Contents: | Weekly Quotes | Short Takes | On Topic Links
With Gaza in Financial Crisis, Fears That ‘an Explosion’s Coming’: David M. Halbfinger, New York Times, Feb. 11, 2018
Syrian Downing of F-16I Begs Question: Why Didn’t Israel Deploy F-35s?: Barbara Opall-Rome, Defense News, Feb. 13, 2018
Iran Turning its Sights on Israel: L. Todd Wood , Washington Times, Feb. 10, 2018
Alsheich – Israel’s Grand Inquisitor: Caroline Glick, Jerusalem Post, Feb. 8, 2018
WEEKLY QUOTES
"I think about the good of the country not for personal reasons of the press, but only for the country, and nothing will stop me from doing this, not even the attacks against me, and believe me they're never ending. And, therefore, today isn't different from any other days which I've been through in past 20 years." — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israeli police said Tuesday there is "sufficient evidence" to indict Netanyahu on criminal charges in two corruption cases. According to police, authorities found evidence of "accepting bribes, fraud, and breach of trust." Netanyahu said that the allegations against him would be dismissed: "There will be nothing because there is nothing." Netanyahu is a suspect in two criminal investigations. In Case 1000, the “gifts affair,” it is alleged that he improperly accepted expensive gifts from businessmen. In Case 2000, the “Yediot Aharonot affair,” Netanyahu allegedly negotiated for favorable coverage in Yediot Aharonot in exchange for support of a bill to weaken Israel Hayom, Yediot’s competitor. Netanyahu has rejected both allegations claiming that "it is not illegal to accept gifts from friends." (CNN, Feb. 13 & Jerusalem Post, Feb. 13, 2018)
“Yesterday we dealt a serious blow to the armies of Iran and Syria…We made it unequivocally clear to everyone that our rules of engagement have not changed in any way…We will continue to strike back at any attempt to harm us…This has been our policy and will remain our policy.” —Prime Minister Netanyahu. The IDF struck 12 targets in Syria on Saturday in response to an Iranian drone’s infiltration of Israeli airspace. Israel has been able to launch operations in Syria against Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed targets in the war-torn country under deconfliction mechanisms that were set up with Russia in 2015. Unlike on Saturday, Israel has generally refrained from making any confirmation of responsibility for its alleged operations in Syria. (Breaking Israel News, Feb. 11, 2018)
“We destroyed some Syrian targets, and that might create some tension between Bashar Assad and the Iranians…Assad is not interested in the Iranian presence; he just cannot say no to it. But if he and his regime are paying more of a price, maybe he can ask Iran to stop, or lean on the Russians to help.” — Giora Eiland, a former head of Israel’s National Security Council. Israel has stopped neighboring countries from building nuclear facilities, but it has never tried to stop one from building up a conventional force, Eiland said. What Israel can do, Eiland said, is punish the Assad government for Iran’s buildup. With Trump looking to reopen the nuclear deal with Iran, Eiland said, Israel could try to bring its own security concerns into the mix of a new negotiation. “The Americans and Europeans want to prevent Iranian long-range missiles from reaching Europe,” he said. “But from the Israeli point of view, Iran already has missiles that can cover Israel, so that’s much less important than Iran’s presence in Syria.” (New York Times, Feb. 11, 2018)
“The Iranians are not satisfied with the freedom of action Israel has taken and thus wanted to show Israel that it is also capable of attacking [Israeli] territory.” — Amos Yadlin, the former head of IDF Intelligence and Executive Director of the Institute for National Security Studies. “We are speaking about an attempt that has never been made before,” Yadlin said of the drone infiltration, and added that the likely motivation was Iran’s desire to prevent Israel’s ongoing attempts to prevent weapons transfers to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Following the incident, Yadlin stated, Israel is now “stuck in a difficult dilemma between whether to act preemptively or wait for the coming war. The Israeli cabinet must sit and examine whether the precision-guided missiles in Syria justify a preemptive operation that could lead us to war.” For now, he added, the Israeli government appears to be dealing with Iran’s actions in Syria “on a case-by-case basis.” (Algemeiner, Feb. 11, 2018)
