English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For December 29/2020
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

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Bible Quotations For today
An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 02/13-18/:”Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’ When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 28-29/2021
Elias Bejjani/Video-Text: Christmas Is A Holy Event For Openness Prayers, Contemplation, & Forgiveness
Blast Rocks Outskirts of Baalbek Town
Not So ‘Explosive’ after All, What Made Aoun Change His Mind?
Lebanon: Aoun Calls for Urgent National Dialogue
Reports: Berri Prohibited Amal Officials from Hitting Back at Aoun
Sectarianism is breaking Lebanon, says PM Mikati
Lebanon Foreign Ministry Condemns Attacks on Saudi Arabia
Miqati Signs Elections Decree, Says Won't 'Bargain' on Cabinet Sessions
Lebanese premier expects draft deal with IMF within weeks

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 28-29/2021
Syria Reports 2nd Israeli Attack on Vital Port in a Month
Alleged Israeli airstrike hits Latakia Port for second time in a month/This is the third alleged Israeli airstrike on Syria this month.
Syria Reports 2nd Israeli Attack on Latakia Port in a Month
Bennett Says Not Opposed to ‘Good’ Nuclear Deal With Iran
Israel Will Not Allow Iran to Become a ‘Nuclear Threshold Country’
Iran is dragging its feet, accelerating nuclear program: US State Department
UAE Issues First Civil Marriage License for Non-Muslim Couple
Israel’s defense minister meets with Palestinian president
Iraq's pro-Iran parties lose last lever after attempt to annul elections thrown out by court
France Orders Mosque Closed after 'Unacceptable' Preaching
Somali PM Receives Washington's Support for Quick, Credible Vote
Deepening Somalia Crisis Sparks International Alarm
Analysts Predict Hodeidah Port to Lose Immunity Like Sanaa Airport
Libyan Parliament Debates Next Move amid Election Chaos

Titles For The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 28-29/2021
Bennett: Israel can attack even with new Iran agreement/Lahav Harkov/Jerusalem Post/December 28/2021
Lapid warns that Israel will act alone against Iran if needed/The Iran talks resumed in Vienna on Monday./Tovah Lazaroff/Jerusalem Post/December 28/2021
Should the Late Bishop Tutu Get a Statue?/Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/December 28, 2021
The roots of America's Middle East decline/James J. Zogby/The Arab Weekly/December 28/2021
Collapse of the Libyan electoral process surprised very few/Oussama Romdhani/The Arab Weekly/December 28/2021

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on December 28-29/2021
Elias Bejjani/Video-Text: Christmas Is A Holy Event For Openness Prayers, Contemplation, & Forgiveness
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/81746/elias-bejjani-christmas-and-the-obligations-of-the-righteous-%d8%b0%d9%83%d8%b1%d9%89-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d9%8a%d9%84%d8%a7%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%ac%d9%8a%d8%af-%d9%88%d9%88%d8%a7%d8%ac%d8%a8/
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. (Luke 02/11)
Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men (Luke 02/14)
#Elias_Bejjani_Christmas_Wishes

Blast Rocks Outskirts of Baalbek Town
Naharnet/Tuesday, 28 December, 2021
A blast rocked the outskirts of the Baalbek town of al-Nabi Sheet in Lebanon’s Eastern Mountain Range on Tuesday. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said the explosion resulted from the detonation of leftover ammunition near the Lebanese-Syrian border. Al-Jadeed TV said the blast was caused by "the detonation of an old rocket left over from the 1982 (Israeli) invasion" of Lebanon. LBCI television for its part said the explosion went off at a Hizbullah post. Al-Arabiya TV had reported that the blast resulted from an "Israeli airstrike on depots belonging to Hizbullah." It later quoted unnamed sources as saying that "the sounds of blasts east of Baalbek resulted from the detonation of old explosives and not an Israeli airstrike."Sky News Arabia for its part said that the blast was caused by the detonation of "obsolete ammunition."

Not So ‘Explosive’ after All, What Made Aoun Change His Mind?
Naharnet/Tuesday, 28 December, 2021  
What softened an expected “explosive” presidential speech is a meeting that took place late Sunday between Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil and Hizbullah coordination official Wafiq Safa, sources said. Informed sources told the PSP's al-Anbaa news portal, in remarks published Tuesday, that the meeting, that lasted till Monday morning, made President Michel Aoun’s criticism less harsh. Aoun was reportedly going to “call things by their name,” but ended up criticizing Hizbullah and Amal without naming them. Aoun in his televised speech Monday used vague suggestions instead of naming the Shiite duo, “so as not to anger Hizbullah, his main ally in the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections,” the sources said. The sources went on to say that the Bayada talks “revived the (2006) Mar Mikhael understanding” between the FPM and Hizbullah. Meanwhile, Bassil’s scheduled press conference on January 2 will “take a different direction,” the sources said. “It will be very convenient for Hizbullah.”FPM MP Mario Aoun denied a link between the president’s words and the Safa-Bassil meeting. He said that “he heard from the President exactly what he had expected.”However, the lawmaker added that the meeting might have an impact on Bassil’s position regarding his disagreements with Hizbullah.

