Time for Palestinians to Give Fitting Reply to Terrorist Zionist Regime

By: Kayhan Int’l 

The Zionists, frustrated by the failure of their plots in Syria and Lebanon, have again resorted to cowardly air attacks on the civilians of Gaza.

In the early morning hours of Saturday, several places in the besieged Palestinian enclave on the Mediterranean coast, woke up to the sound of explosions as Israeli warplanes fired missiles and dropped bombs, including the attack on the boat of poor fishermen, who are not allowed to venture into the open seas.

The racist-terrorist criminal Benjamin Netanyahu, emboldened by the blind support of the US to his child-killing regime and the inability of the toothless UN statements, is again provoking the lightly armed Gazans.

The fresh crimes of the Zionists, warrant a fitting reply from the Palestinians, and this time the range and power of the missiles in the possession of Hamas and Islamic Jihad ought to increase. 

When Palestinian blood is flowing freely in Gaza, the West Bank and the occupied Islamic holy city of Bayt al-Moqaddas, retaliation is the need of the hour, and the Zionist towns need to be rattled. 

Israel only understands the language of force. It is a dastardly regime, which sadly has been buoyed by the current display of open support by several Arab regimes, which have no pretentions to nationalism, let alone any regard for Islam and Muslims.

If these treasonous rulers of the region, such as Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain, had any iota of belief in Islam or the dignity of the Arabs, they would not have sold themselves to the Great Satan to destabilize Syria and Iraq, to suppress the people of Bahrain and the oil-rich eastern province of Arabia, to betray the Lebanese, to backstab the Palestinians, to impose military rule on Egypt, and to destroy Yemen and its people.

It is now crystal clear that these unrepresentative rulers of the fake fiefdoms created for their tribal chiefs by the British, are enemies of Islam and Muslims.

They resort to hypocrisy to deceive the masses of South Asia with large sums of money of the looted oil wealth of the oppressed Arab Muslims, in order to promote the heretical Wahhabi cult. 

It is time world Muslims, including the Palestinians, realized that the greatest danger to the Ummah is from the unholy trinity of Western Imperialists, Zionists, and Arab Reactionaries.

Under the circumstances, it is the duty of the free world, especially the conscientious Muslims, to rally to the support of the Palestinian people.

As the people of Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, have shown, it is unity that would defeat armed-to-the-teeth terrorist enemies.

The Gazans need modern defence technology and when it is available to them, the Zionist regime will think twice before attacking them. The sooner this is made available to them the better for the peace of the region and the welfare of the Palestinians.

Before Israel is eventually erased from the map of West Asia, it should not be allowed to kill more Palestinians and destroy their lands.

War on in Al-Aqsa: What Price Netanyahu’s Victory

By RAMZY BAROUD

Photograph by Andrew Shiva – Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 4.0

On February 18, members of extremist Jewish groups raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Occupied Al-Quds (Jerusalem). They clashed with Palestinian worshippers, as the settlers attempted to shut down the gate of Al-Aqsa itself.

The clashes involved the Israeli army and police as well, who opened fire and brutally assaulted Palestinians, leading to scores of injuries.

On February 19, the Israeli army carried out the unusual step of shutting down Al-Rahma Gate, which leads to a section of the Al-Aqsa compound that has, itself, been shut down by the Israeli army since 2003.

The provocative decision to seal the gate was clearly made in advance, and the lock and key have the fingerprints of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

It is quite typical for Israeli politicians to carry out confrontational measures against Palestinians shortly before general elections are due. The nature of these measures is determined by the kind of political constituency that Israeli leaders aim to appease.

However, a war on Gaza, at least for now, is too risky an option for Netanyahu as it would take place too close to the April 9 elections date. Moreover, a botched Israeli attack on the Strip on November 11 caused Netanyahu a major embarrassment, forcing him to shelve the Gaza option for now.

That said, if the Israeli Prime Minister’s political standing grows too desperate in the coming weeks, a Gaza war may, once again, be placed on the table.

Indeed, the political union between Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid, which was declared on February 21, has certainly upped the ante for Netanyahu who has assumed that his election victory is a foretold conclusion.

Gantz and Lapid merged their two parties into one election list called Kahol Lavan (“Blue and White”), the single most serious electoral challenge for Netanyahu in years.

For the time being, Netanyahu has decided to appeal to the most messianic religious segments of Israeli society in order to keep his challengers at bay. This should come as no surprise as the religious, ultra-national far right has been backbone of the Israeli leader’s coalitions for a decade.

In fact, weeks before the Gantz and Lapid union, Netanyahu had taken several measures to show signs of goodwill towards his religious constituency.

One such overture was made on January 28, when Netanyahu ordered the UN unarmed international observers to leave the Occupied Palestinian city of Al-Khalil, where a few hundred armed Jewish settlers have been a constant source of violence. The Jewish settlers of Qiryat Arba’a live under the protection of a massive Israeli army contingent. Both groups have worked together to terrorize the Palestinian inhabitants of the city for many years.

A joint statement issued by several humanitarian organizations, including Oxfam, Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and Save the Children warned of the terrible fate awaiting the Palestinian community as a result of Netanyahu’s decision in Al-Khalil.

