News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- Hamas Seeking to Strengthen Ties with Iran
Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar on Monday underlined that the Palestinian group is seeking to reinvigorate relations with Iran.
"Relations with Iran are acceptable but they should further enhance and develop," al-Zahar told Fars news agency. "The movement is trying to improve its relations with Iran," Arabic-language Al-Arabi TV quoted Al-Zahar as saying.
(Fars-Iran)
- Iranian Space Agency Interested in Cooperating with NASA - Amanda Hoover
The head of Iran's space program, Mohsen Bahrami, announced last week that his nation is interested in cooperating with NASA. Bahrami said his nation has entered into negotiations with agencies in European countries, as well as Russia, China, and Japan.
But some wonder if such a move would make the U.S. more vulnerable.
"There is evidence...that Iran is looking at rudimentary counterspace capabilities, such as electronic jammers against communications satellites, that could potentially deny the United States and its allies use of space for short periods of time in and around Iran in the event of a conflict," said John B. Sheldon, editor of SpaceWatch Middle East. (Christian Science Monitor)
See also Iran's Nascent Space Capabilities - John B. Sheldon
On paper, Iran has a range of space capabilities: communications and remote sensing satellites, space launch vehicles and facilities, a space situational awareness capability, a nascent industrial base, an established research and development infrastructure, and significant engineering and scientific talent. It also has a political establishment that understands the benefits of a space program for the purposes of economic and technological development, strategic autonomy and diplomatic prestige.
However, Iran's space launch systems are only capable of launching very small satellites and are notoriously unreliable. As a result, many Iranian satellites have been launched into orbit by Russia.
(World Politics Review)
- Egypt Is Getting a New Capital - Courtesy of China - Kieron Monks
The China Fortune Land Development Company (CFLD) agreed to provide $20 billion to build Egypt's currently unnamed new capital city, after a meeting between heads of the firm and Egyptian President El-Sisi. This follows a commitment of $15 billion from another Chinese state-owned company. Plans for the new capital, to be constructed in the desert east of Cairo, were first announced in March 2015 by government officials who described the megaproject as a solution to crowding, pollution and rising house prices in the current capital. (CNN)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- Israel Thwarts Hamas Suicide Bus Bombing in Jerusalem
The Israel Security Agency announced on Tuesday the arrest last month of Hamas operative Muhammad Fuaz Ibrahim Julani from Shuafat, who planned a number of terror attacks in the Jerusalem area, including a suicide bombing on a bus in the Pisgat Ze'ev neighborhood. Julani had discussed a number of potential attacks with his Hamas handlers in Gaza, including a shooting attack at the Hizme checkpoint, a bombing at a store in Jerusalem he had formerly worked at, and bombing attacks at sites in Jerusalem that would cause mass casualties, such as the Central Bus Station and the Malha Mall. But attacks on these high-profile targets were ruled out due to the heavy Israeli security presence. (Jerusalem Post)
- Israelis on the Scene Help Haitians Cope after Devastating Hurricane - Abigail Klein Leichman
A crew from the IsraAID nonprofit organization has been in Haiti for more than six years, having arrived just after the January 2010 earthquake. "Our team is doing food and water distribution around Port-au-Prince," said IsraAID emergency team leader Mickey Noam-Alon, in the wake of Hurricane Matthew which struck on Oct. 3. A pastor who is working at a school serving as a shelter for residents in Cite Soleil said, "Thanks to IsraAID's donation, I was able to feed all these kids for the last two days."
Only two months ago, MASHAV, the Israel Foreign Ministry's agency for international development cooperation, sent a new shipment of medical supplies to re-equip the trauma unit it established in one of Haiti's main government hospitals three years ago. (Israel21c)
- Kerry: U.S. Hasn't Decided Yet on UN Resolution on Israeli-Palestinian Conflict - Barak Ravid
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a telephone conversation on Saturday night that Israel expected the Obama administration not to shift policy and promote or support a UN Security Council resolution on the Israeli-Palestinian issue following the U.S. presidential elections, Ha'aretz has learned. Kerry responded that the U.S. administration has still not made any decision on the issue. (Ha'aretz)
- Netanyahu Praises Police Unit that Killed Jerusalem Terrorist - Raoul Wootliff
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday visited an officer from the Yasam police reconnaissance unit who was injured in a shootout with a terrorist in Jerusalem on Sunday. "You prevented a larger catastrophe," he said. After the meeting Netanyahu said, "there is nothing more emotional and uplifting than meeting with our police officers, our heroes. This policeman that I met here is a new immigrant and he only has one thought - how quickly he can get back to his unit and keep serving the people of Israel." (Times of Israel)
- Palestinians Attack Jews Going to Pray at Joseph's Tomb
An Israeli army spokesperson said Israeli forces escorted 1,200 Israelis to Joseph's Tom in Nablus in the West Bank on Sunday night when "violent riots" erupted, with dozens of Palestinians throwing rocks and firebombs. Israeli forces responded with riot dispersal measures.
Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, Joseph's Tomb was to remain under Israeli control, but the PA took over the site during the Second Intifada.
