Mid-East News

Susan Rice meets chairman of Israel’s National Security Council

Yaakov Amidror meets with US national security adviser on Tuesday at White House. Obama discusses possible int’l responses to Syrian crisis with Australia’s Prime Minister.

By Reuters

US national security adviser Susan Rice hosted a delegation led by Yaakov Amidror, the chairman of Israel’s National Security Council. The meetings were part of a series of regular high-level bilateral consultations and touched on Iran, Egypt, Syria, and other regional security issues, the White House said.

Susan Rice & John Kerry - Photo: Getty Images

Are they both watching Israel’s back, or manipulating an agenda detrimental to Israel’s security concerns for American political interests? Susan Rice & John Kerry – Photo: Getty Images

Members of the delegation included Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad, Head of the IDF Planning Division Maj.-Gen. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: chemical weapon, Susan Rice, Syrian unrest, Yaakov Amidror

How the West will strike Syria

British Daily Mail reports how US & British top brass prepare for possible attack in Syria, pointing out targets, including Assad’s air force & key regime facilities.

By Ynet

The British Daily Mail newspaper revealed on Monday the American-British target list in Syria and the forces likely to participate in a military operation – be it a short or a long one – in the torn Arab country.

Photo: MCT

The favored option among top brass is for limited Western action using ‘stand-off’ weapons from long distance to disrupt Assad’s ability to carry out chemical attacks and damage his military machine, the Daily Mail said. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: chemical weapon, Cyprus, Syria, UK

BREAKING NEWS: British Warplanes in Cyprus – Ready to Strike Syria

Guardian Reports: British warplanes and military transporters have begun arriving at an airbase on Cyprus.

By Elad Benari

In what might indicate that the British army is preparing for an attack on Syria, the Guardian reported on Monday that warplanes and military transporters have begun arriving at Britain’s Akrotiri airbase on Cyprus, less than 100 miles from the Syrian coast.

Two commercial pilots who regularly fly from Larnaca told the Guardian that they had seen C-130 transport planes from their cockpit windows as well as small formations of fighter jets on their radar screens, which they believe had flown from Europe. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: chemical weapon, Cyprus, Syria, UK

Fahmy visits Abbas to strengthen ties with Palestinian Authority

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy voices support for ‘Palestinian cause’, but warns that Israeli settlement activity & yesterday’s deadly West Bank incident jeopardize the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

By DPA

Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy on Monday reiterated that the “Palestinian cause” remains an Egyptian priority, and thanked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for standing by Cairo’s military rulers.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy (L) meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah

Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy (L) meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Monday, Aug 26, 2013. – Photo: AP

“Abbas was among the first to come to Egypt to show support,” Fahmy told a news conference in Ramallah alongside his Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Malki. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Egypt, Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority, Palestinians

Mudar Zahran: A Palestinian State in Jordan is ‘Inevitable’

Zahran, the Jordanian-Palestinian dissident, didn’t pull any punches Sunday afternoon, speaking at a conference entitled “Two States for Two People, on Two Sides of the Jordan River.”

By Ari Soffer

Jordanian-Palestinian activist Mudar Zahran is not a man who minces his words. In fact, his outspokenness against the Jordanian regime has made him a persona-non-grata in his own country, forcing him to seek asylum in the UK.

Mudar Zahran

Zahran did not pull any punches Sunday afternoon, speaking at a conference entitled “Two States for Two People, on Two Sides of the Jordan River.” Deriding the Jordanian ruling elite as “Armani-wearing, English-speaking autocrats” he called on all parties to consider a radically different track to the current peace initiatives based off of a “Two State Solution” which would see a Palestinian Authority-run state in Judea and Samaria. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Danny Ayalon, Jordan, Mudar Zahran, Peace Process, peace talks, Tzipi Hotovely

israelandstuffcom | August 26, 2013

Normalization talks between Turkey & Israel reach roadblock

Gov’t sources from Jerusalem say Ankara’s insistence on calling payments to the families of the Mavi Marmara victims “punitive damages” and not “compensation” brought the negotiations to a halt.

By Shlomo Cesana

Government officials have signaled that Israel’s efforts to normalize its diplomatic relations with Turkey have failed.

Still not seeing eye to eye, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan – Photo: Reuters

Israel-Turkey relations soured in May 2010, when Israeli naval commandos boarded the ship Mavi Marmara to enforce Israel’s naval blockade on the Gaza Strip. The commandos were attacked by the passengers on board and the ensuing clash left nine Turkish nationals dead and several Israeli soldiers wounded. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: anti-Israel, Israel Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan

israelandstuffcom | August 26, 2013

Fatah: Abbas will soon implement ‘painful decisions’ against Hamas

Fatah official Azzam al-Ahmed, said Hamas will no longer be recognized as a partner in the process after implementation of decisions agreed upon with Israel.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

The Palestinian Authority will soon take “painful decisions” against Hamas, senior Fatah official Azzam al- Ahmed announced on Sunday.

