Netanyahu remains key obstacle to Middle East peace, says Israeli analyst

Netanyahu, who previously served as prime minister from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021, returned to office in 2022 despite facing long-standing corruption charges. (AFP/File)
Netanyahu, who previously served as prime minister from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021, returned to office in 2022 despite facing long-standing corruption charges. (AFP/File)
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Updated 17 November 2024
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Netanyahu remains key obstacle to Middle East peace, says Israeli analyst

Netanyahu remains key obstacle to Middle East peace, says Israeli analyst
  • 2002 Saudi Arabia Peace Plan seen as most viable framework for resolving Israeli-Palestinian conflict, achieving normalization between Israel and Arab world, Yossi Mekelberg argues
  • He accuses Netanyahu of using wars in Gaza, Lebanon to delay his prosecution on corruption charges

Chicago, IL: Donald Trump’s re-election as US president could help bring peace between Palestinians and Israelis, but such progress would require a change in Israel’s leadership, said prominent Israeli analyst Yossi Mekelberg.

Speaking during an appearance on “The Ray Hanania Radio Show” Thursday, Mekelberg argued that while there is “wide-ranging” speculation about what the upcoming US president might do in his second term, the current Israeli administration needs to step down before peace can be achieved.

“In my opinion, Israel needs to change the government, full stop. I mean, for everyone’s sake,” said Mekelberg, who is a senior consulting fellow at the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House.

Mekelberg underscored the relevance of the 2002 Saudi Arabia Peace Plan, which offers normalization with Israel in exchange for a complete withdrawal from occupied territories and a resolution to the Palestinian issue. He described it as “the most viable option to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (in such a way) that both sides are satisfied.

“When we talk about normalization and we think about the UAE or Bahrain or Morocco, it was Saudi Arabia (that was) the first to offer this to put it on the table 22 years ago,” he said.

The Saudi initiative, first proposed at the 2002 Arab League Summit in Beirut and reaffirmed in 2007, has repeatedly been rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. The plan offered Israel full normalization with Arab states in exchange for a complete withdrawal from occupied territories, including the Gaza Strip, West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights.

“This has been on the table for more than 22 years. And I think this has always been the right approach,” Mekelberg argued. “We know that there were discussions about normalization over the (past) year or so before October 7th. There is no way in the world, if Israel refuses to make concessions on the Palestinian issues, that normalization will be back on the table.”

Before the outbreak of the Hamas-Israel conflict in October 2023, US-brokered normalization talks between Saudi Arabia and Israel appeared within reach. Netanyahu himself referenced this possibility during his speech at the UN General Assembly in September 2023, claiming the region was on the cusp of a “dramatic breakthrough.” However, the escalation of violence in Gaza first and Lebanon after derailed those efforts.

At the recent Riyadh summit, both Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan reiterated that normalization with Israel would not be discussed without significant progress toward establishing a two-state solution. Mekelberg said this stance reflects a broader consensus among Arab leaders that resolving the Palestinian issue is key to achieving lasting peace.

“We saw what happens when the Palestinian issue is not resolved … For some people, when you say that, the interpretation is almost like justifying what happened on October 7th. Obviously not. No one ever can justify something like this,” he noted, adding that conflicts that are left “to fester will catch you in all sorts (of ways) and will lead certain people to do all sorts of things,” leaving leaders to deal with the “fallout.”

This approach “is much worse for Israel than working toward peace in the first place,” Mekelberg said, criticizing the current Israeli narrative that dismisses Palestinian leadership as incapable of negotiation.

Mekelberg acknowledged the widespread criticism of the Palestinian Authority, which was established in the 1990s under the Oslo Accords to govern areas of the West Bank and Gaza. The Fatah-controlled body has been accused of impotence and ineffectiveness, particularly during the current crisis. As a result, Tel Aviv has dismissed the possibility of negotiating with its leaders, raising questions about who could lead Palestinian territories toward a viable peace process.

“Israel needs change on so many levels,” Mekelberg emphasized, highlighting Netanyahu’s extended tenure in power, spanning 15 years almost consecutively and additional terms between 1996 and 1999.

“(He) is longest serving (prime minister), more than David Ben Gurion, who’s founder of the country. He’s a master manipulator. He understands the Israeli political system and psyche in a way that no one knows better than him and he managed to win (the) election. The fact that he, considering what happened only a year ago, is still prime minister, is a complete and colossal failure to defend Israel.”

