Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Rouhani, You Don’t Have to Turn on the Red Line
With the crisis in Egypt receding from the media’s gaze (everything’s under control anyway, right?), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took to the airwaves on Sunday to remind American audiences that Iran’s nuclear program is still very much alive and remains within striking distance of the red line.Security Council fails to back Iranian sanctions violations
“They’re not there yet. They’re getting closer,” Netanyahu told Bob Schieffer, the host of the CBS News program. “They should be — they should understand that they are not going to be allowed to cross it.”
“I won’t wait until it’s too late” to act, the Israeli leader said, adding, “We have our eyes fixed on Iran. They have to know that we’re serious.”
The UN Security Council has refused to back a report by a panel of experts which unanimously concluded that Iran violated UN sanctions when it launched several ballistic missiles a year ago.John Bolton: Israel should have attacked Iran 'yesterday'
Australia’s UN Ambassador Gary Quinlan, who chairs the committee monitoring sanctions on Iran, did not identify which countries were opposed in his briefing to the council on Monday. But council diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because consultations were private, said Russia was most vocal in its opposition and was supported by China.
“Israel should have attacked Iran yesterday – every day that goes by puts Israel in greater danger, every day Iran makes more progress,” John Bolton, a former US ambassador to the UN, told The Jerusalem Post in an interview on Monday.Israeli leaders blast EU directive as bad for peace
“I can understand why Israel wants us to take action, but the longer Israel waits for something that is not going to happen, the greater the danger Israel is in,” the senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute said.
A European Union directive barring its 28 members from cooperating with Israeli entities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem garnered dramatic responses across the Israeli political spectrum Tuesday, with many saying it would push the Palestinians further from peace negotiations.Israel: EU Attacks Us Because We're Small
The directive, sent out on June 30, extends to “all funding, cooperation, and the granting of scholarships, research grants and prizes” to Israeli entities in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, Haaretz reported on Tuesday.
"When it comes to disputed territories, the Europeans prefer to attack a small country like Israel instead of taking on more powerful states, because they're afraid of retaliation."David Ward Tweets truth to Jewish power
Israel was "only informed of the directive at the last moment," he added.
The directive, due to be published on Friday and take effect from 2014, forbids EU member states from funding or dealing with Israeli communities in the Golan Heights, Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem, according to reports.
In addition to contemplating that a British Member of Parliament seems to be fetishizing about the possible downfall of the Jewish state, it’s also worth noting that, shortly after his Holocaust remarks in January, Ward attempted to contextualize the onslaught of criticism he was receiving by warning of “a huge operation out there, a machine almost, which is designed to protect the state of Israel from criticism.”The BBC’s temple of Alice Walker
Despite the fact that the BBC’s editorial guidelines – including of course those on accuracy and impartiality – apply to commissioned programmes as well as to BBC-produced content, absolutely no attempt is made in this film to balance Walker’s vicious fictions concerning “Palestine” with facts or to make audiences aware of the significance of the practical consequences of the ideologies to which she subscribes, such as the boycotting of a language or the Walker film 1collaboration with Hamas and its supporters in the flotilla stunt.Police shut Temple Mount to non-Muslims
Instead, in this programme as in others, the untouchable Alice Walker is yet again permitted to spout her often offensive opinions as though they were fact, with editorial standards apparently an optional extra for patron deities of the BBC Parthenon.
The Jerusalem Police closed the Temple Mount to Jewish and Christian visitors Tuesday in an effort to prevent clashes between different religious groups.Israel allows two more Egyptian battalions into Sinai
The closure order came on Tisha B’Av, a Jewish day of mourning that marks the destruction of the Jewish temples that stood on the site, which this year falls during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when many Muslims pray at the Dome of the Rock on the site.
The additional forces mean that Egypt now has 11 infantry battalions deployed in the Sinai, as well as a tank battalion and assault helicopters — all emplaced with Israel’s formal approval, as required by the treaty.Seven killed in overnight clashes in Egyptian capital
The crackdown marks the first truly effective Egyptian operation against the Sinai terror groups, an informed source in Jerusalem told The Times of Israel on Monday.
Clashes overnight between police and supporters of Egypt’s ousted president left at least seven people dead, authorities said Tuesday, in the latest eruption of political violence on the country’s streets since the military deposed the Islamist leader nearly two weeks ago.Document attributed to Egypt's MB calls for bloodshed, dividing army
Khaled el-Khateeb, the head of the ministry’s emergency and intensive care department, said another 261 people were injured in the clashes that broke out late Monday and carried on into the early morning hours of Tuesday in four different locations in Cairo.
The document states that “emerging victorious over the enemy requires patience, faith and determination” and at the same time calls for disbanding the Egyptian army, dividing it and distorting its image.Israel scratching its head after US officials (again) leak Syria strike
In the wake of Israeli media reports about “anger” in Jerusalem over American leaks to CNN and The New York Times regarding an alleged Israeli attack in Syria this month, official sources clarified to The Times of Israel Monday that “there is no anger toward the administration.”Three shells explode on Israeli Golan, none hurt
Still, according to the sources, MIsrael is trying to understand how and why it happened: why twice in the past two months American media ran reports — based on tips from US officials — that could get Israel caught up in a military conflict with Syria. According to the same sources, there is also disappointment among decision-makers regarding the conduct of the American media. But again, they stressed, “there’s no anger.”
Three mortar shells exploded on the Israeli side of the border fence with Syria on the Golan Heights Tuesday morning. No casualties or damage were reported from the incident, and there are currently no special security instructions for residents of the area.Taliban involvement may further drag Turkey into Syria quagmire
The shells fell at 6 a.m. local time, and the IDF was combing the area to collect any residual material from the exploded ordinance, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.
In the latest development in the Syrian crisis, the Taliban declared that it would join the opposition ranks as part of a strategy to cement ties with the al-Qaeda leadership -- a situation which experts agree poses a threat to Turkey's security and the legitimacy of its support of the Syrian opposition.Egypt’s Second Revolution Is Blow to Turkey
With the fall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Turkey has lost its most important strategic ally in the Arab world, making it one of the biggest losers of the second revolutionary wave in Egypt. Turkey lost not only a political and ideological partner, but the Brotherhood’s fall affects multiple aspects of Turkey’s Middle East strategy. The repercussions of Turkey’s loss in Egypt will harm Turkey’s image and its regional presence, especially since the new Egyptian rule considers Turkey to be a regional competitor, not a strategic partner.