“The United Kingdom is concerned at developments over Israel’s border with Syria this weekend. We support Israel’s right to defend itself against any incursions into its territory…We are concerned at the Iranian actions, which detract from efforts to get a genuine peace process underway…We encourage Russia to use its influence to press the regime and its backers to avoid provocative actions and to support de-escalation in pursuit of a broader political settlement.” — Boris Johnson, the United Kingdom’s foreign secretary. (Jerusalem Online, Feb. 12, 2018)
“If you are committed to countering Iran in the region then you must do so in Syria — first…I’m not giving up on the U.S.” — Chagai Tzuriel, the director general of the Israeli Ministry of Intelligence. Tzuriel said the United States needed to heed Israel’s warnings about Iran’s intentions in Syria. Iran, he said, was the “master of the slippery slope.” (New York Times, Feb. 11, 2018)
"Right now, I would say the Palestinians are not looking to make peace, they are not looking to make peace. And I am not necessarily sure that Israel is looking to make peace. So we are just going to have to see what happens…We will be talking about settlements. The settlements are something that very much complicates and always have complicated making peace, so I think Israel has to be very careful with the settlements." — U.S. President Donald Trump, in an interview with Israel Hayom. "I expect to be here a long time," Trump said when asked whether Iran’s ayatollah regime would still be in place in Iran when he leaves office. "We will see." (Israel Hayom, Feb. 11, 2018)
“Reports that the United States discussed with Israel an annexation plan for the West Bank are false…The United States and Israel have never discussed such a proposal, and the president’s focus remains squarely on his Israeli-Palestinian peace initiative.” — White House spokesman Josh Raffel. The Trump administration flatly denied Prime Minister Netanyahu’s claim that the US and Israel were discussing proposals for Israel to annex West Bank settlements. The highly unusual, on-the-record US denial prompted a rapid backtrack by Netanyahu’s office. Raffel’s statement came after Netanyahu announced that he’d been discussing with the Trump administration a “historic” initiative to annex Israeli settlement areas over the Green Line. (Times of Israel, Feb. 12, 2018)
“The crisis in Gaza already exists. It can get worse. Already, the Gazan population is … not receiving basic things — water, electricity, health services. There is no budget to fund these things, mainly because of what [PA President Mahmoud] Abbas is doing.” — Shlomo Brom, a former Israeli deputy national security adviser. The ongoing economic crisis in the Gaza Strip continues to worsen, and brings with it the threat of an escalation in the security situation. Funds are drying up for basic services and infrastructure for Gaza’s estimated two million residents — and a Hamas-Palestinian Authority reconciliation process, which was supposed to free up cash supplies to alleviate the situation, has stalled. (Algemeiner, Feb. 8, 2018)
“We cannot continue the situation in which we collect money for the Palestinian Authority — and at the end of the day it’s their money, but they use it to encourage terror. We cannot allow them to encourage terror with their money.” — Elazar Stern, an opposition Israeli lawmaker. Stern has touted the benefits of a new bill he’s spearheading that would cut funds to the Palestinian Authority that are used to support terrorism. The proposed law passed a preliminary hearing at the Knesset. The bill, inspired by the similar Taylor Force Act currently before the US Congress, would deduct funds used by the PA to pay salaries to terrorists and their families from tax monies collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinians. He called Israel’s current policy “direct encouragement for the next terror action.” Quoting a former Shin Bet chief, Stern said it is like “putting an M16 in their hands.” (Algemeiner, Feb. 12, 2018)