Netanyahu, who previously served as prime minister from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021, returned to office in 2022 despite facing long-standing corruption charges. The indictments, filed in 2019, allege breach of trust, accepting bribes, and fraud. While he relinquished other ministerial roles, he has held onto the premiership, using his coalition with Israel’s most extreme political parties to influence the judicial system and delay his trial.

Critics argue that Netanyahu has exploited Israel’s volatile situation to postpone legal proceedings. This week, the Jerusalem District Court rejected his request for a further delay, and he is scheduled to testify on Dec. 2.

Referring to Netanyahu as a “Teflon politician” to whom no scandal seems to stick, Mekelberg questioned how long he could maintain his position. “And, I will be the first to admit, I don’t always understand what is the appeal.”

Discussing the potential impact of Trump’s re-election, Mekelberg voiced cautious optimism about the former president’s ability to broker peace. He downplayed concerns over Trump’s far-right appointees, noting that if his first term is any indication, “there will be people coming and going in this administration probably within a year.” However, he stressed that Trump’s success would hinge on major changes within Israel’s political landscape.

The Ray Hanania Radio Show is broadcast every Thursday in Michigan on WNZK AM 690 Radio at 5 p.m. on the US Arab Radio Network and is sponsored by Arab News. To listen to the full episode or past shows, visit ArabNews.com/RayRadioShow. To get more information on host Ray Hanania, visit ArabNews.com or his website at RayHanania.com.


Syrian militants seize fourth city, close in on Homs in threat to Assad’s rule

Syrian militants seize fourth city, close in on Homs in threat to Assad’s rule
Updated 6 sec ago
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Syrian militants seize fourth city, close in on Homs in threat to Assad’s rule

Syrian militants seize fourth city, close in on Homs in threat to Assad’s rule
  • Assad government ‘fighting for their lives’, analyst says
AMMAN/BEIRUT: Syrian militants said they seized control of the southern city of Daraa on Saturday, the birthplace of a 2011 uprising against President Bashar Assad and the fourth city his forces have lost in a week.
Militant sources said the military agreed to make an orderly withdrawal from Daraa under a deal giving army officials safe passage to the capital Damascus, about 100 km (60 miles) north.
Social media videos showed rebels on motorcycles and others mingling with residents on the streets. People fired shots into the air at the city’s main square in celebration, according to the videos.
There was no immediate comment from the military or Assad’s government, and Reuters could not independently verify the rebels’ claim.
With the fall of Daraa, Assad’s forces have surrendered four important centers to the insurgents in a week.
Daraa, which had a population of more than 100,000 before the civil war began 13 years ago, holds symbolic importance as the cradle of the uprising. It is the capital of a province of about 1 million people, bordering Jordan.
Daraa’s seizure followed the rebels’ claim late on Friday that they had advanced to the edge of the central city of Homs, a key crossroads between the capital and the Mediterranean coast.
Capturing Homs would cut off Damascus from the coastal stronghold of Assad’s minority Alawite sect, and from a naval base and air base of his Russian allies there. “Our forces have liberated the last village on the outskirts of the city of Homs and are now on its walls,” the Syrian faction leading the sweeping assault said on the Telegram messaging app.
A coalition of rebel factions that include the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) made a last call on forces loyal to Assad’s government in Homs to defect.
Ahead of the rebel advance, thousands of people fled Homs toward the coastal regions of Latakia and Tartus, strongholds of the government, residents and witnesses said.
Assad regime under threat
A US-backed alliance led by Syrian Kurdish fighters captured Deir el-Zor, the government’s main foothold in the vast eastern desert, on Friday, three Syrian sources told Reuters. The rebels seized Aleppo and Hama in the northwest and center earlier in the lightning offensive that began on Nov. 27.
In another ominous sign for Assad in the east, the Syrian Kurdish force said Islamic State — a jihadist group that imposed martial law under its harsh rule before its defeat by a US-led coalition in 2017 — had taken control of some areas in eastern Syria.
Aron Lund, a fellow at think-tank Century Foundation, said Assad’s government was “fighting for their lives at this point.”
It was possible the government could hold Homs, “but given the speed at which things have moved so far, I wouldn’t count on it,” he said on Friday.
Syrian state TV reported Russian-Syrian airstrikes targeting rebel headquarters in the countryside of Hama, Idlib and Aleppo killed at least 200 insurgents on Friday, citing the Russian Coordination Center in Syria.
A Syrian army source said Iran-backed Hezbollah forces were positioned to bolster government defenses in and near Homs.
Syrian state media reported dozens of rebels were killed in the Homs countryside on Friday in an operation by Syrian and Russian air forces, artillery, missiles and armored vehicles.
Capturing Homs would solidify a chain of powerful positions under the Islamic insurgents’ control from Aleppo on the Turkish border in the north to Daraa on the Jordanian border to the south.
Gaining Homs would also increase the rebels’ chances of isolating the seat of Assad’s regime in Damascus with the ability to block the route northwest from the capital to the sea.
Rebels re-energised
As the rebels pressed their offensive, Russia and Jordan on Friday urged their nationals to leave Syria.
After years locked behind frozen front lines, rebel forces have burst out of their northwestern Idlib bastion to achieve the swiftest battlefield advance by either side since a street uprising against Assad mushroomed into civil war 13 years ago.
Syria’s conflict killed more than 305,000 people between 2011 and 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Office said in 2022.
Assad regained control of most of Syria after key allies — Russia, Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah — came to his rescue. But all have recently been weakened and diverted by other crises, giving Sunni Muslim militants a window to fight back.
Tehran, which has been focussed on tensions with arch-foe Israel since the Gaza war began last year, began to evacuate its military officials and personnel from Syria on Friday, a sign of Iran’s inability to keep Assad in power, the New York Times reported, citing regional officials and three Iranian officials.
The head of the main rebel faction HTS, Abu Mohammed Al-Golani, vowed in a separate interview with the New York Times published on Friday that the insurgents could end Assad’s rule.
“This operation broke the enemy,” he said of the rebels’ lightning offensive.