Lebanon: Aoun Calls for Urgent National Dialogue
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 28 December, 2021
Lebanese President Michel Aoun called on Monday for national dialogue on matters including a defense strategy which he said it was the state's responsibility alone to implement, Reuters reported. Warning the state was "falling apart", Aoun called for urgent dialogue on a financial recovery plan, administrative and financial decentralization, and the defense strategy. In a televised speech, Aoun also said he wanted the best ties with Gulf Arab states. Aoun said: "I wish for the best relations with the Arab states, specifically the Gulf states. I ask: what is the justification for straining ties with these states and interfering in matters that do not concern us." He also said it was imperative that the government convene after going more than two months without a meeting. Hezbollah and its ally Amal want the judge leading the probe into the 2020 Beirut port explosion removed and have refused to allow cabinet to meet until the issue is on the agenda. Prime Minister Najib Mikati has said the issue falls outside cabinet's powers.

Reports: Berri Prohibited Amal Officials from Hitting Back at Aoun
Naharnet/Tuesday, 28 December, 2021
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who was expecting a harsher attack from President Michel Aoun, had asked his officials not to hit back, Amal sources said. The sources told al-Akhbar newspaper, in remarks published Tuesday, that Berri “prohibited” all officials in his movement from “starting arguments” with the Free Patriotic Movement, in response to Aoun’s speech. “That’s unless Aoun criticized him in person,” the sources went on to say. In this case, Berri would respond himself, according to the sources. “The speech came up less than expected, and different from what has been promoted,” Amal sources stated. Meanwhile, the PSP's al-Anbaa news portal said that the Shiite duo’s circles refrained from commenting on Aoun’s speech, considering that “it is not convenient to respond” because Aoun neither named nor specially targeted the Shiite duo. “Aoun rather critized a corrupt system, in general.”The duo’s circles also said that the defense strategy and the administrative and financial decentralization that Aoun talked about “do not bother us at all,” adding that they will be “the first to participate in these meetings if they happen."

Sectarianism is breaking Lebanon, says PM Mikati
Najia Houssari/Arab News/December 29, 2021
BEIRUT: Officials in Lebanon continue to acquit themselves of all the crises that the Lebanese people are facing, as a result of the economic collapse, political disputes and Hezbollah’s influence on Lebanon’s external decisions. Following President Michel Aoun’s televised speech to the Lebanese people, where he indirectly criticized Hezbollah and its Shiite ally Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Najib Mikati held a press conference on Tuesday. He said that “interfering in the work of the Cabinet hindered the mission of his salvation government” and that “halting the Cabinet’s session since Oct. 12 constitutes a structural malfunction in the work of the government that cannot be ignored or overlooked.” Mikati stressed that he does not accept any settlement at the expense of institutions. “I do not barter the Cabinet’s meetings for any settlement that is not accepted by the Lebanese people and families of the victims of the Beirut port explosion, and the international community.”He added that he cannot hold anyone responsible for not holding the Cabinet’s sessions “as I am convinced of a disruption in the course of the Beirut port investigation; however, this cannot disrupt the government and stop the reforms.”Mikati stressed the need to “distance the judiciary from political disputes and maintain its independence to preserve one of the state’s most important pillars,” in response to Hezbollah and the Amal Movement’s insistence on the dismissal of Judge Tarek Bitar from the investigation of the Beirut port explosion.
He said: “When the state stopped acting by the law and became influenced by the sectarian political authority, it started breaking down and lacking the capability to carry out its missions as a body that is trusted to implement policies and strategies.”
Mikati called for a national dialogue to improve Lebanon’s ties with the Arab states, especially in the Gulf. He also urged Lebanese leaders not to interfere in their internal affairs, and called for a return to the “dissociation policy that preserves our home and protects its relations with the international community and the Arab world.”
He said that remediation should be done “within constitutional and legal frameworks,” and stressed the necessity to implement the constitution. He added that if his resignation is the solution, he will not hesitate to resign if he sees that it will contribute to further damage.
In regard to the president’s team demanding the discharge of Lebanon’s Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh, Mikati said: “We are at a war, and one does not change their officers during a war.”Political observers said that Aoun’s criticisms of Hezbollah did not bother the party and does not constitute a separation between Hezbollah and Aoun, along with his political team. They also regarded that Aoun’s calls for a national dialogue “will not yield any result under the domination of Hezbollah and its weapons.”Member of the Democratic Gathering bloc, MP Bilal Abdullah, described the speeches to the Lebanese people as “a waste of time.” However, he told Arab News that Mikati was more realistic in tackling the crises and how to address them. Abdullah noted that “Mikati emphasized that the internal dispute with Hezbollah could be discussed,” and that “there is a national consensus on Hezbollah as a party to face Israel, but Lebanon cannot tolerate bearing the burdens of what it (the party) is doing abroad.” Former MP Fadi Karam, the secretary of the Strong Republic bloc, described Aoun’s speech as “the announcement of failure.” He told Arab News that the speech included important headlines such as the defensive strategy, changing the system and demanding administrative and financial decentralization. Meanwhile, an explosion rocked the outskirts of Janta on Tuesday. The town is located in the east of Baalbak, near the mountainous Syrian border. The cause of the explosion was unclear, and according to unofficial, unconfirmed information that was not issued by Hezbollah: “What happened is either an Israeli strike, a disassembly of a rocket or detonation of old ammunition in one of the military outposts affiliated with Hezbollah in the area.”

