Ben-Dror Yemini: Erdogan is not a benevolent sultan of old, he's a monster that must be stopped
Erdogan has managed to raise this principle to new heights. He complains about Israel, which is fighting jihad, while he also supports this jihad; he has erased the gap (although it is doubtful this gap even exists) between anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism; he commits massacres against his own people, while accusing Israel of massacring the Palestinians.Aaron David Miller and Richard Sokolsky (WP): It Wasn't Possible for America to Compete with Russia, Iran and Turkey to Impact Syria's Future
Erdogan's anti-Semitic campaign continues with full force. Last year, Turkish TV aired an anti-Semitic series that included allegations of plots that were allegedly the brainchild the Jew Theodor Herzl, which were "inspired by real historical facts." This was not the first antisemitic series. In Turkey, it's routine.
One cannot easily dismmiss Erdogan, who in the past voiced opposition to Bashar Assad's continued rule in Syria, but soon joined the axis of evil that includes Iran and Hezbollah. There are those who argue that Turkey's economic interests will lead to restraint, but that's a mistake. History proves that leaders of Erdogan's ilk will pick ideological principles, especially those rooted in hatred, over national interests. Erdogan's Justice and Development Party is tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, whose founder, Hassan al-Banna, penned an article on the importance of the "industry of death." That's the idea, those are the principles that Erdogan follows.
It is important to note that the president of Turkey is not the enemy of Israel, he is the enemy of the free world. Europe already detests him; countries such as the Netherlands and Germany refused entry to ministers from his party. But this did not stop Erdogan from becoming the contractor for the project to stop the flow of refugees, for which he gets billions. This helps in the short term, but in the long run, Europe is cultivating a monster who is becoming increasingly racist and anti-Semitic.
Monsters like this must be stopped when they are small and toothless. But Europe has forgotten everything and learned nothing. And the monster continues to grow.
President Trump's move to quickly withdraw U.S. military forces from Syria didn't cause the U.S. to lose in Syria. For all practical purposes, Syria was already lost. Much like his predecessor, Trump's decision is motivated by a calculation that the U.S. can't alter the military or political balance in Syria that has long favored Russia and Iran.
With a modest military footprint and little public support for a larger American role, the U.S. can't really compete with Russia or Iran on the ground. Trump said back in March that "We're knocking the hell out of ISIS. We'll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon."
Moscow and Tehran had long ago won the strategic fight for Syria. Russian military intervention in 2015 saved Assad. Russia and Iran have been more willing to devote resources toward keeping Assad afloat than the U.S. has been prepared to either remove him from power or stand behind the assorted elements in Syria who've tried and failed to overthrow him.
Americans should let go of the idea that we were ever trying very hard to win.
In contrast to the U.S., if and when Syria and its backers decide to conclusively take on the Islamic State, their approach is unlikely to employ much regard for humanitarian concerns or civilian lives.
Critics of the president's decision are right that the U.S. is once again going to throw its reliable Kurdish allies under the bus. But the Kurds could have foreseen this, both because of their previous experiences with the U.S. in Iraq and Trump's chronic unhappiness with the Syria deployment.
Maybe it’s time to remove Syria from its leadership position on the United Nations Decolonization Committee against “the subjugation of peoples.” https://t.co/pHVir200p8
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) December 24, 2018
UN Watch: Countdown: Top 10 Worst UN Actions of 2018 – Selected by UN Watch
10. Maduro Regime Glorified by First UN Rights Official to Visit VenezuelaPA arrests 44 Palestinians for selling properties to Jews
9. UN Elects Erdogan’s Turkey to Oversee Human Rights Activists
8. Cuba Allowed to Cheat on UN Rights Review, With Hundreds of Fake Submissions
7. UN Elects Saudi Arabia to Three Different UN Women Rights Bodies
6. UN Rights Officials Silent on Iran’s Assault on Protesters
5. UN Elects Regime of Eritrea, Somalia, Cameroon to Human Rights Council
4. UN General Assembly Condemns Israel 21 Times, But Fails to Condemn Hamas Once
3. Lavish Praise for China & Saudi Human Rights Records in UN Reviews
2. UN Protests That Iran and North Korea Can’t Study Nuclear Physics in Europe
1. Syria’s Assad Regime Chairs UN Disarmament Forum
The Palestinian Authority announced on Sunday that its security forces have thwarted attempts by Palestinians to sell lands and houses in the West Bank and east Jerusalem to Jewish buyers, and the PA’s Preventive Security Service said in a rare statement that it has arrested 44 Palestinians suspected of involvement in the alleged real estate transactions.Walls save lives. Israel has proof
The statement is in the context of a stepped-up PA campaign to deter Palestinians from selling properties to Jews. PA law bars selling land to a “hostile state or any of its citizens.”
