10/05 Links: Bibi - Peace Talks Are Going Nowhere, UNESCO Passes 6 Anti-Israel Resolutions

From Ian:

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Netanyahu: The Peace Talks Are Going Nowhere

According to a report on Friday in the Maariv daily newspaper, Netanyahu made the comments in closed meetings with the heads of American Jewish organizations.
Netanyahu reportedly repeated his position and that he is ready for a historic compromise with the Palestinian Authority, but added that "the problem was, and still is, their refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.”
The Prime Minister, according to Maariv, also said that the Palestinian Authority’s ongoing incitement against Israel was another significant obstacle to the possibility of reaching an agreement.

IDF Officers: Rising Arab Violence in Jenin, Qalandiya, Balata, Hebron

Israel Defense Forces officers said three recent incidents of Arab unrest that had to be quelled by soldiers indicate an uptick in violence, mainly from the Jenin refugee camp, Qalandiya, Balata and Hebron, Israel’s Ma’ariv daily reported.
“We’ve seen a steady increase in the activity level of resistance forces in the villages and in the camps,” Lt. Col. Itamar Kohl, deputy commander of the Binyamin Brigade, told Ma’ariv. “The more time we remain in the field, the greater the likelihood of a popular local demonstration, what I call ‘temporary’ disturbance, unplanned without a specific focus that is known in advance.”

PA forces raid Jenin refugee camp, arrest Islamic Jihad members

According to reports, some 200 forces descended on the camp and blocked the exits, searching homes, including that of Bassem Al-Saadi, the head of Islamic Jihad in the West Bank. The raid was reported to be one of the Palestinian Authority’s biggest security operations in recent years, and highly unusual in terms of scale and area of operation.

UNESCO passes six resolutions condemning Israel

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) passed six anti-Israel resolutions at the meeting of its executive committee in Paris on Friday, Israel Radio reported.
The organization condemned Israel for not fulfilling an agreement from April to allow a UNESCO delegation to inspect preservation and conservation work at 18 sites in the Old City – six synagogues, six mosques and six churches – in exchange for a Palestinian agreement to postpone five anti-Israel resolutions pending before UNESCO’s board meeting that month.
Israel canceled the UNESCO contingent's visit at the last minute in May, saying that the Palestinians had "politicized" the delegation.

Liberman on Iran: ‘Better to be alone and stay alive’

Former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman, who currently heads the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said Saturday that there’s not even a “quarter of a sign” that Iran has slowed its drive to acquire nuclear weapons.
“All international intelligence agencies are aware that nothing has changed,” he was quoted by Israel Radio saying.
“Israel is prepared to deal with the Iranian problem. Even if we stand alone. It’s better to be alone and stay alive rather than toe the line and go up in flames,” he added.

Top 5 Dumbest Roger Cohen Lines (This Week)

Cohen’s latest entry is about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to convince the world that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is the smiling face of a bad regime constitute a diversionary tactic to avoid making peace with the Palestinians. It’s not a new charge and there are plenty of people who’d agree that more could be done to enable the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians. The problem here is that Cohen doesn’t seem to think Iran is a threat. And it’s very strange to watch his mind work across the page. Here are five examples of some head-scratchers.

In Depth: Iranian espionage plot uncovered by Shin Bet shows a new level of sophistication

This time, it appears that the recruitment and running of the agent was carried out by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's special operations unit (Quds Force), rather than by the Iranian intelligence agency.
Among other things, the role of the Quds Force is to execute terror attacks against Israel and additional targets in the West and in the Middle East. The significance of this is that Mansouri was not sent to Israel to spy and collect intelligence like his predecessors, but rather to establish an infrastructure to carry out terror attacks within Israel.

