With Iran in mind, new Israeli leaders cozy up to Putin

With Iran in mind, new Israeli leaders cozy up to Putin
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) chairs the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on January 3, 2023. (AFP)
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Updated 04 January 2023
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With Iran in mind, new Israeli leaders cozy up to Putin

With Iran in mind, new Israeli leaders cozy up to Putin
  • Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, after a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, asked his Cabinet colleagues to avoid commenting on the Russia-Ukraine conflict

RAMALLAH: The new Israeli government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to restore close ties with Russia in a bid to counter Moscow’s increasingly friendly relationship with Iran, analysts say.

At least one observer believes Russia’s support for Iran could pose a future threat to Israeli security operations against Iranian targets in Syria.

On Jan. 3, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, after a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, asked his Cabinet colleagues to avoid commenting on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

He said that the new government will talk less about the war, meaning Israel will avoid denouncing Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, a shift away from the stance adopted by former prime minister Yair Lapid.

“It’s clear that the relations between Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin are much warmer for many years than those between Lapid and former Israeli premier Naftali Bennett with Putin,” Ksenia Svetlova, a senior non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council and former member of the Israeli parliament, told Arab News.

Netanyahu is also believed to be unhappy with President Volodymyr Zelensky over Ukraine’s failure to oppose pro-Palestinian resolutions at the UN last week.

Putin has worked with Netanyahu for 12 of the 22 years he has been at the helm in the Kremlin, and the two have a close relationship.

The Russian president called Netanyahu to congratulate him on winning the Nov. 3 election and again after the Israeli leader won a confidence vote on Dec. 29.

Israeli experts told Arab News that the Netanyahu government will work to develop close ties with Moscow, but at the same time maintain strategic links with the US, which expressed displeasure over the Cohen-Lavrov call.

Israeli political analyst Yoni Ben Menachem said that Putin expects Netanyahu to shift Israel’s Russia policy away from the approach taken by Lapid, who attacked Moscow in his UN speech and media statements.

Israel fears Moscow may prevent it from continuing to bomb Iranian targets in Syria. Russia might provide anti-aircraft missiles to Iranian forces that would pose a threat to Israeli warplanes.

Russia now enjoys “a very close relationship” with Iran to the extent that it may end the freedom given to the Israeli airforce to bomb Iranian targets in Syria, Ben Menachem said.

There are 1 million Russian Jews in Israel who speak Russian. Most are over 18 and vote and influence Israeli elections.

Previous Israeli governments included ministers and deputy ministers of Russian origin, such as Avigdor Lieberman, Yuli Edelstein and Sophia Lander.

On Dec. 31, Netanyahu spoke with Zelensky and asked him to oppose pro-Palestinian resolutions at the UN. Zelensky said he would agree if Tel Aviv provided Ukraine with advanced weapons. Netanyahu rejected the offer and told Zelensky that Israel could not supply Ukraine with more than humanitarian aid for fear of spoiling Tel Aviv’s ties with Moscow. Ukraine was absent from the voting session and avoided voting against Israel.

Zelensky hoped to receive air defense systems from the Lapid government, but these failed to arrive. It is unlikely Netanyahu will supply the systems.

“In any case, Israeli-Russian relations would be better between Netanyahu and Putin than they used to be between Lapid and Putin,” Svetlova told Arab News.

Alexander Grinberg, an expert on Russia-Israel affairs, told Arab News: “I am sure that Netanyahu will be able to balance Israel’s position and its relations with Russia with the continuation of the war in Ukraine, as the position of his predecessor Yair Lapid in support of Ukraine was personal and emotional, nothing more.”

He said Netanyahu’s position on Russia was consistent with the Israeli army, Military Intelligence Directorate, and the rest of the Israeli security apparatus regarding Israel’s security interests concerning Tehran, whether in Syria or inside Iran.

“The Israeli people stand against Russia on the war in Ukraine, while the political and security leadership cooperates closely with Putin,” he said.


An Israeli tank was stolen from a military zone. Authorities found it in a junkyard

An Israeli tank was stolen from a military zone. Authorities found it in a junkyard
Updated 21 September 2023
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An Israeli tank was stolen from a military zone. Authorities found it in a junkyard

An Israeli tank was stolen from a military zone. Authorities found it in a junkyard
  • The army said the tank was not armed and could not have been used for military purposes

JERUSALEM: Israeli authorities are trying to figure out how a heavily armored, but unarmed, tank was stolen from a military training zone after finding it discarded in a junkyard.
The Israeli Merkava 2 tank disappeared from a training zone in northern Israel near the coastal city of Haifa, the Israeli army said Wednesday. The training zone is closed to the public when in use, but is otherwise accessible to passersby.
Police said the 65-ton tank was found abandoned in a scrapyard near a military base. In a video from the scene, the army green tank towers alongside rusty scraps of metal and other industrial castoffs.
The army said the Merkava 2 was decommissioned years ago and was unarmed. It said it had been used most recently as a “stationary vehicle for soldiers' exercises.”
Police said they had arrested two suspects in connection with the theft.


