Conflicting reports in Arab media pin blame on Israel, US, and UK after dozens killed at Iranian facilities in Syria.

By David Rosenberg, INN

At least 18 Iranian servicemen were killed in a series of explosions at military sites across Syria Sunday night, a state-run Iranian media outlet reported Monday.

Arab media outlets have issued conflicting reports Monday morning, blaming either Israel, or the US and UK for a series of explosions at military facilities in Syria believed to have been used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
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By David Israel, JP

Some 700 IDF officers and soldiers serving in reserve duty have signed a petition to Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and to the Army’s Central Command, demanding immediate removal of left-wing activists and anarchists involved in inciting violence in Judea and Samaria.

“Permanent activists of Israeli anarchist organizations arrive every week to confront and clash with security forces in Judea and Samaria, inciting the populace and participating in setting up roadblocks and in violent disturbances,” the petition says.
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By Bret Stephens, NYT

Adam Armoush is a 21-year-old Israeli Arab who, on a recent outing in Berlin, donned a yarmulke to test a friend’s contention that it was unsafe to do so in Germany. On Tuesday he was assaulted in broad daylight by a Syrian asylum-seeker who whipped him with a belt for being “yahudi” — Arabic for Jew. (Watch the video)

The episode was caught on video and has caused a national uproar. Heiko Maas, the foreign minister, tweeted, “Jews shall never again feel threatened here.”

It’s a vow not likely to be fulfilled. There were nearly 1,000 reported anti-Semitic incidents in Berlin alone last year. A neo-fascist party, Alternative for Germany, has 94 seats in the Bundestag. Last Thursday, a pair of German rappers won a prestigious music award, given largely on the basis of sales, for an album in which they boast of having bodies “more defined than Auschwitz prisoners.” The award ceremony coincided with Holocaust Remembrance Day.
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By Prof. Louis René Beres, BESA

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In the years ahead, Israel could face the growing prospect of WMD terrorism – i.e., attacks involving chemical, biological, or even nuclear weapons. In this connection, it is vital that Israeli officials do their utmost to prevent perfidious enemy manipulations of humanitarian international law. This is especially urgent with regard to enemy use of “human shields,” an illegal form of military deception that could be used to deter Israeli retaliation. Perfidy can originate with both state and sub-state foes, and could conceivably involve primitive nuclear devices such as “dirty bombs” (weapons that do not involve genuine chain reactions, but instead attach conventional explosives to fissile materials).
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By David Singer

Trump’s intention was revealed when the State Department released its annual “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017” (“Report”)  – renaming its segment previously entitled “Israel and The Occupied Territories” with a new descriptor – “Israel, Golan Heights, West Bank, and Gaza”.

Israel and the Golan Heights are dealt with together in one section of the Report – whilst the West Bank and Gaza are covered in another.
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Liberal American Jews “are not especially connected to Israel because they are not especially connected to being Jewish.”

By Ron Jager, INN

Now that the dust has settled and pundits have had their say on the issue of being within your rights to be critical of the Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu , now is the time to understand why being seen to be endorsing the State of Israel governed by Netanyahu has become impossible for Jewish liberals.

Actress Natalie Portman explained her decision to snub the prestigious Genesis prize in Jerusalem, also known as the “Jewish Nobel,” saying that she did not want her attendance to be seen as an endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She chose to boycott a ceremony which “honors individuals who have attained excellence and international renown in their chosen professional fields, and who inspire others through their engagement and dedication to the Jewish community and/or the State of Israel.”
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By Shimon Arad

INSS Insight No. 1047, April 29, 2018

In January 2018, the United States and Egypt signed a bilateral communications security agreement known as the Communications Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement (CISMOA), which protects and regulates the use of sensitive American avionics and communications systems. This development now allows, for the first time, the acquisition by Egypt of US-made high precision GPS-based air-to-ground weapon systems and components, as well as advanced air-to-air missiles.

Over the years, Israel’s concerns over the sale of large quantities of US weapon systems to Egypt were moderated by the quality cap dictated by the absence of a CISMOA agreement. Israel thus needs to raise this issue with Washington, within the context of the Qualitative Military Edge (QME) discussions. Given the unreliability of enduring stability in the Middle East, as exemplified by the events in Egypt since 2011, Israel should not disregard possible future scenarios in which its QME versus Egypt may matter. Based on the current convergence of security interests between Israel and Egypt, raising this issue with the US, though likely to upset Cairo, is not expected to undermine the practical manifestations of this relationship.
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Nothing wrong with US policy reflecting the majority in Israel

By Grace Wermenbal, JPOST

The annual human rights report released by the US State Department on Friday reflects a new, Trumpian Middle East policy. In a distinct shift from previous years, the State Department refrained from referring to the West Bank, Golan Heights, and Gaza Strip as “occupied territories,” as these areas are designated under UN Resolution 242 of 1967. The decision to favor the neutral terminology “Golan Heights, West Bank and Gaza” demonstrates the adoption of US Ambassador David Friedman’s policy views. Tacitly, the new terminology also indicates the administration’s close alignment with the Israeli Right, which has pushed forward legislation to annex West Bank settlements in recent months.
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Afterall, its our neck and our country on the line.

By Vic Rosenthal

I want a divorce. Not from my wife, whom I love dearly, but from the liberal and progressive American Jewish community. From those American Jews who believe that they have a special right to judge and advise the state of Israel because their parents were Jewish.

