WarSclerotic

Source: Trump and Putin praise Israel in Helsinki, diverge on Syria and Iran – Israel News – Jerusalem Post

Trump spoke as “we,” which apparently indicated Moscow and Washington both working with Israel and “Israel working with us.”

U.S. President Donald Trump receives a football from Russian President Vladimir Putin as they hold a joint news conference after their meeting in Helsinki, Finland July 16, 2018. (photo credit: GRIGORY DUKOR / REUTERS)

US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed Israel, Syria and Iran in their meeting in Helsinki and in subsequent comments to the press. The public comments provide some insight into their view of the future of the Middle East. With the Syrian regime conducting a major offensive in the south and the US deeply involved in eastern Syria, while Israel demands the Iranians leave, this was a central topic of concern in Helsinki.

Trump went first with a discussion of Israel. According to a transcript published by NPR he said, “we’ve worked with Israel long and hard for many years.” He pointed out that the US has never been closer to Israel than it is today. “President Putin also is helping Israel and we both spoke with [Prime Minister Benjamin] Bibi Netanyahu and they would like to do certain things with respect to Syria, having to do with the safety of Israel.” He spoke as “we,” which apparently indicated Moscow and Washington both working with Israel and “Israel working with us.” He continued, “I think they’re working with Israel is a great thing and creating safety for Israel is something bother President Putin and I would like to see very much.”

Putin argued that Russia was helping to “crush terrorists in the southwest of Syria.” He mentioned the 1974 ceasefire lines on the Golan. “This will bring peace to Golan heights and bring a more peaceful relationship between Syria and Israel and also to provide security for the state of Israel.” He said that he paid “special attention” to the issue when sitting with Trump.

The two also discussed the future of Syria. Trump claimed that the US military was successfully coordinating with Russia in Syria.

“Our militaries do get along very well,” he said. Putin said that Russia was working to establish peace and reconciliation. “Russia and the United States apparently can act proactively and take leadership on this issue.” He emphasized the coordination between the US and Russian militaries in Syria helped avoid “dangerous incidents and unintentional collisions.”

Putin elaborated that the crucial issue now was relating to refugees in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. “If we help them, the migratory pressure upon the European states will drop.” He mentioned that Russia was working closely with Turkey and Iran, “so that we will be able to maximize our fighting change together for ultimate success in the issue of Syria.”

Putin shrugged off a question about the “ball” being in Russia’s court in terms of deciding what’s next in Syria. He said he would hand the ball to Trump, and made a joke about the World Cup. Trump agreed that humanitarian concerns were a key for the people of Syria.

On Iran, Putin said that the Iranian nuclear deal had helped ensure the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program.” Trump emphasized the need to pressure Iran and “stop its campaign of violence throughout the area, throughout the Middle East.” The US President then said that the US would not allow Iran to benefit from the defeat of ISIS.  Trump claimed ISIS had been defeated 99%. He said Russia was helping.

So what was said and unsaid? Both Putin and Trump appeared to understand and to some extent support Israel’s concerns regarding Syria. They were keyed in to Jerusalem’s policy, which has included airstrikes on Iranian threats in Syria over the last six years. The use of the word “us” and “we” to describe Israel’s relationship with Moscow and Washington points to an unprecedented level of understanding between Jerusalem and the two world powers. Probably never before have Moscow and Washington been closer in terms of listening to Israel’s concerns. The fact that both Washington and Moscow have their own agendas in Syria, neither of which always mesh with Israel’s agenda was left unsaid. The fact is that Russia cannot remove Iran from Syria, which is Israel’s main goal. Washington also has not committed to a mission to rollback Iran in Syria, still concentrating resources on defeating ISIS.

Putin sees Iran as an important player in the region and not as an adversary. He would like to work more closely with Turkey as well. Trump meanwhile is adamantly opposed to Iran. Here the two leaders expressed differences. Putin was noticeably tight lipped about his views of Tehran’s policies. This could point to growing daylight between Moscow and Iran but it more likely points to Putin’s tendency towards generalization that allows Russia more room to maneuver. The US prefers clearly stated goals, while Russia prefers the veneer of discussion international law, while the opaque nature of Moscow’s actual policy relating to Iran in places like Syria.

