T. Belman. So the US got Syria north of the Euphrates and Russia got the rest. The US should have insisted on getting the south adjacent to Jordan and Israel.

By Ben Caspit, AL MONITOR

Just over half a year after Donald Trump entered the White House, the first public dispute between him and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, i.e., Netanyahu, has surfaced. Israel opposes the cease-fire agreement in southern Syria, Netanyahu told reporters July 16, after a meeting in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron. Netanyahu argued that the agreement, announced by the United States and Russia July 7 at the G-20 meeting in Hamburg, Germany, perpetuates Iran’s presence in Syria.

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Al Monitor

As various international peace initiatives have sought a political solution to the Syrian crisis, the most recent tangible breakthrough came from someplace new. On July 9, the long-awaited meeting between the presidents of Russia and the United States took place on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, where the two sides reaffirmed a recently reached cease-fire for southern Syria.

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Political-Security Cabinet decides that magnetometers will remain at the entrance to the Temple Mount, reiterates commitment to status quo.

By Elad Benari, INN

The Political-Security Cabinet decided on Thursday night, after a four-hour meeting, that the magnetometers will remain at the entrance to the Temple Mount as part of the new security measures at the compound.

The Cabinet also authorized the police to make every decision “in order to ensure free access to the holy places, while maintaining security and public order” on the Temple Mount.

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AIPAC Proclaims It Supports Israel’s Policies- Yet Isn’t Supporting Taylor Force Anti-Terror Bill or Jews in Judea/Samaria- Both Israel Supports

ZOA

Whenever I’ve asked AIPAC’s top leadership why AIPAC took certain positions or remained silent on issues that were important to Israel’s rights or security, AIPAC’s leadership always stated to me that AIPAC supported those positions that the Israeli government supported.  That’s why, AIPAC explained, they reversed course from opposing negotiations with terrorist Yasser Arafat to supporting it and the Oslo Accords, and supporting the unilateral expulsion of Jews from their homes in Gaza and a Palestinian State.

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By MARTIN SHERMAN

Even after seven decades living under Israeli sovereignty, and over half a century after military rule over the Arab population was abolished, anti-Israel enmity is alive and kicking among Israeli Arabs

Extending Israeli sovereignty over Judea-Samaria (and eventually over the Gaza Strip) is indeed a necessary condition for ensuring the ability of Israel to endure as the nation state of the Jewish people. It is, however, not a sufficient condition to ensure that worthy objective.  In fact, without additional complementary measures, such an initiative on its own is very likely to imperil Jewish sovereignty over the Land of Israel…in its entirety on both sides of the pre -1967 Green Line. “The Humanitarian Paradigm”, Sovereignty Journal (No. 8), March, 2017.

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The secret is out: the ascension of Mohammad bin Salman, displacing CIA favorite Mohammad bin Nayef as Crown Prince, was in fact a white coup

By Pepe Escobar, ASIA TIMES

What has been an open secret across the Arab world is not a secret anymore even in the US: What happened last month in the deep recesses of the House of Saud with the ascension of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, aka MBS, was in fact a white coup.

Nearly a month ago, as I’ve written elsewhere, a top Middle East source close to the House of Saud told me: “The CIA is very displeased with the firing of [former Crown Prince] Mohammad bin Nayef. Mohammad bin Salman is regarded as sponsoring terrorism. In April 2014 the entire royal families of the UAE and Saudi Arabia were to be ousted by the US over terrorism. A compromise was worked out that Nayef would take over running the kingdom to stop it.”

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T. Belman. Israel should stick to their guns and detectors. We must show them we are the sovereign. This compromise is ridiculous. Its sole purpose is to undermine our authority.

Five IDF battalions put on alert ahead of weekly prayers, as Israel braces for clashes in Jerusalem and the West Bank

By Judah Ari Gross, TOI

Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the US are reportedly upping the pressure on Israel to remove metal detectors newly installed at the entrances to Jerusalem’s Temple Mount complex by Friday.

An unnamed Palestinian official told London-based Saudi newspaper Asharq al-Awsat that Amman and Riyadh, via Washington, have been urging Israel to roll back the new security measures — put in place in the wake of a deadly shooting attack last week — before masses of Muslim worshipers head to the holy site for their weekly prayers.

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IMRA
By Nino Levy, PhD, Professor of Systems Engineering

At first glance, the article “Poland to buy US Patriot system with Israeli-made David’s Sling missiles” by Udi Etzion, published on 09.07.17 (Ynet News) looks like excellent news for Israel, for its defense industry and as a source of pride for the Israeli people.

In fact, it proves the disastrous effect of the long-standing addiction of all Israeli administrations to the “generous American foreign military aid”.

