News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
- Pentagon Eyes Iran-North Korea Military Connection - Lucas Tomlinson and Jennifer Griffin
When Iran attempted to launch a cruise missile from a "midget" submarine last week, Pentagon officials saw more evidence of North Korean influence, with intelligence reports saying the submarine was based on a North Korean design. "The very first missiles we saw in Iran were simply copies of North Korean missiles," said Jeffrey Lewis, a missile proliferation expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. "Over the years, we've seen photographs of North Korean and Iranian officials in each other's countries, and we've seen all kinds of common hardware."
When Iran tested a ballistic missile in January, the Pentagon said it was based on a North Korean design. Last summer, Iran conducted another missile launch similar to a North Korean Musudan, the most advanced missile Pyongyang has successful tested to date. (Fox News)
See also Iranian Drones Now Regular Nuisance for U.S. Carrier in Persian Gulf - Hope Hodge Seck
Visits from Iranian surveillance drones have become commonplace for the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush and ships from its strike group that patrol the Persian Gulf. Capt. Will Pennington, the ship's commanding officer, said the Bush detects nearby Iranian drones nearly every day.
(Military.com)
- Turkey's Erdogan Accuses Israel of Massacring Palestinians
Turkish President Erdogan accused Israel of "massacres" against the Palestinians on Monday at a forum in Istanbul that discussed the state of Muslim heritage in Jerusalem. He called on Turks to visit the Al-Aqsa mosque often to protect its Muslim identity. (JTA)
See also Israel: Those Who Systematically Violate Human Rights in Their Own Country Should Not Preach to Others
Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to Erdogan:
"Those who systematically violate human rights in their own country should not preach to the only true democracy in the region. Israel consistently protects total freedom of worship for Jews, Muslims and Christians - and will continue to do so despite the baseless slander launched against it." (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
See also Jerusalem Mayor Invites Erdogan to Visit City
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barket, responding to Turkish President Erdogan, said, "It is surprising that Erdogan, who leads a state that occupied Jerusalem for 400 years, wants to preach to us about how to manage our city. Unlike during the Turkish occupation, Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty is a flourishing, open and free city that allows freedom of religion and worship for all. In recent years, record numbers of Muslims have visited the Temple Mount and held prayers, exercising their absolute freedom of religion under Israeli sovereignty."
"The connection of the Jewish people to Jerusalem dates back more than 3000 years. Jerusalem is and will remain our eternal, united capital forever. In every corner of the city, we see Jewish roots....As we celebrate 50 years of reunited Jerusalem, I invite Erdogan to visit our city and to be amazed by the reality on the ground - a reality that has changed only for the better since the Turks ruled here." (Jerusalem Post)
See also An Ottoman Return to Jerusalem? - Pinhas Inbari
(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
- Islamic State Says It Beheaded Russian Officer in Syria
Islamic State has issued a video showing the beheading of what it said was a Russian intelligence officer captured in Syria, the U.S.-based SITE monitoring website reported on Tuesday. The Russian-language video showed a man dressed in a black jump suit kneeling in the desert and urging other Russian agents to surrender. (Reuters)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
- U.S. Congress to Look into PA Funding of Families of Convicted Terrorists - Michael Wilner
Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), a member of the House Appropriations Committee, told the Jerusalem Post conference in New York on Sunday that she will push for an end to the PA program that provides stipends to the families of convicted terrorists. Meng added that "Abbas' denial of the reality of incitement is something that we need to continue to strongly look into. And I will be doing so. There simply cannot be peace anywhere if children are raised with hatred." (Jerusalem Post)
- Chairman of U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff on Official Visit to Israel - Anna Ahronheim
U.S. Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrived in Israel on Monday for his third official visit. (Jerusalem Post)
- Formerly Anti-Israel Medical Journal Dedicates Entire Issue to Israel's Healthcare System
After publishing a harshly-worded letter critical of the Israel Defense Forces during the 2014 Gaza war, the British medical journal Lancet has dedicated its latest issue to Israel's healthcare system.
The edition published Monday features ten articles showcasing Israeli lifesaving medical devices, detailing groundbreaking genetic research, and highlighting Israeli efforts to treat Syrian refugees injured in the civil war.
Lancet editor Prof. Richard Horton had previously apologized for the letter and promised to publish an edition that would highlight Israel's contributions to the medical profession.
(i24news)
- Israel Unveils Archeological Garden in Jerusalem's Old City - Daniel K. Eisenbud
The Davidson Center's Archeological Garden of Jerusalem was officially unveiled on Monday. Situated near the Temple Mount, the garden features antiquities from the Second Temple, early Muslim and Byzantine periods collected since the end of the Six-Day War.