“Hundreds of civilians, including children, will see their safety put at risk by the withdrawal of international observers deployed in the city of Hebron,” the statement read.

True to form, attacks by Jewish settlers followed, as media and rights group reports point to a surge of violence against Palestinian civilians in the city.

By unleashing the wrath of Jewish settlers in Al-Khalil, Netanyahu wanted to communicate to his supporters that he remains committed to their settlement project, an unworthy cause that violates international law and comes at the price of protracted human suffering.

Similarly, the Israeli decision to shut down Al-Rahma Gate on February 19 was a pre-calculated move, aimed at uniting the entirety of the Israeli right, including the most extremist of all religious and settler groups behind Netanyahu’s leadership in the coming elections.

In fact, a trend began a few weeks earlier. On January 9, the Palestinian Ministry of Endowment documented a sharp increase of Israeli violations, involving the Israeli army and Jewish settlers at holy Palestinian sites throughout the month of December. According to the Organization, over 100 such violations were reported, including 30 different incursions into Al-Aqsa itself.

A raid on Al-Aqsa on January 7 involved more than the usual suspects, but was led by Israeli Agriculture Minister and a strong ally of Netanyahu, Uri Ariel.

This type of politically-motivated and highly militarized ‘visits’ to Al-Aqsa are reminiscent of the infamous ‘visit’ by late Israeli right-wing leader, Ariel Sharon in September 2000. At the time, Sharon wanted to increase his chances of becoming Israel’s next prime minister, and to ensure that his arch-rival (then, interestingly enough, the very Benjamin Netanyahu) did not win the Likud Party nomination. The gambit worked. Sharon sparked the Second Palestinian Uprising (2000-05), leading to the deaths of thousands and, of course, securing his seat at the helm of Israeli politics for years.

Netanyahu, ever studious and resourceful, has, indeed, mastered the art of political manipulation as his mentor and, once again, Al-Aqsa is the platform for this sinister Israeli politicking.

Netanyahu’s decision to strike an alliance with Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) – the rebranded party of the extremist late Meir Kahane – further demonstrates how the current surge of violence around the holy Palestinian sites is a pre-calculated political move by Netanyahu and his government.

The fact that Netanyahu would bring into his future coalition groups that are the ideological mutation of the Jewish Defense League – which is classified as ‘terrorist organization’’ by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – speaks volumes about the changing relationship between the US and Israel. Thanks to Washington’s blind support of Israel, Netanyahu feels politically triumphant and invincible, even above US’ own laws.

However, to achieve his pathetic dream of being Israel’s longest serving Prime Minister, Netanyahu should be wary of the bloody consequences that his reckless action is sure to yield. Indeed, Netanyahu may be provoking the kind of violence that is much bigger than his own ability to contain.

Al-Aqsa Mosque has served not only as a religious symbol for Palestinians, but a national symbol as well, representing their coveted freedom and serving as a source of hope and unity over the course of generations.

While the blood of Palestinians is irrelevant in Netanyahu’s quest for political dominance, the international community should take immediate measures to prevent what could become an Israeli-induced bloodbath in the coming weeks.

Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, author and editor of Palestine Chronicle. His latest book is The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story (Pluto Press, London, 2018). He earned a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter and is a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, UCSB.

Gaza expects new developments, Netanyahu’s possible adventure

By Farzad Farhadi

TEHRAN - Following the short war between Israel defense forces (IDF) and Palestinian resistance group, the question is what is awaiting Gaza particularly after the defeat of the Zionists. 

Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Jewish Home leader, speaking at the Knesset in Al-Quds recently, has slammed Netanyahu saying, “Israel has stopped winning and Netanyahu won’t quit the government. Israel is facing a security confidence crisis, not a political crisis. There are enemies, but not an enemy that worries me. The source of the crisis is not its external enemies but is the bad internal situation. Israel has not won as that was the case in the Second Lebanon War (33-day war against Lebanon) in 2006, and it was frustration, disunity, and lack of spirit for Israel. Hamas and Hezbollah have become more courageous because they believe that we are afraid of confronting them. The Israeli ship is not going the right way.”

Tsizka Fogel, an Israeli general and the former commander of the southern Israeli army told Mario, “The Middle East is witnessing new enemies like Hezbollah in the north and Hamas in the south of Israel. Some 50 years ago, in June 1967, Israel fought with three Arab states and defeated them all, but today, we cannot win the battle against Hamas. Israel’s security condition today is an insult to the October 1973 war, because it seems that politicians do not care about the future of Israel and are engaged in political games, and even Benjamin Netanyahu's delivers an unacceptable illusion story to us.

Additionally, some other Zionist authorities have, too, spoken of defeat against Hamas. What remains to be seen is that after the recent grand victory of the Palestinian resistance group and failure of Israeli security operation when Hamas fired 500 rockets to Israeli settlements, what the future holds for the Gazans. Will there be another conflict as Netanyahu is going to bring back glory to its worn down military among the Zionists? 