Israel did not need American knowhow to develop “David’s Sling” or the Arrow missile defense systems. The Israeli defense industry is perfectly competent do this on its own, as demonstrated by the successful development of “Barak 8”, “Iron Dome” or the “Phalcon” AWACS system.

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T. Belman. Actually the opposite is the case. The more they have hope for their cause of destroying Israel, the more the terrorism. When they despair they lack the will to fight. Many authors and politicians have made this point.

Daniel Pipes’ Victory Caucus embraces that the idea that there must be total defeat to achieve total despair in order to impose conditions.

The cycle of violence: Hope won’t help
Op-ed: The claims that giving Palestinians hope will bring an end to violence are delusional.

Tillerson must go. He is pure State Department.

by Jordan Schachtel, CONSERVATIVE REVIEW

Rex Tillerson’s State Department added blistering anti-Israel language to this year’s “Country Reports on Terrorism,” adopting a tone not seen even during the hostile Obama era.

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Israel categorically opposes the ceasefire agreement reached by the US and Russia as it will give an opportunity for Iran to expand its presence in the region

TASS July 18

MOSCOW, July 18. /TASS/. The ceasefire agreement in southern Syria reached by Moscow and Washington will not be revoked only because Israel’s fears, and it would be more reasonable for Israel to find a way “to live with this” instead of coming down on this agreement, a senior Russian parliamentarian wrote on his Facebook page on Monday.

Israel categorically opposes the ceasefire agreement reached by the US and Russia as it will give an opportunity for Iran to expand its presence in the region, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper said on Sunday citing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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by John Bolton

The heavy water reactor in Arak, Iran. Photo: Nanking2012 via Wikimedia Commons.

For the second time during the Trump administration, the State Department has reportedly decided to certify that Iran is complying with its 2015 nuclear deal with the UN Security Council’s five permanent members and Germany, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”).

If true, it will be the administration’s second unforced error regarding the JCPOA. Over the past two years, considerable information detailing Tehran’s violations of the deal have become public, including: exceeding limits on uranium enrichment and production of heavy water; illicit efforts at international procurement of dual-use nuclear and missile technology; and obstructing international inspection efforts (which were insufficient to begin with).

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By Dr Col Moshe Elad, ISRAEL HAYOM

When Jordanian King Abdullah’s great-grandfather, after whom he was named, was murdered in July 1951 in exactly the same place where two Israeli policemen were murdered last Friday, then-Jordanian Prime Minister Tawfik Abu al-Huda declared a state of emergency in east Jerusalem, including its places of worship, and treated the city’s residents with an iron fist.

Those who expected the current king to be remotely mindful — even just from a humanitarian standpoint — of the fact that the stone pavement was still wet with the blood of murdered Staff Sgts. Maj. Haiel Sitawe and Kamil Shnaan when he demanded the Temple Mount compound be “reopened quickly,” were surely left disappointed. Instead, he prodded Israel to reopen the holy site without delay and, as usual, we acquiesced to his demands. Why? Because Jordan is a strategic asset.

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Police arrest a demonstrator during scuffles at Lions Gate; holy site reopened to non-Muslims after closure over Jewish prayer

BY DOV LIEBER AND ALEXANDER FULBRIGHT, TOI

Clashes between Muslim protesters and Israeli police erupted Wednesday at one of the entrances to Jerusalem’s Old City for the fourth day in a row over new security measures at the Temple Mount following a recent terror attack.

Around 150-200 worshipers had gathered neared the Lions Gate and performed the afternoon prayer, as part of their protest against the placement of metal detectors at the Temple Mount’s gates.

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Israeli Prime Minister heard in private conversation saying Europe not sure whether it wants to survive or disappear. ‘Close your borders.’

By David Rosenberg, INN

A private conversation between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and four central and eastern European leaders was accidently transmitted to journalists outside of the meeting, when Netanyahu forgot to remove a microphone he was wearing.

Israeli Premier was speaking with the leaders of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic on Wednesday, discussing the future of the European Union, the EU’s ties with Israel, the Trump administration, and Israeli concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear aspirations.

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DEBKA

Russian army units are preparing to move into the Syrian town of Quneitra in the coming days and take up positions opposite the Syrian-Israeli Golan border, DEBKAfile reports exclusively from military sources. Their function is to police the second zone of southwestern Syria designated for ceasefire by Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin when they met in Hamburg on July 7.

Quneitra is just 5km from Israel’s border and the line of IDF positions defending it.

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New lobby seeks to end UNRWA policy of incitement and perpetuating Arab refugee status for generations.

By Gary Willig, INN

A new Knesset lobby calling for the reform of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) will be launched this week.

The Knesset Lobby for UNRWA Policy Reform, which is chaired by MK Sharren Haskel (Likud), will hold its first session tomorrow (Wednesday) in the Likud Conference Room in the Knesset.

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