01/17 Links Pt1: Glick: Trump, the pistol and the olive branch; Phillips: Britain gets it right. Twice. What gives? ~ EoZ

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: Trump, the pistol and the olive branch

Trump will take office on Friday. Since he was elected, he has given every reason to believe that Abbas and his deputies and their European and American enablers will have to either put up or shut up.
Speaking of the president-elect, Henry Kissinger said that Trump is the first man in recent memory who doesn’t owe anybody anything for his victory.
The only people he is answerable to are the voters who elected him.
Trump’s electoral victory owes to his success in tapping into the deep reservoir of popular disaffection with the elitist culture and policies that have governed post-Cold War West. He has used the mandate he received from American voters to revisit the basic assumptions that have driven US policies for the past generation.
His skepticism at NATO and the EU are examples of his refusal to simply accept the received wisdom of his predecessors. Just this weekend he told Germany’s Bild magazine that he continues to question the purpose of NATO, which is a drag on US taxpayers and doesn’t fight terrorism.
He similarly restated his ambivalence toward the EU and that its open border policy has been a “catastrophic failure,” and he expects more countries to follow Britain’s lead and exit the EU.
Trump’s position on the PLO and the Palestinian war on Israel is of a piece with his wider rejection of the common wisdom of Western elites. Just as he didn’t hesitate to say that the EU mainly serves as an instrument for Germany to dominate the European market, so he has made no mystery of his rejection of the moral equivalence between Israel and Palestinian terrorists which forms the basis of the twostate formula.
Not only won’t Trump join the Obama administration and the French in criminalizing Israeli homeowners, Trump is celebrating them. He has invited the leaders of Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria – that is, the so-called “settlements” – to attend his inauguration.
And he appears dead serious about moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem.

Melanie Phillips: Britain gets it right. Twice. What gives?

Extraordinary! The British government has started making bold and good moves. No fewer than two such sets of developments have been spotted in as many days.
On Sunday, at the Paris conference called ~~to get the Middle East peace process back on track~~ stick the knife into Israel good and proper before Obama leaves the White House, Theresa May’s government refused to sign its closing statement. “There are risks,” said the UK Foreign Office,“that this conference hardens positions at a time when we need to be encouraging the conditions for peace. We have particular reservations about an international conference intended to advance peace between the parties that does not involve them – indeed which is taking place against the wishes of the Israelis.”
You don’t say.
Not content with that, according to Ha’aretz the UK this afternoon used its veto to prevent the EU Foreign Affairs Council from passing a French resolution adopting the Paris conference conclusions.
Can this really be the same British government that just over three weeks ago not only voted for the infamous Israel-bashing UN Security Council resolution 2334 but helped draft it and push it through? No wonder Ha’aretz called today’s move “highly irregular”.
It would be thoroughly uncharitable to suggest that Britain’s stance at Paris, like Mrs May’s onslaught on US Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech attacking Israel a few days after resolution 2334, happened because she suddenly became aware that it might not be the most brilliant strategy to thoroughly cheese off the incoming, pro-Israel US President. So I won’t.
It would be even more uncharitable to suggest that because President-Elect Donald Trump stated in his interview with The Times (£), published today but conducted last week, that “the UK may have another chance to veto if what I’m hearing is true, because you know you have a meeting as you know, this weekend”, Mrs May promptly fell into line. So I won’t suggest that either.

“Occupied” Territories? Hebrew Origins of Palestinian Arab Towns in Judea-Samaria

