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PM Netanyahu’s Letter to the #FreedomFlotilla of Fools

June 30, 2015

PM Netanyahu’s Letter to the #FreedomFlotilla of Fools

By: Jewish Press News Briefs Published: June 29th, 2015


Destination: The sunny beaches of Syria. [Photo Credit: Unknown]

(I’d hire a different travel agent next time. – LS)

Prime Minister Netanyahu has penned a letter to be delivered to the Flotilla to Gaza activists, presumably to be handed to them as they are being towed to port.

Israel has made it clear that the Flotilla will not be allowed to reach Gaza directly by sea, but can land in Israel, and then send all their humanitarian aid through one of the established crossings into Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu writes:

Welcome to Israel!It seems you got lost. Perhaps you meant to sail to a place not far from here – Syria. There the Assad regime slaughters his people every day with the support of the murderous Iranian regime.

Despite that, here in Israel we are dealing with a situation where terror organizations, such as Hamas, are attempting to harm innocent civilians. Against attempts like these we are defending the citizens of Israel in accordance with international law.

Despite that, Israel assists with the transport of humanitarian supplies to Gaza – 800 truckloads a day, more than 1.6 million tons of supplies this past year. The equivalent of 1 ton per resident of Gaza.

By the way, the volume of equipment that has been sent from Israel to Gaza is more than 500,000 times larger than the your boats that you are arriving on.

Israel assists in hundreds of humanitarian projects via international organization including the establishment of medical clinics and hospitals.

But we are not willing to allow in weapons to the terrorist organizations in Gaza, as they have tried to do in the past, by sea.

Just a year ago, we stopped an attempt to bring in hundreds of weapons by sea, that were meant to harm innocent civilians.

There’s no closure on Gaza, and you are welcome to to transport, via Israel, any humanitarian supplies.

The sea blockade is in accordance with international law, and has received backing from the UN Secretary General.

If human rights were truly important to you, you wouldn’t be sailing in solidarity with a terror regime that executes, without trial, residents of Gaza, and uses the children of Gaza as human shields.

If you were to come to Israel you would be able to be impressed by the only democracy in the Middle East that is concerned with equality for all its citizens, and freedom of religion for all faiths. A state that operates in accordance with international law in order to provide its residents a secure life and its children to grow up in peace and serenity.

 

Categories: Appeasement, Flotilla to Nowhere
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Oren blasts Iran nuclear deal: It’s not linked to changed Iranian behavior

June 30, 2015

Oren blasts Iran nuclear deal: It’s not linked to changed Iranian behavior, Washington Free Beacon via You Tube, June 29, 2015

 

Categories: Diplomacy, Dishonor, Foreign policy, IAEA, Iran centrifuges, Iran nuke inspections, Iran scam, Iranian nukes, Iranian proxies, Israel, Michael Oren, Obama, Obama's America, P5+1
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Putin Proposes New Coalition to Fight Islamic State

June 30, 2015

Putin Proposes New Coalition to Fight Islamic State

Putin’s initiative comes after the failure of the U.S.-led airstrikes to dislodge Islamic State from its Syrian and Iraqi strongholds

Mike Wheatley

via Putin Proposes New Coalition to Fight Islamic State.

 

President Vladimir Putin has reaffirmed Russia’s support of the Syrian government following a meeting with its Foreign Minister Walid Muallem yesterday, TASS reported.

Speaking to journalists after the talks, Putin acknowledged the Islamic State terrorist group remains the biggest threat in the region, and said Syria must unite with neighboring countries in order to combat it. He added that Russia was ready to facilitate dialogue between countries in the region.

“We believe that in order to effectively combat terrorism and extremist radicalism, it is necessary for all countries in the region to unite their efforts,” Putin said.

The president said that Moscow’s contacts with the countries in the region, including with Turkey and Saudi Arabia, “showed that everyone wants to contribute to fight this evil,” referring to the Islamic State.

