Tag: Middle East

Bennett sworn in as prime minister, unseating Netanyahu after 12 years in power

Raoul Wootliff – June 13, 2021

In a history-making vote, Israel’s 36th government was sworn in at the Knesset on Sunday, installing Yamina chair Naftali Bennett as prime minister and ousting Benjamin Netanyahu after 12 years of consecutive rule as premier.

MKs voted by a wafer-thin 60-59 in favor of the new government, made up of right-wing, left-wing, centrist, and Islamist parties that came together to oust Netanyahu and end two years of political deadlock.

One MK, Ra’am’s Saeed al-Harumi, abstained from the vote, in a protest centered on the demolition of Bedouin homes in the Negev. Three MKs from the predominantly Arab Joint List — Ayman Odeh, Ahmad Tibi and Osama Saadi — stayed out of the chamber until the votes were initially counted, ready to abstain if necessary to ensure the coalition was elected, but entered to vote against once it was clear that the required simple majority was assured.

Immediately following the confidence vote, members of Netanyahu’s government vacated the seats on the government table in the Knesset plenum, with Netanyahu leaving the prime minister’s chair.

Passing Bennett, the now-former prime minister shook his successor’s hand in a symbol of the peaceful transition of power. Earlier in the session, Netanyahu had derided Bennett in a speech as a fraudster unfit for office, and Netanyahu-loyalist MKs had heckled Bennett through his address introducing his government and setting out its plans.

Following the nail-biting vote, Bennett was sworn in as prime minister, as were his new government colleagues. His election represents the first time that Israel has been led by a religiously observant, kippa-wearing prime minister. He is also the leader of the smallest faction ever to appoint a prime minister, as his Yamina has a mere seven MKs, one of whom, MK Amichai Chikli, voted against the new government.

Bennett, 49, is also Israel’s second-youngest prime minister — the record for youngest stays with Netanyahu, who was just 46 the first time he assumed the role in 1996.

https://www.timesofisrael.com

WATCH: Palestinians Riot Again at Al-Aqsa Mosque; Israeli Police Enter Compound

Joel B. Pollak – May 21, 2021

Palestinians rioted again Friday at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, hurling stones and incendiary devices, and Israeli police enter the Temple Mount compound to stop the violence and disperse them– the same pattern that the Hamas Palestinian terrorist group used as a pretext to launch a war with Israel two weeks ago.

Video of the confrontations emerged, with anti-Israel media falsely claiming Israel had attacked “worshipers” at the mosque — which, despite being an Islamic holy site, is used as a base for rioters.

The Times of Israel noted that Hamas had called for a “day of rage” at the Temple Mount. 15 Palestinians were reported injured.

The Jerusalem Post reported:

Israel Police clashed with Palestinians on the Temple Mount on Friday afternoon, firing tear gas and rubber bullets, according to Palestinian media.

Israel Police stated that a riot broke out on the Temple Mount with hundreds of youth who threw stones and Molotov cocktails at police officers. Jerusalem District police commander Doron Turgeman ordered police to enter the Temple Mount and handle the rioters near the police station, while allowing those not involved to leave the Temple Mount.

False claims about Israel “attacking” the mosque two weeks ago, on the last Friday of Ramadan, inflamed Muslim public opinion throughout the world, and were hyped by anti-Israel critics in general.

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the Israeli people for their “resilience” in the conflict.

https://www.breitbart.com

Israel Strikes Gaza Tunnels, Palestinian Rocket Attacks Persist

Newsmax – May 14, 2021

Israel fired artillery and mounted extensive air strikes on Friday against a network of Palestinian militant tunnels under Gaza, amid persistent rocket attacks on Israeli towns.

The largest Israeli operation against a specific target since the conflict began included 160 aircraft as well as tanks and artillery firing from outside the Gaza Strip, Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said.

Rocket barrages against southern Israel swiftly followed the 40-minute pre-dawn offensive on the fifth day of the most serious fighting between Israel and Gaza militants since 2014.

A woman and her three children were killed in Gaza, health officials in the north of the enclave said, and their bodies were recovered from the rubble of their home. An elderly woman in Israel died while on her way to a shelter to shield from the rocket attacks.