Lebanon Foreign Ministry Condemns Attacks on Saudi Arabia
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 28 December, 2021
Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry on Monday condemned the deadly attack on Saudi Arabia launched by the Iran-backed Houthis last week. The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned in a statement on Monday the terrorist attack on Saudi Arabua's Jazan region, reaffirming the Lebanese government and people's unwavering support for Saudi Arabia in the face of all threats to its security, stability, and citizens' safety. It also expressed its condolences to the victims' families, and wished swift recovery to the injured. Lebanese MP Nehme Tohme called on the Lebanese authorities to take a firm stance in this regard, denouncing the attacks against civil and vital establishments in the Kingdom, describing them as a violation of human rights and international charters.Tohme expressed solidarity with the Kingdom that has always stood beside Lebanon in wars and hardships.

Miqati Signs Elections Decree, Says Won't 'Bargain' on Cabinet Sessions
Naharnet/Tuesday, 28 December, 2021
Prime Minister Najib Miqati said Tuesday that he has signed a decree calling for parliamentary elections to be held in May and has referred it to President Michel Aoun. "I believe that the President will sign it too," Miqati added, at a press conference. The Prime Minister said that the elections can rectify the political path, stressing that "we shouldn't waste this opportunity.""We are responsible for holding the elections on time," he stated. On another note, Miqati refused to endorse "any settlement at the expense of institutions." He said he won't "bargain Cabinet meetings' resumption for any settlement that is unacceptable for the Lebanese, the families of the port victims and the world." "I'm the one seeking the resumption of Cabinet sessions the most," Miqati said, adding that he wouldn't hesitate to resign, if his resignation is the solution. The only solution, according to the Prime Minister, is "to hold on to an independent judiciary and to international legitimacy," instead of sectarianism. Concerning the Lebanon-Gulf crisis, Miqati said that Lebanon should strengthen its relations with the Gulf and "we should not interfere in matters that do not concern us."

