WarSclerotic

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a Christmas and New Year greeting to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, noted the successful cooperation between the two countries in the past and spoke of his hope that the partnership will develop in the future.

“Putin noted that the two countries have gained considerable experience in cooperation in various spheres and expressed hope that in the upcoming year Russian-Israeli relations will be developing in a constructive manner as a partnership for the benefit of the peoples of both states and in the interest of strengthening peace, security and stability in the Middle East,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Sunday.

Putin and Netanyahu have met face-to-face several times in recent years, usually in Moscow.

Putin sent seasonal greetings to various “heads of state and government and heads of international organizations,” the ministry said last week.

In a message to US President Donald Trump, Putin “stressed that Russia-US relations are the most important factor behind ensuring strategic stability and international security, and reaffirmed that Russia is open to dialogue with the United States on the most extensive agenda.”

The foreign ministry statement made no mention of seasonal greetings sent to Muslim nations and the Palestinian Authority.

Israel’s ties with Russia have been both strengthened and strained by events in Syria, where Israeli efforts to prevent Iran from gaining a military foothold have at times clashed with Moscow’s campaign to aid the Syrian regime in the civil war.

The two countries have coordinated their military efforts in Syria in recent years, in order to avoid friction and accidental conflict.

Satellite photos released by Israeli firm ImageSat International on December 27, 2018, show damaged facilities in Syria purportedly used by Iran that were targeted in an airstrike attributed to Israel. (ImageSat International)

Tensions recently reached a peak following the downing of a Russian aircraft by Syrian anti-aircraft fire during an Israeli airstrike, an incident Russia blamed on Israel.

Despite the Russian anger over the downed spy plane, Netanyahu has reiterated several times that Israel will continue to act to prevent Iran’s military entrenchment in Syria and the smuggling of advanced weapons into Lebanon.

Israel in recent years has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria against targets linked to Iran, which alongside its proxies and Russia is fighting on behalf of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Jerusalem is concerned that Iran will use Syria as a forward base from which to attack the Jewish state.

Last week Russia accused Israel of endangering two civilian flights during airstrikes near an airport in Syria, calling the alleged strikes a “provocative act” and a violation of Syrian sovereignty.

The situation in Syria is set to become even more fragile after Trump announced earlier this month that he will pull all US ground troops out of the country. The US forces were seen as a buffer that also hindered Iranian entrenchment.

Following Trump’s announcement, Netanyahu has said the US pullout will not deter Israel from continuing to attack Iranian military interests in Syria.

WASHINGTON (AFP) — A senior Republican senator said Sunday that President Donald Trump had promised to stay in Syria to finish the job of destroying the Islamic State group — just days after announcing he would be withdrawing troops immediately.

“The president understands the need to finish the job,” Graham told reporters outside the White House after what he described as a two-hour lunch meeting.

“He told me some things I didn’t know that made me feel a lot better about where we’re headed in Syria,” the South Carolina lawmaker said.

“I think the president is committed to making sure when we leave Syria that ISIS is completely defeated and we are inside the 10-yard line,” he said, using an alternative name for the Islamic State group.

When Trump tweeted on December 19 that “we have defeated ISIS in Syria,” several military and security experts said he was overstating the case, and warned against a hasty withdrawal.

‘Thinking long and hard’

Graham said Trump was “thinking long and hard about Syria and how to withdraw the forces” after ensuring that ISIS is destroyed, that US-allied Kurdish forces are protected and that “Iran doesn’t become the big winner of our leaving.”

Graham, who as a member of the Armed Services committee has frequently visited US troops in combat zones, was once a frequent critic of Trump but, reversing course, now frequently defends him and seems to have gained privileged access to the president’s ear.

The senator’s remarks after the White House meeting were considerably modulated from his tone earlier in the day, when he told ABC television’s “This Week” that “if we leave (Syria) now, the Kurds will get slaughtered.”

US Marine Corps tactical vehicles are seen driving along a road near the town of Tal Baydar in the countryside of Syria’s northeastern Hasakeh province on December 21, 2018. (Delil Souleiman/AFP)

“I’m going to ask the president to do something that President Obama would never do: reconsider,” he said.

Graham said he knew Trump was “frustrated” by his limited options in Syria.

“The president is reconsidering how we would do this,” Graham said.

“I get it. We’re not the policemen of the world here.”

He added: “I’m going to ask him to sit down with his generals and reconsider how to do this. Slow it down. Make sure we get it right.”

A Trump announcement?

Kellyanne Conway, a close Trump adviser, seemed to hint that the president might be rethinking his withdrawal plans.