A senior Hamas official doesn’t see the likelihood of that and in an interview with Raialyoum newspaper said, “A military attack and retaliation against the Gaza Strip is very unlikely because Israeli military commanders have realized that another war will take a heavy toll on them, be it emotionally, financially or human life.  However, it is likely that the Mossad tries to assassinate some of the Hamas's top officials by the US help, especially since the US has recently offered a $5 million reward for two Hezbollah officials, and one with Hamas who is Saleh al-Arouri, a prominent leader of Hamas.

The victory in Gaza has military and political importance and will strengthen Hamas’ position. This is while Netanyahu’s financial pressure on Gaza and Hamas has lost effect after the United Nations monitored the power plant in Gaza. In other words, after the victory of Hamas, the situation in Gaza will not be the same. 

The Zionist regime is quite disturbed as it is apparent from their media which are mirror of all the thoughts of decision-makers in Tel Aviv.

The Israeli media analyzed Netanyahu’s speech on Sunday, and some have suggested the possibility of a war without a frontier by Tel Aviv that is against Palestinian resistance group in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Syria and other areas.  

Alex Fishman, an analyst at Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said, “The longer it takes for Israel to have an election day, the more likelihood of a war between Israel and Palestinian resistance group. Netanyahu’s speech on Sunday was the most dangerous speeches he has ever delivered in recent years which may push him to a war to restore his face after their defeat in Gaza. Netanyahu’s objective is to postpone election by relying on his position as Israel’s prime minister. However, the election should be held very soon to prevent threats. It is very unlikely that Lt. General Gadi Eisenkot, commander of the Israeli army, whose term ends next December, and other Israeli generals agree to another war.”

However, others consider Netanyahu's speech an attempt to calm Israel’s internal affairs and repair his damaged reputation after his recent defeat. Among these analysts is Simeon Schiff, who in his article in Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper called Netanyahu's speech “a campaign speech”. 
«The editor of Haaretz newspaper Alfuf Ben resembled Netanyahu's speech to an election campaign speech, and said, “Any military adventure in the north or south will be as a major challenge for Netanyahu, which will end its term.”
However, some believe that the pressure that Netanyahu is struggling with may make him think of an adventure or a widespread anti-Gaza war in response to critics, especially since protests in occupied Palestine are still ongoing against Netanyahu.

The Palestinian resistance groups are prepared, especially since all the evidence show that Netanyahu may turn to a military confrontation in Gaza. Netanyahu will not do anything to rebuild his tarnished reputation. 

It is unlikely that Netanyahu takes a new adventure in Syria, but carrying out an operation in Gaza is by far simpler, as he pointed in his speech on Sunday. 

Fadi Abdulhadi, a Palestinian expert told the Palestine Alyoum, "Netanyahu's speeches carry two messages, one for the domestic front and one for the residents of Gaza. Netanyahu's words are dangerous and maybe pave the way for a war on Gaza.” 
Adnan Abu Amer, another Palestinian expert, in an interview with the Palestine Alyoum said, "Netanyahu's speech resembles a war speech."

Ahmad Al-Tayebi, a representative of the Arab Knesset, told the Palestine Alyoum, “It's not unlikely that Netanyahu would launch a new attack on Gaza to improve his condition.”
In any case, it is not unlikely that Netanyahu seeks a new adventure in Gaza.  

Lieberman’s resignation not a “victory” for Gaza but a warning of the worst to come

By Whitney Webb

In the wake of Lieberman’s resignation the high probability of a Naftali Bennett-led Israeli War Ministry would unleash a new, even more brutal wave of extrajudicial murders of unarmed Palestinians, one that would deliberately target children, says Chile-based journalist Whitney Webb.

Now we read her opinion published by MintPress in an article titled: “Lieberman’s resignation not a “victory” for Gaza but a warning of the worst to come.”

A wave of instability now threatens the Zionist regime following the sudden resignation of War Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday. Lieberman announced that he was resigning in protest of a recently brokered ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since winning elections in 2007. Zionist Premier Benjamin Netanyahu will serve as interim War Minister until an official replacement is appointed. Netanyahu also currently serves as the Zionist War Minister and Health Minister.

The still-developing situation will likely result in a rightward shift within the Israeli Knesset or the current ruling coalition, as Netanyahu is set to seek stability following Lieberman’s resignation by either placating right-wing elements unhappy with the ceasefire or by moving forward with snap elections that would Likely see more extremist politicians elected to Israel’s legislature as a reaction to the ceasefire and Lieberman’s abrupt resignation.

The warmongering Lieberman resigned in protest to the halt in the Zionist attacks on Gaza, following a ceasefire with Hamas brokered by Egypt. He also announced that his political party, Yisrael Beytenu, will be withdrawing from the Zionist regime’s ruling coalition – which is led by Netanyahu’s Likud Party — in protest of the ceasefire.

The recent hostilities between the Zionists and Gaza began following a covert Israeli military raid on the Hamas leadership on Sunday night, which martyred seven Palestinians and killed one Israeli. In retaliation, the Gazans launched an estimated 300 rockets on Zionist positions. Israel’s military responded with heavy airstrikes that targeted densely populated areas of Gaza and razed one of the enclave’s TV stations among other civilian targets.