I have just finished reading a piece by Peter Beinart in the Forward which blames Israel for the condition of the population of Gaza! His article systematically distorts reality and ignores fundamental facts (e.g., that Hamas interdicts supplies of all kinds entering the strip and diverts them to military use; that Gaza has received massive amounts of international aid to fix infrastructure problems, but the money has disappeared into attack tunnels and rockets; and more). And of course, at the end of the article he introduces the clincher: “Trump and Netanyahu,” which never fails to trigger a progressive audience.
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By Abdulrahman Al-Rashed, ALSHARQ AL AWSAT

The eternal conflict with Tehran is pictured as a political dispute between the Iranian regime and the Gulf countries’ governments and Israel.

No one doubts the long history of this dispute, its roots and incidents but also the Tehran’s victims which include states and countries other than the Gulf.

The majority of the Lebanese people suffered more than any Arab state for a period of time from Iran’s domination and practices which include the Syrian occupation that remained in effect within the context of the alliance between Tehran and Damascus. Hezbollah is merely like an Iranian police unit in Lebanon that carries out the “duties” for which it was established and funded.
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Defense Minister says Israel is not concerned by Russia’s military presence in neighboring Syria.

Arutz Sheva

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said on Friday that Israel is not concerned by Russia’s military presence in neighboring Syria because Moscow is a “pragmatic actor” with whom deals can be struck.

“What is important to understand is that the Russians, they are very pragmatic players,” said Liberman during a discussion on the alliance between Russia, Syria and Iran at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, as quoted by AFP.

“At the end of the day, they are reasonable guys, it’s possible to close deals with them and we understand what is their interest,” added the Defense Minister.
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By JNi.Media

In the best tradition of the immortal headline, “It All Started When Israel Retaliated,” Amnesty International on Friday called for an arms boycott against Israel, which is “carrying out a murderous assault against protesting Palestinians, with its armed forces killing and maiming demonstrators who pose no imminent threat to them.”

“Over the last 11 years, civilians in the Gaza Strip have suffered the devastating consequences of Israel’s illegal blockade in addition to three wars,” AI explained, describing a world divided into innocent Arabs and murderous Israelis. “As a result, Gaza’s economy has sharply declined, leaving its population almost entirely dependent on international aid,” the AI explained, failing to note that Israel has been out of the Gaza Strip since 2005, and that the reason Israel is monitoring goods going into Gaza has to do with the ruling Hamas terror group’s use of these goods to dig terror tunnels, produce explosives and manufacture rockets – thousands of which it shot at Israeli civilians for three straight conflicts as well as on more limited opportunities in between.
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Where does Netanyahu stand on the explosive legislation that would weaken the bedrock of Israeli democracy? Stay tuned

By Yossi Verter, HAARETZ

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Olivier Fitoussi

The upcoming month – which a former director of Military Intelligence has described as the most dangerous May Israel will have faced since May of 1967 – also bears the potential for political-coalition upheavals. In fact, many are wondering which will come first: an escalation of tensions along the borders or an implosion of the government that will generate a general election. Of course, it’s possible that neither will happen and that we will experience containment on all fronts.
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Subterranean digging, a new generation of armored personnel carriers, aerial defense by remote control – we got a close look at the IDF’s responses to mounting tension on its borders

By Aluf Benn and Amos Harel, HAARETZ

The meeting with the commander of the Israel Defense Force’s Gaza Division, Brig. Gen. Yehuda Fuchs, was set to take place next to the Black Arrow monument, which is perched on a hill overlooking the Gaza Strip adjacent to Kibbutz Mefalsim. The site commemorates the reprisal raids in the 1950s, the army of Moshe Dayan and Arik Sharon, which is otherwise now relegated to the history books, holiday supplements in newspapers and courses dealing with the IDF’s legacy in battle. The monument bears the name of the paratroops operation in Gaza in which Aluf Horowitz was killed. One of the authors is named for Horowitz, his uncle; he now has his picture taken by the memorial plaque.
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Hezbollah has promised that ‘thousands’ of foreign Shiite fighters will deploy to Lebanon to fight Israel in a next war. And they’ll use conflict as cover to bring them into Lebanon – and they won’t leave

By David Daoud, HAARETZ

Tensions remain high between Israel and Iran. Tehran vows to avenge an Israeli strike killing its soldiers in Syria; Jerusalem intends to respond disproportionately to any Iranian retaliation. In the event of a direct clash leading to a larger conflagration, Hezbollah will join in and seize the opportunity to bring foreign Shi’ite fighters into Lebanon. Yet rather than using these reinforcements to defeat Israel’s army, it may be planning to entrench them in Lebanon, in effect conquering parts of the country, after a quick cease-fire ends its hostilities with Israel.
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T. Belman. Remember “Annex 3” of the JCPOA, which is about “Civil-Nuclear Cooperation.” The annex says we have to help Iran build up its program and protect it from “sabotage.”

While there may be many militiamen on Israel’s border, the situation is much more complex than the numbers alone suggest.

BY SETH J. FRANTZMAN, JPOST

There are 80,000 Shi’ite militiamen, trained and recruited by Iran, in Syria.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon showed a map Thursday at the UN, asserting that some of them were being trained several kilometers from Damascus. “They are trained to commit acts of terror in Syria and across the region,” he said.
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By Barry Shaw, TOI

ritain’s Jewish leadership met with Jeremy Corbyn, the man who is leading a Labour Party that is drenched in unbridled anti-Semitism, on April 24^th and came away “disappointed,” calling the two hour meeting a “missed opportunity.”

Their requests were straightforward. They wanted a fixed timetable to deal with the numerous anti-Semitism cases within the party. They particularly wanted to see affirmative action against Ken Livingstone and the suspended party activist, Jackie Walker. They demanded that no Member of Parliament should share a platform with somebody expelled or suspended for anti-Semitism. For the Labour Party to adopt in full the accepted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of Anti-Semitism. Transparency in their oversight of the disciplinary process, and the appointment of an independent ombudsman.  All their requests were refused by Corbyn.
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