Pini Refael, manager of education and tourism for the Company for the Restoration and Development of the Jewish Quarter, said, "We found the remains of a gate and wall that date to King Solomon's period, as well as thousands of coins, ancient jars, seal impressions and stones with Hebrew inscriptions from the Second Temple period." (Jerusalem Post)
- Israeli Bone Regeneration Company CartiHeal Raises $18.3M - Gali Weinreb
CartiHeal, an Israeli company which is developing technology for regenerating damaged cartilage tissue and bone, on Sunday announced an $18.3 million financing round. (Globes)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
- Hitler Planned to Use Sarin Nerve Agent Against British and American Troops - Col. Richard Kemp and John Weigold
At Alderney, the smallest of the three main Channel Islands, just 60 miles from the coast of England, at least 40,000 slave laborers lost their lives working for their Nazi masters. A top-secret launch site for V1 missiles was being constructed on the island. The missiles were to be armed with chemical warheads containing sarin nerve gas.
Their target was to be the southern coast of England where hundreds of thousands of British and American troops were assembling for the D-Day invasion. If the Alderney missiles had been fired - and they were within a whisker of this happening - the whole course of World War II would have been drastically altered. (Daily Mail-UK)
- What Washington Needs to Understand about Iran's Presidential Election - Amir Basiri
The upcoming May 19 presidential election will not result in any fundamental change in the Iranian regime's behavior. "One should not expect a major shift in Tehran's policies after the elections. It will be a huge folly and totally misguided approach by the West to pin any hope on the results of this election," said former Italian foreign minister Giulio Terzi.
Mohammad Mohaddessin, foreign affairs chairman of the Iranian opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran, noted that the presidency in Iran lacks any significant authority.
"Any flow of state of affairs in the clerical regime is in the hands of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, his office, and the IRGC."
The two leading candidates are Ebrahim Raisi and incumbent President Hassan Rouhani. Raisi, a confidant of the supreme leader, is known for his role in the 1988 massacre of more than 30,000 political prisoners. Rouhani has presided over 3,000 executions during his tenure as president, far beyond his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The writer is an Iranian human rights activist.
(Washington Examiner)
- Palestinian Daily Reports on Abbas' White House Visit
On May 7, the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam published a detailed article on PA President Mahmoud Abbas' May 3 visit in Washington. The article described Abbas' meetings with American officials as relaxed, and the hosts' reception of Abbas and his delegation as warm and respectful. (MEMRI)
- What Does Hamas' New Political Document Say? - Lt. Col. (ret.) Jonathan D. Halevi
On May 1, 2017, Hamas leader Khaled Mashal presented a political document which does not abrogate the Hamas Charter, but outlines the strategies that the group has tailored to its current political circumstances.
The main points of Hamas' new political document are denial of the Jewish people's right to self-determination in the Land of Israel, while claiming that Israel's establishment as a state is entirely illegitimate.
It also includes willingness for a Palestinian state to be established within temporary borders (1967 lines) as a step toward continuing the armed struggle to destroy Israel - "from the river to the sea." And it denies the validity of the Oslo agreements the PLO has signed with Israel.
(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
- Abbas' "Culture of Peace" - Bassam Tawil
PA President Mahmoud Abbas may soon be known for his sense of humor, after telling President Trump, "We are raising our youth...on a culture of peace."
The Oslo Accords, signed between Israel and the PLO in 1993, gave the Palestinians media outlets, including television and radio stations, which were then used to amplify hatred against Israel and Jews on a daily basis. The Second Intifada that began in September 2000 was the result of seven years of vicious incitement and indoctrination.
Abbas continues to use non-existent threats to the al-Aqsa Mosque to incite Palestinian youths against Israel. He talks about "herds of settlers storming al-Aqsa Mosque" - in reality, peaceful routine visits by Jews to the Temple Mount.
In September 2015, Abbas stated that he "welcomed every drop of blood that is spilled in Jerusalem," and soon after, Palestinians began waging a campaign of knife and car-ramming attacks against Israelis. Is this the "culture of peace" to which Abbas is referring?
(Gatestone Institute)
Observations:
Palestinians Need Real Support, Not Self-Serving BDS - Bassem Eid (Times of Israel)
- Nothing is being done to establish an economic infrastructure in the Palestinian territories.
We Palestinians have no legitimate leadership. Even though the world still pretends that Mahmoud Abbas is the legitimate president, no one believes that he represents anyone anymore.
- When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "I think that anyone who moves to establish a Palestinian state today, and evacuate areas, is giving radical Islam an area from which to attack the State of Israel," he was right. If Israel evacuated the West Bank, Abbas would quickly be replaced by Hamas.
- Outside Israel, much of the world sees us through the lenses of the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement - which Palestinians largely do not support, since many Palestinians are employed by Israeli firms - the only source of good jobs for Palestinians.
- The BDS movement does not seem to understand that the building of settlements benefits Palestinians. The settlements are a great source of well-paying jobs for Palestinian workers. Jews residing in the West Bank is not a problem. Why should it be? Muslims live all over the world, so why should there be areas where Jews are not allowed? That would be apartheid.
- The Arab world is almost one thousand times larger than Israel, so the existence of Israel was never a threat to the Arab world, but it was a great opportunity to allow corrupt Arab leaders to keep their peoples distracted.
- We cannot expect our situation to improve while terrorism continues and while Palestinian youth are taught to believe that killing Jews is honorable. It is not honorable, and such hate will never benefit the Palestinians.
The writer is the founder and former director of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group.
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