https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2020/04/generation-jihad-ep-5-banned-in-pakistan.php

Israel warns Hezbollah over its recent activity in Syria
A recent series of incidents between Israel and Hezbollah has increased the likelihood of renewed conflict between the two foes.

​The message behind Israel’s drone attack
Hezbollah is on edge as Israel continues its drone war in Lebanon.

Arrests in Germany highlight reach of Islamic State’s Central Asian network
German prosecutors announced last week that four alleged ISIS members were arrested and charged with planning attacks against U.S. military facilities. The four are from Tajikistan, a Central Asian country ISIS has long targeted for its recruiting efforts.

Al Qaeda, Islamic State strike across the Sahel
The two jihadist groups continue their rampage in Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.

Who Runs Iran’s Propaganda Machine Abroad

Ex-Mossad official: Iran nuke submarine idea cover for uranium enrichment
Tehran losing Gaza influence  Read More...

Iran Seeks to Block Investigation of January’s Ukrainian Airliner Cras

India and Pakistan Exchange Fire with Sameer Lalwani

Is the Infantry Brigade Combat Team Becoming Obsolete? by Daniel Vazquez

The Islamic Revolution vs. Donald Trump
​Iran and Ayatollah Khamenei are more influential today than at any time since 1979.

Iran vs. Trump: Suleimani’s Legacy, and Khamenei’s Ambitions
​The supreme leader and Trump may well end the long-running, region-defining clash. We just don't know yet quite how.

The Israel Defense Forces on Friday accused the Syrian army of helping the Hezbollah terror group establish a permanent military presence on the Golan Heights, releasing video footage showing a senior Syrian officer visiting the region. – Times of Israel

WINEP’s Farzin Nadimi and IITV's Hamdi Malik: Qaani’s surprise visit to Baghdad and the future of the PMF

Michael Rubin writes: Whereas just a few months ago, most Iranians were indifferent to their government’s outreach to China and the growing Chinese presence in Iran, that too will likely change as suspicion of China and the Chinese will likely taint government outreach. Russia will always have a greater stigma within Iranian society than China, but no longer will Tehran be able to sell its turn toward Beijing as cost-free. That will not mean that Iranian leaders would abandon their eastern strategy, but even ardent regime Islamists recognize the potency of grassroots Iranian nationalism and will think twice about openly crossing it. – The National Interest

Secrecy, denial, and incompetence have condemned thousands of Iranians to their deaths amid the coronavirus. In a National Interest op-ed, Michael Rubin argues that if the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps is at the forefront of the Iranian fight against COVID-19, the coronavirus will likely erode Iran military readiness. Even if Iranian leaders now adopt best practices, it is likely too late to control the virus’ continued spread in Tehran meaningfully.  Continue here.

ICYMI: Last December, Hal Brands, Kenneth Pollack, and Steven Cook noted in Foreign Policy that President Trump sees himself as a leader who shatters generations of conventional wisdom in US foreign policy. In the case of Iran, he is right. And unless the president changes course, he will usher in a brave new era in US relations with the Persian Gulf — one that may well help Iran claim its long-sought ascendancy in that region and leave Americans longing for the good old days of the Carter Doctrine. Read more here.

Iran deploys missiles covering the Strait of Hormuz

COVID-19, the oil price war, and the remaking of the Middle East
The geoeconomics and geopolitics of the world are in free fall because of COVID-19, the oil price war, and a severe economic shutdown. For the Middle East and the Gulf monarchies in particular, the oil price war against Russia and U.S. shale and the shutdown of economies around the world have increased the pressure on the Gulf’s already-depleted financial resources, which usually act as a safety valve for the turbulent region. 
Read article

Evidence suggests that Iran has deployed an array of anti-ship missiles and large rockets overlooking Strait of Hormuz. The Strait is vital for the supply of oil from the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. The waterway is being patrolled by U.S. Navy and its allies to protect vessels from Iranian action. – Forbes

China’s Strategic Assessment of Afghanistan by Yun Sun

AEI’s Michael Rubin: Pakistan is showing U.S. enemies how to defeat America

HOOVER

MEMRI’s Steven Stalinsky: What jihadists are saying about the coronavirus

Jonathan E. Hillman and Maesea McCalpin write: Facing a harsher economic environment, however, China and Pakistan may be forced to make additional tradeoffs between completing energy and transportation projects that were started during the first phase and focusing on these areas. Canceling more big-ticket projects could be financially wise but politically challenging given the CPEC’s symbolic importance to Xi’s signature foreign policy vision. But if Pakistan does not carefully steer the Belt and Road’s flagship during the next five years, it could find itself scrambling for the lifeboats. – Center for Strategic and International Studies ​

Australia’s Big Stake in India’s Military Reorganization by David Brewster

Farahnaz Ispahani writes: The Pakistani government, responding to international outrage at the court decision, has announced that it will go into appeal and will not free Mohammed. But those who know how things in Pakistan really work know that the stage has likely been set for another murderer’s freedom. – Washington Examiner

Syria's Chemical Arsenal: A U.S.-British Row over Assad's Weapons?
by Wyn Bowen and Matthew Moran
Middle East Quarterly
Spring 2020 (view PDF)
https://www.meforum.org/60502/syrias-wmd-a-us-british-ro

Mohsen Rezaee, secretary of the Iranian regime’s Expediency Council whose members are appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and whose role it is to advise him, published an article on April 2, 2020 via the Fars news agency. In the article, Rezaee, who is also a former commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), discussed the ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic for the world. – Middle East Media Research Institute 

Four decades since its Islamic Revolution made it a pariah, Tehran has cobbled together one of the world’s most bizarre air forces—a combination of rebuilt U.S.-supplied planes dating from the 1970s plus homegrown designs of highly varying value and, most strangely of all, scores of aircraft essentially stolen from Iraq after they fled to Iran to escape American attack during the 1991 Gulf War. – The National Interest

Amos Yadlin and Ari Heistein write: The urgency of the situation at hand should not cause us to lose sight of the broader strategic picture. Humanitarian assistance to the Iranian people is a moral necessity at this time, but it would be preposterous to entrust such aid without adequate oversight to the very government which is responsible for murdering thousands of its own citizens as well as tens of thousands more throughout the region. – Times of Israel 

Ilan Berman writes: It would also indicate that, notwithstanding the rhetoric of regime officials and policymakers, the Islamic Republic is not actually persevering in its battle with the disease. To the contrary, the statistics suggest that the country is slowly succumbing to it, even as authorities hide the true extent of the health crisis from both the international community and their own captive population. – Radio Farda 
​
Rahim Hamid and Mostafa Hetteh write: If international bodies do not condemn these atrocities, the regime will see the international preoccupation with coronavirus as a way to mask its abuse of prisoners and refusal to prevent mass infections within its prison systems in Ahwaz and throughout Iran. So far, those released in amnesty have masked Iran’s continued human rights abuses against those political prisoners still trapped in Iran’s jails. In the midst of a crisis, the international community must take this opportunity to pressure Iran on this crucial issue. – Washington Institute 

Hussein Ibish writes: But Iran still has a trump card in Iraq: the Shiite sectarian militia groups collectively known as the Popular Mobilization Forces. Using them to attack the U.S. provides that military leverage with a degree of plausible deniability. […]Moreover, Iran needs the PMF groups to consolidate their position within the Iraqi political structure and fend off a potential pro-U.S. prime minister. – Bloomberg ​