Slamming US and Israel, Khamenei raps aspects of Rouhani’s NY visit

Slamming the US as arrogant, dishonest, untrustworthy, and controlled by Zionists, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Saturday that “some” aspects of President Hassan Rouhani’s trip to the United Nations General Assembly in New York last month were “not proper.”
“We support the diplomatic initiative of the government and attach importance to its activities in this trip,” Khamenei said, but he added that ”some of what happened in the New York trip was not proper” — an apparent reference to Rouhani’s historic phone conversation with US President Barack Obama.

Rouhani calls for 'time-bound' talks on nuclear program

Hassan Rouhani, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran, called for "time-bound" talks on its nuclear program with the West while harshly criticizing US interference in the Middle East in his first speech to the United Nations on Tuesday afternoon.
The speech was a resounding defense of the governing model of the Islamic Republic and a forceful rebuke of its detractors, with many veiled references to the "mistaken" policies of the United States, which has sanctioned Iran punishingly for continuing to develop a nuclear program.

US was so sure it was striking Syria it made ‘warning calls’ to Israel’s leaders

The phone calls, Israel’s Channel 2 news revealed Friday, were made shortly after Secretary of State John Kerry on August 31 had accused Bashar Assad’s regime of an August 21 chemical weapons attack that killed 1,429 Syrians. Israel’s leaders were told explicitly that the US would be taking punitive military action against the Assad regime within 24-48 hours.
The calls were made in accordance with the US promise to give Israel a warning ahead of such an attack, so that it could take steps to defend itself against any potential Syrian retaliation that might target the Jewish state.

Syria’s chemical weapons nexus

The bottom line is that even if Russia and Iran did not provide the sarin gas to Syria, their delivery systems are responsible for making it into an operational WMD.
The main achievement of the UN report on the August 21 chemical weapons attacks in Syria is not its indisputable conclusion that sarin nerve gas was used “on a relatively large scale.” It is the affirmation in a UN document of the de facto existence of a chemical weapons nexus comprising Syria, Russia and Iran, whose purpose is to support President Bashar Assad’s regime as the linchpin of regional resistance to the US and Israel.

Egypt: At Least 5 Dead in Cairo Clashes

At least five people were killed in Cairo on Friday, as thousands of supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi took to the streets nationwide, clashing with security forces.
Supporters of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, who have been protesting to re-install the ousted , clashed with police on the road leading to the pyramids in the suburb of Giza, reported Al Arabiya.

For Egypt’s crippled Muslim Brotherhood, protests part of survival strategy under crackdown

The Brotherhood’s long-term aim is to preserve the tight-knit, largely secretive structure of cadres, businesses and charities that made it a wealthy political powerhouse. Eventually, many Brotherhood members believe, the interim government will have to back down to ensure stability as it tackles Egypt’s multiple woes, particularly the struggling economy.

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood vilifies the military

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood has sharply criticized the military for ousting the country's Islamist president, comparing its rule to that of Adolf Hitler or Roman emperor Nero.
Thursday's criticism appears designed to whip up support for the Brotherhood and its planned rally on Sunday against the military and its popularly-backed July 3 coup that ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, a longtime leader of the group.

Fox International, Warner Bros Acquire Israeli TV Shows ‘False Flag’, ‘Girlfriends’ For U.S. Market

After the success of Showtime Network’s “Homeland,” based on Israeli series “Hatufim,” two more Israeli television programs have been acquired to be reproduced for U.S. audiences, Israel’s Globes business daily reported.
Globes said “Shkufim,” False Flags, and “Haverot,” Girlfriends, were bought by Fox International and Warner Brothers Studios, respectively.

Israeli Scientists Unveil Advances in Aerospace Medicine

A helmet allowing ground control to take over an aircraft should the pilot lose consciousness, an unmanned aerial vehicle evacuating wounded soldiers under fire without endangering lives, and a robotic dog that would assist combat soldiers with moving equipment and evacuating the wounded are among the innovations to be presented during the 61st annual International Congress of Aviation and Space Medicine at the Inbal Hotel in Jerusalem on Sunday.