podesta_email_00379.txt

podesta-emails 2,877 words email

P17 P22 V11 D6 P20

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http://www.centerpeace.org ** Israel and the Middle East News Update ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Wednesday, December 2 ------------------------------------------------------------ Click here for a printer-friendly version. (http://centerpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/December-2.pdf) Headlines: * Netanyahu Confirms: Israel Operates in Syria from Time-to-Time * Dawabsha Family Hoping for Progress in Arson Case * Israel Demolishes East Jerusalem Home of Terrorist Who Killed Two * Israeli Government, Military Disagree Over Unrest * Riots at Kadoorie University in the West Bank Get Out of Hand * With Israeli-EU Relations Strained, Israel Looks Towards India, China * Restoring Tourism w/ Egypt; Jordan Labor Program Progresses * IDF Holds Surprise Drill in the Gaza Region Commentary: * Walla: “New Situation in Syria that Enables Israel to Target Hizbullah” - By Amir Bohbot, Reporter for Military, Security, and Intelligence Issues, Walla * Ha’aretz: “The Illusion of Palestinian Sovereignty” - By Amira Haas, Correspondent on the Occupied Territories, Ha’aretz ** Ha'aretz ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Netanyahu Confirms: Israel Operates in Syria from Time-to-Time (http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.689490) ------------------------------------------------------------ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday “we operate in Syria from time to time to prevent Syria from becoming a front against us.” He was speaking at the Galilee Conference in Acre, a day after he had met in Paris with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the margins of the climate conference. Netanyahu said he had met with over a hundred world leaders, and based on what he experienced in Paris, nothing could be further from depictions of Israel as a pariah state. "We have a disagreement on the Palestinian issue with some of the countries, especially a number of countries in Western Europe…They think the rift with the Palestinians is a territorial dispute, but it’s not.” See also, “Netanyahu Confirms that Israel Periodically Operates in Syria” (BICOM) (http://www.bicom.org.uk/news-article/27720/) ** Times of Israel ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Dawabsha Family Hoping for Progress in Arson Case (http://www.timesofisrael.com/eu-ignores-netanyahu-ban-vows-to-be-part-of-peace-process/) ------------------------------------------------------------ The grandfather of a Palestinian boy whose entire family was killed in an arson attack in the West Bank said he hoped reports of a major breakthrough in a Jewish terrorism case referred to the investigation into that attack. On Monday there was a widely reported “major development” in an ongoing investigation (http://www.timesofisrael.com/major-development-reported-in-jewish-terror-probe/) into an incident of Jewish extremist violence, although police and the Shin Bet security service have been reticent as to the case in question. See also, “Duma Arson Gag Order: Covering Up a Failure?” (Arutz Sheva) (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/204290#.Vl7sdd-rTBI) See also, “Police Chief 'Very Optimistic' About Catching Duma Arsonists” (Arutz Sheva) (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/204285#.Vl7rcd-rTBI) ** Ynet News ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Israel Demolishes Terrorist’s Jerusalem Home Who Killed Two (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4733864,00.html) ------------------------------------------------------------ Israeli security forces on Wednesday demolished the East Jerusalem home of Hamas terrorist Ibrahim al-Akar (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4588477,00.html) i, who killed two Israelis in a vehicular terror attack (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4588477,00.html%22'=%22%22%20onmouseover=%22this.href=unescape(this.href)%22%20target=%22_blank%22%20style=%22color:%20rgb(0,%200,%20255);%20font-family:%20Arial,%20') in November of last year. Some 1,200 Police and Border Police troops were deployed to the Shuafat refugee camp ahead of the planned demolition to maintain order and prevent violent rioting in the flashpoint refugee camp. "The forces were instructed to show zero tolerance for any attempt to harm security forces or disrupt the public order," police stated. The demolition went ahead as planned without any unusual incidents. See also, “Police Demolish Terrorist's East Jerusalem Home” (Times of Israel) (http://www.timesofisrael.com/jerusalem-police-idf-prepare-terrorist-home-demolitions/) ** Reuters ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Israeli Government, Military Disagree Over Unrest (http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/12/01/us-israel-palestinians-attacks-analysis-idUSKBN0TK4MN20151201#e6f0SKPAcWykDXXL.99) ------------------------------------------------------------ Two months into a wave of stabbings, shootings, and vehicle attacks by Palestinians