He exhorted all nations in the region, whatever their relations with Syria are, to “pool their efforts together” to fight the Islamic militants. “In this regard, we call on all of our friends, including Syria, to do everything they can to establish constructive dialogue with all concerned countries in the fight against terrorism,” Putin said.

The president admitted that creating a coalition to fight the Islamic State would not be an easy task, given the differences that exist between the countries on the frontline of the war. But he said, “if the Syrian leadership considers it appropriate and feasible, we will do everything to support you. That means using our good relations with all countries in the region to try and create such a coalition.”

The odds may be against that happening, but Putin’s comments show that Russia recognizes the reality that U.S.-led airstrikes against Islamic State have largely failed to make a dent in it. As such, any serious effort to defeat Islamic State clearly needs to involve the Syrian government and its military, which along with the Kurds is one of the few effective forces ranged against it on the ground.

Putin added that Russia’s “policy to support Syria, the Syrian leadership and the Syrian people remains unchanged.

For his part, Syria’s Muallem told reporters he had been given assurances that “Russia will continue to help Syria politically, economically and militarily.”

Moscow’s show of support for the embattled Syrian government comes just days after the European Union voted to extend sanctions against Russia for another six months, and once again illustrates its determination to lead an independent foreign policy no matter how much pressure its rivals apply.

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Chipping Away at Syria Despite Putin’s Threats

June 30, 2015

Turkey and Jordan said preparing buffer zones inside Syria. Israeli air support mooted. Putin issues warning

DEBKAfile Special Report June 30, 2015, 10:09 AM (IDT)


The Shrinking Country of Syria. [Photo Credit: Artishok Interactive]

(Anyone else would had jumped ship. Putin must have too much to lose to accept a fallen Assad regime. How long other Russian politicians will tolerate this is anyone’s guess. It’s interesting to note that the Jordanian buffer zone includes about 20% of the Israeli-Syrian border, assuming the map is somewhat accurate. – LS)

The Turkish and Jordanian armies were reported on June 30 to be getting ready to cross into Syria for the first time since war engulfed that country in 2011, and set up security buffer zones. Both are impelled to fight ISIS, oppose the Assad regime and anxious to stem the flow of refugees, but there are also differences in their objectives and it is not clear if they are coordinated.

Turkey has prepared 18,000 troops to carve out a buffer zone in northern Syria and use its air force to impose a no-fly zone against Syrian flights. Middle East sources report that the Jordanian army is also on the ready to cross into southern Syria. Jordan and Israel are reported to be planning joint air cover and the creation of a parallel no-fly zone in the south.

These preparations prompted Russian President Vladimir Putin to pledge his support for the Assad regime .On Monday, June 29, Putin summoned Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem to his Kremlin office from a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to tell him that Russia’s “policy to support Syria, the Syrian leadership and the Syrian people remains unchanged.”

Putin has repeatedly warned Western governments against military intervention in the Syrian war or any attempt to oust Bashar Assad, warning that if foreign troops go into Syria, Moscow will respond in kind.

The Russians have not spelled out what action is contemplated, but they have options: they maintain naval and marine forces in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions able to reach Syria at short notice. South Russian air force bases are also close enough to interfere with no-fly zones being setup over Syria.

Possible outside military intervention in Syria was the dominant topic in the phone call the Russian president put through to President Barack Obama on June 26. The communiqués in Moscow and Washington both referred to the “dangerous situation” in Syria. The two presidents also discussed the prospects of the nuclear accord shaping up with Iran, and the two issues may have been linked. The White House later stated that President Obama had stressed the need for the world powers to hold to a united stand in the negotiations with Iran.

Sources in Ankara claim that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already given Turkish units their orders to go into Syria, although this is not confirmed. Others use the term “Western intervention” – suggesting that US and NATO are involved in the Turkish initiative. This may refer to US Air Force squadrons based in southern Turkey possibly providing air cover.