Damascus gripped by anxiety in face of militant offensive

Damascus gripped by anxiety in face of militant offensive
Updated 9 min 2 sec ago
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Damascus gripped by anxiety in face of militant offensive

Damascus gripped by anxiety in face of militant offensive
  • Many Syrians have been wracked by uncertainty, fearing a revival of the worst days of Syria’s grinding civil war

DAMASCUS: Like many others in the Syrian capital Damascus, student Shadi chose to stay home so he could keep up with the pace of events since militants launched a shock offensive last week.

“I had no wish to go out and everyone chose to stay in to follow the news surrounded by their loved ones,” said Shadi, who did not wish to give his full name.

As the militants have taken city after city in quick succession, many Syrians have been wracked by uncertainty, fearing a revival of the worst days of Syria’s grinding civil war now in its 14th year.

“We don’t understand anything anymore. In just one week, the twists and turns have been so overwhelming that they are beyond all comprehension,” the young man said.

“The worry is contagious but we have to keep our cool,” he said, never once taking his eyes off the alerts on his mobile phone.

Syrian militants, led by Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), launched the shock offensive on November 27, sweeping from their stronghold in the northwest to capture swathes of northern and central Syria including the major cities of Aleppo and Hama.

Government forces have launched a counteroffensive seeking to repel the militants but at the cost of relaxing their grip on other parts of the country, notably the east where Kurdish-led forces have taken over.

“Whenever rumors spread, people rush to buy various products, bread, rice, sugar and detergents,” said Amine, 56, who runs a grocery store in the Sheikh Saad neighborhood of the capital.

“Today, I bought twice from my wholesaler to keep up with demand.”

The offensive has already sent food prices skyrocketing by 30 percent in Damascus, according to residents.

The Syrian pound is trading at an all-time low of 19,000 to the dollar, down from 15,000 before the militants launched their offensive on Wednesday of last week.

Security measures — already strict before the offensive — have been beefed up, with extra car searches, particularly on vehicles coming from outside the capital, according to residents.

Concerns have been further driven by the spread of disinformation and rumors.

The Syrian defense ministry has denounced “fabricated” videos, including of explosions at the headquarters of the general staff, calling on citizens not to fall prey to “lies” that “aim to sow chaos and panic among civilians.”

In the usually lively neighborhood of Bab Sharqi, restaurants and cafes are near-deserted in the evening, with some even closing up early due to the absence of customers.

Damascus University has delayed end-of-term exams and the Syrian football federation has postponed matches until further notice.

State news agency SANA reported that at Friday prayers, imams called on the faithful “not to panic... and to stand as one behind the Syrian Arab Army to defend the homeland.”

Georgina, 32, said she had “heard a lot of rumors.”

“I went to Old Damascus and saw a normal situation,” she said, adding that nonetheless “everyone was keeping an eye on the news.”

Meanwhile, some radio stations have switched from variety programming to non-stop news segments.

On state television, programs host analysts and witnesses on the ground, including those denying “rumors” of fresh territorial losses to the advancing militants.