As part of security cooperation with the PA, the Israeli army allows Jewish worshipers to make monthly pilgrimages to the site. (Ma'an News-PA)
- Aliya from Ethiopia Resumes - Tamara Zieve
63 Ethiopian immigrants arrived in Israel on Sunday, the beginning of a new wave of aliya from Ethiopia in accordance with a government decision passed in August. Israel is to bring 9,000 Falash Mura to Israel by the end of 2020, starting with 1,300 Ethiopians who are expected to arrive by the end of 2016. (Jerusalem Post)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
- Disputed Territories - Editorial
The U.S. State Department's recent condemnation of Israel unfortunately reiterates the erroneous view that "settlements are the core problem" of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Worse, it contributes to the prolongation of the conflict by incorrectly invoking international law under the pretext of "evenhandedness" toward the parties involved. It is not evenhanded to blindly accept the Palestinian narrative, according to which not just the historic territories of Judea and Samaria (named the "West Bank" by Jordan) but all of Israel are "occupied territory."
The Jordanian and Egyptian control over Judea, Samaria, and Gaza for 19 years following their failure to destroy Israel in 1949 was never recognized by the international community - although the Arab war of aggression did defeat the first attempt by the UN to create a two-state solution to the conflict. By international law, the designation of this area as "occupied" Arab or Palestinian lands is questionable and they are better defined as "disputed" territories.
The State Department, referring to Israel's attempt to resolve the issue of one illegal outpost, declaring it "strongly condemns" the move.
The escalation of U.S. terminology regarding Israel is striking, considering it also "strongly condemned" Syria's use of chemical weapons against civilians.
(Jerusalem Post)
- Why Russia and Iran Are Abetting the Syrian Government - Harold Rhode
The Syrian government, Russia, and Iran are trying the change the demographic makeup of Syria, aiming to depopulate Syria of Sunni Arabs. All three see themselves in an existential battle against radical Sunnis and are now moving to repopulate formerly Sunni areas of Syria with Shiites - mostly from Iraq.
In Russia, where 98% of the Muslims are Sunni, the Russian government has undertaken a program - with some success - to entice Russian Sunnis to convert to Shiism. Dr. Harold Rhode served for 28 years as an advisor on the Islamic world in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense.
(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
- New Diagnostic Test Distinguishes Bacterial from Viral Infections - Abigail Klein Leichman
ImmunoXpert, developed by Israeli startup MeMed, is now used by hospitals in the EU, Switzerland and Israel to determine rapidly whether an infection is bacterial or viral. Because they are usually unable to determine the cause of an infection, many physicians prescribe antibiotics to be on the safe side. Experts believe that up to 50% of antibiotic drug regimens are unnecessary or inappropriate. And antibiotic overuse is a major trigger for drug-resistant strains estimated to kill 50,000 people each year in Europe and the U.S.
ImmunoXpert interprets chemical signals from the body's own immune system to distinguish with over 90% accuracy between bacterial and viral infections. Instead of trying to access and isolate the pathogen, ImmunoXpert's sophisticated biosensors and algorithms decode the immune system's distinct responses to bacterial and viral infections. (Israel21c)
Observations:
Who Is Misreading Reality? - David Keyes (Atlantic)
After Jeffrey Goldberg published an article criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, the prime minister's spokesman, David Keyes, sent the following response to Goldberg which he posted in full.
- Too often in Israel's history, grave misreadings of reality have led to tragedy. The Oslo process resulted not in peace but in over a thousand Israelis being murdered by Palestinian terrorists.
- In 2005, Israel uprooted every soldier and Jew living in Gaza hoping it would encourage peace. Instead, Hamas, a terrorist organization that calls for genocide of all Jews, came to power and launched nearly twenty thousand rockets and missiles at Israeli civilians.
- Today Hamas' deputy speaker of the parliament, Ahmed Bahr, calls to murder Jews "down to the very last one." Fatah so-called "moderate" Jibril Rajoub said recently that if he could get his hands on a nuclear weapon, he would use it that very day over Israel. The Iranian regime emblazons its missiles with "Israel will be wiped out." Too often, the world has minimized or ignored explicit calls for the murder of Jews.
- Israel does not seek to preserve the status quo. Israel has consistently offered and genuinely hopes to begin peace talks with the Palestinians immediately and without preconditions. Israel's vision of peace is based on two states for two peoples where a demilitarized Palestinian state finally recognizes the Jewish State of Israel. Unfortunately, the Palestinian leadership has shown time and again that they don't want a state beside Israel. They want a state instead of Israel.
- Regarding Iran, the prime minister took Israel's case to the American people and Congress to highlight the existential threat of the world's worst state sponsor of terror seeking atomic bombs. Israel's determination to prevent a nuclear armed Iran was a leading force that helped galvanize sanctions against Iran in the first place.
- Without Israel's steadfastness, Iran would have had nuclear weapons long ago. This clear stand brought much of the Arab world closer to Israel as Tehran's apocalyptic mullahs threaten them no less than us.
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