Western and Middle East sources report that the Jordanian plan entails a joint operation with Syrian rebel forces to carve out a security zone in southern Syria running from Jabal Druze and Suwayda in the east running west through the town of Deraa and up to the intersection of the Jordanian-Syrian-Israeli borders.

Fierce fighting has been raging in this part of Syria in recent days as the rebels battle Syrian-Hizballah forces in an attempt to push them out and capture southern Syria. So far they have not made it.
The never-ending refugee problem from Syria is a major headache for the two governments. Turkey hosts some two million refugees and Jordan more than a million and a half. Stemming this flow is not the least of the goals of their buffer zone plans.

Categories: Assad, Putin
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IDF Appoints Special Team to Plan Strike on Iran

June 30, 2015

IDF Appoints Special Team to Plan Strike on Iran

Chief of Staff appoints his deputy to lead crew examining military options day after Iran nuclear deal, as IAF drills for possible strikes.

By Ari Yashar

First Publish: 6/30/2015, 12:21 PM

via IDF Appoints Special Team to Plan Strike on Iran – Defense/Security – News – Arutz Sheva.

 

As world powers and Iran reach a deadline Tuesday – which may be extended – for talks on the Islamic regime’s nuclear program, Israel is taking steps to prepare for a military strike on Tehran’s nuclear facilities so as to defend itself from the impending threat.

Iran has refused to allow inspections of its covert nuclear sites and declared it will use advanced centrifuges as soon as a deal is met, meaning the leading state sponsor of terrorism could potentially obtain a nuclear arsenal within weeks, all while getting billions of dollars in sanctions relief through a nuclear deal.

The Hebrew-language Walla! reported Tuesday that it has learned from a foreign source that IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot has appointed Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Yair Golan to head a special team tasked with examining the military options against Iran.

The team would explore what kind of striking options are available to Israel after a deal with Iran is signed.

By appointing such a senior IDF official to the team, it is estimated that Israel is considering the signing of a deal to be a game changer which would require a serious reevaluation of the regional situation, and likely necessitate military action against Iran.

Sources close to Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon (Likud) say there is a pressing need to present a powerful military option against Iran, a reality which is being used to demand that the defense budget not be reduced by the Knesset.

For over 15 years the IDF has been examining the possibility of military action against Iran’s ever burgeoning nuclear program, and the majority of the funding for such preparedness has gone to the Israeli Air Force (IAF) and the IDF’s intelligence branch.

“Iran is lying – what do we do?”

A source close to Ya’alon was quoted by Walla! saying, “nothing has changed regarding the military option. Our working assumption is that Iran is lying all the time, beyond the fact that it is funding and directing terror in the Middle East. It (Iran) is our most bitter enemy today, even though we don’t share a physical border with it, and we must not put off any kind of preparedness against it.”

“In the end we don’t believe Iran. We don’t believe the (nuclear) project will be stopped. Therefore the (military) option will remain. …We need to be ready also for the day in which Israel will need to make decisions alone. (What) if it becomes clear they are pushing the envelope in breach of the agreement? Or if Iran goes down deep underground (with its nuclear facilities)? And if new sites are found? Will we wait for the US to take care of them?”

“You have to prepare yourself for all of the threats. Not only for Gaza and Lebanon,” added the source. “The military option costs money but the more time goes by, you’re better prepared to carry out the mission.”

Indicating Israel’s growing preparedness ahead of a potential military clash with Iran, the IAF held a special drill with the Greek air force two months ago, in which roughly 100 members of the IAF took part including dozens of crews from all the F-16i squadrons.

The unusual drill had IAF pilots operating in unfamiliar territory for a night and the following day, and included simulations of strikes and dogfights involving dozens of fighter jets.

Most importantly, in the drill the Greek army reportedly deployed advanced anti-missile defense systems similar to the Russian S-300 that Moscow sold to Iran and has yet to ship. The advanced S-300 system is considered to be a major challenge in carrying out an airstrike in that it can shoot down rockets as well as jets.

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