Qatar prepared to become international mediator: Foreign Ministry

Qatar prepared to become international mediator: Foreign Ministry
Updated 21 September 2023
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Qatar prepared to become international mediator: Foreign Ministry

Qatar prepared to become international mediator: Foreign Ministry
  • Doha recently brokered prisoner swap deal between Iran and the US
  • Qatar has success mediating in Africa, Mideast, says spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari

New York: Qatar is prepared to take on the role of an international mediator in the wake of the recent Doha-brokered prisoner swap deal between Iran and the US, the nation’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said on Wednesday.

“Our job as mediator is to make sure that prisoners come back home and the humanitarian channel is secure; secure in a way that would guarantee the Iranians would be able to use it, and secure in the way that it would not be used for anything that would fall under US sanctions,” Al-Ansari said at the Middle East Global Summit in New York.

Al-Ansari also serves as an advisor to Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani.

He added that the prisoner swap, during which five dual Iranian-US citizens were traded for five Iranians held in America on charges of violating US sanctions, was carried out with many safeguards to ensure that funds would not be used for nefarious purposes. The final part of the deal included the release of $6 billion in frozen Iranian funds, which was sent to banks in Doha.

Al-Ansari also referenced other examples of Qatar’s efforts to play a mediating role, including in the conflicts in Darfur, Djibouti, Eritrea, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Qatar also acted as a mediator during and after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, Al-Ansari said. While Qatar’s role met with some criticism, the spokesperson says that engagement with the Taliban was preferable to isolation.

“We understand the situation is not easy for the international community to engage. But complete isolation is not the solution. It didn’t work, and it won’t work. It will push the government there into the hands of other states which are not interested in human rights for women and children in Afghanistan,” he said.

He added that the Qatari prime minister’s meeting with the leader of the Taliban in Kandahar was the first-ever talks between that nation’s leadership and a foreign official.

Regarding trade, and specifically the dominant role of China internationally, Al-Ansari stated that it would be impossible to isolate Beijing.

“China is one of the biggest producers in the world. We will always need it and it will always need us.” However, he said, “we shouldn’t allow economic pressure to be used in political matters. Energy should not be weaponized. Trade should not be weaponized.”

 

 


Syria’s Assad arrives in China for first visit in almost 20 years

Syria’s Assad arrives in China for first visit in almost 20 years
Updated 21 September 2023
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Syria’s Assad arrives in China for first visit in almost 20 years

Syria’s Assad arrives in China for first visit in almost 20 years
  • Al-Assad is due to attend the opening ceremony of the Asian Games

BEIJING: Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has arrived in the east Chinese city of Hangzhou, kicking off his first visit to the Asian nation since 2004 as he makes further strides to end over a decade of diplomatic isolation amid Western sanctions.
Al-Assad arrived aboard an Air China plane amid heavy fog, which Chinese state media said “added to the atmosphere of mystery” in a nod to the fact the Syrian leader has seldom been seen since the start of a civil war that has claimed over half a million lives.
Al-Assad is due to attend the opening ceremony of the Asian Games along with more than a dozen foreign dignitaries, the foreign ministry said earlier.
In a statement on Tuesday, Al-Assad’s presidential office said he would lead a senior delegation for a series of meetings in several Chinese cities, including a summit with President Xi Jinping.
Al-Assad last visited China in 2004 to meet then-President Hu Jintao. It was the first visit by a Syrian head of state to China since the countries established diplomatic ties in 1956.
China — like Syria’s main allies Russia and Iran — maintained those ties even as other countries isolated Assad over his brutal crackdown of anti-government demonstrations that erupted in 2011.


Syrian refugee crisis ‘threatening Lebanon’s very existence,’ Mikati tells UN

Syrian refugee crisis ‘threatening Lebanon’s very existence,’ Mikati tells UN
Updated 21 September 2023
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Syrian refugee crisis ‘threatening Lebanon’s very existence,’ Mikati tells UN

Syrian refugee crisis ‘threatening Lebanon’s very existence,’ Mikati tells UN
  • Lebanon’s PM calls for election of president to end political gridlock
  • Insecurity in Middle East ‘casting a shadow over countries and their peoples’

NEW YORK CITY: Lebanon’s political gridlock, the occupation of parts of its territory and the Syrian refugee crisis have led to an “unprecedented economic, financial and humanitarian crisis” that “threatens the very existence” of the country, Prime Minister Najib Mikati has told the UN.

Speaking on Wednesday in the General Debate of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly, Mikati listed the greatest threats to Lebanon’s stability and prosperity, and called for steps to address his country’s plight.

He highlighted 2023 as marking the 80th anniversary of Lebanon’s independence, adding that over the past eight decades, Lebanon “has been striving to deserve its place among the peace and welfare-loving nations.

“Lebanon was one of the founding fathers of this organization … (and had a) remarkable contribution in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Mikati said.

“But it hasn’t always been an easy journey. Besides the bright chapters of stability, growth, prosperity and peace building, Lebanon has also known long and extremely difficult phases.”