In recent weeks, Palestinian religious authorities have repeatedly warned Palestinians against engaging in such deals and said that anyone who violates the law would be accused of “high treason.” The warning came in the aftermath of a number of cases in which east Jerusalem residents either sold their houses to Jewish organizations or were suspected of acting as middlemen in the real estate transactions.
According to the statement, the alleged real estate transactions included 300 hectares of land and three houses in six West Bank districts, including Jerusalem. The transactions were foiled on the basis of “accurate intelligence and field work,” it added.
The purported transactions were supposed to take place in the areas of Ramallah, el-Bireh, Hebron, Salfit, Nablus and Kalkilya, the statement said, adding that 44 Palestinian suspects have been arrested.
The suspects have been referred to the PA prosecutor-general so they could face legal measures, the statement said. Three of the suspects, who were not identified, have been sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor, it added, while the remaining suspects are currently standing trial.
A huge political row is going on in America over a security wall between the United States and Mexico.US should recognize Golan as Israeli
The President wants to stop the flow in illegal immigrants, drugs, criminals, and terrorists into America.
The Democrats are vehemently against it. They say it's too costly and it doesn't work.
They even closed down the government over it. The Democrats refused to approve the funds to build it.
So let me offer them a couple of Israeli examples.
We have several walls in Israel - and they work!
1. When Israel started to be swamped by a growing tsunami of tens of thousands of illegal migrants from Africa, the vast majority men between the ages of 20-30 who trekked across other countries, including Egypt, to get to Israel and then falsely claim they were refugees escaping persecution, the government rapidly, and without objection, erected a long barrier between Israel, the Sinai, and Egypt.
Since the construction of that barrier, the problem of illegal migrants was reduced by 95%.
2. I live by the Mediterranean coast in Netanya, a town that was hit hard by Palestinian terror, including suicide bombers, car bombs, and shootings. That's why I became a co-founder of the Netanya Terror Victims Organization, to help the families of those killed and the traumatized survivors of gruesome Palestinian terror attacks.
We constructed a wall, just a 15 minute car ride from my home, at Tullkarm, an Arab town that had become a hotbed of Palestinian terror cells.
Since that wall was built not one suicide bomber, not one car bomb, and not one Palestinian gunman has killed a single Israeli in my home town.
Walls may be ugly, but they save lives.
US should recognize Golan as IsraeliIDF fires at armed gunmen approaching border from Syria
The announcement that the United States is withdrawing its forces from Syria should not really have come as a surprise to anyone in Israel's diplomatic-security circles or the media.
But with most of the focus in Israel on tactical steps rather than well-ordered strategies, we once again woke up to a surprise reality that Israel does not want.
From the time the Syrian war broke out in 2011, Israel has chosen to ignore the historic processes taking place on the other side of the border. While Russia, Turkey and Iran spotted the geopolitical opportunities the war presented and adapted their regional activities in accordance, Israel opted to wish all sides involved good luck and preened about tactical military achievements.
Israel had a clear strategic interest in seeing the war end with Syria split into three states, based on the ethnic population distribution: Alawite-Shiite, Sunni, and Kurds. If that had come to pass, it would have been enough to block Iranian expansion, and beyond that, it would have presented a strategic opportunity to redraw a historical border that expressed international recognition of Israeli sovereignty on the Golan Heights, which comprise a mere one percent of Syrian territory. That interest dovetailed with the international desire to prevent mass murder, uphold human rights, and prevent an exodus of refugees.