Child-killer Benjamin Netanyahu, although agreeing to ceasefire, hinted that he would consider a large-scale offensive targeting Gaza in the future.

Netanyahu’s reluctance for a large-scale military conflict targeting Gaza at this time is likely due to the fact that the Trump administration’s so-called “peace plan” aimed at “resolving” the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is set to be debuted before the year’s end.

That so-called “peace plan” — largely the work of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who is well known for his fervent support for Zionism and illegal West Bank settlements — is set to provide Israel with the political cushion to pursue its ambitions. These include the Zionist regime’s ambition to annex the occupied West Bank in its entirety and to curb Palestinian demands for the return of Palestinian refugees, actual autonomy for Palestinians living in the occupied territories, and the end of the Israeli military occupation in the West Bank.

However, a major war with Gaza would sour the Zionist regime’s standing just as the new Israel-centric “peace plan” is set to be revealed. Yet, if the Zionist regime waits until the plan is revealed and triggers the protests in Gaza and elsewhere that are all but guaranteed to ensue, a subsequent military operation to quell unrest resulting from the push to implement the Kushner-drafted plan would be easier for Israel to defend on the international stage.

While Lieberman’s resignation has been touted by Hamas as a “political victory for Gaza,” his likely successor bodes to be even more hawkish and supportive of the extrajudicial murder of Palestinians. Indeed, Lieberman’s most likely replacement is current Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett, who recently threatened to withdraw the political party he leads, Jewish Home, from the Likud-led ruling coalition if he is not appointed as the next war minister.

With Lieberman’s party already withdrawing from Israel’s far-right coalition, Netanyahu will likely capitulate to Bennett’s demands in order to stabilize the current government and avoid dissolving the Knesset and subsequent snap elections. Thus, the current instability facing the Likud-led coalition now seems fated to result in a rightward surge, whether it’s through snap elections or through Netanyahu-led efforts to placate other right-wing parties and prevent them from defecting.

Other powerful politicians within Jewish Home, such as Uri Ariel, have also pushed for Bennett to be appointed. Ariel told Israeli media outlet Arutz Sheva:

Netanyahu should appoint Minister Bennett as war minister and this cabinet can continue to function.

Over the past year, Bennett has repeatedly accused Lieberman of showing “restraint and weakness” as war minister, especially in relation to his approach to Gaza’s Great Return March.

Accusing Lieberman of “weakness” is particularly shocking given that the Israeli military under Lieberman repeatedly used lethal force to quell protests in Gaza, killing over 200 unarmed Palestinians – including children, medics and journalists – and wounding over 22,000.

In addition, Bennett has frequently called to “loosen” the Israeli military’s rules of engagement that would allow Zionist soldiers to target unarmed Palestinian children with lethal force. This past July, Bennett called for Israeli warplanes to drop bombs on the heads of Palestinian children who flew crude, homemade incendiary kites into occupied territories with Bennett shamelessly saying “there is no legal impediment” for targeting children with lethal force.

During a meeting of the Israeli Security Cabinet that took place that same month, Bennett had stated “Why shoot next to them [children] and not directly at them?”

More recently, in October, Bennett told Israel’s Army Radio that if he were war minister he would approve a “shoot to kill” policy for all Gazans, including children.

Thus, if Bennett is appointed as Lieberman’s replacement, it becomes near impossible to argue that Lieberman’s resignation is a “political victory” for Gazans. Instead, the high probability of a Bennett-led War Ministry would unleash a new, even more brutal wave of extrajudicial murders of unarmed Palestinians, one that would deliberately target children.

Furthermore, given that Netanyahu’s recent hints that the current ceasefire is meant only to delay Israel’s next war with Gaza until such a conflict is more politically expedient for Israel, Bennett’s likely ascent to the role of War Minister would herald an even more disastrous war for Gazan civilians than one overseen by Lieberman.

Gaza.. Turning The Tables

By: Abdelbari Atwan

Gaza’s missile retaliation has changed the rules and created a crisis for the Israelis.

Qods News Agency (Qodsna) - I called an old friend and colleague in Gaza on Wednesday. Hilmi Mousa spent more than ten years in Israeli occupation jails, and lived for a long time in Beirut where he worked for as-Safir newspaper before returning to the Gaza Strip. “Don’t ask me how I am,” he said, “I am better off than all of you. Gaza is giving the whole world a lesson in pride and dignity.” He said people had been rejoicing at the sight of missiles lighting up the skies on their way to Israeli settlements, and were upset when they stopped.

The scene described by Hilmi quickly found echoes in most parts of the Arabs and Islamic worlds, even though the confrontation did not last for more than a day and half, and was followed by the fastest cease-fire in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Despite the starvation siege imposed on them by Israel and some Arab countries, the people of the Gaza Strip took to the streets in celebration, congratulating each other and handing out sweets, as though to say they wished the war would last longer. This gave the lie to Binyamin Netanyahu, who claimed that Israel’s enemies had “begged for a cease-fire.” The Israeli prime minister elaborated that he was attentive to the voices of residents of southern Israel who were subjected to bombing, but that “together with the security chiefs I see the general picture of Israel’s security,” and that “the public sometimes cannot be a part of decisive considerations. They must be hidden from our enemy.” 