With the approval of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, which declares as illegal any Israeli presence beyond the 1967 “Green Line” — including the Old City of Jerusalem and its Temple Mount (Judaism’s holiest site) and the Mount of Olives cemetery where Jews have been burying their dead for more than 3,000 years– and an earlier UNESCO resolution disassociating the Jewish People from Jerusalem and other holy sites, one wonders how the U.N. and UNESCO ambassadors involved in these decisions can keep a straight face.
Given the recorded history of that land from the Bible and other recognized sources, a well-known phrase from Shakespeare is instructive: “What’s in a name?” When it comes to Eretz Israel, plenty. The place-names verify the absurdity of accusations that Jews are colonizers, strangers to this land and “occupiers of” these areas.
It is equally absurd to claim that the Arabs are the indigenous peoples of Israel, because virtually all the place-names used by local Arabs are non-Arabic in origin, and derived either from biblical Hebrew names or from later Greek or Roman names.
The Romans renamed the entire region Syria-Palestina (named for the Philistines and Assyrians) after they destroyed the Second Temple so as to erase its Jewish roots. This was later shortened to Palestina and it eventually became known as Palestine. As noted scholar Daniel Pipes points out: “Palestine (Arabic: Filastin) as a political unit only came into use as a Zionist triumph when imposed by the British occupiers following the issuance of the Balfour Declaration in 1917. Palestinians (Arabic: Filastiniyun) also came into use only in the twentieth century.” (“Is There A Palestinian People? Can It Be Defeated?” 1-10-17, Middle East Forum blog).

The "Peace Conference": An Outright Admission of Failure

After 23 years and billions of dollars, the Palestinians still lack "infrastructure for a viable... economy." They cannot manage "service delivery." And there is no "civil society" in Palestinian Authority (PA) areas able to express dissent or disapproval of Mahmoud Abbas's 12-year power grab of a 4-year presidential term. Gaza under Hamas is worse.
Even the Europeans and John Kerry acknowledge that the Palestinians have no capacity for self-government. This is, in part, because there has been no demand by the donor countries for such things as budgetary accountability and transparency, or a free press and civil society in PA areas to demand more and better of its leaders.
The PA also pays terrorists and their families with foreign donations. And then there's the matter of Palestinian corruption and outright stealing.
The Trump Administration will have a lot on its plate beginning this week. But if it really wants to help the cause of Israel's security, legitimacy and acknowledged permanence in the region, it would do well to insist that U.S. taxpayer dollars be spent accountably or not at all, until the Palestinians get their financial, as well as political, house in order.

JCPA: Lessons from the Failed Paris Peace Conference

Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser is Director of the Project on Regional Middle East Developments at the Jerusalem Center. He was formerly Director General of the Israel Ministry of Strategic Affairs and head of the Research Division of IDF Military Intelligence.

Kerry’s Latest Peace Making Effort Ends with a Pffft

In the end it’s impossible to credit Kerry’s diplomacy or the outsized attention paid to settlements on misplaced good intentions.
In 2011, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas wrote an op-ed that was published in The New York Times expressing his intent to internationalize the conflict:
Palestine’s admission to the United Nations would pave the way for the internationalization of the conflict as a legal matter, not only a political on. “It would also pave the way for us to pursue claims against Israel at the United Nations, human rights treaty bodies and the International Court of Justice.
Palestine has not been admitted to the UN, but officials of the PA are saying that they will use 2334 to pursue action against Israel in the International Criminal Court.
It also has to be remembered that over President Barack Obama’s two terms in office the administration launched two peace initiatives in 2009-10 and 2013-14. Both times it was Abbas who torpedoed those efforts to make peace.
Allowing Abbas to internationalize the conflict after he refused to make peace has rewarded him for his obstructionism. Not only does it make peace less possible but it whitewashes recent history – even by those who were involved – to reward the obstructionist Abbas and punish Israel.

Kerry: Israel marching towards being a 'unitary state'

Outgoing U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday said that it was the fault of Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) that a peace deal was not agreed upon during the Obama administration.
Speaking to Christiane Amanpour on CNN, Kerry rejected Amanpour’s assertion that the administration failed to broker a peace deal.
“The leaders of the two countries involved – one country and one entity, the Palestinian Authority – have failed to come to the table and reach agreement. You know the old saying – you can lead a horse to water, you can’t make it drink. Now, we did a lot of leading to a lot of water, but people decided they weren’t ready for one reason or another to move,” he said.
Kerry also defended the administration’s decision to abstain during the vote at the UN Security Council on Resolution 2334, which condemned Israeli communities in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem.
The reason for the abstention, said Kerry, is “because we believe that Israel has a major choice and the Palestinians have a major choice.”
He then went on to again criticize Israel’s presence communities in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem, just as he did in the speech he gave several days after the passing of Resolution 2334.

