WarSclerotic

‘One blood, one enemy’: Solidarity for Gaza boils in West Bank, Christian Science Monitor, Ben Lynfield, July 19, 2014

(An eventual second front for Israel? — DM)

Anger is building in the West Bank amid the ongoing Israeli operation in Gaza, particularly toward Palestinian Authority security forces trying to tamp down demonstrations.

The Israeli operation in Gaza has aroused intense feelings of solidarity among West Bank Palestinians for their Gaza counterparts, fueling anger that could easily be sparked into widespread unrest.

”People can’t sit idly and watch their brothers dying in Gaza,” says Mahdi Abdul Hadi, director of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs. ”What happens in the West Bank now will depend on how far the Israeli army will go ahead with reoccupying and dividing Gaza. It’s too early to say but there is anger and frustration among the youth.”

Although there have been localized clashes in the West Bank since the brutal murder of an East Jerusalem teenager, Mohammed Abu Khdeir, was followed by the launch of Israel‘s Gaza operation, mass protests have been noticeably absent. Although the anger is there, Palestinian security forces’ efforts to contain demonstrations coupled with reticence to see a repeat of the violence and chaos of the second intifada seems to have so far curtailed greater action.

Neither Israel nor the Palestinian Authority want to see another front of the war open in the West Bank, which is mostly under Israeli military control but contains self-rule enclaves nominally governed by the Palestinian Authority.

”People are very frustrated with what’s going on in Gaza and angry after the kidnap and murder [of Mohammed],” says Nabil Kukali, director of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion. Referring to the approximate eruption dates of the second and first intifada uprisings against Israel, Kukali added. ”The atmosphere is close to 2000 and 1988.”

SOLIDARITY FLARES UP

The anger was palpable even before the overnight ground operation into Gaza. At a demonstration late Wednesday, some 200 people marched through the streets towards the Israeli settlement of Beit El before being stopped by about 80 helmeted and shield-bearing Palestinian police.

Although Gaza and the West Bank have been politically divided, with little in-person interaction between residents of the two since 2007, fellowship is strong when conflicts like this flare.

“I’m a son of the Palestinian people, the Gazans are also Palestinians,'” Dia Ali says, explaining why he was protesting. “Our message to the occupation is that we are one people, one blood and we have one enemy, the occupation that is destroying Gaza and we have the right to resist through all means, from rocks to rockets.”

Protesters chanted, “Gaza you are sacrificing your blood for our dignity.” Many carried Palestinian flags, and one held up a sign reading, ”Stand by Gaza. Stop the Genocide.” A car among the demonstrators played a Hamas song. One of the lyrics is ”Take the land and security of Israel and make a volcano.”

Ziad Hamdan, an older merchant, said he came to the demonstration “because it is the least anyone can do to protest the killing in Gaza.” Referring to the killing of four Palestinian boys by Israeli fire on the Gaza beach Wednesday, Mr. Hamdan added bitterly, “They must have been dangerous to the Israelis, that’s why they killed them.”

COOPERATION WITH ISRAEL GRATES

When police blocked the marchers in a human chain, some of the demonstrators voiced their anger at the security cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.

“We don’t need the cooperation with the Israelis, we need bullets and rockets,” they chanted. Hassan Khreisheh, deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, warned that demonstrators “are becoming so angry over the aggression against Gaza that they will not listen to the security forces.”

Abdullah Abdullah, a legislator who supports PA President Mahmoud Abbas, says that while the PA has tried to maintain calm, the effort ”is becoming really difficult. We can’t stand against the sentiment of our people for their brothers in Gaza.”

But an all-out uprising remains unlikely because there is no leadership, plans, or funding for this, Mr. Abdul Hadi of the Palestinian Academic Society says. Many Palestinians fear that an uprising would only bring a return of the chaos of the second intifada in the early 2000s, says Ghassan Khatib, vice president of Bir Zeit University in the West Bank and a former PA minister.

But Khalil Shaheen, director of research at the Masarat think-tank in Ramallah, stresses that the situation can change rapidly.

After Mohammed’s murder, Jerusalem rapidly became the site of intense clashes with Israeli police after years in which its Palestinian residents were criticized for not taking part in the national struggle, he notes.

“In Jerusalem, things changed in one night, they exploded. Another incident, maybe in Jerusalem, could cause a big explosion that would last a few years.”

