News Update - Thursday, August 7

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Israel and the Middle East News Update ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Thursday, August 7 ------------------------------------------------------------ Headlines: * Mediators Race Against Clock to Extend Gaza Truce * US Envoy Arrives in Cairo for Gaza Truce Talks * EU Powers Propose: Gaza Reconstruction for Hamas Disarmament * Obama Backs Truce Efforts, Seeks Easing of Gaza Isolation * Netanyahu: Hamas, Like ISIS, Must Be Ostracized by World * Netanyahu Asks U.S. Lawmakers to Help Fend Off War Crimes Charges * Liberman Slams UN for Not Ridding Gaza of Hamas * Jordan Seethes over Gaza Dead, Testing Israel Relations Commentary: * New York Times: “Making the Gaza Cease-Fire Last” - Editorial * Al-Monitor: “Saudi Arabia and the Third Gaza War” - By Bruce Riedel ** Reuters ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Mediators Race Against Clock to Extend Gaza Truce (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/07/us-mideast-gaza-idUSKBN0G70JY20140807) ------------------------------------------------------------ Mediators worked against the clock on Thursday to extend a Gaza truce between Israel and the Palestinians as the three-day ceasefire went into its final 24 hours. Israel has said it is ready to agree to an extension as Egyptian mediators pursued talks with Israelis and Palestinians on an enduring end to a war that devastated the Hamas-ruled enclave, while Palestinians want an Israeli-Egyptian blockade of Gaza to be lifted and prisoners held by Israel to be freed. “Indirect talks are ongoing and we still have today to secure this,” an Egyptian official said when asked whether the truce was likely to go beyond Friday. “Egypt’s aims are to stabilise and extend the truce with the agreement of both sides and to begin negotiations towards a permanent agreement to cease fire and ease border restrictions.” ** Ma’an Palestinian News ------------------------------------------------------------ ** US Envoy Arrives in Cairo for Gaza Truce Talks (http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=718890) ------------------------------------------------------------ Acting US special envoy for Palestinian-Israeli negotiations Frank Lowenstein landed Thursday in Cairo where he is scheduled to meet with the Egyptian foreign minister and other officials to discuss extending Gaza's ceasefire. The ceasefire is scheduled to end at 8 a.m. Friday unless a deal is reached to extend it. Lowenstein said Egypt was working hard to try to prolong the ceasefire so to give negotiators enough time to reach an agreement on a long-term truce. ** Ha’aretz ------------------------------------------------------------ ** EU Powers Propose: Gaza Reconstruction for Hamas Disarmament (http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.609310) ------------------------------------------------------------ Germany, France and Britain presented Israel with an initiative to rehabilitate the Gaza Strip, subject to an international supervision apparatus that will prevent the rearmament of Hamas and other terror groups in the Strip. The proposal by the three European states is an answer to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand for the disarmament of Hamas during the fighting in Gaza. The ambassadors of Germany and France and the deputy ambassador of Britain, who met with National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen in Jerusalem on Wednesday, gave him a two-page document of principles for international agreement about the Gaza Strip. ** Reuters ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Obama Backs Truce Efforts, Seeks Easing of Gaza Isolation (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/07/us-mideast-gaza-obama-idUSKBN0G62LC20140807) ------------------------------------------------------------ President Barack Obama on Wednesday backed Egyptian efforts to broker a durable Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza but also called for a longer-term solution that provides for Israeli security while offering Gaza residents hope they will not remain "permanently closed off from the world." Obama said the short-term U.S. goal is to make sure that a 72-hour truce holds and is extended beyond its Friday deadline, including the cessation of cross-border rocket fire by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. ** Ha'aretz ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Netanyahu: Hamas, Like ISIS, Must Be Ostracized by World (http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-gaza-conflict-2014/1.609265) ------------------------------------------------------------ At his first press conference since the 72-hour cease-fire began, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told foreign journalists Wednesday that the goal of the operation was and remains the protection of Israeli civilians. The war was "justified," Netanyahu said. "It was proportionate." Hamas is a world problem just like ISIS