Report: UK, Balkan states block EU resolution in Paris summit

European Union foreign ministers met Monday in Brussels to discuss the implications of Sunday's Paris peace summit, with Britain and some Balkan states reportedly blocking the adoption of the concluding statement from the Paris conference.
The European foreign ministers also expressed opposition to plans to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, saying this would increase tensions in the Arab world.
"I believe it is very important for us all to refrain from unilateral actions, especially those that can have serious consequences in large sectors of public opinion, in large parts of the world," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said after the meeting.
She said European foreign ministers hope the Americans will consider the potential consequences of moving the embassy. She added that the European Union "will for sure not move our delegation -- that is in Tel Aviv."
Mogherini said the EU will not move its embassy as it will "continue to respect the international consensus embodied in U.N. Security Council Resolution 478 from 1980."

Palestinians slam UK, Australia for not supporting Paris peace declaration

On Sunday the British Foreign Office refused to endorse the Paris Declaration, which reaffirmed support for a two-state solution, and called for a stop to the violence and “ongoing settlement activity.” It also called on each side “to refrain from unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of negotiations on final-status issues, including, inter alia, on Jerusalem, borders, security, and refugees, which they will not recognize.”
(Israeli, Palestinian officials criticize Paris peace conference)
“We have particular reservations about an international conference intended to advance peace between the parties that does not involve them," the office declared. Adding that its timing right before America transitions into a new president also wasn't ideal.
Australia expressed similar sentiments, ABC Australia reported.
"While the Australian Government was represented at the Paris conference, this does not mean we agree with every element of the final statement," a spokesperson from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop's office told ABC.
"The most important priority must be a resumption of direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians for a two-state solution as soon as possible."
Erekat, however, called the reservations of the countries "groundless."
"For years substantial efforts were made by France and many other countries around the world to push the political process forward on the basis of international law, and we were expecting the United Kingdom, in particular, to play an effective role in the international system that rejects the Israeli occupation and its settlement enterprise," Erekat stated.
"We call upon both countries to correct this mistake and to recognize the State of Palestine in line with their support and commitment to the two-state solution."

Britain denounced for defending Israel in international forums

Hanan Ashrawi, another senior PLO official, charged that instead of “rectifying its historical responsibility” for the Palestinian “tragedy,” London is “compounding its culpability.”
On Sunday, the UK sent three lower level diplomats to the Paris peace conference but refused to sign the joint declaration issued by all but two participating countries (Australia also refused to sign the document).
A spokesperson for the British government later criticized the meeting for its inopportune timing ahead of a new US administration, and for the fact that neither Israelis nor Palestinians were present.
While reaffirming London’s support for a two-state solution, the spokesman indicated that the Paris conference might end up being unconstructive and liable to harden Palestinian negotiating positions.
On Monday, the UK successfully blocked France’s effort to have the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council adopt the Paris conference’s final communique, which calls on Israelis and Palestinians to take concrete steps to promote a two-state solution.

Hamas blasts 'absurd' Paris conference

The Hamas terrorist group on Monday rejected the outcome of Sunday’s Paris conference on Israeli-Palestinian Authority (PA) peace, labelling the summit "absurd", AFP reports.
"The Paris conference is a return to the absurd negotiation approach, which lost the rights of the Palestinian people and gave legitimacy to the Zionist entity on Palestinian land," said Hamas spokesman Fawzy Barhoum in a statement.
Barhoum called on the various Palestinian Arab factions to unite on a "national strategy" centered on the "resistance in defense of our people."
The Paris conference included representatives of around 70 countries who later released a joint statement supporting an independent Palestinian state as part of a negotiated agreement with Israel.
The statement warned Israel and the PA against "unilateral steps" that could threaten a two-state solution, but included no serious enforcement mechanisms.
Israeli and PA representatives were not in attendance at the summit, which was backed by the PA but not by Israel, which insists that the only way to achieve peace is by direct negotiations.