Palestinian Hamas rally – Photo: REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini

Ahmed did not specify the nature of the decisions.

However, he said that Hamas would no longer be considered a partner in any process after the decisions are taken by the PA leadership.

The official denied that the PA leadership in the West Bank was considering declaring the Gaza Strip a “rogue entity.”

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Fatah, Gaza, hamas, Palestinian Authority, Peace Process

Obama’s Foreign Policy Fiasco

Incompetence, inconstancy & inaction have rendered the Obama administration impotent. In the foreign policy arena, Obama acts as though he would rather be the PM of Belgium, a small country that usually copies the decisions of its larger neighbors when casting votes at the UN.

By Daniel Pipes

It’s a privilege to be an American who works on foreign policy, as I have done since the late 1970s, participating in a small way in the grand project of finding my country’s place in the world. But now, under President Barack Obama, decisions made in Washington have dramatically shrunk in importance.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Barack Obama

Palestinian journalists protest against continued assaults by Abbas’ security forces

Palestinian journalists plan strike follows incident where PA security officers beat a number of journalists at a rally in Ramallah on Friday.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

Palestinian journalists plan to stage a sit-in strike in Ramallah on Sunday in protest against recurring assaults on them by Palestinian Authority security personnel.

PA police stand guard in West Bank – Photo: REUTERS

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate in the West Bank called on its members to participate in the protest and condemned the attacks as an assault on freedom of expression.

The syndicate called on the PA leadership to punish security officers and policemen who assault journalists.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: journalists, Palestinian Authority Police

IDF Boosts Naval Presence off Lebanese Coast

After Lebanese bombings & rocket attack on Israel leads the IDF to station a new, advanced warship on Israel’s northern border.

By Maayana Miskin

The IDF plans to purchase a “Super Dvora Mk III” warship which will be stationed off the coast of Israel’s northern border, near Lebanon, the IDF website reports.

The ship, a fast patrol boat, has until now been used off the coast of Gaza, while the IDF has used only the Super Dvora Mk I and Mk II in the north.

A naval officer was quoted as saying, “This process will improve defense in the north. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Israel Navy, Lebanon

Erdoğan denounces US for criticizing his claim that Israel mastered Morsi’s downfall

Turkish PM blames Israel for Morsi’s ousting & the unrest in Egypt, saying the US’s condemnation of his accusation shows the world’s “double standard”.

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan chastised Washington for having denounced his claim, made last Tuesday, that Israel was behind the coup that deposed Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood- affiliated president, Mohamed Morsi.

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party

Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan addresses members of parliament from his ruling AK Party – Photo: REUTERS

“What is it to the White House that it should respond?” Erdoğan said on Saturday. “It should not have mentioned it, it should not have reacted like this.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Egyptian unrest, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey, US-Turkey

Caroline Glick’s Column One: The Resetting of US foreign policy

Never since America’s establishment has the United States appeared so irrelevant, destructive, untrustworthy and totally impotent.

By CAROLINE GLICK

Aside from the carnage in Benghazi, the most enduring image from Hillary Clinton’s tenure as US secretary of state was the fake remote control she brought with her to Moscow in 2009 with the word “Reset” in misspelled Russian embossed on it.

US President Barack Obama (R) meets with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia June 29, 2010. – Photo: REUTERS/Larry Downing

Clinton’s gimmick was meant to show that under President Barack Obama, American foreign policy would be fundamentally transformed.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, Middle East peace

French Foreign Minister in Ramallah, next Jerusalem

Abbas meets with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in Ramallah who urges Israel to stop settlement activities.

By DPA

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that there is “nothing” preventing him from personally meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) and France’s Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius shake hands after addressing the media following their meeting in the West Bank city, Ramallah, August 24. – Photo: Reuters

The comments come nearly one month after direct peace talks between the two sides resumed after a three-year stalemate.

“There is nothing at all that prevents a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu at the right time for us to meet or at a time we need to meet,” Abbas said in Ramallah at a press conference with visiting French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, Laurent Fabius, Mahmoud Abbas, peace talks

israelandstuffcom | August 24, 2013

Abbas’ Plans to Call Elections will Challenge Hamas

PA President Abbas is planning to challenge Hamas’ legitimacy by holding elections only in Judea & Samaria & then declaring that Gaza is a ‘rebel region.’

By Elad Benari, Canada

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is planning to challenge Hamas by holding elections only in the areas of Judea and Samaria under his control, Channel 2 News reported on Friday.

According to the report, which cited officials in Ramallah, Abbas is planning to call for elections in the PA-assigned areas of Judea and Samaria soon, and has appointed a team of officials from his Fatah movement to plan the move. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: elections, Fatah-Hamas, Gaza, Palestinian Authority

israelandstuffcom | August 24, 2013