Jordan is in discussions with the IMF seeking to change some of the objectives of a four-year programme of structural reforms because of the negative impact of the coronavirus on the aid-dependent economy, the central bank governor said on Tuesday. […]The kingdom’s economy has suffered since it closed its borders nearly a month ago, followed by a tight lockdown that has shuttered businesses and paralysed public life. – Reuters 
​
Algeria, under pressure to find new sources of finance, set up a religious body in charge of Islamic finance on Tuesday in a final step towards launching sharia-compliant services. […]The government is targeting local savers rather than foreign investors as many Algerians distrust the country’s state banks and prefer to keep large sums of money at home. – Reuters 

Ramy Aziz writes: The question of growing Russian and, to a lesser extent, Chinese influence in North Africa is not a new issue, but the visible fissures within the European Union given the strain of coronavirus also suggest a potential shift in its attitudes towards conflicts in the Middle East where the EU and Russia have clashed. As Europe struggles, Italy may be inclined to support—or at least remain neutral on—increased Russian and Chinese influence in countries like Libya and Syria. – Washington Institute ​

Leak Reveals Jihadists’ Weakening Grip in Syria’s Idlib by Sam Heller

Can Saudi Arabia win the oil price war?
Nikolay Kozhanov

MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE Winter 2019 Issue

U.S. Must Be Wary as Iran’s Parliament Veers Hard Right
Nicholas Carl 
Principlists—often called hardliners in the West—are regaining influence in key institutions and trying to undermine so-called moderates. Iran will likely transition from relative moderates to principlists controlling all three branches of government by mid-2021. Expanding hardliner control will facilitate increasingly aggressive and authoritarian Iranian behavior while exacerbating economic turmoil and domestic dissent.
Read the full article here.

• ​The al Houthi Movement
  
• The Salafi-Jihadi Movement in Yemen

Last month marked five years since the start of the Saudi-led coalition air campaign in Yemen. The Critical Threats Project has closely tracked Yemen since before the current conflict began. Included below are recommended reads to deepen your understanding of Yemen and the ongoing war.

• Yemen File: 2019 in Review | December 2019
• Questions for the Record: Taking the Lead Back in Yemen | Katherine Zimmerman | April 2019
• Yemen’s anti-al Houthi coalition is collapsing, and America’s Gulf partners are partially to blame | James Barnett | August 2019
• A New Model for Defeating al Qaeda in Yemen | Katherine Zimmerman | September 2015
• Yemen's Pivotal Moment | Katherine Zimmerman | February 2014

A new generation lays its predecessors' ghosts to rest
In Al-Monitor's latest longform, we look at young people throughout the Mideast who have been at the forefront of efforts to turn the page on decades of sclerotic and rigged politics in favor of a more democratic alternative.

Iraq’s president taps intelligence chief to form new government
Iraqi President Barham Salih has appointed Mustafa al-Kadhimi, director of Iraq's National Intelligence Service, as Iraq's next prime minister-designate after Adnan Al-Zurfi withdrew his candidacy.

​Gregg Roman writes: Annexation can be seen as a step towards ending the deadlock between the parties. It should be the pressure to place on Palestinian leaders to acknowledge that they will not defeat Israel as the national homeland of the Jewish People. It will show the Palestinians that rejectionism has consequences and force them to give up longstanding violent aims. Most of all, it will fulfill the vision of Israeli leaders — from the left, right, and center, such as Rabin, Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon — who understood implicitly that Israel will always retain the settlements and the Jordan Valley. It is time to take them off the table. – The Hill

Pompeo to Israel: A Scene Sette

The American Public and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, 2000-2020
By Prof. Eytan Gilboa, May 11, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Data and analysis of surveys of American public opinion on three issues—views of Israel vs. the Palestinian Authority, sympathies with the two sides, and support for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state—reveal that from 2000 to 2020, Americans have consistently viewed Israel favorably and the Palestinian Authority unfavorably and shown much more sympathy for Israelis than for Palestinians. They are increasingly supportive of the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, a trend that might have resulted from the inclusion of a Palestinian state in President Donald Trump’s peace plan.
Continue to full article ->

Israel’s top court to decide fate of Netanyahu’s unity government
The political fate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the feasibility of a national unity government are now in the hands of the Israeli Supreme Court.

Israel: Back to the Future
Editorial of The New York Sun | May 1, 2020
https://www.nysun.com/editorials/israel-back-to-the-future/91113/

Hezbollah responds to recent warnings from Israel
Israel and Hezbollah attempt to maintain the status quo that has kept them from conflict despite recent military activity between the two.

Israeli opposition shatters into Blue against White
 Former Blue and White partners Benny Gantz and Yair Lapid are now officially rivals for the same center-left electorate.

Why does Israel's center-left stick to the same failed strategy?
 The failed attempts by Israel's center-left to adopt the strategy of Kadima under Ehud Olmert to win election and form a government could be opening the door to the possible establishment of a Jewish-Arab party.

WHY A 4TH ELECTION IS COMING

Unity agreement: Nothing that couldn't have been agreed on in April 2019
If only they had felt such shame 10 months earlier, perhaps Israel would have been spared two unnecessary elections and too many months of embarrassing, petty political haggling.
Read More...

AL-MONITOR'S ISRAELI SECTION

Israel’s president tasks parliament with forming new government 
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin notified opposition leader Benny Gantz Thursday morning that he was transferring the mandate to form a new government to the Israeli parliament. Despite assurances they were close to a breakthrough, Gantz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to reach an agreement by the Wednesday night deadline set by Rivlin. After three inconclusive elections, a unity deal between the two rivals would have given Israel its first stable government since December 2018. The Knesset will now have 21 days to propose a majority-supported candidate or Israel will face a fourth round of voting. 
Read More  
al-monitor.com

Is Israel's Gantz crafting his political demise or a new beginning?
Even if Blue and White's Benny Gantz fails in his attempt to form the next Israeli government, he could emerge from the effort looking like the adult in the room and the person who put the interest of the state above his own.

Farzin Nadimi and Hamdi Malik write: The signs of deep resentment among pro-Sistani and pro-Iran militia units suggest an eventual bifurcation in the PMF ranks, and Kadhimi’s appointment could accelerate that process. Such a scenario would deeply damage the organization’s legitimacy as an official Iraqi military body. Although the PMF is dominated by Iranian-backed factions, much of the general population still admires it as the fruit of Sistani’s 2014 fatwa asking all able-bodied Iraqi men to take up arms and fight the Islamic State. If factions supervised by Sistani’s assistants decide to withdraw from the PMF, it would tarnish the organization’s public reputation. – Washington Institute
​
Anthony H. Cordesman writes: Accordingly, a meaningful strategic dialogue between the United States and Iraq must address all three of these sets of issues – or ghosts – politics and governance, economics, and security. It cannot continue to be focused on security, and particularly on ISIS. Iraq must find its own answers in each case, and the United States cannot help an Iraq that cannot unite or act to the point where it can help itself. At the same time, the United States must decide whether it will commit itself to a sustained effort to help Iraq emerge as a nation that is unified and strong enough to prevent further civil conflict and act independently of Iranian pressure and threats. – Center for Strategic and International Studies