Fears of new resolution dulled, UN Security Council to gather Tuesday

The United Nations Security Council is set to meet Tuesday to discuss “the Palestinian question” in the wake of a mounting campaign in world bodies to restart stalled peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.
Israel’s envoy to the world body, Danny Danon, will address the meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. local time at UN headquarters in New York (5 p.m. Israel time).
The gathering comes two days after a one-day peace conference in Paris with representatives from over 70 countries – but not Israel or the Palestinian Authority, and amid fears in Jerusalem the meeting could be used to field another resolution critical of Israel — following the adoption of a resolution last month that flogged the settlement enterprise.
Last week, Danon said the Tuesday Security Council meet would mark “an attempt to promote a last-minute initiative before the new US administration takes office.”

PMW: Abbas threatens to cancel claimed PA recognition of Israel Despite Abbas' claims, the Palestinian Authority and Fatah have never really recognized the State of Israel

On the occasion of yesterday's peace conference with representatives from 72 countries in Paris, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas stated that if the US moves its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem it might lead the Palestinians to "cancel" their "recognition of Israel:"
"President Abbas said that he wrote to Trump and warned him of the consequences of the transfer of the embassy, and noted that this 'will not only negate any legitimacy of the US to fill a role in settling the conflict, but will also annihilate the two-state solution.' He added that the Palestinians will discuss several options for a response, after consultations are held with Arab states, and said: 'Cancelling our recognition of Israel will be one of them.'"
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 15, 2017]
However, the clear fact is that the Palestinian Authority and Fatah have never really recognized the State of Israel.
For 20 years, Palestinian Media Watch has been exposing that, despite peace negotiations, agreements, and declarations, the Palestinians have never recognized Israel's right to exist - in any borders. In speeches, at events, and visually, the PA, Fatah, and their leaders have continued to present "Palestine" as including all of Israel and have expressed that the final goal is that all Israel's land will be in one state: "Palestine."

Melanie Phillips: Change the nameplate now!

How should anyone respond to threats, intimidation and blackmail? By giving in?
Surely not. The appropriate response would be to bring the matter before an appropriate authority equipped to deal with this through condign action against the perpetrator.
And what if the target of such threats, intimidation and blackmail is that appropriate authority itself?
US President-Elect Donald Trump has said he intends to move the US Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In response, the Fatah Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has said such a move would “destroy the two-state solution.”
Why? There’s been no suggestion that the US embassy would move to east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians (falsely) claim as the capital of a future state of Palestine. The assumption is that the embassy would be located in west Jerusalem which has been undisputedly part of the State of Israel since its rebirth. So moving the embassy has nothing to do with any two-state solution.
Indeed, since the US currently maintains a consulate in Jersualem, all it has to do is quietly change the nameplate on the door. It could do that tonight.
Abbas also threatened to reverse Palestinian recognition of the State of Israel. Assuming he means by that reversing acceptance of the State of Israel – rather than an act of geo-political flat-earthism in refusing to recognise it exists on a map of the region – well, he never accepted it in the first place. On the contrary, he has said repeatedly that the Palestinians will never accept Israel’s existence as a Jewish state. And anyway, as far as the map is concerned the Palestinians intend to wipe Israel off it altogether, as we can see from their own cartography, flags and insignia.

Melanie Phillips: The capital of nowhereland

One of the more bizarre ways in which the west subjects the Jewish people to double standards is to tell them that they alone cannot decide for themselves the identity of the capital city of their own country.
Thus we find General James Mattis, President-Elect Trump’s pick for Defence Secretary, telling the Senate Armed Services Committee at his confirmation hearing that as far as he is concerned the capital of Israel is Tel Aviv.
“The capital of Israel that I go to, sir, is Tel Aviv, sir, because that’s where all their government people are,” he said.
Really? Let’s see now. Israel’s defence ministry is in Tel Aviv. But all other ministries (apart from agriculture) along with the Knesset, the Prime Minister’s official residence, the President’s official residence and the Supreme Court are situated in Jerusalem. The seat of Israel’s government, in other words, is in Jerusalem. That makes it Israel’s capital city.
Perhaps Gen. Mattis has no idea that a country’s government consists of anything beyond its ministry of defence? In which case, perhaps someone could kindly arrange for him to go on a guided tour of the government and state buildings in Jerusalem.
Gen. Mattis’s remark reflects the nature of the challenge over this issue facing Mr Trump, whose known views make him potentially one of the most pro-Israel of all American presidents.