Netanyahu was lying. It was the settlers in the Gaza envelope who “begged” for a cease-fire after they were forced into their shelters, their schools were ordered to close, and their ears were filled with the sounds of warning sirens and of missiles flying overhead and exploding.

Some 450 rockets and mortar shells were rained on the settlers, sending more than 60 to hospital, and shocking Israeli military experts with both their improved accuracy in hitting their targets and the high-explosive payload of their warheads.

Netanyahu knows the undeclared reasons that prompted him to agree to a quick cease-fire. Chief among these was the prospect, if the war continued, that the missiles would start reaching Tel Aviv and other population enters, sending millions of Israelis into the shelters, disrupting air traffic at Ben Gurion airport, and ultimately triggering the flight of capital investment to London, New York, Frankfurt or elsewhere. The myth of Israeli omnipotence is falling apart. Supremacy in the air is no longer decisive. It lost its effectiveness against the barrage of missile retaliation from Gaza, and the days are gone forever when the Israeli air force could run riot in the skies over Syria, where people have begun returning in growing numbers.

The 48- hour war in Gaza changed many assumptions. The Strip’s territory and airspace can no longer be attacked with impunity by the  Israeli raids without triggering a deterrent response. Those who have the capability to target with great accuracy a military transport bus with Kornet missiles (courtesy of Hezbollah) are also capable of bringing buildings down over the heads of their settlers in Jaffa, Haifa Lydda , Ramleh, Isdud and Asqalan, not to mention nearby Sderot.

Gaza’s no-longer ‘random’ missiles have exported the crisis to the Israelis, humiliating Avigdor Lieberman, and threatening to bring Netanyahu and his government down and send him to jail like his predecessor Ehud Olmert. The knives are being sharpened, the charges are ready, and the game of playing for time is nearing its end.

The ripples from this wave of dignity will most definitely reach the West Bank, if they have not done so already, perhaps sooner than expected by either Netanyahu or Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. We doubt that the latter’s security forces – one of whose commanders was recently pictured on his knees helping his Israeli counterparts change their flat tyre – will stop this wave, despite all the means of repression at their disposal.

The flame of resistance in the occupied Arab territories may dim for a while but it does not die. This is what many of the Arab normalisers failed to realise. They believed, regrettably, that it could be extinguished, and accordingly rolled out the red carpets for the Israelis, their leaders, ministers and sports teams.

The Palestinian people will never surrender, and will continue to resist, with the support of all honourable people. And in the process, they will continue, untiringly, to perform miracles.

Working with Saudis against Iran more important than Khashoggi case: Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet 

meeting at his Jerusalem al-Quds office on September 5, 2018. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says ongoing cooperation with Saudi Arabia against Iran is a greater priority and a larger problem than Riyadh’s “horrendous” murder of its critic Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey.

Netanyahu made the remarks on Friday as his first public reaction to the premeditated assassination of Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.

“What happened at the Istanbul consulate was horrendous and it should be duly dealt with. But at the same time, it is very important for the stability of the region and the world that Saudi Arabia remain stable,” the Israeli premier said in Sofia, Bulgaria.

He referred to Iran as “a larger problem” compared with the assassination of Khashoggi, and called for finding a way to deal with the case which does not disrupt cooperation with Saudi Arabia against Iran.

The remarks came shortly after The Washington Post revealed on Thursday that Netanyahu has asked US President Donald Trump to continue supporting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman despite accusations that he ordered a hit job on Khashoggi last month.

The Israeli PM had asked top US officials recently not to abandon their support for bin Salman over the killing of Khashoggi, according to multiple reports.

According to The Washington Post, Netanyahu has specifically told the White House that the crown prince is a key strategic partner and a linchpin of the US-Israeli front against Iran's regional influence.

Later on Thursday, it was also reported that bin Salman had met with a delegation of pro-Israeli advocates in Riyadh, led by Joel C. Rosenberg, a dual US-Israeli author and activist who runs the Jashua Fund pro-Israeli charity.

Mike Evans, founder of the Friends of Zion Museum in Jerusalem al-Quds, was also among the participants of the meeting.

PressTV-Israel mission in Saudi as Netanyahu asks US to back MBS

The Saudi crown prince hosted a pro-Israeli advocacy group in Riyadh amid reports that Tel Aviv is calling on Trump to keep supporting him.

In his Friday comments in Bulgaria, Netanyahu said the Khashoggi case should not distract the world from ensuring that Iran does not continue what he called “malign activities it has been engaged in over the last few weeks in Europe.”

“Blocking Iran is at the top of our agenda for security, not merely for Israel but I believe for Europe and the world as well,” he added.

Netanyahu’s comments alluded to the accusations leveled against the Islamic Republic regarding two alleged assassination and bombing plots in France and Denmark, which Iran calls ‘false flags’ launched by the Israeli spy agency.

How Saudis Plotted With Zionists in U.S. Against Iran

By: Betsy Woodruff, Erin Banco

Gen. Ahmed al-Assiri, the Saudi intelligence chief taking the fall for the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, hobnobbed in New York with Michael Flynn and other members of the transition team shortly before Trump’s inauguration. The topic of their discussion: regime change in Iran.