Hamas Rocket Hits Egypt, Rafah Border Crossing

Security official claims rocket hit Egyptian territory ‘by mistake.’ Could this escalate tensions between Egypt and Hamas?

180 degrees into the wrong direction ! but it is a mistake !

By AFP and Arutz Sheva StaffFirst Publish: 7/19/2014, 11:29 PM / Last Update: 7/19/2014, 11:37 PM

via Hamas Rocket Hits Egypt, Rafah Border Crossing – Defense/Security – News – Arutz Sheva.

A rocket probably fired from the Gaza hit Egypt’s Rafah border crossing with the embattled Palestinian enclave on Saturday, wounding a soldier, a security official told AFP.

The rocket “was most likely fired from Gaza and fell into Egyptian territory by mistake,” the official said.

An estimated 1,600 rockets have been fired from Gaza since Operation Protective Edge began twelve days ago; the IDF has confirmed at least 1,497 have landed in Israel.

Diplomatic repercussions?

Egypt, under recently-elected President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has moved to isolate Hamas, accusing it of backing the Muslim Brotherhood on its own territory.

Egypt’s foreign ministry has condemned Israel’s ground offensive but it also lashed out at Hamas, saying the Islamist movement could have saved dozens of lives had it accepted Cairo’s proposal.

According to Kol Yisrael radio, the Egyptian government said it was placing the responsibility on Hamas for “the possible deaths of Palestinian civilians”, citing Hamas’s refusal to accept Egypt’s proposal for a ceasefire.

The report quoted Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, as having said that had Hamas accepted the ceasefire proposal, it would have saved the lives of at least 40 Gazans who were killed in Israeli airstrikes.

Shoukry further said that Hamas was cooperating with Qatar and Turkey to harm Egypt’s status in the region.

Shoukry’s comments on Hamas echo those made earlier by Egypt’s former Foreign Minister, Mohammed Al-Arabi, who said that Hamas was not serious about a ceasefire – and that the terror group was deliberately trying to embarrass Egypt.

Speaking in an interview in an Egyptian newspaper, Al-Arabi blamed Hamas for not only failing to come to a ceasefire, but for “shedding the blood of innocent Palestinians” by continuing to attack Israel.

More to follow.

Arab Terrorists Cut Power Lines to Binyamin Communities

Dolev-Talmon Bloc suffers power outages; footage of deliberate attack posted to social media.

By Ornit AtzarFirst Publish: 7/19/2014, 11:02 PM / Last Update: 7/19/2014, 11:11 PM

via Terrorists Cut Power Lines to Binyamin Communities – Defense/Security – News – Arutz Sheva.

Palestinian Arabs deliberately cut electricity lines in the Dolev-Talmonim Bloc in Binyamin on Saturday, causing power outages throughout several communities over Shabbat.

Power was finally restored since the early evening hours in Dolev, Talmon, Harsha, Neria, Horesh, Yaron, and Nahaliel.

The terrorists uploaded footage of the attack on social media, confirming suspicions that the power cut was a deliberate assault on the Jewish communities in the region.

The IDF has vowed to increase security in the area, and the Israel Electric Company (IEC) is working on restoring electricity to additional communities in the region still suffering from power outages.

The Israel Police has also launched an investigation into the incident.

Erdogan calls Israel more barbaric than Hitler

Amid violent protests, Israel issues warning against non-essential travel to Turkey; some diplomatic staff have been ordered home

By Raphael Ahren and AP July 19, 2014, 10:32 pm

via Erdogan calls Israel more barbaric than Hitler | The Times of Israel.

ANKARA — Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of “barbarism that surpasses Hitler” during its ground invasion of Gaza.

Erdogan made the comment during a campaign speech Saturday in the Black Sea port city of Ordu. He is running for the presidency in elections next month.

He has been speaking out strongly against Israel during its offensive against Hamas in Gaza, which has killed more than 300 Palestinians. Hamas has fired some 1,500 rockets at Israel and carried out a series of terrorist infiltrations via tunnels and from the sea in recent days.

Erdogan accuses Israel of using disproportionate force and has said the operation there has derailed efforts to normalize Turkish-Israeli ties. Those soured after Israel’s 2010 raid on a ship seeking to breach Israel’s security blockade on Hamas-run Gaza which killed eight Turks and a Turkish-American.

Hundreds have also staged protests in recent days outside Israeli diplomatic mission in Ankara and Istanbul.