US tells citizens leave Syria ‘now while commercial options remain available’

US tells citizens leave Syria ‘now while commercial options remain available’
Updated 07 December 2024
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US tells citizens leave Syria ‘now while commercial options remain available’

US tells citizens leave Syria ‘now while commercial options remain available’

WASHINGTON: US citizens in Syria should immediately leave the country “while commercial options remain available,” the State Department said Friday, as militant forces continue their offensive against President Bashar Assad’s troops.
“The security situation continues to be volatile and unpredictable with active clashes between armed groups throughout the country. The Department urges US citizens to depart Syria now while commercial options remain available,” the department said in a security alert posted on social media.

 


Syrian government loses control of southern city of Daraa: monitor

Syrian rebel fighters sit behind deployed machine guns during a military parade near the southern city of Daraa on June 7, 2018.
Syrian rebel fighters sit behind deployed machine guns during a military parade near the southern city of Daraa on June 7, 2018.
Updated 07 December 2024
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Syrian government loses control of southern city of Daraa: monitor

Syrian rebel fighters sit behind deployed machine guns during a military parade near the southern city of Daraa on June 7, 2018.
  • Earlier Friday, local factions seized the Nassib-Jaber border crossing with Jordan, the Observatory said, with Jordan closing its side of the crossing, Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya said

BEIRUT, Lebanon: The Syrian government lost control Friday of the symbolic southern city of Daraa and most of the eponymous province, which was the cradle of the country’s 2011 uprising, a war monitor said.
“Local factions have taken control of more areas in Daraa province, including Daraa city... They now control more than 90 percent of the province, as government forces successively pulled out,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
In Daraa province, only the Sanamayn area is still in government hands, Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the British-based monitor with a network of sources in Syria, told AFP.
Earlier Friday, local factions seized the Nassib-Jaber border crossing with Jordan, the Observatory said, with Jordan closing its side of the crossing, Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya said.
Daraa province was the cradle of the 2011 uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s rule, but it returned to government control in 2018 under a ceasefire deal brokered by Assad ally Russia. It was a militant bastion at the height of the civil war in the early 2010s.
Former militants there who accepted the 2018 deal were able to keep their light weapons.
Daraa province has been plagued by unrest in recent years, with frequent attacks, armed clashes and assassinations, some claimed by the Daesh group.

 


UK to join US-Bahrain Middle East security agreement

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani speaking at the Manama Dialogue Forum where the UK is expected to sig
Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani speaking at the Manama Dialogue Forum where the UK is expected to sig
Updated 07 December 2024
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UK to join US-Bahrain Middle East security agreement

Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani speaking at the Manama Dialogue Forum where the UK is expected to sig
  • Bahrain's foreign minister says agreement brings together countries wanting to deliver "stability and prosperity"
  • Pact will by signed on Saturday during Manama Dialogue conference

LONDON: The UK is set to join a security pact between Bahrain and the US designed to build “long-term stability in the Middle East.”

The UK government said it would sign a deal to join the US-Bahrain Comprehensive Security Integration and Prosperity Agreement on Saturday in Manama.

The original agreement between the US and Bahrain, which have long-standing security ties, was signed in September last year.

At the time the State Department said it would “enhance cooperation across a wide range of areas, from defense and security to emerging technology, trade, and investment.”

Bahrain’s foreign minister confirmed on Friday that the UK had been invited to be a partner in the agreement, Reuters reported.

“The comprehensive security integration and prosperity agreement is designed not as a bilateral arrangement, but as the beginning of a multilateral framework that aims to bring together countries with an equal interest in delivering stability and prosperity,” Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani told the Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain.

Hamish Falconer, the UK’s minister for Middle East and North Africa, will travel to Bahrain on Saturday to sign the agreement with officials from Bahrain and the US.

He said the pact was a “joint commitment to be at the forefront of global efforts to promote the rule of law and contribute to regional stability and prosperity.”

Falconer added: “The Middle East is subject to instability and the risks of escalation and miscalculation are high. It is more important than ever for the UK to join efforts to build long-term regional security in the region, alongside key partners Bahrain and (the) US.”

Both the UK and the US have major naval bases in Bahrain, home to America’s Fifth Fleet. Bahrain has supported American and British efforts to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea, which has been targeted by attacks from Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen for more than a year.

By entering the agreement the UK will bolster its strong security and economic cooperation with Bahrain, the British government said.

The first UK Bahrain Strategic Investment Partnership agreed in 2023 has provided over £1 billion of investment in the UK, the announcement added

The security agreement comes as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeks to deepen relations with Arab Gulf states.

The emir of Qatar this week took part in a two-day state visit to Britain, during which the two countries signed an agreement for Qatar to invest £1 billion in British climate technologies.