Overall the meeting between the two leaders was weak on substance. Prior to the summit some in Israel had pushed stories about Russia agreeing some sort of concept where Iran leaves Syria when the conflict is done. But after Netanyahu’s meeting with Putin and then after Trump’s meeting it is clear that there will be no clear comment about Iran’s future role in Syria, or about Israel’s continued opposition to any Iranian forces remaining.

Source: Netanyahu’s secret consent to hand Golan crossing to Syria led to Trump-Putin deal on Israel’s border security – DEBKAfile

https://www.timesofisrael.com/up-to-22-killed-including-9-iranians-in-syria-strike-blamed-on-israel-report/

Earlier, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at 9, said raid targeted an Iranian Revolutionary Guard center

Syrian rebel forces claimed that 22 people, including nine Iranians, were killed in an overnight strike in northern Syria blamed on Israel, the Qatar-based al-Jazeera network reported Monday.

The figure, which could not be confirmed, was much higher than an earlier report of nine deaths provided by a Syrian watchdog group.

The al-Jazeera report did not cite its sources or give any further details.

Syrian state media has accused Israel of carrying out the bombing of a military position in Aleppo province late Sunday, in what would be a rare Israeli attack so far north in the war-ravaged country.

“The Israeli missiles targeted an Iranian Revolutionary Guard center, near the Neyrab military airport,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor.

He said those killed included at least six Syrians, but could not specify the nationalities of the remaining fighters.

The position is a logistics hub used to provide equipment and food to pro-regime forces fighting at nearby fronts, but it did not store weapons, Abdel Rahman said.

Earlier Monday, the country’s official news agency SANA reported there was only damage to the site, identified as the Al-Nayrab airbase, adjacent to Aleppo’s international airport.

“The Zionist enemy (Israel)… targeted with its missiles one of our military positions north of the Nayrab military airport, but the damage was only material,” SANA said citing a military source.

Al-Nayrab has in the past been linked with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps militia.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside the country, said it had recorded a wave of blasts around Nayrab on Sunday night.

It said that a suspected Israeli missile strike had targeted “positions held by Syria’s regime and its allies at the Nayrab airport” and its surroundings.

The base was reportedly previously struck by Israel on April 29 as part of a large raid that also targeted weapons depots near Hama.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, which rarely confirms such attacks.

Suspected Israeli airstrikes have hit Syrian army positions near Damascus and in the central provinces of Homs and Hama in the past. However, they rarely occur as far north as Aleppo.

The raid came hours before a high-stakes summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, where Syria and Iran are expected to be on the agenda.

Israel has been pushing Russia to remove Iranian-aligned militia fighters from Syria, and has vowed to stop them from getting a foothold anywhere in the country. Russia has reportedly only agreed to removing them from the Golan border region.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met with Putin in Moscow last week, said Sunday he had discussed the issue with Trump a day earlier.

Netanyahu reportedly told Putin during their Wednesday meeting that Israel would not challenge Assad’s control of Syria, in exchange for freedom to act against Iran.

On July 8, Israel was accused of carrying out an airstrike on the T-4 military base near Homs, also thought to be used by IRGC fighters.

Let this be cast in gold !

I would rather take a political risk in pursuit of

peace than risk peace in pursuit of politics,”

he said.

5 Av 5778 – July 16, 2018

Trump: Israel’s Safety Important to Both US, Russia

U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters in Helsinki following his talks with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Monday (July 16) that Israel’s safety is important to both world leaders.

Speaking at a joint news conference together with Putin after the summit, Trump said bluntly in response to a question about Syria, “President Putin also is helping Israel. And we both spoke with Bibi Netanyahu, and they would like to do certain things with respect to Syria, having to do with the safety of Israel.

“So in that respect we absolutely would like to work in order to help Israel, and Israel will be working with us, so both countries would work jointly.”

Trump said that a great deal of progress has been made in in certain sections of Syria with the “eradication of ISIS, we’re about 98 percent, 99 percent there,” adding that Russia had helped the United States with, “in certain respects.”