On April 8, 2020, the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper published a report, citing a “security source” as saying that Iran is providing training and weapons to the newly founded Iraqi Shi’ite group, called “The League of Revolutionaries” to target U.S. interests and harm Gulf interests. According to the report, the militia is trained and armed by Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) and that training includes preparations for attacking American bases, oil companies, and kidnapping soldiers. – Middle East Media Research Institute

On April 8, 2020, the League of Revolutionaries, a recently formed Iraqi group that appears to be an Iranian proxy, released an approximately two-minute video threatening U.S. troops in Iraq. – Middle East Media Research Institute

WIN:  NATANYAHU IS STRONGER

Coalition talks in Israel resume with deadline tonight 
After five days with no talks over an emergency, power-sharing government in Israel, the Likud and Blue and White parties resumed negotiations Sunday night. Earlier that day, President Reuven Rivlin rejected a request by Blue and White leader Benny Gantz to extend his mandate to form a government, which is due to expire tonight at midnight. After the March 2 elections, Gantz was tapped by 61 lawmakers as their preferred choice to form the next government, but he currently does not have the majority needed to do so. 
The High Court rejected on Sunday evening a petition filed that morning seeking to disqualify Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from forming a government due to his upcoming corruption trial. The court ruled that the petition was premature, since the president had not tasked Netanyahu with forming the next government.
Read More  ​

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz instructed their teams to immediately resume intensive negotiations on an emergency government after five days with no talks on Sunday after President Reuven Rivlin rejected both their requests for a mandate to build a coalition. – Jerusalem Post

A disingenuous debate about annexation
American Jews protesting the prospect of Israeli action to formalize its hold on territory aren’t defending chances for peace or a realistic plan to achieve it.
JONATHAN S. TOBIN

Netanyahu puts settlers before Israel, again
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blew up coalition talks following right-wing attacks against him for letting Blue and White control the committee that appoints Supreme Court justices.

Netanyahu Won, but Israel's Right Wing Lost by Nave Dromi
Haaretz
March 31, 2020
https://www.meforum.org/60661/netanyahu-won-but-israel-right-wing-lost

Negotiations stall on Israeli unity government
 Talks between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White head Benny Gantz on an emergency government have hit an impasse over the Likud's priority of annexing the West Bank.

​What can we learn from the left's disappointment in Gantz?
 The left-wing camp is disappointed after perceiving Blue and White leader Benny Gantz as a 2020 model of late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Israel’s Political and Constitutional Crisis with Ambassador Daniel C. Kurtzer 

Turkey's Syria Intervention Serves Israeli Strategic Interests
By Dmitri Shufutinsky, March 29, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Turkey’s invasion of Syria to protect Idlib will bog it down in a war it cannot win. At the same time, it severely weakens the Assad regime and could help oust Iran from Syria.
Continue to full article ->

Political crisis proves Israel needs constitution
 Ignoring Israel’s laws and rules and in order to avoid complying with the High Court’s directives, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein chose to resign.

Over the past few days, the ongoing political turmoil in Israel seems to have morphed into a potential constitutional crisis (albeit for a state without a written Constitution). At the core of the issue: the ongoing conflict between Israel's High Court of Justice—its leading judicial body—and the Knesset—the country's parliament. For some deeper perspective on this issue, I recommend a 2016 essay in Mosaic, "Disorder in the Court," by Israeli intellectual Evelyn Gordon, with responses by Haviv Rettig Gur and Jeremy Rabkin. The piece takes a hard look at how judicial activism in Israel has undermined democratic self-government and public confidence in the rule of law.
Read it here now.

Gantz made a tough decision. Will he regret it?
Blue and White leader Benny Gantz slammed the door on his anti-Netanyahu partners to join a unity government with the Likud, but will he ever occupy the Prime Minister's Office?

ISRAELI POLITICS: CAN BIBI GOVERN?

ISRAELI POLITICS EXPLAINED

Israel: Maybe the Dog Will Talk
Editorial of The New York Sun | March 27, 2020
https://www.nysun.com/editorials/israel-maybe-the-dog-will-talk/91065/

"IMF Should Reject Islamic Republic’s Loan Request," Richard Goldberg and Saeed Ghasseminejad, FDD Policy Brief

• WINEP’s Farzin Nadimi: Khamenei securitizes the pandemic as the IRGC mulls regional action
  
• Israeli Opposition Splinters, Paving Way for Netanyahu to Remain Prime Minister
  

Farzin Nadimi writes: Finally, the pandemic’s serious effects inside Iran should not be regarded as evidence that the Iranian military threat has decreased. Washington should continue taking the IRGC threat to its regional military presence seriously, deploying a viable air and missile defense capability in Iraq and perhaps even Afghanistan in order to deter any attacks. And while it cannot maintain a two-carrier force posture in the region indefinitely, it still needs to maintain a demonstrated qualitative and quantitative advantage in Iran’s neighborhood—and, perhaps more important, credibility that it will respond at the right time and place. – Washington Institute 
​
Anthony H. Cordesman writes: It should be stressed that all of the current trends in both Iran’s missile forces and in the speculation regarding its efforts to develop and deploy weapons of mass destruction continue to assume that the Iranian regime will give priority to military forces over civil needs in spite of the steady hardening of U.S. sanctions and the growing impact of the Coronavirus. – Center for Strategic and International Studies 

Ali Bakeer writes: As the Turkish defense sector grows though, it will need to overcome significant internal challenges to sustain its momentum in the long run, such as halting brain drain, securing large-scale funding, accessing critical markets, and avoiding potential negative knock-on effects from Turkey’s foreign policy endeavors that might deprive it of advanced technology and important customers. The challenges are substantial, but as the success of the Syrian drone campaign has made clear, Turkey’s defense industry has undoubtedly made significant progress.  – Middle East Institute

INSS' Amos Yadlin and Ari Heistein: Calls to reduce pressure on Iran’s regime are reckless and misguided

JPost’s Seth J.Frantzman: The PMU is getting more aggressive in Iraq

The Evolution Of Arab Popular Opinion Toward Iran, And Iranian Self-Perceptions
by Karim Sadjadpour via The Caravan
The Middle East’s conflicts and autocracies—hostile to independent researchers and pollsters—make it one of the most challenging regions of the world to accurately assess public opinion. The competing popular demonstrations in the region both before and after the killing of Iranian Major General Qassem Soleimani illustrates the confusion.