targeting Israelis, gaps are emerging between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the military, and intelligence chiefs over what is driving the violence. While there is agreement over broad aspects of the violence, the deeper causes are disputed. Netanyahu has repeatedly accused 80-year-old Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of directly inciting the unrest. In contrast, the military and Shin Bet point to a variety of economic and socio-political factors fuelling Palestinian anger and frustration, particularly among young men and women in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. ** Ma'ariv ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Riots at Kadoorie University in the West Bank Get Out of Hand ------------------------------------------------------------ A crisis broke out at Kadoorie University in Tulkarm, after the university administration asked the students to stop clashing with the IDF near the campus, since this disrupted the studies. The student union, which is controlled by Fatah, was angry at the request and continued to lead the disturbances. In response, the university administration announced the dissolution of the student union and the dismissal of its members. Sources in the Kadoorie University student union accused the university administration of collaboration with Israel. Senior PA officials intervened in the crisis, and a document of understandings is expected to be signed today that will end the crisis. ** Jerusalem Post ------------------------------------------------------------ ** With Israeli-EU Relations Strained, Israel Looking at India, China (http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/With-Israeli-EU-relations-strained-Netanyahu-looks-toward-India-China-436029) ------------------------------------------------------------ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, sat kiddy-corner in armchairs at this week’s international climate summit near Paris, talking and laughing. “We have the best of relations, and they can be made even better,” Netanyahu told Modi at the meeting. To which Modi responded, “I am happy that often we can talk easily on telephone, we can discuss everything.” A brief encounter between Netanyahu and European Union foreign policy envoy Federica Mogherini was far frostier. Mogherini approached Netanyahu in the hallway, and they shared little more than a handshake. ** Jerusalem Post ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Restoring Tourism w/ Egypt; Jordan Labor Program Progresses (http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Israel-Egypt-look-to-increase-tourism-ties-Jordan-guest-worker-program-progresses-435977) ------------------------------------------------------------ Deputy Regional Cooperation Minister Ayoub Kara (Likud) met with an Egyptian diplomat at the Taba border crossing with Egypt on Tuesday in order to discuss ways to restore the strong tourist ties between the two countries. “We will defeat terrorism, which cannot be allowed to interfere with our daily lives,” Kara told The Jerusalem Post. Separately, Kara met with representatives of the Eilat airport, the Wadi Araba border crossing with Jordan, and the manager of the Taba border crossing with Egypt, Yizhak Hai, about progress on the plan to bring Jordanian day workers to work in hotels in Eilat. Under the plan, which began in the past month, there are currently 150 Jordanian workers working in Eilat and by the end of the month, there will be 500. The government target is to eventually reach 1,500 Jordanian workers in Eilat. See also, “Israel’s Plan to Expand Number of Jordanian Day Workers at Eilat Hotels on Course” (Al Bawaba) (http://www.albawaba.com/business/israels-plan-expand-number-jordanian-day-workers-eilat-hotels-course-776178) ** Arutz Sheva ------------------------------------------------------------ ** IDF Holds Surprise Drill in the Gaza Region (http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/204280) ------------------------------------------------------------ The IDF on Wednesday is holding a surprise general staff drill in the southern region, so as to raise the army's preparedness. In the drill the various Southern Command units will be deployed to practice a variety of potential operations, with a focus on the Gaza region and the western Negev. Throughout the drill residents in the region are likely to feel the heavy presence of military vehicles and planes in the south, as well as in some of the coastal region. In Eilat the IDF Medical Corps are to practice establishing a field hospital. See also, “IDF Southern Command Holds Surprise Drill on Gaza Border” (Ynet News) (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4733848,00.html) ** Walla.co.il – December 2, 2015 ------------------------------------------------------------ ** New Situation in Syria that Enables Israel to Target Hizbullah ------------------------------------------------------------ By Amir Bohbot What causes Hizbullah to continue to stockpile more and more missiles and rockets? The Shiite terror organization, which is up to its neck in fighting alongside Assad’s