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Israel Hayom | Report: Assad asked Israel not to stand in the way of Alawite enclave.

Guardian: Assad asked a mediator to approach then-Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in 2012 with a request that Israel not oppose formation of an Alawite state • Lieberman asked for information on Ron Arad and the remains of spy Eli Cohen.

Defense minister warns Sinai violence may spill over |.

While touring southern border, Moshe Ya’alon says Iron Dome anti-missile battery moved to protect Eilat ‘just in case’

By Asher Zeiger July 23, 2013, 7:11 pm

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, center, touring the border with Egypt Tuesday. (photo credit: Ariel Hermoni/ Defense Ministry)

Violence between Egyptian troops and Islamists in the Sinai Peninsula could spill over into Israel, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Tuesday while touring the border.

Yaalon said Israel had recently moved an Iron Dome anti-missile battery to Eilat to protect the Red Sea resort town from rockets that Sinai Islamists might fire.

“For now, the clashes are between Islamic extremists and the Egyptian army, police and security forces,” said Ya’alon, adding that the battery had been moved “just in case anyone dares fire toward the city.”

Since the Egyptian military removed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi on July 3, supporters of the ousted leader and radical Islamists have increased violent attacks, assassination attempts and kidnappings throughout Egypt, and particularly in the Sinai Peninsula. In the past two weeks, at dozens of Egyptian security officers and terrorists have been killed in clashes.

On Monday, a civilian and four security officers were killed in an attack on the northern Sinai cities of el-Arish and Rafah, on the border with Gaza.

Terrorists fired a rocket toward Eilat following the coup in early July, though it landed in an open area with no injuries or damage reported.

The southernmost city has been subject to a number of missile attacks in recent years.

In April, Eilat was hit by two Grad rockets, apparently fired from the Sinai. One of the rockets fell in an open area, but the second landed in a residential area and caused light damage.

The airport in the city was closed briefly in the immediate aftermath of that attack.

Ya’alon acknowledged that the Egyptian army’s recent operations against extremist forces had been more effective than when Morsi was in power, but “the process is longer than we would have liked.”

As of last week, Egypt has 11 infantry battalions deployed in the Sinai, as well as a tank battalion and assault helicopters — all of which required and received Israel’s formal approval, as per the 1979 Camp David peace accords.

Ya’alon said that the security fence that separates Israel from Egypt should be completed within the next three months. The fence was originally planned just as a barrier to keep out migrants, but was upgraded to include motion sensors, cameras and heightened security after multiple cross-border incidents that occurred in the wake of the 2011 Egyptian revolution, which resulted in a drastic decline in law and order in the Sinai.

Ya’alon also hailed the success of the security fence in reducing the number of migrants from the Sinai “to just a handful in recent months compared to thousands a year and a half ago.”

The defense minister also welcomed Monday’s vote by the EU to brand Hezbollah a terror organization, saying that the decision was “better late than never.”

Defense minister warns Sinai violence may spill over | The Times of Israel.

While touring southern border, Moshe Ya’alon says Iron Dome anti-missile battery moved to protect Eilat ‘just in case’

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, center, touring the border with Egypt Tuesday. (photo credit: Ariel Hermoni/ Defense Ministry)

Violence between Egyptian troops and Islamists in the Sinai Peninsula could spill over into Israel, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Tuesday while touring the border.

Yaalon said Israel had recently moved an Iron Dome anti-missile battery to Eilat to protect the Red Sea resort town from rockets that Sinai Islamists might fire.

“For now, the clashes are between Islamic extremists and the Egyptian army, police and security forces,” said Ya’alon, adding that the battery had been moved “just in case anyone dares fire toward the city.”

Since the Egyptian military removed Islamist president Mohammed Morsi on July 3, supporters of the ousted leader and radical Islamists have increased violent attacks, assassination attempts and kidnappings throughout Egypt, and particularly in the Sinai Peninsula. In the past two weeks, at dozens of Egyptian security officers and terrorists have been killed in clashes.

On Monday, a civilian and four security officers were killed in an attack on the northern Sinai cities of el-Arish and Rafah, on the border with Gaza.

Terrorists fired a rocket toward Eilat following the coup in early July, though it landed in an open area with no injuries or damage reported.

The southernmost city has been subject to a number of missile attacks in recent years.

In April, Eilat was hit by two Grad rockets, apparently fired from the Sinai. One of the rockets fell in an open area, but the second landed in a residential area and caused light damage.

The airport in the city was closed briefly in the immediate aftermath of that attack.

Ya’alon acknowledged that the Egyptian army’s recent operations against extremist forces had been more effective than when Morsi was in power, but “the process is longer than we would have liked.”

As of last week, Egypt has 11 infantry battalions deployed in the Sinai, as well as a tank battalion and assault helicopters — all of which required and received Israel’s formal approval, as per the 1979 Camp David peace accords.

Ya’alon said that the security fence that separates Israel from Egypt should be completed within the next three months. The fence was originally planned just as a barrier to keep out migrants, but was upgraded to include motion sensors, cameras and heightened security after multiple cross-border incidents that occurred in the wake of the 2011 Egyptian revolution, which resulted in a drastic decline in law and order in the Sinai.