“If a Holocaust survivor falsifies Polish history, lies and says there were Polish concentration camps during World War II, then his status as a survivor is irrelevant in the context of the lie.” — Sen. Jan Zaryn, a professor of history who represents the ruling Polish nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) Party. Zaryn, one of the leading advocates of the widely-criticized World War II remembrance legislation approved by Poland’s president last week, has warned that Holocaust survivors could find themselves on the wrong side of Polish law from now on. Zaryn’s caution came as Michał Dworczyk, the head of the Polish Prime Minister’s office, issued guidelines to government ministries on how to discuss the new law. The guidelines include instructions to deny any collusion between Poles and the Nazi authorities, along with quotes supporting this case culled from the remarks of Jewish representatives speaking during the war. (Algemeiner, Feb. 12, 2018)
“…A McGill University report asserted that antisemitism played no role in the removal of Jewish student Noah Lew and two pro-Israel peers from student government in October. The report, authored by former Student Ombudsperson Spencer Boudreau and commissioned by Principal and Vice-Chancellor Suzanne Fortier, concluded that the record “does not substantiate the notion that the vote was motivated by antisemitism." However, Boudreau’s report is lacking in many respects. Firstly, and contrary to the mandate that he received, Boudreau did not explicitly consider previous threats of violence against Jewish and pro-Israel students at McGill, including a call to “punch a Zionist today” by student politician Igor Sadikov in February of 2017. Sadikov was neither disciplined by the McGill administration nor immediately removed from his posts in student government, instead hanging on until he resigned two weeks later. The report also ignored the fact that The McGill Daily, a student-funded campus newspaper, maintains a boycott of all content which promotes “a Zionist worldview.” Most importantly, Boudreau’s report mischaracterized the discriminatory treatment of Lew as the product of “protests about Israel’s policies.” In fact, the students who voted to remove the Jewish director were not merely critics of Israel’s policies, but rather supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, which is opposed to the Jewish State’s very existence.” — B’nai Brith Canada statement. (B’nai Brith, Feb. 6, 2018)
SHORT TAKES
U.S. STRIKES KILLED SCORES OF RUSSIAN FIGHTERS IN SYRIA (Damascus) — U.S. forces killed scores of Russian mercenaries in Syria in what may be the deadliest clash between the former foes since the Cold War. More than 200 contract soldiers, mostly Russians fighting on behalf of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, died in a failed attack on a base held by U.S. and Kurdish forces in the Deir Ezzor region. A U.S. official put the death toll at about 100, with 200 to 300 injured, but was unable to say how many were Russians. Russia’s military said it had nothing to do with the attack and the U.S. accepted the claim. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called the whole thing “perplexing.” (Bloomberg, Feb. 13, 2018)
SOLDIERS ATTACKED, GUN STOLEN AFTER ACCIDENTALLY ENTERING JENIN (Jenin) — Two Israeli soldiers came under attack, getting pelted with rocks and beaten by a mob, after they accidentally drove their military car into the Palestinian city of Jenin in the northern West Bank on Monday. In the attack, one of the soldiers’ guns was stolen by the Palestinians. When the two soldiers, a man and a woman, drove into the city, residents began attacking the car with rocks and chairs. The IDF said it was not immediately clear how they accidentally drove into the Palestinian city. In the past, this has happened because soldiers relied on navigation applications. (Times of Israel, Feb. 12, 2018)
TAMIMI STANDS TRIAL ACCUSED OF SLAPPING, PUNCHING 2 ISRAELI SOLDIERS (Jerusalem) — An Israeli military judge overseeing the trial of Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi for slapping and punching two Israeli soldiers has ordered all proceedings to take place behind closed doors “for the protection of the minor.” Tamimi, who turned 17 in prison last month, and who has been incarcerated for nearly two months, appeared to be in good spirits as she entered and whispered across the courtroom to her family. Tamimi faces 12 charges, including aggravated assault, threatening Israeli soldiers and incitement to violence on Facebook, going back to April 2016. Her mother, Nariman Tamimi, also is charged for incitement on social media and for assault. (Fox News, Feb. 13, 2018)