Israel missed a historic opportunity to speed up vital changes in arranging borders in the Middle East that were drawn up forcibly at the end of World War I. Now, the withdrawal of American forces from Syria demands that Israel exert all its influence to convince its U.S. ally to adopt a "hybrid" mentality on everything having to do with Syria and recognize the Golan Heights as Israeli as the final steps of the pullout.
IDF soldiers fired at armed suspects crossing the 1974 ceasefire line in the Golan Heights along the Syrian border, the military said Sunday night.US Syria withdrawal may speed up Arab-Israeli detente, well-connected rabbi says
No Israeli forces were wounded in the incident and it is still unclear whether the gunmen were hit.
The military is working to determine whether the gunmen’s intentions, if they intended to cross into Israeli territory or had been planning to fire at it or if they did not know they were approaching the border.
“The IDF will continue to operate against violations of Israeli sovereignty and of the 1974 Separation of Forces Agreement,” read a statement released by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit.
Israel captured the Golan Heights, some 1,200 square kilometers, from Syria during the Six Day War in 1967 and unilaterally annexed in 1981. Under the 1974 ceasefire accord signed following the Yom Kippur War the previous year, a buffer zone was established between the two enemy countries. It was patrolled by UN troops until peacekeepers were abducted by Syrian rebels in 2014.
Syrian troops recaptured southern Syria, including the Quneitra province in July, seven years after losing the area to rebel groups. UN Peacekeepers also returned to the area for the first time in early August, as well as Russian military police who have been deployed along the Golan Heights border.
The following month, seven Islamic State group terrorists were killed by Israel in the Syria-Jordan-Israel border triangle area as they were fleeing the offensive to recapture the area by Bashar Assad’s regime. According to Israel, the terrorists came as close as 200 meters from the border when IDF troops engaged with them.
The withdrawal of US troops from Syria has the potential to warm Israel’s ties with the Sunni Arab states, a prominent American rabbi and interfaith activist with extensive ties in the Gulf said this week, arguing that US President Donald Trump’s unexpected move exacerbates the Arab world’s worries about Iran’s hegemonic ambitions in the region.Israel votes against Russia at UN over annexation of Crimea
The rabbi, Marc Schneier of New York, also predicted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Bahrain next month, and that the small Gulf kingdom will soon establish formal ties with Israel.
“The US moving out of Syria might accelerate this deal of bringing Israel and the Gulf together,” Schneier told The Times of Israel in an interview Sunday in Jerusalem, citing a conversation with unnamed senior official sources in the Arabian peninsula.
“The Gulf has two existential threats: an economic downturn in the Gulf, [caused by] diminishing demands of oil, and the aggression by Iran and its allies,” Schneier went on. “Now, with US troops moving out of Syria, Iran has now taken over the top position.”
Schneier said Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US, Khalid bin Salman, recently told him that the reason for the Gulf’s rapprochement with Israel was his country’s current enmity toward the Islamic Republic.
“That’s reason number two,” the rabbi cited the ambassador as saying. “Reason number one is economics.”
Over the past week, Israel has voted twice at the United Nations to condemn Russia over its annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.PMW: Why did Abbas suddenly dissolve the PA parliament?
On Dec. 17, Israel voted in favor of a U.N. General Assembly resolution titled "The Problem of the Militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol, Ukraine, as well as Parts of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov."
The resolution, which urged Russia to withdraw its forces from Crimea, passed 66:19, with 72 abstentions.
Israel also supported another resolution last week condemning Russian human rights violations in Crimea and labeling Russia an "occupying force" on the peninsula.
That resolution was sponsored by Ukraine and 30 other countries and passed 70:26, with 76 abstentions.
The votes in favor of a U.N. condemnation of Russia would appear to indicate a shift in Israeli policy, but the Israeli delegation said it had not changed the way it votes on resolutions having to do with Crimea.
After 12 years, during which the Palestinian Parliament (Legislative Council, PLC) has not met, Mahmoud Abbas suddenly announced yesterday, that the Palestinian Constitutional Court had dissolved the PA parliament:JCPA: Why Did Abbas Proclaim the Dissolution of PA Parliament?