and Boko Haram, Netanyahu said, and must be ostracized from the family of nations. "It's important to understand what kind of condition our forces were facing in Gaza," Netanyahu said, after showing videos of rockets launched from residential areas in Gaza. "That is an example again of the use of civilians" by Hamas. See also, “Netanyahu: We’re ‘cooperating’ with the PA” (Foreign Policy) (http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/08/06/gaza_war_palestinian_authority_hamas_fatah) ** Ha'aretz ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Netanyahu Asks U.S. Lawmakers to Help Fend Off War Crimes Charges (http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.609436) ------------------------------------------------------------ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked United States legislators to assist Israel in fending off charges that Israel committed war crimes during its month-long operation in Gaza, the New York Post reported on Wednesday. “The prime minister asked us to work together to ensure that this strategy of going to the International Criminal Court does not succeed,” Democratic congressman Steve Israel told the Post by phone from Tel Aviv. Israel was one of a group of American lawmakers who met with Netanyahu in Israel on Wednesday. ** Jerusalem Post ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Liberman Slams UN for Not Ridding Gaza of Hamas (http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Liberman-slams-UN-for-not-ridding-Gaza-of-Hamas-370296) ------------------------------------------------------------ Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman responded Wednesday night to the UN condemning Israeli attacks on UNRWA facilities as “outrageous, unacceptable, and unjustifiable.” UN officials should ensure their facilities are not being used to store weapons and launch rocket attacks, the foreign minister said, adding that institutions such as the UN Human Rights Council must not become a platform to embolden and encourage terrorism. Had the UN been fulfilling its duties, in accordance with the principles on which it was founded, the organization would create an international body to rid Gaza of Hamas' terror regime rather than wait for Israel to do it. ** Jerusalem Post ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Jordan Seethes over Gaza Dead, Testing Israel Relations (http://www.jpost.com/Operation-Protective-Edge/Jordan-seethes-over-Gazas-dead-testing-Israel-relations-370299) ------------------------------------------------------------ Nowhere in Jordan, from the Syrian border to the expanse of Wadi Rum, is there refuge from uniform anger at the Israeli government for its war against Hamas in Gaza, now coming to a close after dozens of tunnels into Israel were destroyed, and 1,900 Gazan lives were lost. In a country where half the population is of Palestinian origin, ​that anger comes as no surprise. But on the streets of its capital, a political consensus has formed that this time might be different: that among the reforms Abdullah has promised, relations with Israel may now be among the peoples' demands. ** New York Times – August 6, 2014 ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Making the Gaza Cease-Fire Last ------------------------------------------------------------ Editorial In the first good news in a long time, a 72-hour cease-fire appeared to be holding on Wednesday as Israelis and Palestinians tallied what was lost, and gained, during the latest war over the desperate Gaza Strip. It was easiest to count the losses. More than 1,800 Palestinians, a majority of them noncombatants, and 67 Israelis have been killed. United Nations officials said 408 Palestinian children were killed and 2,502 injured. The physical damage in Gaza is estimated at $6 billion. There are important but less tangible costs: the way ordinary Israelis have had to live in fear of rocket attacks; increasingly bitter strains on Israel’s relations with the United States; international criticism of Israel — and the outrage of anti-Semitic protests and violence in Europe. There seems to be little room left in Israeli politics for those who would end the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and create an independent Palestinian state. Both sides are tallying the blame. In too many cases, Israel launched weapons that hit schools and shelters and failed to adequately protect Palestinian citizens. But Hamas knowingly targeted Israeli civilian centers in violation of any civilized standard and launched weapons from populated areas in what looks like a deliberate effort to draw Israeli fire on innocents. Both sides are claiming victory, Israel for wiping out 32 underground tunnels that Hamas intended for attacks on Israel, and Hamas for still being alive. In a mockery of its claim to have a political arm independent of its armed wing, political officials of Hamas were crowing about its determination to regroup and attack again. The bottom line is that neither side has achieved its main goal of destroying the other. Israel is not going away. But neither are the Palestinians, and the extremists among them will always find a place and an audience if there is no hope and no responsible moderate leaders to point the way to a better future. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is no longer a narrowly defined problem that can be endured, contained or even managed. To an unusual degree, the Middle East is unsettled — from refugee flows, the spread of Sunni militants between Syria and Iraq, the Sunni-Shiite rivalry and even intra-Sunni divisions. Sunni forces in Iraq are attacking Kurdish and Christian populations. There is extremism and instability everywhere in the region. That is why it so important that indirect talks between Israelis and Palestinians in Cairo this week, mediated by Egypt, lay the ground for something bigger and more durable than one cease-fire. Certain conditions are clear. Rocket attacks into Israel by Hamas and other extremist groups must stop, along with other terrorist attacks. So does the smuggling of weapons into Gaza and the production of a new supply of rockets. There will need to be an international donors’ conference to rebuild Gaza, but with assurances that Hamas will not divert money for civilian projects into rockets and tunnels. Otherwise, there is little chance that Israel would end the blockade that has kept Gazans confined to the strip, and deprived them of imports, exports and jobs. Hamas wants Israel to release prisoners. The Palestinian Authority, which recognizes Israel, wants a role in controlling the border crossings between Israel and Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, has signaled an eagerness to have the authority extend its reach to Gaza. But it cannot just be a policeman. If any agreements come out of Cairo, they must be designed to strengthen the authority and its president, Mahmoud Abbas, by managing whatever funds are donated to Gaza. It may be necessary to have Hamas in Cairo, but the group offers Palestinians nothing except nihilism and endless suffering. We always wish a tragedy like this will finally create a real push for a permanent peace, but, right now, keeping this fragile peace is a big enough goal. ** Al-Monitor – August 6, 2014 ------------------------------------------------------------ ** Saudi Arabia and the Third Gaza War ------------------------------------------------------------ By Bruce Riedel The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has assumed a very low profile so far during the third Gaza war, speaking publicly rarely and primarily backing its Egyptian ally behind the scenes. Some have confused this quiet as a tacit entente with Israel against Hamas misreading the Saudi position; the kingdom increasingly regards the Netanyahu government as a criminal state. The Saudis have been unusually taciturn for much of the Gaza war between Hamas and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The Saudi finance minister announced a $53 million grant for emergency aid to Gaza on July 14 to help the victims of “brutal Israeli aggression,” but the king did not speak out personally until Aug. 1. King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz then denounced Israel for committing a “war crime against humanity” and engaging in a “collective massacre.” He did not specifically mention Israel, but the official Saudi press made clear he meant Israel in general and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in particular. The king never mentioned Hamas at all, but he did speak a great deal about “terrorists” who “distort the pure and humane image of Islam.” The Saudi press has explained those remarks as applying to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS), not to Hamas. He did say the worst kind of terror is state terror, another reference to Israel in Saudi speak. The former head of Saudi intelligence, Prince Turki Al Faisal, wrote for Al-Monitor on July 25 that Israel’s actions in Gaza are a “barbaric assault on innocent civilians” and were destroying any chance for implementing the Saudi peace plan for a two-state solution. Prince Turki, who is today a private citizen and always candid, did strongly criticize Hamas for many “mistakes,” especially its “ill-advised alignment with Qatar and Turkey,” both of whom have backed Hamas more vigorously. The Saudi ambassador in London wrote a public letter criticizing those who suggested any collusion between Israel and Saudi Arabia in Gaza as “utter rubbish” and “baseless lies.” Prince Nawaf accused Israel of “genocide” and “a crime against humanity” in Gaza. He was responding to right-wing Israeli press reports alleging contacts between Saudi national security adviser Prince Bandar and the head of the Mossad and British press reports also asserting back-door collusion. The Saudis' major goal in the Gaza war is to support their protege and ally Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whom the Saudis helped put in power a year ago and whom they keep in power with