The Lebanese PM, who was designated to fill the role in 2021, said that his country is facing “numerous, overlapping crises” that come “against the backdrop of a weakened international system and regional climate full of questions and challenges.”

Those challenges “weigh heavily” on the Lebanese people, Mikati said.

The first major challenge is the vacant position of president of the Lebanese republic, he added.

The political gridlock in Beirut had led to institutional instability and an exacerbation of Lebanon’s economic and financial woes, said Mikati, who added that structural reforms, which the people “depend on to save the country,” cannot be launched.

He commended the role of the five-nation group on Lebanon, which includes Saudi Arabia, as well as France’s efforts aimed at resolving the crisis.

“I sincerely look forward to the Lebanese Parliament exercising its sovereign role by electing a president of the republic in the coming period,” Mikati said.

That would see Lebanon “returning to fulfil its mission and playing a leading role in close cooperation with our Arab brethren and our friends in the international community,” he added.

Mikati said that the 12 years of displacement in Syria as a result of the country’s civil war is “threatening Lebanon’s very existence.”

Per capita, Lebanon hosts the highest number of refugees in the world.

The international community’s response to the issue is “timid” and falls short of an effective, sustainable solution, Mikati said, adding that Lebanon has repeatedly voiced its concerns in the international arena.

“Lebanon will not be the only victim,” he warned, calling for the international community to take action on the displacement of Syria’s people.

But Mikati highlighted a “positive development,” saying that Lebanon had “reached an agreement with the UNHCR on the exchange of information pertaining to the Syrian presence in Lebanon.”

The PM said that his country’s third major challenge concerned Israel’s continued occupation of Lebanese territory in the south as well as Tel Aviv’s “ongoing aggressions and violations.”

Rising levels of political insecurity and instability in the Middle East are “casting a shadow over the countries of the region and their peoples,” Mikati said.

But he hailed two recent steps toward rapprochement in the region: the return of Syria to the Arab League and the signing of the Saudi Arabia-Iran deal.

He added: “I would like to express our solidarity with the Libyan and Moroccan peoples in the aftermath of the natural disasters, which ravaged the two countries.”

Mikati said that despite the situation in Lebanon, his country is implementing the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and aiming to meet the targets of the Paris Climate Agreement.

He hailed Egypt’s hosting of COP27 and said that Lebanon looked forward to taking part in COP28 in the UAE later this year.

Mikati ended his speech by calling for a “sovereign and independent Lebanese state; a strong, able and inclusive state cooperating with the international community, and friendly and brotherly countries.”

“A Lebanese state that protects the parliamentary democratic system, and public and private freedoms; that engages in structural reforms and in strengthening the rule of law, citizenship, accountability and justice.

“A Lebanese state of peace, tolerance and brotherly relations that adopts a policy of dissociation and stays away from the policy of axes.

“A Lebanese state which is an urgent need for security peace, stability and prosperity in the region.”


Lebanon begins investigating shooting outside US Embassy

Lebanon begins investigating shooting outside US Embassy
Updated 21 September 2023
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Lebanon begins investigating shooting outside US Embassy

Lebanon begins investigating shooting outside US Embassy
  • No injuries reported in shooting
  • It was not immediately clear if the incident was a politically-motivated attack

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s security agencies have launched an investigation into a late night shooting outside the US embassy in Lebanon that caused no injuries, officials said Thursday.
No one claimed responsibility for the Wednesday night small arms fire in the vicinity of the entrance of the heavily-fortified compound in Beirut’s northeastern suburb of Awkar. It was not immediately clear if the incident was a politically-motivated attack.
US Embassy spokesperson Jake Nelson said that “there were no injuries, and our facility is safe.” He added: “We are in close contact with host country law enforcement authorities.”
Shortly after the shooting, the Lebanese army took measures near the embassy and later security agencies started an investigation including analyzing security cameras in the area, a Lebanese official said on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
This year marked the 40th anniversary of a deadly bombing attack on the US Embassy in Beirut on April 18, 1983, that killed 63 people including at least 17 Americans. Top CIA officials were among those killed in the 1983 embassy attack in a Beirut coastal neighborhood. US official blamed the militant group Hezbollah.
In recent years there have been no reported attacks on the embassy although Lebanon has a long history of attacks against Americans since the 1975-90 civil war started.
In 2008, an explosion targeted a US Embassy vehicle in northern Beirut, killing at least three Lebanese and injuring an American bystander and a local embassy employee. The blast, which damaged the armored SUV and several other vehicles, took place just ahead of a farewell reception for the American ambassador at a hotel in central Beirut.
In October 1983, a truck bombing killed 241 American service members at the US Marine barracks at Beirut airport.
In 1976, the US Ambassador to Lebanon, Francis E. Meloy Jr., and an aide, Robert O. Waring, were kidnapped and shot to death in Beirut. In 1984, William Buckley, CIA station chief in Beirut, was kidnapped and murdered by the Islamic Jihad group.
The US withdrew all diplomats from Beirut in September 1989 and did not reopen its embassy until 1991.