Gaza’s ruling Hamas group launched the rocket attacks at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv in retaliation for Israeli police clashes with Palestinians near Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

At least 119 people have been killed in Gaza, including 31 children and 19 women, and 830 others wounded, Palestinian medical officials said.

The death toll in Israel stood at eight: a soldier patrolling the Gaza border, six Israeli civilians — including two children — and an Indian worker, Israeli authorities said.

https://www.newsmax.com

Iran is just 3-4 months from breakout, says Israeli intel. Who’s to stop it?

Debkafiles – April 23, 2021

Israel’s three security kingpins go to Washington next week to try and modify, if not halt, the Biden administration’s race for a nuclear pact with Iran. Mossad director Yossi Cohen, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, and national security adviser Mair Ben-Shabbat will not arrive as a delegation but separate and make tracks for their counterparts at the top of American military, intelligence and national security organizations. Unlike in 2015, Israel will not go face to face against the administration as it did over Barack Obama’s initiative to conclude the original nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers. Instead, the government in Jerusalem hopes to modify the finished product by inserting clauses that meet Israel’s most pressing security concerns and the threats that may be left open by the deal. The three officials will try and persuade the administration to accommodate those vital adjustments and talk down its fears of rejection by Tehran.

Washington, for its part, while not sharing the current state of its indirect dialogue with Tehran, is also making an effort to calm Israel’s concerns. On Monday, April 19, US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas Greenfield, stated: “The Biden administration will support Israel as it works to counter the threats posed by Iran’s aggressive behavior.” She was responding to Israel’s unease over possible premature sanctions relief by the US for keeping Iran at the table and the ongoing Vienna talks for reviving the 2015 nuclear accord afloat. For Iran, this is a major talking point. The release of frozen funds, following the example set by Obama, will enable Tehran to boost its support for proxies hostile to Israel like the Lebanese Hizballah, Iraqi Shiite militias and the Houthi insurgents of Yemen.

Israel’s apprehension was reinforced when President Hassan Rouhani commented on Tuesday, April 20: “Negotiations have achieved 60-70 percent progress. If the Americans act honestly, we will reach a conclusion in little time.” The US State Department spokesman Ned Price stepped in to cool this sentiment by saying: “There have been no breakthroughs and a long road lies ahead.”

DEBKAfile’s military sources note that for Israel, all this palaver is beside the point.  Rouhani needs to sound upbeat to offer a ray of hope to a population sunk in a welter of disastrous crises. The Biden administration wants to convey the impression that there is a long way to go for nuclear negotiations and the US is in no hurry to hand out concessions to Iran.

But Israel’s overriding focus is on Iran’s furtive advance on its objective. According to its intelligence services, Iran hs been creeping forward to breakout time for a nuclear weapon and reached a point no more than 3-4 months away from this target.

https://www.debka.com

Israel shifts focus to Tehran’s sea bridge, strikes Guards ship in the Red Sea

Debkafiles – April 7, 2021

A US official told The New York Times that Israel had informed Washington of an attack by its forces on the IRGC-flagged Saviz in the Red Sea on Tuesday, April 6, in reprisal for Iranian strikes against its merchant vessels. The target was a floating IRGC intelligence base stationed between Eritrea and Yemen.

No comment has come from Israel to this report. The official said the ship had been hit below the water line. Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said that the large ship was hit by limpet mines; the IRGC blamed Israel on social media. Located at a strategic Red Sea choke point, the ship which has been stationary for two years can provide a constant flow of real-time intelligence on maritime traffic and military vessels. Uniformed men have been seen onboard the ship, and on the deck are small launch boats that are commonly used by the IRGC.