​Zeinab Soleimani: Islam's Female Avenger
By Dr. Edy Cohen, March 10, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The jihad against America and the West has a new, more feminine face after the assassination of Qassem Soleimani: his daughter Zeinab, who has vowed revenge.
Continue to full article ->

After Soleimani, Iran Sends Shamkhani to Iraq to Take Control by Seth Frantzman
The Jerusalem Post
March 10, 2020
https://www.meforum.org/60554/iran-sends-shamkhani-to-iraq-to-take-control

US deploys missile defenses to Iraq after attacks from Iran 
The United States is deploying missile defenses to Iraq in the wake of attacks in January from Iran, Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, head of US forces in the Middle East, said Tuesday. “[The Pentagon is] in the process of bringing air defense systems, ballistic missile defense systems, into Iraq in particular, to protect ourselves against another potential Iranian attack,” McKenzie said.
Iran retaliated for the Jan. 3 assassination of Commander Qasem Soleimani by firing missiles at Iraqi bases hosting US troops, causing traumatic brain injuries to more than 100 service members. Last month, Iran inaugurated a new missile that is lighter and has a longer range than the ones used in those attacks. Meanwhile, the US military, after concluding that the spike in tensions with Iran has begun to subside, has withdrawn about 1,000 combat troops deployed to Kuwait days after the Soleimani strike, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Read More  
newsweek.co

 Saudi Arabia moves to show king still in charge after palace 'coup' averted 
Saudi state media on Sunday released photographs of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud performing his royal duties, shrugging off speculation that he is in poor health and could soon step down. The king is shown attending the swearing-in ceremony of new ambassadors to Ukraine and Uruguay. Saudi authorities released the images after detaining three princes on Friday for allegedly plotting a coup, raising speculation that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman could accede to the throne sooner than expected. Masked guards reportedly arrested the king’s younger brother Prince Ahmed and his nephew Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, both of whom were potential contenders for the throne. Prince Nayef's younger brother Prince Nawaf bin Nayef was also detained.
Read More  
al-monitor.com

Benny Gantz and the pyromaniacal cockpit

A minority government will unravel Blue and White

The High Court is making society suffer  ​

Blue and White's Plan B will backfire

THE STATE OF PLAY IN ISRAELI POLITICS AFTER THE ELECTION

History Won't Wait For Gantz To Bow To Israel's Voters
By CONRAD BLACK, Special to the Sun | March 20, 2020
https://www.nysun.com/foreign/history-wont-wait-for-gantz-to-bow-to-israels/91056/

Israel faces showdown over Knesset reopening 
Israel faces a political showdown over the functioning of the Knesset as speaker Yuli Edelstein of the ruling Likud party tries to shut down parliament, citing coronavirus concerns, while rival parties cry foul. The main opposition Blue and White party has accused Edelstein of trying to prevent the Knesset from forming new committees following this month's general elections, in order to block legal action against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following his indictment on corruption charges. Several parties are seeking to replace Edelstein while pushing bills that would prevent an indicted politician from leading the government. Israel's High Court this week ordered that Knesset committees be formed by March 23.

The showdown comes as negotiations continue over the formation of Israel's next government. Blue and White leader Benny Gantz has 24 more days to try to cobble together a ruling coalition before his mandate expires and another political leader is given the chance. Gantz has the support of a bare majority of 61 Knesset members for the task, but two members of his own party refuse to back any government supported by the Joint List of major Arab Israeli parties, making the task appear insurmountable. Meanwhile, negotiations continue between Blue and White and the Likud on a possible unity government in which Gantz and Netanyahu would rotate as head of government.

The Struggle for Israel's Jewish Soul
By Prof. Efraim Karsh and Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen, March 16, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The possibility of an Israeli minority government that relies on the Joint Arab List underscores the clear and present danger of accommodating political parties and movements that reject the existence of the Jewish state and propagate Israel’s transformation into a Palestinian Arab (Muslim) state.
Continue to full article ->

 Netanyahu rival gets first shot at forming next government 
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin today officially tasked Benny Gantz, the leader of the Blue and White party, with trying to form the next government. The move comes after Gantz picked up endorsements from a diverse coalition including the secular nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party of former Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, the Joint List of major Arab-Israeli parties and six out of seven members of the center-left Labor-Gesher-Meretz party. Gantz now has one month to try to assemble a governing coalition.

Adding to the political uncertainty, Rivlin summoned Gantz and Netanyahu Sunday evening for an “urgent conversation” regarding the “possibility of forming a government immediately,” according to a statement from the president's residence. Netanyahu has been calling for Blue and White to join a unity government with his Likud party to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Separately, the government on Sunday approved short-term mass surveillance of Israelis’ phones to help track the interactions of people diagnosed with the virus. The measure, which has raised privacy concerns, requires final approval from the Knesset’s subcommittee on clandestine services.
Read More  
timesofisrael.com

Netanyahu goes on trial 

After an unprecedented third election in less than 12 months, Israel's political system experiences another seismic shock this coming week as a sitting prime minister goes on trial for the first time in the country's history. Benjamin Netanyahu is set to appear Tuesday in Jerusalem District Court for the start of his trial in three separate criminal cases in which he is accused of exchanging political favors for personal gain. Last week, the prime minister's defense team asked for a 45-day delay, arguing that they did not receive all the documents they are entitled to from the prosecution. But the court rejected the request and said the trial will go ahead as planned, with Netanyahu in person expected to attend.

The trial comes as Israel struggles to form a government following March 2 elections that once again resulted in a deadlock between Netanyahu's coalition of right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties and a center-left bloc dominated by the Blue and White party of Benny Gantz. President Reuven Rivlin is expected to begin consultations on Sunday with party leaders to decide who should get the first stab at trying to cobble together a governing coalition. Netanyahu initially proclaimed victory after his coalition won 58 seats — three shy of the 61 needed for a majority — but since then Gantz has worked to assemble a minority government supported on the outside by the Arab Joint List.
​
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has added another layer of uncertainty to the mix. With the number of cases now topping 100 and the government banning large gatherings and closing schools for a month, Netanyahu on Thursday called for the formation of a short-term national unity government to combat the epidemic. Such a government, Netanyahu said, “would be an emergency government for a limited time, and we will fight together to save the lives of tens of thousands of citizens.”

UNITY GOVERNMENT POSSIBLE?

Israel’s Gantz ready to do whatever it takes to topple Netanyahu
 Blue and White leader Benny Gantz is now ready to do whatever it takes to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including going back on his promise not to establish a government backed by the Arab Joint List.

Israel’s right engaged in wild anti-Arab incitement
 Blue and White leader Benny Gantz’s attempts to establish a minority government with the support of the Arab Joint List is leading right-wing ministers to intensify their inciteful tone against Arab legislators.

​Is Israel's 'Sovereignty Road' project step toward annexation?
 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s interim government is busily advancing various annexation moves with the excuse of addressing the settlers’ living conditions

A Gantz-led government, recipe for Jewish-Arab reconciliation?
 Partnership with Arab and Muslim parties is not a "problem," but an opportunity to heal Israeli society and advance Jewish-Muslim reconciliation.

China's New Silk Road Strategy and the Middle East
By Dr. Mordechai Chaziza, March 8, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In recent years, the People’s Republic of China has significantly increased its economic and diplomatic engagement with the Middle East. Most of Beijing’s investment in the region focuses on energy, infrastructure construction, nuclear power, new energy sources, agriculture, and finance. These investments serve not only China’s interests but also those of Middle Eastern countries hoping to boost their economies as a means of strengthening social stability.
Continue to full article ->

​Does Jewish-Arab partnership to form government stand a chance in Israel?
 The Likud is continuing its campaign of incitement against Arab party representatives to head off their helping form a minority government led by Blue and White.

Does Israel's Gantz stand a chance at establishing a government?
The chances of Blue and White leader Benny Gantz establishing a minority government with Avigdor Liberman and the support of the Arab Joint List are not high, yet the risks he is taking are huge.