“In Iraq he had a closed-door meeting and he said watch what happens… Watch what happens because he’s got plans and I won’t get ahead of his announcement, but he did want me to convey that,” she said on “Fox News Sunday.”

Trump’s abrupt decision on Syria stunned regional players, US politicians of both parties and military leaders, who expressed surprise that such a major decision would be announced after apparently so little advance consultation, against the advice of his national security advisers — and on Twitter.

US Secretary of Defense James Mattis speaks during a change of command ceremony at the US Southern Command headquarters on November 26, 2018, in Doral, Florida. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis resigned following the announcement, which came on the same day that US officials said Trump was also planning a significant drawdown in Afghanistan, with some reports suggesting as many as half of the 14,000 troops could leave.

Graham warned at the time that a reduction now of US forces in war-torn Afghanistan risked “paving the way toward a second 9/11.”

Another prominent critic of the move was retired US army general Stanley McChrystal, the former commander of US and international forces in Afghanistan.

On Sunday, he told ABC that the dual drawdowns could seriously weaken US influence in the region.

“We have a tumultuous regime or region (in Syria) that now has a Russian presence which had been out for about 30 years,” he said.

“Iran has increased influence across the region now. If you pull American influence out, you’re likely to have greater instability.”

Similarly, he said, Trump’s planned drawdown in Afghanistan could seriously undercut American leverage there.

“Just when we were starting to sit down with the Taliban, just as we were starting to begin negotiations, he basically traded away the biggest leverage point we have,” McChrystal added.

Palestinian terror attacks from the West Bank dropped for the fourth consecutive year, the IDF said Monday, releasing its summary of 2018.

In 2018, the army documented 87 “terror events,” 10 fewer than the 97 recorded in 2017. This was a steep decline from the 169 in 2016 and 219 terror attacks in 2015.

The IDF also considers attacks on soldiers, not just civilians, to be terror attacks.

Sixteen Israelis were killed in West Bank terror attacks in 2018: nine civilians and seven soldiers — a slight decrease from the 20 killed in 2017, 12 of whom were civilians.

However, the outgoing calendar year did see a slight rise in the number of people injured in terror. One hundred and ninety-nine people were injured in attacks in 2018 — 30 more than in 2017. Still the number marked a significant drop from the total injured in 2016 and 2015, when 263 and 360 people were wounded, respectively.

According to the IDF, the number of shooting attacks was almost the same, with 33 in 2018, compared to 34 in 2017. However, there was a jump in the number of stabbings, with 17 recorded, up from 5 in 2017.

There was a sharp drop in the incidents of stone throwing, with 2,057 recorded, compared to 5,082 in 2017.

The army conducted almost nightly raids in the West Bank, arresting 3,173 terror suspects, confiscating 406 weapons and seizing NIS 2,156,089 ($572,754) in terror funds, the army said.

Israeli troops search for the terrorists who committed a shooting attack on a bus stop outside the Ofra settlement in the West Bank, near Ramallah, in which seven Israelis were injured, including a pregnant woman, on December 9, 2018. (Israel Defense Forces)

In the Gaza Strip, the IDF said that it carried out 865 strikes in response to roughly 1,000 launches from Palestinian terror groups directed at Israel. Just 45 of those launches managed to land in built up areas within the Jewish state. Two hundred of them were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.

The army also said that it had constructed 27 kilometers (178 miles) of an underground barrier designed to prevent terror groups like Hamas digging attack tunnels into Israel. The army said it destroyed 15 tunnels in 2018, including one undersea tunnel.

However, the army provided no details on its efforts to contain the weekly mass protests along the Gaza border.

The surge of violence in Gaza began in March with a series of protests along the border that were dubbed the “March of Return.” The clashes, which Gaza’s Hamas rulers orchestrated, have included rock and Molotov cocktail attacks on troops, as well as attempts to breach the border fence and attack Israeli soldiers.

A picture taken on November 12, 2018 shows a ball of fire above the building housing the Hamas-run television station al-Aqsa TV in Gaza City during an Israeli air strike. ( Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Incendiary devices launched from Gaza on kites and balloons also caused hundreds of fires inside Israel and destroyed thousands acres of farm land and nature reserves.

Since the protests began in March, at least 150 Palestinians have been killed and several thousand wounded in the clashes. Hamas, which seeks to destroy Israel, has acknowledged that dozens of those killed were its members. During that time, a Gaza sniper killed an Israeli soldier. Another Israeli soldier was killed in a botched raid inside Gaza.

