An Analysis On Israel's New Iran Strategy

Missile fire is seen from Damascus, Syria May 10, 2018. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

Maysam Behravesh, Reuters: Inside Israel’s new Iran strategy

In a rare admission, Israel has broken its “no-comment” policy on air strikes to confirm that it has carried out over 200 attacks against Iranian targets in Syria over the last two years. In addition to those attacks, a new report claims that Israel has secretly armed and funded at least 12 Syrian rebel groups in southern Syria since 2013. Israel reportedly stopped its transfer of weapons and money in July, after the Bashar al-Assad regime regained control of the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.

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WNU Editor: The conflict between Israel and Iran in Syria is definitely getting bloodier .... Israeli Strikes on Syria Killed 113 Iranian Soldiers Over Past Month, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights Reports (Harretz)

The Threats That Israel Faced In The Past Are Resurfacing

Israeli Merkava tanks drive near the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip as they return from the Hamas-controlled Palestinian coastal enclave on August 5, 2014. (AFP/File)

Jacob L. Shapiro, Geopolitical Futures: In Israel, Danger Is on the Horizon

The threats that Israel faced in the past are resurfacing.

The fight against the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq put a number of issues on hold in the Middle East. But the Islamic State is now all but defeated, and with the loss of a common enemy has come the loss of a common purpose for the anti-IS coalition. Concerns that dominated the region before IS are dominating the region once more. That means Israel, which mostly sat on the sidelines in Syria and Iraq, will become a more active player.

Whoever emerged as the victor in the war in Syria would have been an enemy to Israel, and all things being equal, the Israelis preferred the Assad regime to IS. But Assad is still an enemy, and the more his regime consolidates its power, the more of a threat Syria becomes.

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WNU Editor: Could not have said it any better.

With The Middle East In Turmoil, Israel Continues To Prosper

Jumana Al Tamimi, Gulf Times: As Arabs in disarray, Israel thrives

Israel seeks stronger ties internationally as Arab countries and the Palestinians themselves tied up with internal squabbles

Dubai: Contrary to the view of some that Israel is suffering from a semi-isolation internationally because of its government’s far right wing policies, several political analysts believe Israel is currently living one of its better times, not because of its policies, but because of the weakness of its surroundings.

For the first time since it joined the UN in 1949, Israel last June won an election to chair the United Nations legal committee, one of the six permanent committees of the UN. Today, Israel is “lobbying intensively and systematically”, to win the support to have a seat at the UN Security Council, analysts said.

It is facing some challenges, but it also has some facilitating factors, such as the internal wars in some of the Arab countries that were totally against any kind of normalisation of ties with Israel before solving the Palestinian question. On the other hand, internal Palestinian rift has created “a political paralysis” and benefited Israel, said analysts.

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WNU Editor: The entire Middle East is currently focused on their own conflicts and divisions .... Israel is not on the radar screens right now. How long will this last .... no one really knows .... but I can easily visualize five more years of Middle Eastern conflict .... especially as Iran moves to assert its influence in the region.

A Look At Why Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Is At War With His Generals And Intel Chiefs

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF chief Benny Gantz at a press conference in Tel Aviv on July 28, 2014. Photo credit: Ofer Vaknin

AMIR TIBON, Politico: Netanyahu vs. the Generals

Israel’s prime minister is fighting hard to weaken the most important moderate force in his country. Which is why he’s going to be a big problem for the next U.S. president.

Ehud Barak hadn’t given a speech in months, and speculation was rife about what he was going to say when he took the stage at a prestigious policy conference in Herzliya, an affluent suburb of Tel Aviv, two weeks ago. Barak was one of Israel’s leading political figures for two decades, having served as the country's prime minister in the late 1990s and later as defense minister under Benjamin Netanyahu from 2009 to 2012. Was he about to announce a political comeback?

It turned out that Barak, a former special ops commando officer, had one last mission in mind: To take out his former boss and partner.

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WNU Editor: A long and unfavourable article on Israeli PM Netanyahu, but well worth the read in understanding the disagreements that exist between PM Netanyahu and Israel's defence and intelligence establishments.

Israel Has Adopted The 'Castle Defense Strategy'

An Israeli security coordinator near Kiryat Shmona stood by the remains of a rocket fired from Lebanon last month. Ancho Gosh/Jinpix, via Reuters

Region Boiling, Israel Takes Up Castle Strategy -- Jodi Rudoren, New York Times

JERUSALEM — After a Katyusha rocket fired from Lebanon landed in Israel last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed Hezbollah, the Shiite militia, and its Iranian backers. But Israeli security officials attributed the attack, as well as a similar one in August, to a Sunni jihadist group linked to Al Qaeda.

That disconnect is representative of the deepening dilemma Israel faces as the region around it is riven by sectarian warfare that could redraw the map of the Middle East.

Mr. Netanyahu and other leaders continue to see Shiite Iran and its nuclear program as the primary threat to Israel, and Hezbollah as the most likely to draw it into direct battle. Still, the mounting strength of extremist Sunni cells in Syria, Iraq and beyond that are pledging to bring jihad to Jerusalem can hardly be ignored.

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My Comment: With the entire region in turmoil .... who would not to have a "moat and castle" to protect themselves from this chaos.

We Are Entering A Phase Of 'Strategic Decisions'

U.S. President Barack Obama with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office in Washington, May 20, 2011. Photo by Reuters

A Trip Report From Israel: 'We Have Entered The Phase Of Strategic Decisions' -- John Hannah, Shadow Government/Foreign Policy

I recently returned from a trip to Israel. I met with a handful of very senior foreign policy and defense officials, but did not speak with any member of the "Forum of Eight" -- Israel's security cabinet that is responsible for key decisions concerning war and peace. With that important caveat, I thought I'd share several random impressions:

First, Israelis realize full well that they're in the middle of a geo-political hurricane. The pillars that have anchored their national security strategy for a generation are being washed away, swamped by a rising tide of Islamism.