Protesters Push Arab Militaries Off Their Pedestal
By Dr. James M. Dorsey, March 6, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: A decade of anti-government protests in the Arab world have thrown popular trust in the military into the garbage bin and undermined the military’s position as one of the most trusted institutions.
Continue to full article ->

Israel tries (again) to form a government 

Political horse-trading begins in earnest in the next few days as Israelis try once again to cobble together a government and avoid a fourth election in a row. President Reuven Rivlin is expected to open talks with party leaders as early as Sunday on who should get the first shot at trying to assemble a ruling coalition after two previous failed attempts. The central election committee has until Tuesday to submit final election results, after which talks begin in earnest.
With Benjamin Netanyahu’s alliance of right-wing and religious parties winning 58 Knesset seats in Monday’s election – three short of an outright majority – the prime minister is the favorite. Netanyahu has already started talks with his allies to ensure that he is the nominee. Talks this time are complicated by Netanyahu’s indictment on corruption charges. His trial is scheduled to begin March 17, which is also the deadline for Rivlin to assign the task of forming a government to one of the candidates. Netanyahu’s chief rival, Benny Gantz, refuses to back a unity government led by Netanyahu and is pushing legislation to bar an indicted politician from serving as head of government. The bill’s unexpected endorsement by Avigdor Liberman, the head of the nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, has drastically increased the bill’s chances.

But Gantz faces his own set of obstacles. His Blue and White party came in second behind Netanyahu’s Likud, which it had bested in the previous elections in September. Israel’s alliance of major Arab parties, the Arab Joint List, has said it won’t endorse Gantz unless he stands against annexation of the Jordan Valley and reverses course on his refusal to include the Arab alliance in his coalition. Liberman for his part insists he will not sit in a government that is either headed by Netanyahu or backed by the Arab Joint List.

Israel's election committee has published the results of Monday's election showing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing bloc with 58 seats — three short of the parliamentary majority needed to form a government.
Why it matters: Worse still for Netanyahu, particularly in the wake of what looked like a remarkable victory, a majority might now be uniting behind an effort to effectively end his political career.
Breaking it down: Netanyahu's Likud Party won the most seats in Monday's election, with 36. Allied right-wing parties won an additional 22.

• The Blue and White party, led by Netanyahu's centrist rival Benny Gantz, won 33 seats. The liberal Labor Party won 7.
• The Joint List of predominantly Arab parties had its best-ever showing, winning 15 seats.
• A nationalist party led by former Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman won 7.

The big picture: Israeli politics have been deadlocked for a year, with Netanyahu and Gantz both failing to form majority governments after two previous elections.
Driving the news: This time could be different. Lieberman now says he will recommend Gantz to form the next government.

• If the Joint List does the same, that will put 62 seats behind Gantz — at least temporarily — and make it likely that President Reuven Rivlin will offer him a mandate to form a government.
• Crucially, Gantz would control the parliamentary agenda during that process.

Between the lines: That could leave Netanyahu powerless to stop a bill that would prevent anyone under criminal indictment from forming a government.

• His corruption trial begins March 17.

Read the full story

A Shia 'Awakening'?
by Nibras Kazimi via The Caravan
The proponents of America’s ‘maximum pressure’ campaign against Iran have argued that the four-month-long anti-status quo protests that have wracked Iraq, Lebanon and Iran are transnational in character and seek to limit or end the influence of Iran’s current leadership both regionally and internally. 
​
The Shia Vs. The "Shia Crescent"
by Hanin Ghaddar via The Caravan
On February 15, 2020, Hezbollah organized a ceremony to unveil a statue of Qassem Soleimani in the Lebanese town of Maroun al-Ras, roughly half a mile from the border with Israel. The statue shows Soleimani with his arm stretched out in front of him, pointing toward Israel. 

The 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Tel Hai… and the Election Results
By Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen, March 5, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: At the hundredth anniversary of the Battle of Tel Hai (which occurred on March 1, 1920), it is instructive to recall the heated debate that preceded it among the Yishuv leadership concerning the question of abandoning the site. This debate sheds light on the decline of the Zionist left in general and the results of the latest Israeli elections in particular.
Continue to full article ->

JUDITH MILLER
Bibi’s Next Act
Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to extend his reign as Israel's longest-serving prime minister.

Israel's New Diplomatic Moment by Jonathan Spyer
The Wall Street Journal
March 3, 2020
https://www.meforum.org/60527/israel-new-diplomatic-moment

The Mind Is A Map-Maker
by Charles Hill via The Caravan
A map of the Middle East after the World War I collapse of the Ottoman Empire and Caliphate shows no state boundaries, only lines of control by European powers over the territories vacated by “The Sublime Porte” -- the Islamic hegemon in Istanbul.

Israel vs. Hezbollah: The Third Lebanon War
By Dr. Ehud Eilam, March 9, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Ever since the 2006 war, Israel has preferred to contain Hezbollah rather than fight it directly. So determined was Israel to avoid going to war with the terrorist group that it tolerated its significant military buildup. Since 2012, however, the IAF has carried out hundreds of sorties inside Syria aimed at stopping the delivery of advanced weapons to Hezbollah. Israel can continue to delay the arming of Hezbollah, but it has already become quite strong, and a war could occur even if neither side wants it.
Continue to full article ->

​Why Otzmah Yehudit flamed out in Israeli elections
 The decline in support for Otzmah Yehudit, which once again failed to pass the vote threshold to enter the Knesset, was especially notable in the settlements.

​Does Jewish-Arab partnership to form government stand a chance in Israel?
 The Likud is continuing its campaign of incitement against Arab party representatives to head off their helping form a minority government led by Blue and White.

UAE shows path for peaceful nuclear development
Fuel assemblies have been loaded into the first of four UAE nuclear power plants following the country's yearslong effort to develop major national and international support for nuclear energy.

Pakistan fears Afghan peace failure could bring violence its way

Game of power politics far from over in Pakistan
Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, the leader of Pakistan’s Jamiat-Ulema-e-Islam Fazal, has failed to oust Prime Minister Imran Khan despite being backed by a faction within the military establishment. But in doing so he has strengthened the hands of the main opposition parties Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party, reports Imad Zafar.

https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2020/03/taliban-religious-decree-calls-for-its-emir-to-rule-islamic-government-in-afghanistan.php

How Can Negotiations Bring Wars to an End? by Patrick S. Roberts and Ariel I. Ahram

 Al Jazeera NPR

Analysis: Taliban leader declares victory after U.S. agrees to withdrawal deal

U.S. military perplexed by Taliban living up to letter of agreement

For peace in Afghanistan, Pakistan is the key
The chasm between illusion and reality in politics remains perennial. Wars seldom end according to the script of peace agreements. The fall of Saigon in April, 1975, ending the Vietnam War, with defeated Americans hastily retreating in helicopters from the rooftop of their embassy, was not anticipated in the Paris Peace Accords of January 1973 that were painstakingly negotiated by Henry Kissinger and North Vietnamese politburo member Le Duc Tho. Read Mor

How Can Negotiations Bring Wars to an End?
By Patrick S. Roberts & Ariel I. Ahram, War on the Rocks: “The peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban raises a lot of questions. The most important question is this — what took so long?"

The U.S. Wants Peace. The Taliban Wants an Emirate.
By Anchal Vohra, Foreign Policy: "At the pyramid-shaped seaside luxury hotel in Doha where the United States and the Taliban signed their long-awaited agreement, the 100 or so black turbans in attendance occasionally fluttered in the wind. The bearded Taliban leaders nonetheless had cheerful looks on their faces. For them, the Americans' agreement to leave Afghanistan, even without any commitment to a cease-fire, was a declaration of victory for their side."