Palestinian Authority official welcomes Kushner as envoy

The Palestinian Authority cautiously welcomed news on Monday that Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s Jewish sonin- law, will serve as the president- elect’s Middle East peace envoy, expressing hope that he will maintain a fair balance regarding the ongoing conflict with Israel.
“We hope that Mr. Kushner will be the US peace envoy and will be able to do what all of his predecessors have tried to do, and will finally achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” Husam Zomlot, PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s adviser for strategic affairs, told The Jerusalem Post. “This is a position that requires a firm commitment to the US’s longheld policies.”
Zomlot said it was encouraging that Trump announced the appointment even before taking office, a possible indication that he was committed to working on a peace deal between the sides.
“It’s a good sign that President- elect Trump early on appointed one of his closest people, his son-in-law, to take this task,” Zomlot added. “We don’t just see the glass half-empty, but also half-full. We see the commitment by President-elect Trump to intervene as early as possible and spend political capital to resolve this issue.”

Swiss government hosts $85,000 event aiming to unify Hamas and Fatah

The Swiss government and a Finnish NGO spent almost $85,000 to host a workshop in Geneva to unify the EU and US-classified terrorist organization Hamas with the Fatah party, according to a report on Monday in the daily Basler Zeitung.
The eye-popping revelation said Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs organized meetings between Hamas and Fatah over a two day period last December. The Basler reported that Palestinians on social media blasted the Swiss initiative as a “waste of money.”
Islamic Jihad reacted to the criticism by canceling its participation. Swiss government representatives and MPs have met with Hamas politicians over the years. The Swiss leadership, according to the article, maintains “friendly relations with Hamas,” according to the report.
Switzerland is not a member of the EU and has declined to label Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist entities.
Musa Muhammad Abu Marzouk, the second-most powerful man in Hamas, was provided with a visa to travel to Switzerland. The US Treasury Department listed Abu Marzouk as a specially designated terrorist in 1995, and he has drawn scrutiny for his fund-raising in the EU and in the US.

Spouting PLO statistics

Over the weekend, a billboard scare campaign was launched, featuring an Arabic sentence that translates as "Soon we'll be the majority."
Despite the impression that this is a campaign by Hamas or the PLO, it turns out the message actually comes from Commanders for Israel's Security (a group of retired security agency officials that promotes diplomatic-security arrangements). Former Mossad head Danny Yatom told the media the campaign was designed to "stir up awareness that if we don't separate from the Palestinians, they will soon be the majority in the land between Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea, and Israel will cease to be a Jewish, democratic state."
The campaign rests on a pile of lies from the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. The demographic balance Yatom and his friends are trying to use to frighten the Israeli public actually favors Jews, not Arabs. In the past, people have warned about the future threat of Jews becoming a minority in their own country. Back in 1898, Zionist thinker Simon Dubnov opposed Theodor Herzl's vision of a Jewish state, arguing that by the year 2000, no more than half a million Jews would be living in Israel. Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, was also faced with a prediction by experts, led by statistician Professor Roberto Baki, who warned against declaring the establishment of the state because, by the early 1960s, there would be an Arab majority in Israel.

U.S. Democrats Seek Tips from Hamas on “Resisting Occupation” (satire)

Following the surprise election of Donald Trump to be the country’s first ever hybrid President/CEO, the leaders of the Democratic Party have entered into an agreement with Hamas to receive training in armed resistance to an occupying power.
ISIS could not be reached for comment, although it is understood that they were the second-lowest bidder behind the Palestinian amateur rocketeers.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told The Mideast Beast, “The Republicans have taken our land! They are occupiers and must be made to trade Senate seats for peace. We have petitioned the UN for a strongly worded resolution, but if that fails, shit’s gonna get real.”
Hamas spokeswoman, Waffa ul-Givitbak echoed Schumer’s frustration saying “Hamas and the Democratic Party have been fighting a common foe for decades. Our hatred of Fox News binds us together, but this ‘official’ joining of forces is a long-overdue, and welcome development.”

