World Affairs
Politics & OpinionsBy IsraelMatzav
5 days ago
 One thing that is clear to just about everyone here is that the crisis in relations with the US had come to an end on Thursday and the Obama administration - the President and his Secretary of State - chose to escalate it on Friday afternoon with Clinton's phone call to Obama. Why? David Horovitz takes a shot. But perhaps, too, the Obama administration has recognized an opportunity in the Ramat Shlomo crisis, an opportunity that required deepening rather than defusing the dispute – an opportunity to convey to the unloved Netanyahu, more starkly than ever before, the fateful choice he faces and the urgency of making it.
Does he want to expand home-building for Jews in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, maintain the support of the domestic political Right, offer less than the Americans would wish him to offer at the peace table should direct talks ever resume, and watch Israel’s ties to the United States falter even as Iran closes in on the bomb?
Or is he prepared to halt such building, marginalize the local hardliners, work to create a climate conducive to negotiated progress with the Palestinians, and bolster the partnership with the US, the better to ensure an effective response to the Iranian threat?
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Law and SocietyMiddle EastBy Dabar
2 weeks ago
There is a saying that was old in 1894 and seems to have spread through the English speaking world which begins, "sticks and stones shall break my bones, but" chances are you can complete it. The version I am familiar with is "but words shall never hurt me". Another version ends with "but lies shall never hurt me".
But yet there is another saying: "the pen is mightier than the sword". Therefore, logically, one may conclude that "the word is mightier than the sword."
From this it may be gathered that sayings or aphorisms pertaining to the lore of common sense, at least at a superficial level, may contain contradiction. But then after a few hours perusing the section of the university library pertaining to common sense, one realises that 'sense' is possibly cultural and not at all common. Sense might be missing from the mouths of leaders, and indeed even reporters, when they speak on (and in) the Middle East.
For words can indeed be swords. The great king David wrote a song about it.
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World AffairsPolitics & OpinionsBy IsraelMatzav
2 weeks ago
 The New York Times' David Sanger has picked up on a line in the IAEA report that came as as surprise: Iran has moved its entire known supply of low-enriched uranium to an above-ground outdoor facility. It's practically painted a bullseye on it, begging to be attacked. Why did they do it? Here's Sanger. The strangest of the speculations — but the one that is being talked about most — is that Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is inviting an attack to unify the country after eight months of street demonstrations that have pitted millions of Iranians against their government. As one senior European diplomat noted Thursday, an Israeli military strike might be the “best thing” for Iran’s leadership, because it would bring Iranians together against a national enemy.
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Law and SocietyMiddle EastBy Dr.Aaron.Lerner.IMRA
2 weeks ago
Dr. Aaron Lerner
Thanks to Saeed Jalili, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, for putting the cards on the table. Support for the "Palestinian cause" isn't the narrow question of right and wrong between Israel and the Palestinians. Its a symbol of the struggle against the "world powers". That's to say, by extension, that what is perceived as a successful move against Israel is seen as a successful move against the "world powers". Here's the policy ramification if you are a "world power" vis a vis pushing Israel to give a victory to the Palestinians: The move won't placate your enemies - they will reward them with a victory that will encourage them to extend and expand their struggle against you.
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World AffairsPolitics & OpinionsBy IsraelMatzav
3 weeks ago
 The IAF announced on Thursday that it is putting a new UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) into service. The UAV, called the Eitan, is the size of a passenger jet, is capable of flying for 20 hours straight... and is capable of flying to Iran and back. The Eitan is classified by senior IAF officers as the best of its kind in the world today. The first Eitan will be welcomed into use this Sunday (Feb. 21), by a designated squadron that has been established to operate UAVs which underwent other test flights within the IAF.
The product of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), the Eitan is capable of operating in the air for more than 20 hours straight at a high altitude, something which has not been within the capability of the UAVs of the IAF until now. Additionally, the turbo jet engine is equipped with 1200 horse power, and is able to carry hundreds of kilograms of equipment, at an altitude of up to forty thousand feet.
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World AffairsPolitics & OpinionsBy halthouse1
4 weeks ago
So Says Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei
If he says it, it must then be correct right? This statement comes only one day after IAEA, the anemic nuclear watchdog arm of the United Nations that is certainly not wont to say much of anything substantive, said that Iran is working on a warhead capable of delivering a nuclear device.
This days after Iran resumed uranium enrichment, one key component in the making of a nuclear device. This months after a report from The Times of London that it had documents dated 2007 stating that Iran was close to completing work on a neutron initiator, the trigger for a nuclear bomb. And so it goes and goes and goes.
"We had said many times that our religious beliefs consider the weapons as symbol of destruction and deems them forbidden and prohibited. We have no belief in atomic bomb and will never pursue it."
Homeland Security, Job One
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