Abbas: "The [PA] Parliament (Legislative Council), which has not been active for 12 years... The topic reached the constitutional court, and it issued a decision to dissolve the parliament and call for elections for the parliament within six months." [Official PA TV, Dec. 22, 2018]
Why would Abbas suddenly do something that he has not done for 12 years?
In the last PA elections held in 2006, Hamas won a clear majority of Parliamentary seats in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. With Hamas holding the absolute majority, it was convenient for Abbas that the Parliament never met. Abbas and Fatah ruled the PA directly through government decisions and regulations. Abbas justified the freezing of the Palestinian Parliament due to the Civil War which led to Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip in 2007.
Abbas' change of heart is not because he is suddenly interested in democracy. Rather Abbas is recognizing that at 83 years old he must consider what will happen the day he leaves office. Under PA law should the president leave office without a successor, the Speaker of the Parliament takes over as President of the Palestinian Authority for two months after which presidential elections are held. The current Speaker of the Palestinian Parliament is Aziz Al-Dweik from Hamas.
So under PA law Hamas would rule the PA, should Abbas leave his position.
On December 22, 2018, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas announced that he will dissolve the Palestinian Parliament that was elected in accordance with the Oslo accords – the Legislative Council – following a decision of the Palestinian Constitutional Court. New elections will be held within six months from the date Mahmoud Abbas, as chairman of the Palestinian Authority, issues a presidential order.Ex-wife of AMIA bombing prosecutor leaves suit over his death, citing ‘threats’
What this means is that the West Bank and Gaza Strip will now enter into a constitutional battle that could presage a civil war and the use of violence between both sides on the West Bank.
Abbas has been trying for a long time to challenge Hamas with an authoritative constitutional source that would deprive that organization of its legality and legitimacy. He is attempting to revive the old PLO, but the old PLO organizations, such as the Popular and Democratic Fronts, and Islamic Jihad, as well as the other parties and civilian society groups, stand by Hamas. With Hamas, they have established a joint war room, and recently they designed a shared logo, turning the ad hoc body formed to manage the riots at the border fence into an established institution that provides an alternative to the old PLO.
Following the move of the other organizations toward Hamas, Mahmoud Abbas was not able to convene the PLO institutions in Ramallah, which very likely led to his resolution to dissolve the Legislative Council.
A few days earlier, Abbas met with Salim Zanoun, chairman of the PLO’s Palestinian National Council, and they presumably concluded that there are problems with the PLO’s operation as the body representing Palestinian legitimacy rather than Hamas.
More seriously, the Fatah organization has also started to lean toward Hamas, and gravest of all is that the Barghouti clan, which leads the Tanzim-Fatah faction in Ramallah, is the clan where the Hamas terrorists came from in the most recent attacks.
Argentinean federal Judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado, ex-wife of the late AMIA Jewish center bombing prosecutor Alberto Nisman, removed herself from a lawsuit that prompted an investigation into the death of her former husband.Honduras mulling moving embassy to Jerusalem — report
The written statement that Arroyo Salgado presented to her colleague, Federal Judge Julian Ercolini, who is overseeing the investigation into Nisman’s death, mentions ongoing “threats.”
She made the decision out of the “need to guarantee the protection and safety of the family,” she wrote in her request on Friday to be dropped from the lawsuit.
Nisman and Arroyo Salgado have two daughters, Iara and Kala.
As a plaintiff, Arroyo Salgado was able to read reports of the investigation, suggest new measures, present written requests to the judge, and offer testimony. With her removal from the lawsuit, Arroyo Salgado and her daughters will have no part in the investigation.
The remaining complainant is Nisman’s mother, Sara Garfunkel, who will continue in her active role.
A delegation of senior officials from Honduras was recently in Israel, reportedly to explore the possibility of moving the Honduran embassy to Jerusalem, after secret talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Early elections called for April 9 as coalition agrees to dissolve Knesset
According to a Hadashot TV news report Sunday, Honduras is demanding that Israel open an embassy in its capital, Tegucigalpa, and deepen bilateral trade in exchange for relocating its mission.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Emmanuel Nahshon confirmed the delegation’s visit, but said only that there was an “ongoing process of discussions that has yet to mature.” There was no immediate confirmation from Tegucigalpa.