Muhammad bin Salman, the powerful Saudi crown prince, dispatched Assiri from Riyadh for the meetings, which took place over the course of two days in early January 2017, according to communications reviewed by The Daily Beast. The January meetings have come under scrutiny by special counsel Robert Mueller’s office as part of his probe into foreign governments’ attempts to gain influence in the Trump campaign and in the White House, an individual familiar with the investigation told The Daily Beast. A spokesperson for Mueller declined to comment.

The New York meetings were attended and brokered by George Nader, a Lebanese-American with close ties to leaders in the United Arab Emirates who is currently cooperating with Mueller’s team. Also present at the meetings was Israeli social media strategist Joel Zamel, who has been questioned by Mueller for his role in pitching top campaign officials on an influence operation to help Trump win the election—overtures that could have broken federal election laws.

Steve Bannon was involved as well in conversations on Iran regime change during those two days in January, according to the communications.

The communications show that participants in the meetings discussed a multi-pronged strategy for eroding, and eventually ending, the current Iranian government — including economic, information, and military tactics for weakening the Tehran government. Earlier this year The New York Times reported Nader was promoting a plan to carry out economic sabotage against Iran and pitched the plan in the Spring of 2017 to Saudi, UAE, and American officials. It’s unclear if that plan ever moved forward or if it was part of the larger project for regime change discussed in these January 2017 meetings.

Either way, former CIA acting director John McLaughlin told The Daily Beast, the get-togethers as described were very unusual.

"It’s concerning to me as a former intelligence official because of the fact that it smacks of covert action planning, which is the most sensitive thing the U.S. government does and is so uniquely the province of the sitting president,” he said.

The meetings in New York, which have not yet been reported, show the depth of efforts by foreign officials and power brokers to influence the nascent Trump administration on the most sensitive foreign policy decisions. The discussions in New York came at a time when the Trump team was developing its Iran strategy and looking for input from individuals who were working on plans to counter Tehran’s influence. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, whose leaders made overtures to the campaign throughout the 2016 election, were at the time developing campaigns to thwart its regional adversaries, including Iran.
"It makes complete sense that Assiri would have been meeting with the Trump team during this time,” one former Pentagon official with close ties to the intelligence community told The Daily Beast. "The team was meeting with a lot of foreign influencers and Saudi was a country that wanted in on all anti-Iran projects.”

The meetings in New York not only reveal details of one of the Trump team’s first encounters with officials from Saudi Arabia—a country that is embroiled in one of the year’s most scandalous and consequential geopolitical incidents—but also sheds more light on Trumpworld’s relationship to Zamel, a self-styled Mark Zuckerberg of the national-security world with deep ties to Israeli intelligence.

Trump’s team drew in Zamel, a young strategist and entrepreneur, during the campaign. Zamel had pitched a plan in August 2016 to Donald Trump Jr. to help Trump win the presidential election, according to The New York Times. It’s unclear if that plan was ever put into action. Trump’s lawyer has previously stated that the candidate heard Zamel’s plan but did not move forward with it.

Zamel’s lawyer has also previously denied his client’s involvement in U.S. election or campaign efforts and told The Daily Beast that he is "not a target” of the Mueller investigation.

But it appears Zamel remained close to the Trump team throughout the election and into the transition. Part of the reason? He had an easy in. He had been introduced to Nader, closely connected with the Trump campaign, years earlier by John Hannah, a former aide to Dick Cheney now working as a senior counselor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a right-leaning think tank known for its anti-Iran work. Hannah is listed as a member of the advisory council of Wikistrat, one of Zamel’s companies, on the firm’s website. (Other members of that board, including former CIA chief Michael Hayden, say their involvement with Wikistrat is informal and at arm’s length.)

Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar at the Persian Gulf States Institute in Washington, told The Daily Beast that Wikistrat doesn’t bill itself as a typical consulting firm.
"Wikistrat presents themselves as a kind of private intelligence service,” Ibish said. "If you look at the work they’ve done in Yemen, they’ve been a work for hire. It’s sort of like an intelligence-for-hire kind of thing.”

"If you have a very rudimentary conversation discussing the possibility of raising the question of regime change, then it’s not surprising to bring in a set of stakeholders including Wikistrat,” he added.

Details of the January 2017 meeting reviewed by The Daily Beast show how Zamel—already a familiar face in Trumpworld for his audacious plan to use social media influence campaigns to help beat Hillary Clinton—had ambitions beyond Trump’s election. According to communications reviewed by The Daily Beast, Zamel flew to New York to help pitch the Iran idea to Assiri and Trump's team, delivering a bound presentation full of tactics to undercut the country’s government.

"The communications show that participants discussed a multi-pronged strategy for eroding, and eventually ending, the current Iranian government — including economic, information, and military tactics for weakening the Tehran government.”

The Trump team offered a new way forward for Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Israel, who had all grown frustrated by the Obama administration for its stance toward Iran and its brokering of the nuclear deal. Trump had campaigned, in part, on the promise that he would renegotiate the deal and take major steps against the Iranian government during his first days in office. In his first public address after taking office, Flynn said the U.S. was "officially putting Iran on notice” after it carried out a missile test and attack on a Saudi warship by Houthi fighters in Yemen. Since then, the Trump administration has pulled out of the nuclear deal and levied snapback sanctions on the country.