On Israel’s northern border with Lebanon and Syria, the IDF summed up its activities by saying it built 13 kilometers (8 miles) of walls and another 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) in the Golan Heights.

It also noted that IDF opened the Quneitra crossing between Israel and Syria for the first time since 2014.

An Israeli soldier opens the border gates as a UN vehicle enters Syria at the Quneitra crossing in the Golan Heights, October 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

The army made no mention of the Hezbollah terror tunnels recently uncovered on the Lebanese border, nor the dozens of airstrikes carried out on Iranian targets in Syria.

However, it did note that fighter planes flew more than 2,000 sorties, helicopters flew more than 600, and IAF drones flew 32,166 operational hours.

The annual report also included some noncombat statistics, noting that 674 children were born to conscript soldiers and that it had provided vegan meals to some 10,000 soldiers.

Palestinian terror attacks from the West Bank dropped for the fourth consecutive year, the IDF said Monday, releasing its summary of 2018.

In 2018, the army documented 87 “terror events,” 10 fewer than the 97 recorded in 2017. This was a steep decline from the 169 in 2016 and 219 terror attacks in 2015.

The IDF also considers attacks on soldiers, not just civilians, to be terror attacks.

Sixteen Israelis were killed in West Bank terror attacks in 2018: nine civilians and seven soldiers — a slight decrease from the 20 killed in 2017, 12 of whom were civilians.

However, the outgoing calendar year did see a slight rise in the number of people injured in terror. One hundred and ninety-nine people were injured in attacks in 2018 — 30 more than in 2017. Still the number marked a significant drop from the total injured in 2016 and 2015, when 263 and 360 people were wounded, respectively.

According to the IDF, the number of shooting attacks was almost the same, with 33 in 2018, compared to 34 in 2017. However, there was a jump in the number of stabbings, with 17 recorded, up from 5 in 2017.

There was a sharp drop in the incidents of stone throwing, with 2,057 recorded, compared to 5,082 in 2017.

The army conducted almost nightly raids in the West Bank, arresting 3,173 terror suspects, confiscating 406 weapons and seizing NIS 2,156,089 ($572,754) in terror funds, the army said.

Israeli troops search for the terrorists who committed a shooting attack on a bus stop outside the Ofra settlement in the West Bank, near Ramallah, in which seven Israelis were injured, including a pregnant woman, on December 9, 2018. (Israel Defense Forces)

In the Gaza Strip, the IDF said that it carried out 865 strikes in response to roughly 1,000 launches from Palestinian terror groups directed at Israel. Just 45 of those launches managed to land in built up areas within the Jewish state. Two hundred of them were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.

The army also said that it had constructed 27 kilometers (178 miles) of an underground barrier designed to prevent terror groups like Hamas digging attack tunnels into Israel. The army said it destroyed 15 tunnels in 2018, including one undersea tunnel.

However, the army provided no details on its efforts to contain the weekly mass protests along the Gaza border.

The surge of violence in Gaza began in March with a series of protests along the border that were dubbed the “March of Return.” The clashes, which Gaza’s Hamas rulers orchestrated, have included rock and Molotov cocktail attacks on troops, as well as attempts to breach the border fence and attack Israeli soldiers.

A picture taken on November 12, 2018 shows a ball of fire above the building housing the Hamas-run television station al-Aqsa TV in Gaza City during an Israeli air strike. ( Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Incendiary devices launched from Gaza on kites and balloons also caused hundreds of fires inside Israel and destroyed thousands acres of farm land and nature reserves.

Since the protests began in March, at least 150 Palestinians have been killed and several thousand wounded in the clashes. Hamas, which seeks to destroy Israel, has acknowledged that dozens of those killed were its members. During that time, a Gaza sniper killed an Israeli soldier. Another Israeli soldier was killed in a botched raid inside Gaza.

On Israel’s northern border with Lebanon and Syria, the IDF summed up its activities by saying it built 13 kilometers (8 miles) of walls and another 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) in the Golan Heights.

It also noted that IDF opened the Quneitra crossing between Israel and Syria for the first time since 2014.

An Israeli soldier opens the border gates as a UN vehicle enters Syria at the Quneitra crossing in the Golan Heights, October 15, 2018. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

The army made no mention of the Hezbollah terror tunnels recently uncovered on the Lebanese border, nor the dozens of airstrikes carried out on Iranian targets in Syria.

However, it did note that fighter planes flew more than 2,000 sorties, helicopters flew more than 600, and IAF drones flew 32,166 operational hours.

The annual report also included some noncombat statistics, noting that 674 children were born to conscript soldiers and that it had provided vegan meals to some 10,000 soldiers.