He went on to say, “Working with Israel is a great thing and creating safety for Israel is something that both President Putin and I would like to see very much.”

By Pamela Geller – on July 16, 2018

https://gellerreport.com/2018/07/israel-planning-erdogan.html/

After of century of Ataturk — separation of mosque and state — a once-prospering and modern Turkey has been dragged back to stone ages by deeply devout monster Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Islamic Jew-hatred — it’s in the Quran. Erdogan, a vicious anti-semite and former President Obama’s closest friend among world leaders, has based much of his presidency on Islamic Jew-hatred, counting on its popularity in the Muslim country (Mein Kampf has been a number one bestseller in Turkey for years) to secure the popularity of his regime. He has embarked upon the rapid re-islamization of Turkey, which is popular with many Turks outside Istanbul and Ankara despite his war on freedom and his people.

“Israel said planning measures to restrict Erdogan’s influence in Jerusalem,” Times of Israel, July 7, 2018 (thanks to Mark):

Israel is considering restricting the activities of Turkey’s international aid agency in Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories in an effort to counter President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s reported efforts to extend his influence in East Jerusalem, Hadashot news reported Saturday.

The National Security Council has drafted possible measures to be taken against the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) that operates in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.

According to the report, Israeli intelligence officials believe that TIKA has hosted members of the Islamic Movement at their offices, and that several of its employees transferred funds and information to the Hamas terrorist group.

Among the measures under consideration was imposing a general restriction on all TIKA actives or requiring the agency to obtain individual permits for each project.

Hadashot said Israel’s suspicions of TIKA were intensified by the recent uptick in Erdogan’s anti-Israel rhetoric.

Last month, the Haaretz daily reported that Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the Palestinian Authority were urging Israel to act against Erdogan’s efforts in East Jerusalem.

The report said Turkish Islamic associations in recent years have been sponsoring an increasing number of programs and trips for thousands of local Palestinians, and had a strong influence in the protests around the Temple Mount.

According to the Turkey’s Daily Sabah, TIKA has carried out 400 aid projects that include restoration work on the Dome of the Rock, and a new dorm room for female student’s at Ramallah’s Al-Quds University.

One Israeli official told Haaretz in June that Turkey was attempting to purchase property through government charities, and that the Palestinian Authority was weary of “having another landlord in East Jerusalem.”

Diplomats told the paper that Jordan began expressing concern to Jerusalem over a year ago and accused it of “being asleep at the wheel,” since singing the reconciliation agreement with Turkey in 2016.

Riyadh meanwhile is said to be worried that Erdogan will attempt to use his influence in Jerusalem to claim himself the custodian of the Muslim sites in the city, cementing his increasing authority over the Arab-Muslim world.

Relations between Jerusalem and Ankara imploded in 2010, following an Israeli naval raid on a Turkish ship trying to breach Israel’s blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. The raid, in which IDF commandos were attacked by activists on board, left 10 Turks dead and several soldiers wounded.

In May, relations between Israel and Turkey sank to a fresh low point after expelling each other’s envoys amid an acerbic war of words following deadly clashes on the Gaza Strip border.

Erdogan took to social media to accuse Israel of being “a terror state” that was committing “genocide” against Palestinians….

It is time .

It is time to introduce myself a little bit more , and stop using that nick of my , there is no need for it anymore .

Ok, here we go .

My Name is Peter Hofman married for 37 years and 47 years together with my wife , friend and blood brother Fran .

I am 62 years old, and we are native Dutch and I have Jewish roots from my father’s side .

I am interested and discussing politics , social, social economics and religious matters for a LONG, long time .

Basically it was an important part of my youth and later life .

I am Technicaly educated in electronics, pneumatic and electrical, special in control systems for factories, ships, yachts and so on and have knowledge about quality measurements .

Worked in many places around the world as trouble shooter, quality inspector and construction supervisor .

Now I am retired and enjoy life with my wife , 3 dogs and a cat .

I was honored when Joseph asked me to help him with his site and I will continue to do my part as long it is given .