Breaking: CNN's Barbara Starr tweeting this morning: "Two U.S. service members were killed by enemy forces while advising and accompanying Iraqi Security Forces during a mission to eliminate an ISIS terrorist stronghold in a mountainous area of north central Iraq" on Mar 8.Names w/held pending family notification. Twitter

Afghanistan Ready to Attack Taliban if Violence Continues.  Afghanistan’s minister of defense on Sunday announced that, if the Taliban does not cease attacks by the end of the week, they would switch from “defense mode” to attacking the militant group.  “Afghan forces will remain in defense mode until the end of this week under the guidance of President Ashraf Ghani because of the peace agreement, but if the Taliban do not stop their attacks by the end of the week, our troops will target the enemy everywhere,” the minister stated.  The Taliban announced earlier this month that they were resuming attacks on Afghan forces.  Reuters  U.S. and World News Report

Last week, the United States and Taliban signed an agreement to end violence in Afghanistan. Even though violence in Afghanistan did not come to a halt, the agreement follows the same model as last fall’s abandonment of the Syrian Kurds. In a Washington Examiner op-ed, Michael Rubin notes that as Trump’s first term comes to a close, there is one consistency to his foreign policy vision: US allies do not matter. Ending “endless wars” may seem like a compelling, populist slogan, but the agreement signed in Doha no more ends the Afghanistan war than President Trump’s flurry of tweets last autumn ended the Syrian conflict. Read it here.

Mehdi Khalaji writes: Yet even if the regime founders, the damage it has done to Iranian society leaves little hope for a smooth, speedy transition to a democratic, relatively U.S.-friendly state in the near term. […]In all likelihood, then, only a small subset of actors would be willing and able to fill the vacuum that follows the regime’s ultimate collapse—namely, existing factions that already hold the keys to Iran’s military arsenal and prisons. Such a replacement government would hardly choose to denounce the police state from which it was birthed, nor the defiant anti-Western animosity that has been Khamenei’s calling card. – Washington Institute ​

Neville Teller writes: Three basic factors underlie Turkey’s stance in the confused military situation in northwest Syria. The first is that Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is a Sunni Muslim while Syria’s President Bashar Assad adheres to the Shia branch of Islam. […]This is why Erdogan has been supporting Syria’s anti-government forces, and explains how the opposition have recently brought Assad’s apparently inexorable advance into Idlib Province to a shuddering halt. – Jerusalem Post

Shahla Al-Kli writes: Iraq is likely to remain challenged throughout much of 2020 by a crisis pitting a flagging political establishment against a nascent popular movement. […]Over the next few years, Iraq’s traditional leadership will likely go into “survival mode,” guarding the status quo or making ineffective, incremental changes until the popular protest movement develops more mature leadership and political conduct. Once that happens, the changes will no longer be gradual, but swift and radical. – Middle East Institute ​

Tunisians protest lack of jobs amid COVID-19 pandemic 
Hundreds of Tunisians took to the streets across the country on Thursday demanding jobs amid worsening economic conditions due to the virus-induced lockdown measures. Tunisia’s successive governments following the 2011 uprising have failed to solve the high inflation and rising unemployment rates, currently standing at 15.3%. The protests are the first since Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh’s government was sworn in February, ending months of political paralysis.
Read More  
reuters.com

Tunisian government wins key confidence vote 
Tunisia’s parliament today granted a vote of confidence for a new coalition government headed by Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh, ending months of political paralysis. President Kais Saied had threatened to dissolve parliament and call for early elections if Fakhfakh’s proposed Cabinet lineup failed to win a confidence vote. Parliament's largest party, the moderate Islamist Ennahda, ended up voting in favor of the government despite its earlier opposition after being handed six portfolios.  Read More  
france24.com

ASIA TIMES

​The Trump plan for Afghanistan The U.S. presence provides a better return on investment than most people realize

Iran can obtain nuclear weapons far quicker than widely recognized
Andrea Stricker — Al Arabiya ​

The Classicist: Time To Leave The Middle East?
interview with Victor Davis Hanson via The Classicist
Would America be better off ignoring t

https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2020/01/un-al-qaeda-maintains-close-ties-to-taliban-despite-talks-with-u-s.php

Read Full Article  

Escalation in Syria and Libya tests limits of Erdogan-Putin ties
The recent escalation in Libya and Syria has put on display the limits of the relationship between the Turkish and Russian presidents.
Read More  

What brought Iranian forces to Idlib front?
A number of developments, including Turkey's greater involvement in Syria and the US assassination of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, may be driving Iran's move to get more involved in Idlib battlefield operations.

Escalation in Syria and Libya tests limits of Erdogan-Putin ties
The recent escalation in Libya and Syria has put on display the limits of the relationship between the Turkish and Russian presidents.

​Syrian mercenaries fight Turkey’s battles in Libya
 Though the Free Syrian Army denies it has sent fighters to Libya, hundreds of Syrian fighters are now in Libya after being lured by high salaries.

​Iraqi protests swell despite clash with Sadrist supporters
 When their tents were burned, Iraqi protesters replaced them with concrete structures. And when influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr withdrew his support, even more protesters turned out despite fears of a crackdown by security forces.

For Tunisia, recovery means modernizing economy
Tunisia’s new government faces the formidable task of reversing the economy's downward spiral of the post-revolutionary years with an eye toward becoming a gateway to Africa.

MEET SOLEIMANI'S SUCCESSOR

WINEP’s Mehdi Khalaji: Iranian succession and the impact of Soleimani’s death

WINEP’s Michael Knights: U.S. do’s and don’ts in Iraq

ISIS launches attacks in Africa while Pentagon shifts focus to 'great powers' Russia and China

Tunisia’s largest party rejects proposed government 
Tunisia’s moderate Islamist Ennahda party rejected on Monday a proposal to form a government that excludes other parties and said it was ready to contest new elections. The remarks risk upending a second attempt to create a coalition government since October elections in which Ennahda came in first but failed to impose its candidate for prime minister. Tunisian President Kais Saied instead named former Finance Minister Elyes Fakhfakh to the post last week. Fakhfakh has said he wants to replace recent unity coalitions with a Cabinet of parties “aligned with the values of the revolution,” including Ennahda.
Read More  
reuters.com

Tunisia names ex-finance minister as new prime minister 
Tunisian President Kais Saied named former Finance Minister Elyes Fakhfakh as prime minister on Monday in a bid to end political deadlock in the country. Fakhfakh is tasked with forming a government “as soon as possible,” according to the presidency. Tunisia’s parliament rejected Prime Minister-designate Habib Jemli's proposed government earlier this month. Tunisia’s moderate Islamist Ennahda party had nominated Jemli after coming in first in the Oct. 6 elections.
Read More  
dailymail.co.uk

WINEP’s Aaron Y. Zelin: Tunisia turns a corner against the jihadist movem

Iran’s man in Yemen and the al Houthis
 Katherine Zimmerman | AEIdeas
The Washington Post’s revelation of a second US military operation targeting an Iranian commander in Yemen the same night as the air strike that killed Qassem Soleimani has received far less attention than the spectacular Soleimani strike. But Abdul Reza Shahlai deserves some media love.

Erdoğan's 'Make-Turkey-More-Islamic' Campaign Is a Failure by Burak Bekdil
The Gatestone Institute
January 15, 2020
https://www.meforum.org/60310/erdogans-make-turkey-more-islamic-campaign

​From Russia with love: Turkish and Syrian spymasters meet in Moscow
The Moscow meeting between the Turkish and Syrian intelligence chiefs could suggest that a normalization process has finally kicked off between Ankara and Damascus.