The incident highlights five points, noted here by DEBKAfile’s analysts:

  1. The Saviz was in position for gathering intelligence relevant to any planned Iranian sea or land Red Sea region aggression, including Israeli or Saudi coastal targets.
  2. The Biden administration jumped the gun in publicizing Israel’s role in the attack for its own ends. It coincided with the opening of the first indirect talks between the US and Iran, brokered by the EU in Vienna and through back channels to revive the 2025 nuclear deal, to which Israel strongly objects. US officials released the story as a warning to Israel not to spoil the diplomatic track.
  3. Iran, normally cagy or slow to acknowledge Israeli military strikes, got in fast with a cursory report by Tanzim.
  4. All this indicates a tidal shift in the tactics used in the Israel-Iranian conflict. Most significantly, the focus has moved from Israel’s campaign to wipe out Iran’s land bridge through Syria to a drive to disrupt its oceanic bridge through the Red Sea.
  5. The Saviz attack substantially notched up the intensity of the conflict.  Most of the sea attacks until now involved civilian shipping. Israel reportedly struck a row of Iranian Syria-bound oil tankers in the Mediterranean in 2019 and last month. This year, Iran hit two Israeli merchant vessels in the Mediterranean and Gulf of Oman. But this time, the target was military, a ship called in a US report a “covert IRGC forward base.

https://www.debka.com

Iran fired missile at Israeli ship in Arabian Sea – report

EVE YOUNG – March 25, 2021

An Iranian missile was fired at an Israeli ship in the Arabian Sea, hitting and damaging it, N12 reported Thursday.

The container ship is owned by an Israeli businessman and was making its way to Tanzania from India, it reported.As the ship sailed between India and Oman, it was hit by a missile and damaged, the report said.

The incident was reported to Israeli security officials and to the ship’s owners. The  ship will continue on its way to India, where the damage will be assessed, N12 reported.

Israeli security officials are examining the possible implications of the incident and estimate that it could mean Iran intends to attack more Israeli ships, the report said.

The ship is owned by Haifa-based XT Management, it said.

Iran was also the main suspect behind an attack in late February on the Israeli-owned cargo vessel MV Helios Ray, which was damaged by a mysterious explosion in the Gulf of Oman.

https://www.jpost.com

Iran piles on aggression, emboldened by US-Saudi-Israel restraint

Debkafiles – March 9, 2021

US goodwill gestures and warning signals have clearly lost their punch for Iran – even when backed by the mighty US B-52 bombers flying over their heads. After dozens of attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent weeks, Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi rebels outdid themselves on Sunday, March 8 by sending 14 armed drones and 8 ballistic missiles flying toward the Saudi petrol tank farm at Ras Tanura, one of the largest oil shipping ports in the world, and the residential area of Dharan that houses foreign oil workers, including Americans.  A gag order from Riyadh concealed the scale of injuries and damage. (See attached picture.)

On the same day, two heavy nuclear-capable US B-52 Stratofortress bombers made a round trip to the Gulf and back to home base, escorted through the skies of the region by British, Israel, Saudi and Qatari warplanes. This was the heavy bomber’s seventh mission over the Gulf and the second since Joe Biden took office as president.

In sharp contrast to actions set in motion from Tehran, America’s answer to the Yemeni attack on Saudi Arabia scarcely resonated. State Department spokesman Ned Price called it “unacceptable and dangerous, and put civilians at risk, including Americans.” He added, “They need to stop attacking and start negotiating.”

But Iran’s Yemeni proxy was clearly on the march even after the Biden administration made the gesture of lifting the terror designation and halting arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

The template for America’s non-response to devastating Iranian-instigated attacks on Saudi Arabia was set in September, 2019, when the Saudis’ main oilfields at Abqaig and Khurais were hit squarely and precisely by the same mix of drones and ballistic missiles. The attack, which cut Saudi oil production by half, was launched jointly by Yemeni Houthis in the south and pro-Iranian Iraqi Shiite militias from the north.

Not content with instigating a major assault on Saudi Arabia, Iranian officials also on Sunday had strong words for Israel too. Defense Minister Amir Hatami threatened to raze Tel Aviv and Haifa to the ground if Israel conducted a pre-emptive attack on Iran. Since this threat has become a constant, Hatami reinforced it by saying that, this time, he had orders from supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to translate those words into an active operation.

https://www.debka.com

Israel Getting Ready to ‘Take Action’ to Stop Iran From Going Nuclear, Defence Minister Says

Sputnik News – February 26, 2021

Joe Biden’s campaign promise to get the US back into the Iran nuclear deal has yet to bear fruit, with Washington demanding that Tehran reduce its enrichment activities first. In the meantime, media reports suggest that Israel – the Middle East’s only alleged nuclear weapons state, is engaged in major construction at its Dimona research facility.

