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Last Daily Update :
Last Issue Of The Week :
The Russian-Georgian War: Implications for the Middle East
16/08/2008
Ariel Cohen
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Regional Affairs
Moscow formulated far-reaching goals when it carefully prepared - over a period of at least two and a half years - for a land invasion of Georgia. These goals included: expelling Georgian troops and effectively terminating Georgian sovereignty in South Ossetia and Abkhazia; bringing down President Mikheil Saakashvili and installing a more pro-Russian leadership in Tbilisi; and preventing Georgia from joining NATO.
Russia's long-term strategic goals include increasing its control of the Caucasus, especially over strategic energy pipelines. If a pro-Russian regime is established in Georgia, it will bring the strategic Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Baku-Erzurum (Turkey) gas pipeline under Moscow's control.
In recent years, Moscow granted the majority of Abkhazs and South Ossetians Russian citizenship. Use of Russian citizenship to create a "protected" population residing in a neighboring state to undermine its sovereignty is a slippery slope which is now leading to a redrawing of the former Soviet borders.
Russian continental power is on the rise. Israel should understand it and not provoke Moscow unnecessarily, while defending its own national security interests staunchly. Small states need to treat nuclear armed great powers with respect.
U.S. intelligence-gathering and analysis on the Russian threat to Georgia failed. So did U.S. military assistance to Georgia, worth around $2 billion over the last 15 years. This is something to remember when looking at recent American intelligence assessments of the Iranian nuclear threat or the unsuccessful training of Palestinian Authority security forces against Hamas.
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The Reach of Hizbullah as Iran's Surrogate
29/07/2008
Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan D. Halevi and Ashley Perry
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Hizbollah
Over the last few years, Iran's proxy Hizbullah, has been spreading its influence far and wide. In its brinksmanship with the West, Iran has learnt much from the two neighbouring Gulf Wars. As opposed to Saddam Hussein, whose threats of an all-out campaign against the West was largely rhetoric; Iran takes a global view and is diligently preparing terrorist networks all over the world which will spring into action when the word is given. Hizbullah receives millions of dollars a year from Iran to finance its operations. After the Second Lebanon War it received even more funds to compensate for its military and civilian losses and to rehabilitate the Shi’ite villages which supported it. The Iranian funds are transferred to Hizbullah by the Al-Qods Force of the Revolutionary Guards, the Iranian foreign ministry and official institutions with branches in Lebanon. The ramifications of Hizbullah's reach are the very real threat they pose in many corners of the world. Iran has understood that to truly threaten and hold the West hostage it must create a multi-faceted menace to the citizens of these nations and their interests. Hizbullah's web of terror cells provides them just that.
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Last Key Articles :
How Will the IDF Confront Regional Threats? - A Strategic Overview
24/03/2008
Ido Nehushtan
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Israel
The three primary generators of Middle East radicalism and extremism are Iran's "Shia Crescent," the Muslim Brotherhood, and the Global Jihad. Having a nuclear weapon promotes its owner to membership in a top-tier club in the world and allows the possessor to promote its interests more easily. Iran is Persian, ideologically and historically different from the Arab world. Yet if Iran gets its hands on nuclear weapons in the future, the threatened pro-Western regimes of the Arab world may decide to join it and not fight it. Professionally speaking, if Israel wants to prevent any high-trajectory rocket or mortar fire, it must establish good control on the ground. In the West Bank, Israel has control over the external perimeter and can control the entrance of weapons inside the area. Furthermore, if Israeli forces are present on the ground, then they can stop the manufacture of locally-produced rockets and other weapons in time.
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Is Israel Bound by International Law to Supply Utilities, Goods, and Services to Gaza?
24/03/2008
Dr. Abraham Bell
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International Law
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Development Secretary Douglas Alexander recently alleged that Israel's decision to respond to ongoing Palestinian rocket attacks by limiting the supply of fuel to Gaza violated international law. The new UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Robert H. Serry, also asserted: "Israeli measures amounting to collective punishment are not acceptable. We call on Israel to meet its obligations toward the civilian population of Gaza under international law." Yet international law does not require Israel to supply Gaza with fuel or electricity, or, indeed, with any other materials, goods, or services. Article 23 of the Fourth Geneva Convention permits states like Israel to cut off fuel supplies and electricity to territories like Gaza. It only requires Israel to permit passage of food, clothing, and medicines intended for children under fifteen, expectant mothers, and maternity cases. Moreover, Israel would be under no obligation to provide anything itself, just not to interfere with such consignments sent by others. Article 70 of the First Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1977 creates a slightly broader duty regarding the provision of essential supplies, but it does not list fuel and electricity as items for which passage must be permitted.
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Last Quotes :
Last Media Point-Counterpoint :
Was There a Deliberate Israeli Policy of Ethnic Cleansing in the War of Independence?
08/08/2008
The creation of the state of Israel – as is now being revealed by Israeli historians such as Benny Morris – required a deliberate strategy to rid the land of as many of its indigenous population as possible, through a process of violence and terror.
Benny Morris: "There was no Zionist "plan" or blanket policy of evicting the Arab population, or of "ethnic cleansing". Plan Dalet (Plan D), of March 10th, 1948 (it is open and available for all to read in the IDF Archive and in various publications), was the master plan of the Haganah - the Jewish military force that became the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) - to counter the expected pan-Arab assault on the emergent Jewish state. That's what it explicitly states and that's what it was."
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Palestinian Award-Winning Journalist Alleges Mistreatment by israeli Soldiers at Border Crossing
20/07/2008
Mr Omer emailed the BBC the following day, saying he had "difficulty in breathing and pain in my chest" because of the treatment he received. He is now back in Gaza, where hospital doctors have diagnosed several broken ribs.
Dr. Diaa Husseini, who examined Omer at the hospital, said the journalist had no signs of physical injury. He said Omer had suffered a nervous breakdown brought on by emotional stress and was given stomach medication and released after two hours.
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