Mehdi Khalaji writes: The danger of concentrating so much power in Khamenei’s hands is obvious: what happens when he is gone? Soleimani was an unparalleled alternative authority, someone who likely gave Khamenei peace of mind that the regime could remain stable when the time for transition came around. Even authoritarian regimes benefit from having such safety valves—figures who can offer guidance during times of crisis and expect it to be followed without resorting to coercive measures. Now the prospect of succession likely seems more unnerving to Tehran, and the regime’s future less certain.  – Washington Institute  
​
Amin Mohseni-Cheraghlou writes: Thus, it seems that the only real effective strategy in Iran’s “harsh revenge” campaign is to increase the human and financial costs of the U.S. presence in the Gulf. To this end, Iran will likely leverage its extensive network of sympathizers and proxies in neighboring countries and beyond to carry out attacks against U.S.-only targets. Not only would this approach be in line with the regime’s ultimate objective, it would also allow the Iranian leadership to make good on its threats incrementally, at the time and location of its choosing. – Middle East Institute

Ali Alfoneh writes: On January 20, Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami, chief commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), appointed Brig. Gen. Mohammad Hossein-Zadeh Hejazi as deputy chief of the Qods Force following Brig. Gen. Esmail Qaani’s elevation to the top post. Who is Hejazi, and what was his background prior to his relatively recent involvement with the Qods Force? – Washington Institute ​

Alexa Santry writes: Today looks remarkably similar to that pivotal Obama moment. ISIS’s territorial caliphate is gone and al Qaeda is quiet. So we’re back to the “not worth it” arguments. But a US abandonment of the region would be catastrophic for American allies, credibility, and power. […]Looking back on US involvement in the Middle East over the past several decades, has American policy been flawed? Yes. Have US presidents been “incapable of mustering a consensus or pursuing a consistent policy” in the region? Also yes. But to argue that “few vital interests of the US continue to be at stake” is a misconception that Americans must not accept. –  American Enterprise Institute ​

Anthony H. Cordesman writes: After all, almost all current U.S. and other international peace efforts lack a clear strategy that goes beyond military victory or conflict termination. […]There is no clear effort or plan to produce a stable peace and create both a workable and lasting structure in any country’s governance, security, or economy. Looking for a hidden motive in the lack of a meaningful peace strategy for Afghanistan can easily end in discovering that a motive does not even exist. – Center for Strategic and International Studies ​

Baghdad. DaqDuk: visiting Nasrallah in Lebanon. [Ali Mussa Daqduq (علي موسى دقدوق‎) is a senior Hezbollah leader and senior advisor to Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq leader Qais al-Khazali.] DaqDuk is afraid now that he knows he’s a target; is hiding hither and yon. A slew of upper Iraqis are trying to blame ISIS or Ba'athist remnants for the rocket attack on the US embassy compound.  DaqDuq is keeping all the militia leaders & Nasrallah from killing each other.  Mohandas had primacy over Iraqi operations, but with him gone, you see sporadic attacks around Iraq.  

The Middle East is still worth it
Alexa Santry | AEIdeas

America needs the Middle East to grow
Karen E. Young | NationalReview.com
It is an unpopular view in Washington now to say that the Middle East matters, but it does. Not only does the Middle East sit in the middle of a global market that secures our global energy supply, but the region also facilitates the transit of the goods that we and other countries use to grow.

IRAN IMPOVERISHES LEBANON

The Turkish-Qatari Axis Challenges Washington
​Turkey and Qatar have become brothers in arms, pursuing joint ventures in illicit finance and promoting extremist ideologies. Washington needs to develop a multipronged response to compel Ankara and Doha to curb their malign conduct.

COULD NETANYAHU’S CORRUPTION CASE SCUPPER HIS RE-ELECTION CHANCES?By EPPC Fellow Luma Simms
The Spectator
The Israeli prime minister has shown tremendous political skill over the years. Read More

Sovereign risk: Gulf sovereign wealth funds as engines of growth and political resource
Karen E. Young | British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies

Israel: A Thriving First-World Economy in a Third-World Sea
By Frank Musmar, January 22, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Israel possesses assets and innovations that can solve many of the problems that plague its Arab neighbors. If peace can possibly be achieved between Israel and the Arab world, the potential for mutually beneficial practical and economic relationships is astronomical.
Continue to full article -

Beware The Fool's Gold Of Diplomacy
by Bruce Thornton via FrontPage Mag.com
Negotiation only gives the Mullahs time.

Behnam Ben Taleblu is a senior fellow at FDD where he focuses on Iranian security and political issues. Behnam previously served as a research fellow and senior Iran analyst at FDD. Prior to his time at FDD, Behnam worked on non-proliferation issues at an arms control think-tank in Washington. Leveraging his subject-matter expertise and native Farsi skills, Behnam has closely tracked a wide range of Iran-related topics including: nuclear non-proliferation, ballistic missiles, sanctions, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the foreign and security policy of the Islamic Republic, and internal Iranian politics.
 
Related articles:
●        https://thehill.com/opinion/international/479076-iran-is-increasingly-using-missiles-in-its-military-operations-thats-a
●        https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2020/01/21/arms-embargo-on-iran-set-to-expire-in-less-than-a-year/
●        https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/lifting-the-arms-restrictions-on-iran-what-will-and-wont-change
●        https://www.ft.com/content/740a385a-3924-11ea-a6d3-9a26f8c3cba4
●        https://www.foxnews.com/world/us-deploy-anti-missile-system-protect-american-troops-iraq
●        https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/why-israelis-iron-dome-just-cant-be-stopped-110841
●        https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Mystery-surrounds-US-report-that-anti-missile-air-defense-on-way-to-Iraq-615154

Denial of Citizenship as a Weapon of Repression in the Arab World
By Dr. Edy Cohen, January 23, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Kuwait and Saudi Arabia recently announced that they were revoking the citizenship of individuals whose “sin” was a connection to Judaism and a pro-Israeli attitude. Apart from the institutional antisemitism these measures reflect, they are a blunt reminder that these are tyrannical states and regimes in which the legal system is little more than a fig leaf.
Continue to full article ->

Erdogan's Bold Plan for a New Muslim Brotherhood Regime in Libya by Con Coughlin 

Dr. Aykan Erdemir, senior director of FDD’s Turkey program, is a former member of the Turkish Parliament (2011 to 2015) who served in the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, EU Harmonization Committee, and the Ad Hoc Parliamentary Committee on the IT Sector and the Internet. As an outspoken defender of pluralism, minority rights, and religious freedoms in the Middle East, Aykan has been at the forefront of the struggle against religious persecution, hate crimes, and hate speech in Turkey. 
Relevant articles:
·     
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-cyprus-idUSKBN1ZI0G0?taid=5e24a0730a3ab60001228917&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter
·         https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/turkey-sends-forces-libya-play-natural-gas
·         https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-seeks-big-contempt-fines-194037063.html
·         https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/01/israel-turkey-greece-cyprus-benjamin-netanyahu-natural-gas.html
·         https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/01/berlin-conference-libya-turkey-clout-negotiations.htm