army in Syria, has not abandoned its effort to enlarge its rocket reserves, which are intended in due time to be aimed at Israel, in what is dubbed the “Hizbullah war.” Reports say that Hizbullah possesses over 120,000 missiles and rockets, including Scud-D missiles that can reach every point in Israel. Hizbullah has analyzed its challenge vis-à-vis Israel and reached the conclusion that the next war will be shorter than it expected—and judging by the public statements made by high-ranking IDF officers, in the war Israel will respond more aggressively than in the past. For this reason, Hizbullah’s leaders understand that it has to prepare a new doctrine designed to target strategic installations in Israel, IDF bases and government symbols. In order to do so, it has to arm itself with precise rockets and missiles. Syria and Iran have joined Hizbullah’s effort. The Iranian defense industries are in charge of manufacturing the rockets and the missiles, as well as UAVs. The weapons find their way to Syria, and from there on convoys to Hizbullah headquarters in Lebanon. In the past two years, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon has said on every possible platform that Israel has red lines, and has emphasized the arms transfers from Syria to Lebanon, warning that Israel would not hesitate to attack. And indeed, according to foreign reports, Israel has acted on its threats. At first the Israeli effort was aimed at moments when the convoys were on the Syrian-Lebanese border, in “buffer” zones, so as not to embarrass any party and not to create a chain reaction. But like in any pursuit of terror organizations, which learn and become more sophisticated, the pace of smuggling has picked up, and at least according to foreign reports, the IAF has been compelled to carry out strikes on the outskirts of Damascus as well. Nasrallah threatened and warned Israel not to continue, but to no avail, since Israel considers precise missile attacks to be a real threat to the State of Israel’s home front. A high-ranking officer in the IDF Intelligence Research Department said recently to Walla News that Hizbullah was a “learning organization, that develops and builds itself—and it has good teachers.” She said that Israel does not make light of Hizbullah, which is the main threat to us at the moment. “We are in a daily war of minds with the organization, and we have to think like it does in order to know the next move and not to find ourselves left behind. If we want to prevent, we have to read the enemy and raise all the possibilities. This is a routine challenge [in operating] against them.” So why did Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu decide now, of all times, to reveal the IAF’s activity in Syria? It is all a matter of momentum, of finding a window of opportunity. What has changed in the past few weeks as opposed to the past few years is that Israeli intelligence—according to foreign reports—has located more arms convoys, making it possible to attack them effectively. In addition, the coordination mechanism between Russia and Israel works effectively, at least judging by the statements of the two countries’ leaders. The fact that Israel did not down the Russian plane that infiltrated into Israeli territory improved the relationship between Israel and Russia even more. Putin publicly expressed this, and praised the relationship with Israel while aiming a barb at Turkey, which is not particularly popular in Israel either. As it looks now, Israel has decided to strike while the iron is hot and to take advantage of the good atmosphere with Russia in order to demand the prevention of the arms transfer from Syria to Hizbullah. We can presume that Russia will undertake to help but will not do anything on the matter in order to preserve a reasonable relationship with Assad, the Revolutionary Guard and Hizbullah—with which it is fighting against ISIS. Conversely, we cannot discount the possibility that Russia will turn a blind eye when the IAF crosses the skies of Damascus and drops precise munitions on missiles—which are liable in the next war to hit the IDF General Staff base, oil reservoirs or Israel Electric Corporation power plants. Amir Bohbot works for a leading Israeli news provider, Walla, reporting on military, security and intelligence issues. ** Ha’aretz – December 1, 2015 ------------------------------------------------------------ ** The Illusion of Palestinian Sovereignty (http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.689502) ------------------------------------------------------------ The West Bank’s division into 'territorial capsules' makes it hard for Palestinians to mass against Israeli aggression; instead, there are 'lone-wolf stabbers.' By Amira Haas Israeli military incursions into the West Bank’s Area A and even Area B – the districts where only Palestinians live and the Palestinian Authority operates – have one positive aspect. Yes, even when they include the destruction of radio stations or raids on hospitals. Despite all the shock and the denunciations, these raids are a lesson in reality. For a few hours, they destroy the illusion of Palestinian sovereignty. It’s a virtual sovereignty, fragmented and curtailed. Therefore, it’s an illusion – but an illusion that works. Broadcasters in Hebron think they can tell their listeners where soldiers are located, as if they lived in an independent state. Palestinian Facebook users inhabit a virtual reality twice over: They see the real world in cyberspace and are convinced that it protects them from raids and arrests. Doctors treat people with bullet wounds and forget that the sovereign is the settlement defense forces, which don’t recognize the immunity of medical institutions. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas receives ambassadors with great pomp, but is dependent on exit permits from the army. And professors from abroad are shocked when Israeli security services raid the campus of Al-Quds University in Abu Dis; their political geography classes evidently ended in 1993. That is when Zionism achieved one of its greatest military and diplomatic successes. Short of expelling every Palestinian or “causing them to flee,” this is the outcome most closely resembling transfer that was possible to achieve. The international political circumstances didn’t allow the territory to be emptied (again) of its Palestinian inhabitants. So reservations were set up (Areas A and B). They were supposed to be temporary, but meanwhile they’ve become permanent. It’s not important for now whether this is exactly what Zionist leaders intended when they concocted the Oslo Accords’ interim agreements. The result is the same either way: Palestinian pseudo-sovereignty in territorial capsules, which is one of the main reasons why the current uprising hasn’t taken off. The checkpoints that surround these enclaves block any mass demonstration that might, for instance, seek to march toward another water-sucking, land-swallowing settlement or a shepherds’ village that’s about to be demolished. But what’s most effective of all, from the standpoint of Israeli interests, is that people have gotten used to the illusion. Within these population enclosures, life is lived in a way that closely resembles normalcy. In Tel Rumeida, the silence is blood-curdling. But beyond the concrete that isolates the neighborhood, one hears the enticing municipal clamor of Hebron. Cars honk, vendors in the market sell their wares, pedestrians chat. A multitude of seminars takes place in the hotels of cozy Jericho and Ramallah, while half an hour’s drive to the north, Israel’s Civil Administration is demolishing the houses of the tiny village of Hadidiyeh and the army is once again expelling 13 families from their tents in Khirbet Khumsa. Studies at An-Najah National University in Nablus take place as normal, but a few kilometers southward, settlers burst into the villages of Madama and Burin and sow fear. Just how strong the delusion of sovereignty is can be seen in the way East Jerusalem residents, and even Palestinian citizens of Israel, often travel to these West Bank enclaves and feel a sense of relief. In these enclosures, which are free of any army presence, they get a break from routine Israeli racism and vulgarity. This temporary feeling of rest and relief is only strengthened by the necessary return to Israel via an intimidating path of walls, barbed-wire fences, pointed rifles, threatening policemen and soldiers, and deluxe, verdant suburbs for Jews only. The foreign ruler and his permanent aggression are divided into fractions and experienced differently in every Palestinian “territorial cell,” as they are called in army jargon. The more numerous, smaller and fragmented these territorial cells are, the harder it is for the Palestinians to develop a uniform response to Israeli aggression and violence. That is how the phenomenon of the lone-wolf stabbers emerged – for lack of any other choice. This is a privatizing of the natural and general urge to rebel, a response to Israeli violence that breaks up into dozens of supposedly unconnected little incidents. This privatization of the struggle is the opposite of an intifada, which is a mass uprising. But because it has become such a widespread phenomenon, it constitutes an internal message: that the normalcy of the enclaves isn’t normal. Amira Haas is an Israeli journalist and Ha’aretz correspondent for the occupied territories. ============================================================ S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace 633 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 5th Floor, Washington, DC 20004 For comments, please contact us at ** [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) . ** www.centerpeace.org (http://www.centerpeace.org) 2015 S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, All rights reserved. YOU ARE RECEIVING THIS EMAIL BECAUSE YOU SIGNED UP FOR OUR NEWS UPDATES. ** unsubscribe from this list (http://centerpeace.us7.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=232a4a45176fccacab865e520&id=929d521884&e=a7f9100a75&c=47437ed29d) ** update subscription preferences (http://centerpeace.us7.list-manage.com/profile?u=232a4a45176fccacab865e520&id=929d521884&e=a7f9100a75)