EUROPE ON TERROR ALERT: Police seize jihadi weapons ‘capable of downing AIRCRAFT’

Anti-terror investigators confiscated 12,000 weapons this week - just before they were sold to terrorists by a Spanish gang, who have now been arrested.
Police said the weapon trafficking network was terrifying in its size and capability - which now includes anti-aircraft weaponry.
The country’s Interior Minister said “several anti-aircraft guns capable of bringing down aircraft” were seized on Thursday, along with thousands of rifles.
The entire arsenal was worth nearly £9 million. Police also seized more than £70,000 in cash.
The Interior Minister said: “Among the innumerable seized pieces are complete percussion mechanisms, recoil springs, retaining parts, guns, bolts, cylinders, frames, firing mechanisms and locking systems, all intended for the rehabilitation of weapons.
“For this, they had a sophisticated and complete workshop for the repair and in its case reactivation of the firearms.”

Breaking the Silence: Shooting soldiers is not terrorism

Terrorists who target IDF soldiers are not in fact terrorists, according to far-left organization Breaking the Silence.
According to a Channel 20 report, the group's public relations coordinator, Nadav Weiman, told activists, "If you shoot at soldiers, you are trying to kill soldiers. You are not a terrorist."
Weiman made the statements to two activists for right-wing organization Ad Kan who were posing as radical leftists to penetrate Breaking the Silence.
"If there is another country that is conquering your country, the area where you live, you are allowed to use violent means to fight the conquering entity, only ... against soldiers and police officers, but if you stab a soldier at a checkpoint, that is not a terrorist attack," Weiman said.
The Ad Kan activists have been documenting Breaking the Silence's activities for some time, taking part in preparations, lectures and tours of areas of Judea and Samaria. They learned the methods the group uses and its efforts to enter schools and academic institutions. A bill currently under consideration by the Knesset aims to prohibit members of the organization from speaking at educational institutions.

Hezbollah claims it found Israeli drone downed in Lebanon

The Lebanese group Hezbollah has located an Israeli drone that crashed in Lebanese territory and has taken it to a secure location for inspection, a source in Hezbollah said on Tuesday.
The Israeli military said that the drone had come down in Lebanese territory on Monday near the border with Israel, identifying the drone as a "tactical Skylark UAV".
Hezbollah, an Iran-backed Shi'ite group, has fought numerous conflicts with Israel. Their most serious flare-up in recent years was in 2015 when Hezbollah guerrillas killed two Israeli troops in retaliation for a deadly air strike in Syria.
The IDF stated on Monday that the drone had crashed into Southern Lebanon and they were looking into what caused the accident.
Hezbollah-affiliated media Al Manar reported that the drone had crashed near the southern border town Alma Shaab.
The Lebanese Army attempted to reach the crash site Monday evening, however, rough terrain delayed the drone's retrieval.

Israel’s war on Hezbollah’s accurate missiles

All signs indicate that the strike which took place early Friday morning near the Mezzeh Military Airport west of Damascus, according to Syrian reports, was aimed at destroying a shipment of accurate Iranian surface-to-surface missiles to Hezbollah.
This can be concluded from the claim that the attacked targets were near the airport and from the knowledge that Iran transfers the missiles it supplies to Hezbollah through cargo planes that land in the Damascus area, and mainly in the military airport which is located not far from the Lebanon border.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and senior commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced recently that the Lebanese organization was receiving missiles, and even accurate missiles, from Iran—likely satellite-guided missiles (GPS) that could reach central and even southern Israel and threaten most of the essential facilities and civilian and military airports in the State of Israel.
They were likely referring to improved Fateh-111 or Fateh-110 missiles, and maybe even Zelzal missiles that are produced in Iran, which have a range of 200-300 kilometers (125-186 miles). Their warhead weighs about 400 kilograms (880 pounds). Hezbollah has already declared that it plans to use these missiles to attack the General Staff at the Kirya Base in Tel Aviv and other essential targets across Israel.