The meetings in New York were part of a flurry of visits from influential foreigners to Trump Tower. Weeks before, Emirati Crown Prince Muhammad bin Zayed reportedly discussed Iran policy at Trump Tower with Bannon, Flynn, and Jared Kushner. The meetings appear to be part of Saudi and Emirati efforts to lobby the incoming Trump administration against Qatar and Iran, their top regional competitors. The New York Times reported earlier this year that Nader worked with Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy to urge the White House to take an aggressive stance against the two countries. (Nader also helped orchestrate the meeting between Blackwater founder and Trump ally Erik Prince and Moscow moneyman Kirill Dmitriev.)

Muhammad bin Salman—known by his initials, MBS— leaned on General Assiri to help carry out conversations with Western officials about Iran and the Saudi-led war in Yemen, according to two senior officials in the intelligence community. Assiri was previously the spokesperson for Saudi’s military offensive in Yemen. That effort, in concert with the UAE and backed by the United States and European countries, has drawn enormous outcry from human rights activists and members of Congress. The UN has called it the globe’s worst humanitarian crisis, and UN air chief Mark Lowcock said earlier this week that the war puts 14 million Yemeni people at risk of starvation.
-Courtesy: Daily Beast

Zarif slams Netanyahu for ‘shameless’ threat of ‘nuclear annihilation’ against Iran

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has fired back at “warmonger” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for threatening Iran with “atomic annihilation” right from the regime’s secretive atomic weapons facility.

Qods News Agency (Qodsna) - Tehran - Speaking during a ceremony at the Dimona nuclear arms facility in the Negev desert on Wednesday, Netanyahu had claimed that the occupying entity faces threats from near and far.

“Those who threaten to wipe us out put themselves in a similar danger, and in any event will not achieve their goal,” he said. “But our enemies know very well what Israel is capable of doing. They are familiar with our policy. Whoever tries to hurt us – we hurt them,” said Netanyahu.

Hours later, Zarif took to Twitter to respond to the hawkish Israeli premier’s highly aggressive threat, which came on the same day that the world nations were observing the International Day against Nuclear Tests.

“Iran, a country without nuclear weapons, is threatened with atomic annihilation by a warmonger standing next to an actual nuclear weapons factory,” tweeted the top Iranian diplomat, describing Netanyahu’s statements as “beyond shameless.”

Iran, a country without nuclear weapons, is threatened with atomic annihilation by a warmonger standing next to an actual nuclear weapons factory. Beyond shameless in the gall. pic.twitter.com/MBoFac8Bvv

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) August 29, 2018

Israel is the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, but its policy is to neither confirm nor deny that it has atomic bombs. It has refused to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and denied international access to its nuclear facilities. 

The Tel Aviv regime is estimated to have 200 to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal.

Unlike Iran, the regime has refused to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) -- whose aim is to prevent the spread of nuclear arms and weapons technology – in defiance of international pressure.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a ceremony in Dimona nuclear facility in the Negev Desert on August 29, 2018.

Marking the International Day against Nuclear Tests, Foreign Minister Zarif had earlier in the day slammed the Israeli regime and its stalwart supporter, the US, as the sole possessor of nuclear bombs in the region and the “sole user” of atomic weapons in the world, respectively.

“Let’s also remember that Iran has called for Nuclear Weapon Free Zone since 1974,” Zarif said in a tweet.

As world marks Int'l Day against Nuclear Tests, let's remember that only nuclear bombs in our region belong to Israel and the US; the former a habitual aggressor & the latter the sole user of nukes. Let's also remember that Iran has called for Nuclear Weapon Free Zone since 1974.

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) August 29, 2018

Elsewhere in his comments, Netanyahu said the Israeli military will continue to target Iranian military advisers, who have been assisting the Syrian army in their battles against foreign-backed terrorists.

The Israeli military, Netanyahu said, "will continue acting with full determination and with full might against” what he called Iran’s attempts “to station forces and advanced weapons systems in Syria.”

Iran has no troops on the ground in Syria and its anti-terror advisory mission – like that of its ally Russia – comes at the request of the Damascus government.

Worried over Syria’s gains against terrorists, Israel frequently attacks military targets inside Syria in an attempt to prop up terrorist groups that have been suffering defeats on the battlefield.

The regime has also been providing weapons to anti-Damascus militants as well as medical treatment to Takfiri elements wounded in Syria.

On April 9, an Israeli airstrike against the T-4 airbase in Syria’s Homs Province killed more than a dozen people, including seven Iranian military advisers.

Israel writes script for the crisis and solution

President Barack Obama, wake up. The bloodletting in the holy city of Jerusalem sends you a stream of urgent messages that you should step in and act decisively to fulfil your promise of peace to the land of peacemakers.

As the crisis escalates with the Israeli police shooting any Palestinian, who they think is acting suspiciously in response to knife attacks on Jewish settlers, President Obama must try one last time to make peace between Israel and Palestine before his term ends in 15 months.

