Our priority is to put an end to the conflict and move to a new world.” The foreign ministers of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa and Adel al-Jubeir respectively, also called for rapprochement with Israel.

The list goes on. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the Atlantic in March: “I believe the Palestinians and the Israelis have the right to have their own land.” At the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September, Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi had an amicable meeting with Mr. Netanyahu. Israel and Egypt have had diplomatic relations since 1979, but it has often been characterized as a “cold peace.” Mr. Netanyahu, in his address to the General Assembly, said that Israel and the Arab world are “closer together than ever before, in an intimacy and friendship that I’ve not seen in my lifetime and would have been unimaginable a few years ago.”

Weeks later, the Emirati ambassador to Washington, Yousef al-Otaiba, shared a table with his Israeli counterpart, Ron Dermer, at a public pro-Israel event. And following Mr. Netanyahu’s visit to Oman, it emerged that Transport Minister Yisrael Katz had been invited by the sultanate to participate in the upcoming World Congress of the International Road Transport Union to discuss plans for a railway linking Israel to the Persian Gulf.

The growing alliance between Israel and the Sunni Arab world is driven in part by economics. Israel’s entrepreneurship benefits all nations in the region. But an even more pressing concern is the common threat from Iran. Tehran’s hegemonic ambitions are being felt from the battlefields of Syria to the Gulf of Aden. In May, Bahrain went so far as to back Israel’s right to defend itself against Iranian aggression.

“We are not saying that the road is now easy and paved with flowers,” Oman’s foreign minister said last week. But the rapprochement between Israel and the Arab world will change the region for the better.

Mr. Block is CEO of the Israel Project.

[Crafty_Dog]

Nov. 12, 2018
By Jacob L. Shapiro
Israel and Gaza, Preparing for a Bigger Fight


Egypt’s peace talks have failed, and both sides are escalating attacks.


Gaza and Israel may be bracing for their most serious fight in years as security continues to deteriorate. A brief lull in hostilities this morning gave way to a barrage of rocket fire and mortar rounds by Hamas into Israel throughout the afternoon. Having already deployed additional infantrymen and Iron Dome systems to the border with Gaza, Israel Defense Forces are sending more armor. The armed forces have been given the go-ahead to strike Hamas targets in Gaza, according to the Times of Israel.

Not that that has stopped Israel from retaliating already. Since this morning, it has attacked tunnels, houses of senior Hamas officials, and the headquarters of the Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa television station in Gaza city. A statement from the IDF said it will continue to attack rocket sites throughout the Gaza Strip – and promised more was on the way. Hamas has responded with threats of its own. Its spokesman said the group may expand its range of fire, saying that Ashkelon, the closest large city to Gaza, is “just the beginning.”


 

(click to enlarge)


Notably, nothing Hamas has done so far – not even the reported strike on an Israeli military bus with an anti-tank missile – has demonstrated new capabilities. Every munition the group has used has been used before and so falls within the “normal” bounds of retaliatory attacks. Even so, the situation has worsened markedly in that past 12 hours, and if it continues to do so, Hamas may resort to using more serious weapons such as precision-guided missiles and long-range munitions. That will only lead to still more aggressive Israeli reprisals, potentially including a land invasion.

More striking than the type of attacks is the timing. Egypt has been working hard to broker a long-term Israel-Hamas truce, and it seemed as though progress was being made. Last Thursday, Israel allowed $15 million of Qatari money into Gaza – denominated in U.S. dollars and conveyed in three large suitcases, according to local reports – so that Hamas could pay civil servants. Israel has been eager to pacify Gaza so it can deal with bigger threats to the north – namely, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran proxies in Syria. It’s possible that the sudden rash of violence was engineered by those eager to scuttle the plans. It’s just as likely that Israel wanted to strike a quick blow before turning to its enemies to the north.

Whatever the case may be, it’s clear that Egypt’s peace talks have failed. Israel appears to be preparing for an increased tempo of operations in Gaza, and potentially for a limited ground incursion. Hamas seems ready for a fight. The only questions that remain are how quickly the violence will escalate and whether Egypt can pull both sides back from the brink. Judging by current Israeli deployments and continued Hamas rocket fire, Cairo will have a hard time restoring calm soon. This most recent round of Hamas-Israel violence may be just beginning.

[Crafty_Dog]

I've been pounding the table about this since Obama threw Iraq away.

https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2018/11/14/caroline-glick-iran-opens-a-war-against-israel-from-gaza/

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=6&v=FxH28yNvF2M

[DougMacG]

I've been pounding the table about this since Obama threw Iraq away.

https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2018/11/14/caroline-glick-iran-opens-a-war-against-israel-from-gaza/

Caroline Glick 2 days later:
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/1118/glick111618.php3

Netanyahu should appoint Glick to replace Liberman.