SYRIAN MILITIA SAYS ‘HUGE NUMBER’ OF IS FOREIGN FIGHTERS HELD (Damascus) — The Syrian Kurdish militia partnering with the coalition to fight I.S. said that it is holding a "huge number" of foreign fighters in Syria and none of their home countries want them back. The head of the People's Defense Units, or the YPG, Sipan Hemo, said more than half of those detained in the battle against I.S. in Syria are foreign fighters from all over the world, including Russia, Europe, China, Japan and Arab countries. Their future remains unclear and the process for bringing them to justice unsettled amid a debate, mostly in Europe, about whether they should be allowed to return home. (ABC, Feb. 12, 2018)
KURDS ACCUSED OF CARRYING OUT ‘MASS EXECUTIONS’ OF IS SUSPECTS (Mosul) — Human Rights Watch on Friday accused Iraqi Kurdish security forces of carrying out mass executions of detainees alleged to be members of the Islamic State jihadist group. The watchdog said the Kurdish peshmerga fighters detained Iraqis and foreigners at a school in Sahel al-Maliha, 70 kilometres (45 miles) northwest of second city Mosul, from which IS was expelled in July. The executions allegedly occurred between August 28 and September 3. Questioned about the report by HRW, Iraqi Kurd government official Dindar Zebari denied the accusations. (Times of Israel, Feb. 9, 2018)
EGYPTIAN FORCES KILL 38 JIHADISTS IN MAJOR SINAI OPERATION (Cairo) — Egypt said it had killed 38 terrorists and arrested more than 500 jihadists and suspects, days after launching a major operation against I.S. in Sinai. A statement added that 400 “criminal elements and suspects” had been arrested. On Friday, the military announced the start of “Operation Sinai 2018” in the Sinai Peninsula bordering Israel, the central Nile Delta, and the Western Desert near the border with Libya. The security sweep comes as President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi seeks re-election in March, after a first term in office that has seen him crack down on an Islamist insurgency and other opponents. (Times of Israel, Feb. 13, 2018)
CANADIAN-IRANIAN DIES IN EVIN PRISON (Tehran) — The Iranian regime said that a Canadian-Iranian environmentalist killed himself in prison last week after having been arrested two weeks earlier. Authorities told the wife of Kavous Seyed-Emami that he had died in Iran’s infamous Evin prison. Emami’s son expressed skepticism that his father killed himself. Emami, who was a sociology professor, was one of seven people arrested on January 24. The seven were accused of collecting restricted information “under the coverage of scientific and environmental projects.” Iranian authorities have claimed that other prisoners who have died mysteriously committed suicide. An Iranian rights group said that the Iranian government has been targeting dual nationals more frequently. (The Tower, Feb. 12, 2018)
EX-IRAN MILITARY LEADER: WESTERN NATIONS USE LIZARDS TO SPY (Tehran) — Iran’s former military leader leveled a charge that Western spooks used lizards to “attract atomic waves” as part of their espionage on Iran’s nuclear program. Hassan Firuzabadi, a top military adviser, was responding to questions from local journalists on the recent arrest of environmentalists. He said Western nations had often used tourists, scientists and environmentalists to spy on Iran. Firuzabadi made his comments amid reports that an Iranian-Canadian environmentalist had committed suicide in prison after he was arrested along with other members of his wildlife group last month. (New York Post, Feb. 13, 2018)
FRANCE SAYS IRAN'S MISSILE PROGRAM MUST BE PUT 'UNDER SURVEILLANCE' (Paris) — Iran's ballistic missile program must be placed under international surveillance, French President Macron said, in a bid to get tougher on Tehran while preserving the nuclear deal that Trump has threatened to scrap. With the 2015 deal put in jeopardy by the US president, Britain, France and Germany are working on a plan to satisfy him by a May 12 deadline to address Iran's ballistic missile tests and its regional influence. Macron said France, one of the signatories to the nuclear deal, wanted to preserve it as nothing better had been offered. However, he said the use of Iranian-linked missiles needed to be addressed because they were a security problem for French allies. (Jerusalem Post, Feb. 14, 2018)
TERROR VICTIMS WIN VICTORY IN LAWSUIT AGAINST IRAN (Chicago) — Victims of Iran-sponsored terrorism have won a major victory in an ongoing lawsuit. The US Department of Justice told a court that it saw no national security interest in preventing the plaintiffs from receiving information on Boeing’s recent $16.6 billion deal with Iran’s national airline. Boeing fought to stop the disclosure of any aspect of its secret deal with Iran for fear that the money might be used to settle judgments in favor of the terror victims and their families. One of the arguments used by Boing was that disclosure could threaten the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran and thus damage US national security. (Algemeiner, Feb. 11, 2018)