Ya’alon also hailed the success of the security fence in reducing the number of migrants from the Sinai “to just a handful in recent months compared to thousands a year and a half ago.”

The defense minister also welcomed Monday’s vote by the EU to brand Hezbollah a terror organization, saying that the decision was “better late than never.”

Ya’alon: Israel boosting rocket defenses on Egypt border | JPost | Israel News.

Congress, Obama at odds over new Iran sanctions | The Times of Israel.

Opinions differ on how much time to give recently elected president Rouhani to prove he’s serious about changing nuclear policy

President Barack Obama, Monday, July 22, 2013. (photo credit:AP/Cliff Owen)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress is considering a new series of hard-hitting Iran sanctions on everything from mining and construction to the Islamic republic’s already besieged oil industry, despite concern from the Obama administration that the measures could interfere with nuclear negotiations.

House and Senate bills are both advancing at a time President Barack Obama’s national security team is gauging whether Iranian President-elect Hasan Rouhani is serious about halting some elements of Tehran’s uranium enrichment activity. Those involved in the process said the administration wants to temper Congressional plans until Rouhani takes office in August and has an opportunity to demonstrate whether his government will offer concessions.

The legislation would blacklist Iran’s mining and construction sectors, effective next year, because they are seen as heavily linked to Iran’s hard-line Revolutionary Guard corps. It also would commit the US to the goal of ending all Iranian oil sales worldwide by 2015, targeting the regime’s biggest revenue generator and prime source of money for its weapons and nuclear programs.

US penalties that went into effect last year already have cut Iran’s petroleum exports in half, but that still leaves billions of dollars coming in every month from Turkey, China and several other Asian countries.

The House’s bill may pass before Congress’ August recess. The Senate version won’t get a vote until at least September, said Sen. Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a leading advocate of tougher Iran sanctions. The Senate Banking Committee, which will put forward the package, is in ongoing consultations with the administration, according to one US official who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk publicly about the sanctions.

Republican Sen. John McCain said the US should immediately “plow ahead” with greater and tougher measures against Iran. “We’re running out of time,” he said.

The US and many other countries believe Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Obama has said Iran has until sometime next year to prove to the world its nuclear program is peaceful. If diplomacy fails, the stage may be set for a military intervention by the US or Israel, which sees an Iranian nuclear weapon as a threat to its very existence.

In a report last week, David Albright and Christina Walrond at the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security concluded that Iran will be able to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for a nuclear explosive without being detected by mid-2014.

Iranians insist their program is solely for energy and research purposes.

The State Department wouldn’t comment specifically on new legislation while it said it was waiting for Rouhani to be sworn in. “We will see what he does once in office,” spokeswoman Marie Harf said.

A senior US official said the administration’s concerns were about the timing and content of the legislation.

If Rouhani is serious about compromise, setting new sanctions in advance of talks risks undercutting him, the official said. Even if the new Iranian leader isn’t serious, the oil measures in particular are problematic, turning a potential US diplomatic success into a failure.

If China or Japan, for example, decides to flout the US demand to stop all importing from Iran, the administration would then have to weigh enforcing the law by blacklisting Chinese and Japanese banks and companies at the risk of widespread economic harm — including for Americans. The likelier result is that the US does nothing, making the sanctions look hollow and eroding international solidarity on pressuring Iran.

Despite wide bilateral support in Congress for tougher sanctions, some Democrats and Republicans are embracing the administration’s cautious approach. In a letter last week to Obama, 18 Republican House members joined more than 100 of their Democratic colleagues in urging the president to “reinvigorate US efforts to secure a negotiated nuclear agreement” and give Rouhani a chance.

Rouhani’s election clearly has bolstered hope of compromise. A former nuclear negotiator and relatively moderate cleric, Rouhani has suggested a more accommodating approach than his predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. However, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has final say on nuclear issues.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said last week his country would be ready to resume talks once Rouhani, who takes office the first weekend in August, puts together a negotiating team.

World powers want the meeting “as soon as possible,” Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said last week. Ashton has served as the point of contact for the US, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia since talks with Iran restarted last year. They’ve yet to make significant headway despite four rounds of discussions.

Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and an adviser to Congress and the administration on Iran sanctions, said moving forward with new measures made sense. “Iran’s nuclear ploys continue to beat Western economic pressure,” he said. “The administration must go into the next round of negotiations with significant, re-enhanced leverage.”

The administration has other options too. It could toughen enforcement of existing restrictions on Iran related to energy, shipping, port management and other sectors the US has blacklisted in recent months. Dubowitz estimated that stamping out gold flows to Iran that already are subject to US penalties could eliminate $20 billion a year in Iranian government revenue alone.

The rough parameters of any larger nuclear deal with Iran are clear. It would have to include the West scaling back some of the sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy over the past few years. In return, the Iranians probably would be allowed to continue producing low-enriched uranium for fuel but would be required to halt production of any higher-enriched material that comes closer to warhead-grade, and send existing stockpiles of such material out of the country for safekeeping. Western powers also would surely demand tougher monitoring of Tehran’s nuclear activities.

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

Iran: EU blacklisting of Hezbollah benefits ‘Zionist regime’ | JPost | Israel News.