What does Russia really think about Israel's alleged airstrikes in Syria?

If Russia, Assad’s biggest supporter, was against Israeli attacks and warned against them, it would have limited Israel’s freedom of action.
This leads us to believe that there is probably a quiet understanding between Jerusalem and Moscow. Beyond “de-conflicting,” or preventing the two militaries from shooting at each other, the full nature of the agreement remains unknown.
The deal was reached in meetings between President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IAF commander Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin and his military chiefs. It seems as though Israel enjoys freedom of movement in firing missiles into Syria.
It is possible to conclude that Russia understands that Israel’s interests are solely to prevent arms transfers of sophisticated weapons from reaching Hezbollah.
They also know Israel’s red line. Israel has no interest in entering Syria’s civil war, not by supporting the rebels or by acting against the regime.
As long as Russia will continue to accept these principles, Israel will allegedly continue to act from time to time, with proper accurate intelligence.

Palestinian,17, shot dead in clashes with Israeli forces

A Palestinian teen was shot dead Monday evening during clashes with Israeli security forces in the southern West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.
The IDF said the shooting occurred during a “violent riot” in which Palestinian hurled rocks at security forces in the Bethlehem-area village of Tuqua, near the settlement of Tekoa in the Etzion Bloc.
“Due to the extent of violence, Border Police fired 0.22-caliber rounds toward the main violence instigator, resulting in his death,” an army spokeswoman said.
The Tuqua municipality identified the youth as 17-year-old Qusay Hussein Umour.
The Palestinian Red Crescent, quoted by the Ma’an news agency, said Umour was detained by Israeli forces after being shot three times, and only handed over to the Palestinians for medical treatment after he had died.
A spate of stabbings, car-rammings and shooting attacks by Palestinian assailants that began more than a year ago has waned over the several months, though sporadic incidents have persisted.

PA cop nabbed attempting to bribe way into Israel

Police arrested three Palestinian Authority residents on Monday after they attempted to bribe security guards operating a checkpoint in a bid to gain illegal entry into pre-1967 Israel.
The suspects include a Palestinian Authority police officer and an attorney who the initial investigation suggests offered to pay a guard at a checkpoint at an entrance to Jerusalem to allow them to enter and help them gain work permits.
Authorities were tipped off by a guard who said that the trio had offered him 2,000 shekels ($524) per person to facilitate a proposed arrangement, whereby the three would be listed as workers travelling with contractors, and as such would be given entrance and work permits, allowing them to work and move about freely within the Green Line.
The three could face fraud conspiracy and fraud charges.

Aid convoy that included murdered ISIS hostage Alan Henning was 'used to smuggle cash to extremists'

An aid convoy that included murdered ISIS hostage Alan Henning was used to smuggle cash to extremists in Syria, a court heard today.
One humanitarian mission - used by Syed Hoque to send thousands of pounds to his Al-Qaeda fighter nephew - included the butchered taxi driver from Eccles, Greater Manchester.
British probation officer Hoque, 37, has been jailed after he sent £4,500 in 2013 to his relative, who was fighting with Islamic extremists against the Syrian regime.
Mr Henning was later kidnapped and beheaded by ' Jihadi John ' Mohammed Emwazi in a sick execution that was filmed and posted on the internet.

Turkey Catches ISIS Istanbul Shooter, Promptly Beats Him To A Pulp

The ISIS attacker responsible for a mass shooting at an Istanbul nightclub New Year’s day was caught in the city’s Esenyurt district Tuesday, according to Turkish media reports, and appears to have paid a price for his crimes already.
The unnamed suspect appears to have been beaten severely by Turkish special police forces. Pictures of the captured suspect show him with severe bruises and cuts, and a shirt covered in blood. Other pictures show another man face-down on the ground, hands cuffed behind his back with a Turkish officer’s foot on his head. Police also reportedly detained three women.
It took Turkish police more than two weeks to find the suspect, who just so happened to be in the same city in which he perpetrated his crime. The Turkish government released a selfie picture of the suspect shortly after the attack on the Reina nightclub.

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