The Israeli military is “currently working to build up” its forces “and is preparing itself for any scenario, including one in which we would need to take operational action to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons,” Defence Minister Benny Gantz said, his remarks cited by the Times of Israel.

Gantz, who also serves as Israel’s alternate prime minister, said the military preparations were being taken in parallel with Tel Aviv’s diplomatic efforts to pressure the Biden administration into modifying the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Iran nuclear deal, if not scrapping it entirely.

“We all need to make sure that if an agreement is signed with Iran, it will be one that ends its nuclear project, enables long-term effective oversight and inspection, and puts a stop to Iranian entrenchment in Syria, Yemen and Iraq,” the minister said.

Iran maintains that it has no intention of pursuing nuclear weapons, and has warned both the Trump and Biden administrations that it will not accept any effort to modify the terms of the JCPOA in any way. The US has a binary choice – take the deal or leave it, according to Tehran.

https://sputniknews.com

A “Biblical” Invasion Of Locusts Threatens To Cause Widespread Famine In The Horn Of Africa

– February 21, 2021

The locusts are back, and they are hungry.  Last year, an unprecedented plague of locusts devastated crops in eastern Africa, across the Middle East and throughout much of Asia.  Many were hoping that it would just be a one year phenomenon, but now the locusts have returned and one British news source is using the world “biblical” to describe this second wave.  At this moment, the Horn of Africa is being hit the hardest, and the UN is warning that this new infestation “threatens the livelihoods of more than 39 million people”…

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the next generation of locusts threatens the livelihoods of more than 39 million people in Ethiopia, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan, and Kenya. Over recent months, the pests have been combated on 1.3 million hectares of land in the Horn of Africa. However, in northern and central Kenya, more than 15 districts, including many new areas, have already been severely affected by the second wave of locusts. Around 1.9 million people were already living in a precarious nutrition situation, which could now dramatically worsen.

One reporter recently had the opportunity to fly with a pilot that is tracking locust swarms in Kenya, and he was stunned when they came across a “swarm about twice the size of the City of London ready to devour every bit of vegetation in its wake”.

Can you imagine what it must be like for local farmers when millions upon millions of locusts suddenly show up in their area?

These locusts can literally wipe out an entire farm in as little as 30 seconds, and these swarms are capable of traveling vast distances in a single day…

Swarms can fly up to 150 kilometres a day with the wind, and a single square kilometre swarm can eat as much food in a day as 35,000 people.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com

Israel Defense Forces to Plan Attack on Iran’s Nuclear Program

Amanda Casanova – January 15, 2021

The Israel Defense Forces is reportedly planning an attack on Iran’s nuclear program.

According to the Israel Hayom Daily, the IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi has asked for three proposals to take down Iran’s nuclear program. The newspaper said one of the proposals is a military effort, but also an expensive option.

The Times of Israel reports that Iran has increased the enriching of uranium to a 20 percent concentration last week. In 2015, a nuclear deal capped the enriching of uranium to a 4.5 percent concentration, the BBC reports.

Low-enriched uranium, between 3 to 5 percent concentration, is used to make fuel for commercial power plants. Concentrations of 20 percent and more is largely used in research reactors, and concentrations of 90 percent and more are considered weapons-grade uranium.

Likud minister Tzachi Hanegbi said recently that Israel could attack Iran’s nuclear program if the United States rejoins the nuclear deal, an agreement that US President-elect Joe Biden has said he plans to approve.

“If the United States government rejoins the nuclear deal — and that seems to be the stated policy as of now — the practical result will be that Israel will again be alone against Iran, which by the end of the deal will have received a green light from the world, including the United States, to continue with its nuclear weapons program,” Hanegbi said in an interview with Kan news.

Former president Barack Obama signed the Iranian nuclear deal with world powers in 2015, but in 2018, President Donald Trump withdrew from the accord and imposed economic sanctions on Iran.

Biden has indicated that he would negotiate with Tehran if Washington returns to the deal, and Iran has said it would welcome the return of the Americans to the deal, but only after the economic sanctions are lifted.

https://www.christianheadlines.com