billions in economic grants. Riyadh and Cairo now despise the Muslim Brotherhood. Since Hamas is the Palestinian offshoot of the Egyptian Brotherhood, Sisi wants to see it humiliated. This is the major difference between this Gaza war and the last Gaza war in 2012 when the then-Brotherhood controlled government in Cairo supported Hamas. Abdullah and the other royal princes in Saudi Arabia are well aware that many Saudis, especially young people, admire Hamas for fighting against Israel. The royals are not eager to appear soft on Israel especially when gruesome images of dead children are appearing every night on Arab television. Israel and Saudi Arabia have colluded in the past when their interests coincided. The best example is Yemen in the 1960s when they each supported a royalist insurgency against an Egyptian occupation army. The Mossad parachuted supplies to the royalists while the Saudis provided sanctuary to them so they could bog Nasser’s Egypt down in an Arabian Vietnam. The Mossad and Saudi intelligence cooperated indirectly via British mercenaries, but the Saudis always refused to meet the Israelis face to face. The Israelis and Saudis were also on the same side in the Cold War against the Soviet Union. Despite what the movie "Charlie Wilson’s War" leads you to believe, however, they did not cooperate in the final and decisive battle of the Cold War, the campaign in Afghanistan waged by the mujahedeen against the Soviet 40th Red Army. In fact, the Saudis vetoed any Israeli role in the Afghan war when the CIA and Congressman Wilson raised the idea. The Saudis and Israelis have more often been on opposite sides of Middle East conflicts. The kingdom backed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq war, for example, while Israel backed the ayatollahs of Iran. King Fahd was adamant that Israel stay out of the Kuwait war in 1991. The kingdom today finds it very awkward to be in the same camp as Israel in calling for tough measures to ensure Iran does not get a nuclear bomb. Saudi reluctance to partner even indirectly with Israel reflects both strategic and tactical considerations. The kingdom is a strong supporter of Palestinian rights; from firsthand experience I can attest the king is particularly committed to the Palestinian cause. He scolded US Secretary of State Colin Powell for US support to Ariel Sharon in the second intifada in a Paris meeting and almost accused the secretary of being a party to war crimes then. The Palestinian issue has great resonance with average Saudis. It has been the main irritant in the US-Saudi relationship since it began in 1945 when President Franklin D. Roosevelt met King Ibn Saud in the Suez Canal to create the oldest US partnership with a Middle East state. In 1973, of course, King Faisal cut off oil exports to the United States over the Arab-Israel conflict, the lowest low point in the relationship’s history. US-Saudi relations have historically thrived when the Americans are actively and successfully engaged in promoting peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Tactically, the Saudis do not trust the Israelis to keep secrets. One Saudi prince once told me the Israelis are like “cheap tarts” who can not keep their mouths shut about their trysts. They undoubtedly suspect the Israeli right wing is actively promoting talk of collusion today to make life more difficult for the king. The king's Aug. 1 speech also laid out his main priority today, which is fighting the growth of al-Qaeda and its offsprings on the kingdom’s borders. The creation of a self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and Syria by IS is a direct challenge to the monarchy’s legitimacy, if there is a true caliph then the king and the House of Saud are usurpers wrongly ruling Mecca and Medina. Saudi forces have been reinforced on the Iraqi-Saudi border as IS has advanced this summer. In the south, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) attacked a Saudi border outpost this summer and despite an enormous Saudi effort over six years now AQAP is far from defeated. Indeed, Yemen is becoming less stable with AQAP in south Yemen still dangerous and pro-Iranian Zaydi Houthi rebels controlling more and more of northern Yemen on the Saudi border. The Saudis have fought several border conflicts with the Houthis. The coup in Egypt is the most positive development the king has seen in the region since the start of the Arab Spring. Abdullah has staked the kingdom’s pocket book behind keeping Sisi in power and that determines his Gaza policy. As for Netanyahu, the Saudi ambassador to the United Kingdom laid out the kingdom’s policy when he wrote Netanyahu “will answer for his crimes before a higher authority than here on earth.” Bruce Riedel is the Director of the Intelligence Project at the Brookings Institution. His new book, "What We Won: America’s Secret War in Afghanistan, 1979-1989" was published in July. ============================================================ S. 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