Early Saturday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry issued a travel warning to Israeli citizens against nonessential travel to Turkey. “Given the public atmosphere in Turkey in light of Operation Protective Edge, we are honing our recommendation to avoid visits to the state that aren’t essential,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Israel decided Friday to pull some of its diplomatic staff out of Turkey in the wake of violent protests targeting the buildings of its embassy and consulate in Ankara and Istanbul, an embassy spokesman said, as well as recent statements that accused Israel of attempting a “systematic genocide” on the Palestinian people.

After protests against Operation Protective Edge in front of Israel’s missions in Ankara and Istanbul turned violent Thursday night, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman instructed Israeli diplomats stationed in Turkey to return home.

“It was decided to reduce our diplomatic representation in the country to a possible minimum,” Liberman said in a statement.

The violent protests broke out after previous inciteful speeches by Erdoğan and because the country’s security forces did not properly fulfill their duty to prevent violence during such events, Liberman charged.

On Thursday, Erdoğan had fiercely attacked Israel’s operation against Hamas.

Since [Israel’s creation] in 1948, we have been witnessing this attempt at systematic genocide every day and every month,” he said. “But above all, we are witnessing this attempt at systematic genocide every Ramadan.”

Erdogan said the Israeli operation was derailing Turkish and Israeli efforts to mend ties.

Turkey’s foreign minister also “vehemently” condemned Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza.

On Twitter, Ahmet Davutoglu said the ground operation is testing “the conscience of humanity.”

Davutoglu called for emergency meetings of the UN Security Council, the UN Human Rights Council and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
A demonstrator throws stones after climbing a wall with a Palestinian flag at the Israeli Embassy in Ankara during a protest against Israel’s military action in Gaza, on July 18, 2014. (Photo credit: AFP/ADEM ALTAN)

Israel vehemently protested Turkish authorities’ blatant and rude violation of diplomatic rules, including the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, during the protests, Liberman added.

On Thursday night, hundreds of protesters attacked the Israeli consulate in Istanbul, while similar numbers sought to break into the residence of the ambassador in Ankara.

Riot police fired tear gas and water cannons to halt the protests in Istanbul in the early hours of the morning, but in Ankara they stood on the sidelines.

The crowds in Istanbul, waving Palestinian flags, hurled stones and smashed the windows of the consulate in the upscale Levent district to denounce the Israeli military operation.

Rioters in front of the consulate chanted, “Fight! Martyrdom!”

Police pushed the crowd back at times, and many of the ruling AK Party MPs were in the crowd.

Islamic State overruns Camp Speicher, routs Iraqi forces, Long War Journal, Bill Roggio, July 19, 2014

The latest failed Tikrit offensive and the loss of Camp Speicher highlight the deteriorating condition of the Iraqi armed forces. The military has been forced to cobble together units since at least four of its 15 regular army divisions are no longer viable. The Long War Journal estimates that at least seven divisions have been rendered ineffective since the beginning of the year; see Threat Matrix report, US advisers give dark assessment of state of Iraqi military.

In Tikrit, the military is fighting alongside poorly trained militias who are ill-suited to conduct offensive operations. Additionally, SWAT forces, while highly trained and likely more motivated than regular forces, are being misused as infantry.

Two days after repelling an Iraqi military attempt to retake the city of Tikrit, the Islamic State and its allies are said to have overrun Camp Speicher, a large base just outside the city that was being used in the failed effort to retake the provincial capital.

The Islamic State’s Salahaddin Division claimed in an official statement released on Twitter yesterday that it overran Camp Speicher and is in “control of the airport and the base completely.” In the statement, the Islamic State claimed it killed “scores” of Iraqi military personnel, including a brigadier general and a colonel. It also said that a number of pilots were killed in a “martyrdom” or suicide operation on the base before it was overrun.

The Islamic State also said it destroyed seven aircraft on the tarmac and its “detachments of air defense” shot down two additional aircraft, all of which are thought to be helicopters. The Iraqi military had been using helicopters to ferry troops and supplies to Camp Speicher and Tikrit University, where special forces troops attempted to gain a foothold in the northern part of the city.

Additionally, the Islamic State said it destroyed several armored and other vehicles, while the base’s fuel supply was set ablaze.

The Islamic State’s claims were echoed by McClatchy, who interviewed residents of Tikrit as well as a Kurdish military officer. One Tikrit resident said that more than 700 Iraqi soldiers and 150 “Iranians,” who are likely members of the Shia militias that have been augmenting the military, were based at Speicher. Captured members of the military and militia are said to have been paraded in the streets of Tikrit. Many are said to have been executed.