But it won’t be easy, given Israel’s hardline stance and the growing chill in the personal relationship between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, especially in the wake of the Iran nuclear deal reached in July this year.

President Obama made a genuine effort for peace during the early days of his first term. He probably underestimated the power of the Zionist Lobby, which opposes a Palestinian state. His first foreign call from his White House office after he took oaths in January 2009 was to Palestinian Authority President Mahmood Abbas. Indicating he meant what he said, he visited the Middle East within months of becoming the President. He appropriately titled the famous speech he made at the Cairo University in 2009 ‘A New Beginning’. The hope-stirring speech showcased his determination to find a peace deal acceptable to both the Israelis and the Palestinians. He was not unaware of the failures his predecessors suffered in their efforts to make peace.  Yet amidst standing ovation from an ecstatic crowd, he described the Palestinians’ plight as “intolerable”, though in the same breath he said the US bond with Israel was unbreakable and called on the Palestinians to abandon resistance to Israeli occupation through violence. In a bold declaration, seen as a departure from the policies of his predecessors, Obama told Israel that settlement building in occupied Palestinian territories should stop. 

“… There can be no progress towards peace without a halt to such construction”. … Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel’s right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine’s,” Obama assured the region’s peace-starved people. 

His peace intentions won him the Nobel Peace Prize, just months after he took office. But a term and a half later, he cuts a sorry figure on the Palestinian issue. Israel has gone on with business as usual, building settlements in occupied territories, while paying little or no heed to Obama’s repeated don’t-do-it pleas. After his reelection in 2012, Obama launched a new peace initiative with an April 2014 deadline. Numerous visits to the region and shuttle diplomacy by Secretary of State John Kerry drew a blank, because of tough conditions placed by Netanyahu. 


A member of Israeli security forces faces Palestinian protesters throwing stones during clashes in the West Bank city of Bethlehem. AFP

With Zionist hardliners shooting down his peace initiative, what Obama, in response, could do was to snub Netanyahu by not meeting him during the United Nations General Assembly sessions. Last month, Obama pulled out Secretary Kerry and UN envoy Samantha Power from the UN hall when the Israeli leader addressed the world body.

Netanyahu knows that in the US, the system is more powerful than the president, and as long as the Zionist lobby led by the mighty America-Israel Public Relations Committee has the system – which includes Congress -- under its control, Israel has little to worry about and Netanyahu does not give a damn about decisions made by the White House.

In what was seen as a snub to Obama and his peace initiative, Netanyahu was reelected in March this year on the strength of a promise he made in the closing days of his campaign that there could be no Palestinian state while regional violence and chaos persisted. 

Netanyahu’s reelection shut the door on Obama’s peace efforts. Yet, unable to turn a blind eye to the escalating violence, the Obama administration on Wednesday, in what appears to be a half-hearted announcement, said Secretary Kerry would travel to the region “in the near future”. But whether Kerry will succeed is a big question. Already, State Department remarks on the current violence which could trigger a third Intifada – uprising – have infuriated Israeli hardliners. State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters this week there were “credible reports” Israel was using excessive force against Palestinian protesters. 

As violence soars in Jerusalem and other parts of the occupied territories and in Israel, an opinion poll published last week found that 73% of Israelis wanted a harsher response to the attacks by Palestinian youths. Needless to say, Israeli troops resort to collective punishment, bulldozing several houses in a suspect’s village. 

The recent violence follows months of tension between the Palestinians and hardline Israelis, who, with state patronage, have been asserting the Jewishness of the Temple Mount al-Aqsa mosque, which the Muslims regard as the third holiest mosque in Islam.  The Palestinians say hardline Jews enter the al-Aqsa mosque premises and provoke them by holding Jewish prayers. The Jews say they want to rebuild the Temple and restore it to its original glory. 

The Palestinians fear that they will soon lose control of al-Aqsa mosque in the same manner they lost control of the Hebron mosque where Abraham, revered by both the Jews and the Muslims as the great patriarch of monotheism, is believed to have been buried. The Israeli occupying force decides on the days on which Muslims can pray at the Hebron mosque.

For centuries, the Muslims prayed at the Temple Mount while the Jews said prayers at the Temple wall over the cliff.  This unwritten agreement survived even after Israel captured Jerusalem in the 1967 war.  

With the Palestinians being left to their own fate while Arab leaders are now more interested in fomenting troubles in places like Libya and Syria, the writing is on the wall that soon Israel will have full control of the Temple Mount. If the Muslims lose the right to worship in al-Aqsa, the situation could lead to further radicalisation of the Muslim world and more violence, and the world will have to deal with a much bigger terrorist problem. 

Some world leaders are urging Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to bring the situation under control. But he is old, ineffective and does not enjoy much public support. 

With the Obama administration having little clout over Israel and the United Nations being just a bystander, Israel is in a position to write the script of the crisis and also the solution to it.  The ideal solution for the current crisis is to bring the Temple Mount site under United Nations control until a final solution emerges. But that is only wishful thinking, given Israel’s grand scheme to annex the whole of Palestine and more Arab lands.