The report said that talks are at an advanced stage and a building has been allocated in the capital for the Honduran embassy.
The visiting delegation, which included a presidential adviser, two former foreign ministers, and the Honduras deputy foreign minister, met Sunday with Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely and the director-general of the Foreign Ministry, Yoval Rotem.
The Hondurans are particularly interested in getting advice from Israeli experts on cyber issues, crime fighting, water, and agriculture, the report said.
Amid a series of coalition crises and deliberations over a possible indictment against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, coalition leaders announced Monday that Israel will head to the polls within four months, with a general election set for April.Gaza terrorists warn locals: 'Celebrating Christmas is evil'
“Out of national and budgetary responsibility, the leaders of the coalition parties decided, by unanimous agreement, to dissolve the Knesset and go to new elections at the beginning of April after a four-year term,” the heads of the five coalition parties said in a joint statement.
Elections were previously slated for November 2019, and the announcement means that Knesset members will vote to dissolve parliament early. Hebrew media reports said the elections would likely be held on April 9.
Despite ongoing disagreements over the ultra-Orthodox draft bill, which was the initial impetus for their meeting Monday, the coalition heads stressed that none of the parties will leave the government and that “the partnership in the Knesset and in the government will continue during the elections.”
The announcement came after MK Yair Lapid announced that his opposition Yesh Atid party will vote against the coalition’s bill on the military draft of ultra-Orthodox men, claiming that the government was preparing an “under the table” deal that would change the import of the legislation.
A flyer featuring a burning Christmas tree and threats in Arabic forbidding the celebration of Christmas was published by the Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades, also known as the Specialty Brigade, in Gaza ahead of the Christian holiday.Report: Egypt Steps In to Curb Gaza Border Violence
A verse from the Quran, quoted on the left side of the flyer, warns Muslims “not to go the way of the Jews and the Christians, indeed God is not for the evil people.” The brigades added that it is “absolutely forbidden” to celebrate the holidays in any capacity.
According to a government source, the flyer was aimed not only at Muslims, but also Arab Christians living in the Strip. The non-governmental organization Freedom House has regularly reported that the political rights and civil liberties of Gaza residents are severely constrained by multiple layers of interference.
The Al-Nasser Salah al-Deen Brigades is the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, a coalition of armed Palestinian groups considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the United States, and believed to be the third largest faction in Gaza after Hamas and the Islamic Jihad. The PRC is responsible for a number of terrorist attacks against Israel and has a close relationship with Hezbollah.
The flyer is in contrast to Israel’s efforts to ensure that Christians in Gaza are able to celebrate the holiday.
Egypt is taking steps to prevent another security escalation on the Israel-Gaza Strip border following last week’s violent demonstrations, Lebanon’s al-Akhbar newspaper reported Monday.
Hamas and other terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip threatened on Sunday to “test” Israel, hinting at potential aggression this Friday at the weekly border demonstration.
Hamas has been orchestrating weekly border protests, dubbed the March of Return, since late March. Many have turned into riots, and the Palestinians say over 150 people have been killed and at least 10,000 have been injured since the demonstrations began.
On Friday, 8,000 Palestinians took part in the weekly protest. Although most demonstrators kept their distance from the border, several did clash with Israeli security forces. Gaza’s Health Ministry said four Palestinians were killed and 25 others were wounded.
The IDF said the protesters burned tires and hurled stones and explosive devices at the troops, who responded with crowd control measures and sporadic live fire.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and several other terrorist factions in Gaza issued a joint statement Sunday saying, “The cowardly Zionist enemy has committed another crime against our people.
That's cool @jzarif. And we believe your nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.https://t.co/ud2oTcTH1b pic.twitter.com/Deg2FzxkVW
— The Mossad (@TheMossadIL) December 24, 2018
Norway-Based Jihadi Scholar Mullah Fateh Krekar: New Groups Will Emerge After Al-Qaeda and ISIS Are Gone Because the Quran and Sunnah Are Permanent pic.twitter.com/sV5j8gm7DM
— MEMRI (@MEMRIReports) December 24, 2018