The Iraqi government and the military, which have released only rosy assessments of the fighting on all fronts, have not commented on the situation in Tikrit.

The Iraqi military made its first effort to retake Tikrit in late June, when it airlifted commandos into Tikrit University in an effort to gain a toehold north of the city. An advance on the city from the south was defeated. Then, on July 16, the Iraqi military launched Operation Decisive Sword. A large column of military and militia units entered southern Tikrit and thought they liberated the city, but as they celebrated they were ambushed with suicide bombers, IEDs, and conventional attacks. The Iraqi forces then withdrew from the city.

After the Iraqi military withdrew from southern Tikrit on July 16, the Islamic State immediately began its assault on Camp Speicher, as the base was the last remaining holdout of Iraqi forces near the city (Iraqi forces were withdrawn from Tikrit University sometime before the second offensive was launched).

The loss of Camp Speicher, and perhaps more importantly, the loss of the helicopters and its pilots if the Islamic State’s claims are true, is a serious blow to both the morale and the operational capabilities of the Iraqi military. The Iraqi military, which has failed to retake major cities and towns from the Islamic State and its allies, now may find it more difficult to support and defend the Bayji oil refinery just to the north, which has been largely resupplied by helicopters.

Iraqi military is in disarray

The latest failed Tikrit offensive and the loss of Camp Speicher highlight the deteriorating condition of the Iraqi armed forces. The military has been forced to cobble together units since at least four of its 15 regular army divisions are no longer viable. The Long War Journal estimates that at least seven divisions have been rendered ineffective since the beginning of the year; see Threat Matrix report, US advisers give dark assessment of state of Iraqi military.

In Tikrit, the military is fighting alongside poorly trained militias who are ill-suited to conduct offensive operations. Additionally, SWAT forces, while highly trained and likely more motivated than regular forces, are being misused as infantry.

The Iraqi military and the government have been unable to regain control of Ninewa and much of Salahaddin and Diyala provinces after losing them in an offensive launched by the Islamic State and its allies that began on June 10. Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, is firmly under the control of the Islamic State.

Most of Anbar as well as northern Babil province are also under the Islamic State’s control. Fallujah and other cities and towns fell after the Islamic State went on the offensive in Anbar at the beginning of January. The Iraqi military has been unable to retake areas in Anbar lost earlier this year. Half of Ramadi, the provincial capital, is said to be held by the Islamic State. The military recently airlifted 4,000 militiamen to Ramadi, a further indication that the two Iraqi divisions stationed in Anbar, the 1st and the 7th, are no longer cohesive fighting forces.

Netanyahu to UN’s Ban: no symmetry between terror organizations and democratic country, Jerusalem Post, By Herb Keinon, July 19, 2014

(Here they go again with the faux “proportionality” nonsense. Israel does all that she can reasonably to avoid civilian casualties while Hamas, et al, do everything within their power to increase them — and not only in Israel. — DM)

UN Secretary-General heads to the Middle East, amid key voices around the world supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, while expressing concern about the civilian casualties in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said Ban was “prepared to do his part” to end the violence. Feltman said that while Israel has legitimate security concerns, the United Nations “is alarmed by Israel’s heavy response.”

Regarding the ground incursion, Feltman said that Ban is “extremely concerned that this escalation will further increase the already appalling death toll among Gazan civilians.”

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during a news conference in Andorra April 2, 2013. Photo: REUTERS/Albert Gea

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon left Saturday for the Middle East, amid key voices around the world supporting Israel’s right to defend itself, while expressing concern about the civilian casualties in Gaza.

US President Barack Obama issued a statement Friday, reaffirming his “strong support for Israel’s right to defend itself.

“No nation should accept rockets being fired into its borders, or terrorists tunneling into its territory,” said Obama, who spoke with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday. Obama pointed out that while he was speaking to Netanyahu, “sirens went off in Tel Aviv.”

“I also made clear that the United States, and our friends and allies, are deeply concerned about the risks of further escalation and the loss of more innocent life,” Obama said of his conversation with Netanyahu. “And that’s why we’ve indicated, although we support military efforts by the Israelis to make sure that rockets are not being fired into their territory, we also have said that our understanding is the current military ground operations are designed to deal with the tunnels, and we are hopeful that Israel will continue to approach this process in a way that minimizes civilian casualties and that all of us are working hard to return to the cease-fire that was reached in November of 2012.”