[Crafty_Dog]

How Hamas Brought Israel to the Brink of Election Chaos
by Seth J. Frantzman
The National Interest
November 16, 2018
https://www.meforum.org/articles/2018/how-hamas-brought-israel-to-the-brink-of-election

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-intercepts-major-iranian-weapons-shipment-to-gaza/amp/?__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR3o6B3t1jqC9NaAnu08-FefvQUad2vEE5Rq9V1blLiQrTU3VgCIJcwDusc

[Crafty_Dog]

 



A New Phase in Israel-Gulf Relations
by Seth Frantzman
The Jerusalem Post
November 26, 2018
https://www.meforum.org/articles/2018/a-new-phase-in-israel-gulf-relations

Intelligence and Transportation Minister Israel Katz pushed for cooperation between Israel and the Gulf states in a speech in Oman on November 7. “In my view, cooperation between Israel and the Gulf states can and should be expanded,” he said. “Israel also has a lot to offer when it comes to water desalination and irrigation, agriculture and medicine.”

The trip bookended several high profile visits to the Gulf by Israeli officials. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Oman in late October. Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev and Communications Minister Ayoub Kara also traveled to the United Arab Emirates, one to attend a sporting event and another for a conference.

The visits represent a significant breakthrough in connections between Israel the Gulf states. Since the 1990s, when Israel signed the Oslo Accords and made peace with Jordan, there were increasing ties to several Gulf countries. This included the opening of trade offices. However, relations became frozen during the Second Intifada (2000-2005).

In the last decade, a thaw has taken place. Katz said during his visit that his trip and others were “part of a wider trend of strengthening ties between Israel and the Gulf countries based on common interests and a mutual recognition of the potential benefits for both sides, both in terms of contending with common challenges and threats, as well as opportunities.”

The transportation minister’s visit to Oman coincided with his discussions about a rail link or “tracks of regional peace” that could one day foresee linking Israel with the rest of the Arab region. He discussed the plan at the IRU Congress that met in Muscat from November 6 to 8.

Currently, Israel has relations with Jordan and Egypt. Jordan has been seeking to expand its very limited rail network; the Gulf states and Saudi Arabia are all laying plans for major infrastructure projects involving rail and transportation. In the United Arab Emirates, Etihad Rail is planning a 1,200-km. line that will eventually reach the Saudi Arabian border and Oman. A 2,400-km. line would link Riyadh to Al-Haditha on the Jordanian border. It would give Saudi Arabia around 3,900 km. of track.

OMAN, where Katz traveled, has been increasing its rail network in recent years. In 2015, Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said signed off on two more phases of a multi-phase rail network. The first phase links Al Buraimi on the UAE border with the port of Sohar. A second phase would stretch down to Ibri and another phase would go down to the port of Al Duqm. Eventually, it could be 2,135 km. long. With Jordan as a regional transportation hub, Israel could be hooked up to a powerful network of regional states. This would also aid the Palestinian economy. “It will create an additional trade route in the region, which is shorter, faster and cheaper,” Katz said.

With Saudi Arabia pioneering major economic reforms, called Vision 2030, the region is on the verge of an economic revolution after years of stagnation. Saudi Arabia is one of the largest economies in the region, but it wants to diversify and is laying plans for nuclear energy, investments in desalination and other projects. Israel and the UAE are perfectly positioned, with roughly the same GDP, to benefit and contribute to this regional awakening.

Eight years since the Arab Spring began at the end of 2010, the Middle East is still recovering from the instability and terrorism that became the dark side of the spring. Out of the chaos and instability came the extremism of Islamic State. The defeat of ISIS has now led to a new struggle by Iran and its adversaries for regional hegemony. All of this has overshadowed Israel’s important role in regional security and relationships. Katz’s visit shows that attitudes are changing.

 “This is the first time an Israeli minister has been formally invited to participate in an international conference in Oman,” his office noted. He described Qaboos as an experienced and impressive leader.

“I was moved to receive such a warm welcome in Oman as an Israeli minister and take part in Oman’s traditional sword dance.”

It is a sign of Israel’s growing strength.

Katz’s vision of a network of rail links may take decades to come to fruition, but it is an important symbol of the way the region may trend towards stability. A stable Middle East, as has been illustrated by the last decades of conflict, is essential for global stability.