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My Comment: A sobering and well thought essay. This is a must read on understanding what are Israel's strategic policy goals and objectives.

Is Israel Alone?

Go-It-Alone Outlook Now Shapes Israel's Security Policy -- L.A. Times

Its get-tough approach with the Palestinians, and now with Iran, is lauded by some. Others warn that Israel's foreign policy will come back to haunt it.

JERUSALEM — The traditional Passover retelling of Exodus was barely underway in 2002 when Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer got a note with news of the latest in a string of Palestinian suicide attacks that had terrorized Israel for two years.

He dashed to an emergency meeting of military commanders, all dressed in civilian clothes because they'd left their own Seder dinner tables upon hearing that 30 Israelis had been killed in the attack on the Park Hotel.

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My Comment: As long as I can remember .... Israel has always seen themselves alone .... even when they have received (and are receiving) continuous and considerable support from Western allies. A mindset that probably explains why the decision to do this was met with little opposition within Israel .... but a considerable amount outside.

Should Israel Be Concerned Over Fears Of A Second Holocaust?

Netanyahu (L) and Obama (Photo: Amos Ben Gershom, GPO)

Israel Fears Second Holocaust -- Andrew Sullivan, The Australian

PERHAPS the most revealing thing in Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington last week was the gift the Israeli Prime Minister gave the US President.

It was a copy of the Book of Esther, which is at the heart of the Jewish festival of Purim and recounts an ancient attack on Jews living under Persian rule.

According to Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper, Netanyahu explained the significance of his gift thus: "Then, too, they wanted to wipe us out."

This is the Manichean universe in which Netanyahu lives. He sincerely believes he is facing a second holocaust of the Jewish people and that this emergency requires an immediate pre-emptive war with unknown and unknowable consequences.

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My Comment: From a certain perspective these fears are not justified. Israel has a modern military, nuclear weapons, and the will to defend themselves. On the flip .... I do understand their fears of another Holocaust. My nationality is Russian, and Russians have a very strong fear of another dominant Germany in Europe .... especially worries of another World War within their country. For example .... if Germany should acquire nuclear weapons in the foreseeable future, I know that this would create such a strong and negative reaction back home that .... quite frankly .... anything would be possible, even though the Germany of today is nowhere what it was 75 years ago. But .... my viewpoint of a neutered Germany is still a small minority position in today's Russia.

Maybe in another generation .... or two .... or three .... the Israelis will forget about their Holocaust, and laugh at the rhetoric that comes from Iranian, Hamas, Hezbollah leaders .... but then again .... it may only fortify it.

Israel's Old Alliances Are Crumbling

Israel Watches Its Old Alliances Crumble -- The Telegraph

The overthrow of President Mubarak in Egypt, the estrangement of Turkey and a UN vote on Palestinian statehood combine to make an intractable set of problems.

Secluded in an emergency operations bunker, long after darkness had fallen to mark the start of the Sabbath last Friday, Israel’s most powerful men had become convinced that history was about to repeat itself.

Hundreds of miles away, six intelligence officers, detailed to protect Israel’s embassy in Cairo, had barricaded themselves in the building’s strongroom. A mob of hammer-wielding Egyptians were closing in. The rioters had already broken down two of the strongroom’s doors and were now hammering on the third. Three of the Israelis drew their guns, preparing for a last stand.

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Update #1: U.S. Scrambles to Ease Tension as Israel's Ties With Allies Erode -- FOX News
Update #2: Israel Fears Complete Isolation -- Spiegel Online

My Comment: Israel has always been isolated .... and what temporary alliances it had was with leaders whose own positions (we now know through hindsight) were precarious at best.

Palestine v. Nuclear Iran: Quid Pro Quo For Israel? -- A Commentary

From Captain's Quarters:

Rahm Emanuel’s ego is writing checks that our bank account can’t cash.

Thwarting Iran’s nuclear program is conditional on progress in peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, according to White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Israeli TV reports said Monday that Emanuel made the comments in a closed-door meeting the previous day with 300 major AIPAC donors.

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Israel’s Biggest Danger -- A Commentary

From Newsweek:

Today they're 20 percent of the country's population. Demographers predict they'll be 25 percent by 2025.

Even before a new coalition could emerge, Israel's latest election was historic. It marked the collapse of Labor, the party that can plausibly claim to have founded Israel and produced its most celebrated prime ministers, from David Ben-Gurion (as head of Labor's predecessor, Mapai), through Golda Meir to Yitzhak Rabin. The last vestige of old Labor is Shimon Peres, who—with fitting irony—is the country's president only because he quit the party. Israel's political spectrum is now dominated by three right-wing groups: Likud, Kadima (the Likud offshoot founded by Ariel Sharon) and Yisrael Beytenu, a party of Russian immigrants. But while most commentators focus on the future of the peace process and the two-state solution, a deeper and more existential question is growing within the heart of Israel.

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Israel's Choice -- A Commentary

From The American Thinker:

On 9-11, Americans were confronted with the spectacle of jumpers leaping to their deaths from the burning World Trade Centers in New York -- a demise of their own choosing momentarily preferable to succumbing as victims of smoke, flames and falling debris. It was a horrific unthinkable act that arose from the spontaneity of a desperate uncontrollable situation. At this point in history, Israel is facing such a dilemma as it seriously contemplates the consequences of a threatened nuclear attack from Iran. Does Israel act preemptively to potentially protect its territory and six million citizens and potentially precipitate a full-on regional conflict or anxiously wait while Iran inches closer to nuclear capabilities and follows through with its threats of "Death to Israel?"

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