Meanwhile, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said Ban was “prepared to do his part” to end the violence. Feltman said that while Israel has legitimate security concerns, the United Nations “is alarmed by Israel’s heavy response.”

Regarding the ground incursion, Feltman said that Ban is “extremely concerned that this escalation will further increase the already appalling death toll among Gazan civilians.”

Netanyahu, who on Friday spoke to numerous world leaders to shore up understanding for Israel’s actions, spoke to Ban and said Israel was sorry for all accidental harm befalling Gazan citizens. Hamas, he said, intentionally fires at millions of Israeli citizens.

Netanyahu told Ban there was no “symmetry” between murderous terrorist organizations and a democratic and moral country attack by rockets and via tunnels. He called on the UN to publish the pictures of rockets stored in an UNRWA school, saying that Hamas hides rockets on schools in order to fire them on Israeli schools.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, issued a statement on Friday saying Israel has the “right to defend itself,” and that this must be done in a “reasonable manner.”

France, whose Foreign Minister arrived in Israel Saturday evening and met with Netanyahu, issued a statement saying it was “very concerned” by Israel decision to launch a ground offensive, and called on Israel to act with “maximum restraint.”

France, according to diplomatic officials, is among the group of countries interested in issuing an expansive statement following a meeting of EU foreign ministers meeting on Tuesday that would also deal with details of the diplomatic process, such as settlement construction, Jerusalem and Area C.

Israel is trying to avoid that type of statement at this time, wanting instead to see a short statement focusing on the situation in Gaza. A wider statement now dealing with issues like Har Homa and building in E-1 between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim would be completely out of context and divert attention from the current situation, diplomatic officials said.

On Friday the EU issued a statement saying that it was “very concerned about the escalation in the Gaza Strip including the resumption of rocket fire into Israel and the Israeli ground operation. “ The statement said there has already been “too many civilian deaths, including many children such as those killed on a beach in Gaza. We strongly deplore such incidents and we call for them to be investigated swiftly. We condemn the continued firing of rockets from Gaza into Israel by Hamas and other militant groups and the indiscriminate targeting of civilians. We share the UN condemnation of the placement of rockets in a UN school. Israel has the right to protect its population from this kind of attacks. In doing so, it must act proportionately and ensure the protection of civilians at all times.”

Diplomatic officials said that while there has been understanding abroad for Israel’s actions, there will inevitably be more talk of “proportionality” abroad as the operation continues.

“The game changer has always been a ground operation,” one official said.

Some countries, however, have not shown any understanding. On such country is Brazil, which issued a statement saying that it “vehemently condemns the Israeli bombardment of Gaza with disproportionate use of force, which resulted in the deaths of more than 230 Palestinians, many of them unarmed civilians and children. It equally condemns the firing of rockets and mortars from Gaza into Israel. The Brazilian government rejects the current Israeli ground incursion into Gaza, which began on the night of 17 July and represents a serious setback to peace efforts.”

Envoy says US will work to get Abbas back ruling Gaza after conflict over

Dan Shapiro: ‘We’ll seek to help moderate Palestinians become stronger in Gaza,’ since they’d run it better than ‘Hamas, a terrorist group’

By Times of Israel staff July 19, 2014, 9:27 pm

via Envoy says US will work to get Abbas back ruling Gaza after conflict over | The Times of Israel.

he US wants to see Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority restored to ruling Gaza after the current conflict is over, and will make efforts to bring this about, American Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro indicated Saturday night.

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 2 news, Shapiro was asked about the unity government formed last month by Abbas’s Fatah faction and Hamas. He did not reply directly and instead noted that Abbas was currently in close contact with Egypt, trying to broker a ceasefire to end the Hamas-Israel hostilities. Then he said, “At the end of this conflict, we’ll seek to help the moderate elements among the Palestinians to become stronger in Gaza,” referring to Abbas’s PA. “They might be able to run Gaza more effectively than Hamas, a terror organization.”

Hamas ousted Abba’s forces in a violent takeover in 2007.

Echoing remarks made by President Barack Obama in public and in a phone conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, Shapiro said the US “strongly backs Israel’s right to defend itself. It’s intolerable for any state to have rockets fired at its citizens, or terrorists infiltrating via tunnels.” He said the US “understands the need for the current ground offensive.”