Seth J. Frantzman spent three years in Iraq and other countries in the region researching the war on terror and Islamic State. He is executive director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis. A former assistant professor of American Studies at Al-Quds University, he covers the Middle East for The Jerusalem Post and is a writing fellow at the Middle East Forum. He is writing a book on the state of the region after ISIS.
Related Topics:   |  Seth Frantzman

[Crafty_Dog]

https://www.breitbart.com/middle-east/2018/12/16/caroline-glick-the-u-s-government-still-thinks-lebanon-and-hezbollah-are-different/?fbclid=IwAR2bA52VLLnEuCrOaj6a_nowem4X73HIeKfrTD9efNjNAvnZBQh2_mMqX28

[Crafty_Dog]

second post

Jews and Muslims Unite to Save Lives
How an entrepreneur got EMTs around Israel’s heavy traffic and won Miss Iraq’s support.
1 Comments
WSJ
Dec. 17, 2018 7:17 p.m. ET
Miss Iraq Sarah Idan (right) and Miss Israel Adar Gandelsman in Las Vegas, Nov. 14, 2017. Photo: Sarah Idan/Associated Press

London

The first Miss Iraq, Renée Dangoor, was a Baghdadi Jew. She was crowned in 1947. Last year Sarah Idan became the first Iraqi in 45 years to compete in the Miss Universe pageant, held in Las Vegas. There Ms. Idan took a selfie with Miss Israel, Adar Gandelsman, and posted it on Instagram.

“Saddam’s regime taught us that Israel and the U.S. are our enemies, and so we need to be at war with them,” Ms. Idan tells me at an Iraqi restaurant near Regent Park. Ms. Gandelsman sits to her left. The two have reunited to host a fundraiser supporting United Hatzalah of Israel.

Volunteers of United Hatzalah, a network of volunteer medics across Israel, pose in Jerusalem, June 14, 2016.


The Jerusalem-based organization is the Uber of emergency medicine. It trains, equips and deploys 5,000 volunteers to medical emergencies through a smartphone app. When Israel’s 911 receives a call, a GPS-enabled app dispatches the closest and best-suited volunteer before an ambulance arrives, reducing average response time to 90 seconds.

Volunteers wear orange vests and carry medical bags. They sometimes board motorized “ambucycles,” which can traverse heavy traffic more swiftly than a conventional ambulance. The volunteers are Jewish, Muslim, Christian and Druze: “I have people who pray five times a day and people who might be afraid of them,” says founder Eli Beer, 45. The people whose calls they answer are similarly diverse: a fish vendor in Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda Market, a man praying in a mosque in the Arab town of Kfar Qara, a rabbi teaching Torah.

“I’m also working to rebuild the relationship between Jews and Muslims,” Ms. Idan says. “So when I learned how so many Muslims who volunteer with Jews in Israel have started to see the Jews in a completely different light, I had to help.”

The organization’s independence helps it bridge sectarian divides, Mr. Beer says: “I am able to get Arabs and Jews to work together because they all understand that this isn’t the government of Israel—this is the people of Israel.” Muslim volunteers strap on the United Hatzalah jacket adorned with a Star of David, and all distinctions dissipate.

Independence from government is also essential to generating the right incentives. “In a more socialist government like France, you think everything is the government’s responsibility,” Mr. Beer says. “You see your neighbor choking and think, ‘Oh that’s the government’s concern.’ ” He answers that attitude with a barnyard vulgarity, adding: “That’s your responsibility.”

Mr. Beer came up with the idea as a teenage volunteer for Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency service. When he was sent to save a boy choking on a hot dog, his team crawled through traffic for 21 minutes, arriving to find the boy had already died. A doctor living down the street heard the ambulance and futilely rushed to help.

Mr. Beer offered his idea to Magen David Adom but was turned down. “So I used Israel’s best invention—chutzpah.” He bought police scanners, and he and some friends listened to emergency calls and responded on their own. “We didn’t care if it was legal,” he says. “We just wanted to do the right thing.”

Could United Hatzalah serve as a model for reconciliation across the Middle East? Israel’s relations with Arab states have warmed in recent years because they have a common enemy in Tehran. But ordinary citizens have been fed anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiment for decades. After her selfie with Ms. Gandelsman, Ms. Idan faced a backlash, including death threats. She and her family now live in Los Angeles.

Ms. Katz is a former Robert L. Bartley Fellow at the Journal.

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second post

Tectonic Shifts in Attitudes toward Israel
by Daniel Pipes
The Washington Times
December 27, 2018
https://www.meforum.org/articles/2018/tectonic-shifts-in-attitudes-toward-israel

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