Joseph M. Humire is a global security expert, specializing on trans-regional threats in the Western Hemisphere. Mr. Humire provides regular briefings and lectures on international terrorism, transnational organized crime, Islamism and Iran and Hezbollah’s influence in the Americas to various entities within the U.S. national security community, as well as prominent think tanks and universities worldwide.
 Related articles:
●        https://www.timesofisrael.com/pompeo-praises-3-south-american-countries-for-declaring-hezbollah-a-terror-group/
●        https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/the-deas-targeting-of-hezbollahs-global-criminal-support-network
●        https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/trump-prioritizes-fight-against-iran-backed-narcoterrorist-network-obama-neglected-dea-official
●        https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/defense-national-security/nightmare-in-venezuela-maduros-alliance-with-hezbollah-raises-specter-of-terror-threat-analysts-say
●        https://www.wsj.com/articles/soleimanis-latin-america-terror-11578863631
●        https://www.politico.eu/article/us-ambassadors-push-eu-to-ban-hezbollah/
●        https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/hezbollah-major-architect-lebanons-government-200122143439455.html

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-01-16/libya-explains-why-turkey-has-no-friends

http://www.rawa.org/temp/runews/2016/05/07/horrific-video-shows-taliban-publicly-killing-woman-over-adultery.html#ixzz6AyQxkYaL  

France's Counterterrorism Efforts in West Africa and the Sahel with Michael Shurkin

  Is the Trump Administration trying to find an exit, or rather to change our posture in the Middle East?  It’s trying to collapse all the reasons we’ve been there for 70 years down to a smaller footprint. Those currently dependent on Middle Eastern oil are primarily China and the EU.  Why do we still have troops there? Because we don't want the oil wealth to accumulate in hands that will create a nuclear bomb; and we don't want to create a platform for the likes of Black September, or the later al Q and ISIS.
       Soleimani had one great gift: he understood the Obama Administration  . . . China takes about 40% of the oil that goes through the Strait of Hormuz.
  https://amgreatness.com/2020/01/05/what-is-the-middle-east-in-the-middle-of-anymore/

​Algeria appoints new government 
Algerian Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad formed his government on Thursday after being appointed Saturday by newly elected President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. Several key posts remained unchanged, however, seemingly signaling unchanged state policies. Algeria is facing its biggest political crisis in decades while it grapples with declining energy revenues. In a separate development, Algeria on Thursday released Lakhdar Bouregaa, a prominent opposition activist who was detained last June for allegedly insulting the army, along with dozens of others arrested in a crackdown on the mass protests that toppled President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
Read More  
reuters.com
 
Tunisian president says parliament to vote on Cabinet lineup 
Tunisian President Kais Saied approved on Thursday a proposed new Cabinet lineup made up of independent members and passed it to parliament for a vote to be scheduled by Speaker Rachid Ghannouchi, leader of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party. Designated Prime Minister Habib Jemli said his government would focus on the weak economy. According to Jemli, his proposed lineup will win majority support in the deeply divided parliament that was elected about three months ago.  Read More  
reuters.com

Algerians protest new president 
Thousands of people took to the streets of Algiers on Tuesday against Algeria’s newly elected president. Former Prime Minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune won last week's presidential election with 58% of the vote despite widespread public opposition that led to a low turnout. Algeria's high court confirmed his election on Monday, paving the way for his inauguration on Thursday. Tebboune said he was ready to hold talks to “build a new Algeria.” But protesters rejected the call, with many questioning the legitimacy of elections they see as a tool for ruling elites to keep their hold on the country.
Read More  
alaraby.co.uk

REFORMING ISRAELI ELECTION SYSTEM

Trump reelection likely despite impeachment, buoying defense industry outlook
(Forbes) The share prices of the nation’s top three defense pure-plays (Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon) are all up about 50% since Trump’s inauguration, thanks to a demand environment in which military contractors don’t need to take market share in order to grow revenues and returns.

Blue and White's nightmare scenario: Saar defeating Netanyahu
 The Blue and White party needs Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a rival, or else it would loose its energy.

Choice books on Israel, 2019

Trump’s Iran strategy is working. Here’s why
Saeed Ghasseminejad — Fox News
President Trump’s “maximum pressure” strategy against Iran is working, despite warnings of a backlash against the U.S. for the economic sanctions he has imposed on the Islamic Republic. As protests continue in Iran, security forces may have killed over 1,000 people who are calling for an end to the country’s dictatorship, U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Brian Hook told reporters recently. The continuing protests show that the Iranian people are directing their anger at Tehran’s corrupt and oppressive regime, even though American sanctions helped push Iran into a deep recession. Read More

• The Iranian regime identified weaknesses in its internal security apparatus during the November gasoline riots.The regime staged a brutal crackdown and blocked the internet to end the anti-government protests. Regime officials seek greater control over Iran’s information space and security services in anticipation of future unrest.The internet shutdown in November sparked international and domestic criticism of the regime and hurt Iranian businesses.
• Check out detailed analysis on:
  • Regime Preparations for Future Protests
  • Iranian Escalation in Iraq
  • International Mediation Efforts

ARTHUR HERMAN:  MOSAIC 

Democratic Frontrunners Are Wrong About Aid for Israel
​Putting America’s annual $3.8 billion of military assistance to Israel on the chopping block makes for good politics. But it makes no sense for U.S. national security.

Trump’s Iran strategy is working. Here’s why

Saudi Arabia and Israel: Who Needs Whom?
By Frank Musmar, December 12, 2019
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Extreme instability and mistrust are heightening tensions in the Persian Gulf, especially between Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia. America’s appetite for military engagement has waned after nearly two decades of war and the region lacks any form of collective security framework, leaving a considerable security vacuum. The Gulf states’ overtures to Israel are part of an effort to salvage America’s security commitment to the area while shoring up a relationship that can mitigate Tehran’s rising influence.
Continue to full article ->

Iran fills the Vacuum Created by Trump's Withdrawal by Con Coughlin  •

Brothers in Arms
Aykan Erdemir and Varsha Koduvayur — FDD Report
On June 5, 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) severed diplomatic ties with Qatar, enacting a land, sea, and air blockade. Qatar’s neighbors charged the country with supporting terrorists, collaborating with Iran, and sowing the seeds of chaos around the Middle East. The sudden move closed Qatar’s only road link to foreign markets, through which it received nearly 40 percent of its food requirements. Qatari residents panicked, picking clean supermarket shelves. But the panic subsided less than 48 hours later, as Turkey began sending cargo planes with food and other goods. Read Mor

​Netanyahu’s plan for winning an outright majority in the Knesset
If he wants his right-wing ultra-Orthodox bloc to win 61 seats so he can form an immunity coalition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will need Naftali Bennett and Ayelet Shaked to run as part of the New Right list and pass the electoral threshold.

​The ultra-Orthodox dilemma on slamming Liberman
 Ultra-Orthodox politicians fear that any attacks against Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Liberman would actually reinforce him within secular electorate.

​Netanyahu’s relations with Likud members: The ultimate test
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nurtured his relationship with Likud members for more than three decades. Now he's not sure that they will continue to follow him.

Iraq's Ninevah province turns back on Shiite forces
The Ninevah provincial council has voted to replace a governor who was close to Iran-backed forces.

Who is responsible for the new wave of killings in Aden?
It's hard to determine which side or sides are behind the latest wave of killings as a new round of military escalation looms in Yemen’s south, which has seen skirmishes in Abyan province between the two partners of the Saudi-led coalition.