PRINCETON PROF. WHO USED SLUR CANCELS FREE SPEECH COURSE (New York) — A Princeton professor cancelled a course he teaches on cultural freedoms and hate speech after his use of a racial slur during a class discussion led some students to walk out. Colleagues say Lawrence Rosen has often used the slur during lectures on free speech. They say this is the first time he’s received such a negative response from students. A small group of students walked out of Rosen’s anthropology class on after he used the slur three times. Rosen asked the class “Which is more provocative: A white man walks up to a black man and punches him in the nose, or a white man walks up to a black man and calls him (the racial slur)?” Two students later filed a complaint with school officials. (National Post, Feb. 13, 2018)
POLAND MOVES TO BAN KOSHER SLAUGHTER (Warsaw) — After the controversy created by the law banning people from accusing Poland of Holocaust atrocities committed by the Nazis, the country's ruling party has submitted a new bill restricting kosher slaughter and threatening anyone who violates the restrictions with up to four years in prison. The restrictions include a ban on exporting kosher meat from Poland, which is expected to affect many of Europe's Jewish communities. The Polish parliament banned kosher slaughter in 2013, but the decision was struck down by judges who ruled that the Polish law contradicted the principle of freedom of religion. (Ynet, Feb. 12, 2018)
NETFLIX TO PRODUCE SERIES ON MURDER OF NISMAN (Buenos Aires) — Internet streaming giant Netflix has reportedly begun production in Buenos Aires on a documentary miniseries probing the murder of Alberto Nisman – the federal prosecutor who spent more than a decade investigating the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in the Argentine capital, and then later exposed the role of former President de Kirchner and her colleagues in a cover-up of Iran’s responsibility for the atrocity. Often described as the “86th victim” of the AMIA bombing, Nisman took over the case in 2005 after the previous corrupted investigation into the attack collapsed. Eighty-five people were killed and hundreds more wounded in what remains the worst terrorist attack in Latin America. (Algemeiner, Feb. 12, 2018)
1,800-YEAR-OLD MOSAIC UNCOVERED AT CAESAREA (Tel Aviv) — A rare mosaic dating from the 2nd-3rd century was recently uncovered in the ancient port city of Caesarea, located halfway between Tel Aviv and Haifa. It is one of the few extant examples of mosaics from the time in Israel. According to archaeologists, the mosaic measures 3.5 x 8 meters and is “of a rare high quality.” The mosaic dates from when the area was the Roman Empire’s administrative center in the Judaea Province. During excavations at the multilayered coastal city, archaeologists have uncovered ample evidence of the Herodian and Crusader periods. (Times of Israel, Feb. 8, 2018)
With Gaza in Financial Crisis, Fears That ‘an Explosion’s Coming’: David M. Halbfinger, New York Times, Feb. 11, 2018—The payday line at a downtown A.T.M. here in Gaza City was dozens deep with government clerks and pensioners, waiting to get what cash they could.
Syrian Downing of F-16I Begs Question: Why Didn’t Israel Deploy F-35s?: Barbara Opall-Rome, Defense News, Feb. 13, 2018—As the Israeli Air Force continues to investigate the Feb. 10 loss of an F-16I to Syrian anti-aircraft fire, experts here are privately questioning why, given the operational circumstances that denied Israel the element of strategic surprise, it did not opt to deploy its newest front-line fighter: the stealthy F-35I.
Iran Turning its Sights on Israel: L. Todd Wood, Washington Times, Feb. 10, 2018—We’ve predicted for some time that once the fight between pro-Assad Shia elements (Iran/Hezbollah) and Sunni Islamists in the Middle East wound down, Iran and its proxies would turn their attention towards Israel to achieve their longstanding dream of wiping the Jewish State off the map.
Alsheich – Israel’s Grand Inquisitor: Caroline Glick, Jerusalem Post, Feb. 8, 2018 —On Wednesday night Israelis received yet another demonstration of the country’s desperate need for legal reform.