IN VIDEO: IDF destroys terror tunnel in Gaza Strip, Ynet News, July 19, 2014

Video published by IDF shows method used to strike terrorist tunnels: Forces detonate explosive at opening, demolish infrastructure with bulldozer. Army official says ‘IDF will reach every target and every tunnel Hamas attempts to build’.

Staying the Course on Iran by Threatening Pain and Offering Relief – NYTimes.com.

Photo

Behind President Obama’s decision on Friday to extend the Iran nuclear negotiations for four more months is a calculation that the administration has the mix of pressure and incentives just about right: That by keeping the most damaging sanctions, but giving Tehran a taste of what access to its overseas cash reserves might mean, a deal is possible.

Congress, and some nuclear experts pushing for a harder line, strongly disagree. It was overwhelming sanctions, and the pressure of covert action against Iran’s nuclear program, that brought the country to the table, they argue. To get a final deal, they contend, the formula is simple: More sanctions, more pressure, and behind it all the lurking threat of military action.

“We can’t let Iran buy more time to make a nuclear bomb,” said Senator Mark S. Kirk, the Illinois Republican and the author, with Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, a Democrat, of one of the major efforts for additional sanctions. His statement came late Friday night, shortly after Iran, the United States and five other nations involved in the talks announced an extension until November 24.

“While the United States has repeatedly offered extremely generous incentives for Iran to dismantle its illicit nuclear infrastructure, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei keeps rejecting the offers,” he said. “It’s time for expanded nonmilitary pressure to back up our diplomatic outreach to Iran.”

Mr. Obama will win this argument in the short term. The four-month extension is not long enough for Congress to take decisive action, and Mr. Obama has signaled that he would veto more sanctions. But over the longer term, administration officials know they have a deeper problem. No agreement with Iran is going to have the kind of guarantees Congress has demanded to prevent Tehran from producing a weapon. History suggests no such guarantees are possible; there are simply too many other pathways for a determined country to get a weapon.

Yet if a deal were struck, ultimately Mr. Obama would most likely have to persuade Congress to reverse the sanctions against doing business with Iran that have been piling up for more than a decade. That helps explain the Nov. 24 date: Mr. Obama would still have a little over a month to push sanctions relief through the Senate while it was still controlled by the Democrats, in case his party loses that control in the midterm elections.

Iran gets slightly more relief under the negotiation extension: It will have access to $2.8 billion in assets that are held outside the United States, a small fraction of what is frozen. But in the House, more than 300 members have already signed a letter opposing a lifting of American sanctions unless an agreement curtails Iran’s missile development and stops its support for Hamas and other terror groups — issues that are not even on the table in the nuclear negotiations in Vienna.

“There’s an astonishing, visceral opposition to any kind of deal, and it’s not just among the Republicans,” said a key administration strategist who insisted on anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations.”And I’m not sure there’s a plan yet to deal with it.”

It may not be an issue. There is no guarantee that a deal will be reached in the four extra months of negotiations.

The past week seemed like the moment. The top three American diplomats were all in Vienna simultaneously: Secretary of State John Kerry, the deputy secretary, William J. Burns, and the undersecretary of state for political affairs, Wendy Sherman, who has also been the lead negotiator. Foreign ministers from Europe flew in, briefly. So did the brother of President Hassan Rouhani of Iran, who attended sessions with Mr. Kerry, then flew back to Tehran, presumably to report directly to his brother, who was elected on a platform of getting the oil, gas and other sanctions lifted.

There is no question significant progress was made, as one administration official put it in a background telephone call with reporters late Friday night, on issues that “get at fundamental pathways to a nuclear weapon.”

Among them is an understanding about how Iran’s soon-to-be-finished heavy water reactor near the town of Arak would be modified to reduce its output of plutonium, one of the two fuels that Iran could use for a weapon. There is discussion about turning the giant underground facility called Fordow — built under a mountain outside the holy city of Qum — into some kind of research and development facility. To the Americans, and the Israelis, that would be an improvement over its current status as Iran’s secondary location for enriching uranium, in a place so deep that the Israelis fear they could not bomb it; even some American officials wonder if their biggest bunker-busting bomb, built for the job, could penetrate the facility.

But that leaves unresolved the central conundrum that has hung over the talks: Can Iran’s supreme leader be persuaded to give up the country’s hopes of building an industrial-scale enrichment capacity, ostensibly to produce fuel for its one working reactor and a series of future reactors for which Iran has not even broken ground? Ayatollah Khamenei and the Iranian military have opposed any agreement that dismantles existing facilities and does not allow Iran, in the near future, to produce as much as it wants.

American officials say the rationale that Iran needs to produce its own fuel is fanciful; there is plenty on the market and ways to assure Iran of continued supply.

On this point, Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, says Iran cannot budge for reasons of national security and national pride. Iran, he said, has been blocked from getting fuel for its reactors for 20 years. Russia may be its supplier now, he said, but cannot be trusted to remain so. Even raw materials are hard to come by.

Mr. Zarif, in an interview, argued that the sanctions Congress is so proud of have been counterproductive. Before they began in earnest, he said, Iran had 200 centrifuges installed in its facilities; now it has 22,000. More pressure, he contended, will only drive Iran’s leadership to more defiance. Some in the Obama administration agree, saying there is a “sweet spot” in sanctions where the continuing, gnawing pressure of oil, gas and financial sanctions, which they vowed Friday night to continue, would take their toll, and the prospect of relief would create political pressure in Tehran for a deal.

But Gary Samore, President Obama’s former top adviser on eliminating weapons of mass destruction, took a harder line on Friday night. Now the president of United Against Nuclear Iran, an advocacy group, Mr. Samore and the organization’s chief executive, Mark D. Wallace, argued that to get the leverage the administration needs it must “make clear that Iran remains closed for business and that the uncertainty surrounding these nuclear negotiations makes the business climate in Iran far too risky” for Western capital to re-enter.

And, they contended, the negotiating partners should go farther and “agree on decisive sanctions that would constitute a virtual economic blockade of Iran should Iran fail to agree to an acceptable deal” in the next four months.

Tens of thousands rally in London against Israel’s Gaza op

In huge demonstration, protesters denounce Israel as terrorist state, castigate PM Cameron for backing right to self-defense

By Spencer Ho July 19, 2014, 5:28 pm

via Tens of thousands rally in London against Israel’s Gaza op | The Times of Israel.

Tens of thousands protested in London Saturday afternoon against Israel’s military operations in Gaza, denouncing Israel as a terrorist state and castigating British Prime Minister David Cameron for backing Israel’s right to self-defense against Hamas rocket fire.

Led by speakers on a podium, protesters holding placards and banners chanted pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel slogans.

At one point, a woman on the podium shouted “from the river to the sea” — a call for the elimination of Israel — and protesters responded by yelling “Palestine will be free.”

The crowd also directed shouts of “Shame on you” at Cameron, who publicly backed Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas rocket fire aimed at the Israeli civilian population.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which organized the demonstration, said that since the protest began at 12 p.m. (GMT), tens of thousands of people had gathered, more than the 20,000 anticipated. The demonstration began outside Downing Street and was to march to the Israeli embassy.

“London has already shown its outrage at Israel’s attacks on the mostly refugee population of Gaza, with people turning out in their thousands last week,” PSC Director Sarah Colborne said in a press release on the organization’s website. “Today’s national demonstration will give people from across the country the chance to say enough is enough, Israel’s siege of Gaza and its occupation of Palestinian land has to end now.”

Tens of thousands on London #GazaJ19 protest for peace, justice & a Free Palestine. Stretching length of Whitehall pic.twitter.com/z7ZaprMOtT

— PSC (@PSCupdates) July 19, 2014

Since Israel began Operation Protective Edge 12 days ago, 337 people have died in Gaza. Hamas has fired around 1,400 rockets into Israeli territory, aimed mostly at southern cities, but also frequently reaching the population centers of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area and Jerusalem. Several Hamas rockets have also struck almost as far north as Haifa. Two Israeli civilians have died in rocket attacks, including a Bedouin man near Dimona Saturday.

Saturday’s demonstration in London came on the heels of numerous protests Thursday and Friday worldwide, including Cairo, Istanbul, Cape Town, Berlin, New York and Washington. Many of the protests have turned violent.

In Istanbul, police warded off hundreds of rioters who attempted on Thursday to storm the Israeli embassy building. Demonstrators in Ankara and Istanbul also hurled stones at several compounds where Israeli officials reside. Calls for the destruction of the Jewish state were heard in both Turkish cities. Police responded by firing tear gas canisters and water cannons at the crowds. Israel decided Friday to pull some of its diplomatic staff out of Turkey in the wake of the protests.