Lebanese premier expects draft deal with IMF within weeks
BEIRUT (AP)/December 28/2021
 Lebanon’s prime minister said Tuesday that his government’s talks with the International Monetary Fund are inching closer to a “final formula” for a draft on an agreement before the end of February. Najib Mikati said the Cabinet — which has not met since Oct. 12 — was doing “its homework” ahead of talks with the IMF in mid-January. An IMF delegation will visit Lebanon again in late January or early February to lay out “the final formula for the agreement with them and then we will announce to the Lebanese where we stand,” Mikati said. Lebanon is in the throes of an economic crisis described as one of the worst in the world in the last 150 years. International financial institutions call it a deliberate depression, blaming Lebanon’s political elite, in power for decades, of mismanaging the country’s resources. Speaking at a press conference in Beirut on Monday, Mikati said that Lebanon’s central bank Gov. Riad Salameh, who is being investigated in at least four countries including Switzerland and France for potential money laundering and embezzlement, would stay in office for the time being.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on December 28-29/2021
Syria Reports 2nd Israeli Attack on Vital Port in a Month
Agence France Presse/December 28/2021
An Israeli air strike hit Syria's Latakia port before dawn on Tuesday, sparking a fire that lit up the Mediterranean seafront in the second such attack on the key cargo hub this month, Syrian state media reported.
Since the outbreak of Syria's civil war in 2011, Israel has routinely carried out air strikes on its strife-torn neighbor, mostly targeting Syrian government troops as well as allied Iran-backed forces and Hizbullah fighters. But it is only the second time it has hit the port of Latakia, in the heartland of President Bashar al-Assad's minority Alawite community. "At around 3:21 am, the Israeli enemy carried out an aerial aggression with several missiles from the direction of the Mediterranean... targeting the container yard in Latakia port," Syrian state news agency SANA cited a military source as saying. The strike caused "significant material damage" and led to fires, it added. Asked about the strike, an Israeli army spokesman said: "We don't comment on reports in foreign media."Pictures released by SANA showed firefighters training hoses on stacks of blazing containers that lit up the night sky. The news agency said the containers were carrying "engine oil and spare parts for cars and other vehicles."But Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the cargo was "arms and munitions," which had detonated in "powerful explosions that were felt across the city of Latakia and its suburbs."It said it was unclear whether the arms were from Iran or some other supplier. It is the second time this month the container yard at Latakia port has come under Israeli attack.
Shadow war -
So far this year, Israel has carried out attacks on about 30 targets in Syria, killing 130 people including five civilians and 125 loyalist fighters, says the Observatory. On December 7, it carried out a strike targeting an Iranian arms shipment, without causing any casualties, the war monitor reported at the time. It was its first strike on the port since the start of the civil war, it said. While Israel rarely comments on individual strikes it carries out on its northern neighbor, it has confirmed mounting hundreds since 2011. According to a report by the Israeli army, it hit around 50 targets in Syria in 2020. In the deadliest operation since the strikes began, Israel killed 57 government troops and allied fighters in eastern Syria in January this year. The Israeli military has defended the strikes as a bid to prevent its arch-foe Iran from gaining a foothold on its doorstep. Israel's head of military intelligence, Major General Aharon Haliva, has accused Iran of "continuing to promote subversion and terror" in the Middle East. In a shadow war, Israel has targeted suspected Iranian military facilities in Syria and mounted a sabotage campaign against Iran's nuclear program. Iran has been a key supporter of the Syrian government in the decade-old conflict. It finances, arms and commands a number of Syrian and foreign militia groups fighting alongside the regular armed forces, chief among them Lebanon's powerful Hizbullah group. The conflict in Syria has killed nearly 500,000 people since it started in 2011 with the brutal repression of peaceful demonstrations.

Alleged Israeli airstrike hits Latakia Port for second time in a month/This is the third alleged Israeli airstrike on Syria this month.
Tzvi Joffer/Jerusalem Post/December 28/2021
An alleged Israeli airstrike targeted the commercial port in Latakia in northwestern Syria for the second time in a month early Tuesday morning, according to Syrian state news agency SANA. This is the second alleged Israeli airstrike on the Latakia Port this month and the third alleged Israeli airstrike on Syria, in general, this month. A Syrian military source told SANA that the strike was carried out from over the Mediterranean Sea and targeted the port's container yard, sparking large fires and causing massive damage. The fire was only brought under control by firefighters about seven hours later.
Videos reportedly from the scene showed large explosions that could be seen from a distance lighting up the night sky. According to SANA, a nearby hospital and a number of other buildings and shops were also damaged due to the airstrike. Syria's Alikhbariya TV news reported the strikes were much larger than those that hit the port earlier this month, with explosions heard in Tartus, over 44 miles (70 km.) from Latakia. The report added that while ambulances were present at the scene, there was no information on any casualties. The Iranian ship SHIBA was docked at the Latakia port last week before leaving on Saturday. It is unclear if containers unloaded by the ship at the port were the targets of the Israeli airstrike on Tuesday morning. According to independent tracking sites, in late November an Iranian vessel called DAISY docked at Latakia just days before the strike on the port on December 7. The Latakia area is a stronghold for Russian forces in Syria, with the Russian Khmeimim Air Base located near the major port city. In 2018, fourteen Russian soldiers were killed when a Russian military aircraft was downed by a Syrian air defense missile during alleged Israeli airstrikes near Latakia. Moscow expressed outrage at Israel at the time, largely blaming it for the incident. Two weeks ago, a Syrian soldier was killed in another alleged Israeli airstrike targeting sites in southern Syria. Independent reports and satellite imagery indicated that the airstrike two weeks ago targeted a runway at the Damascus International Airport and an air defense radar station in southern Syria.

Syria Reports 2nd Israeli Attack on Latakia Port in a Month
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 28 December, 2021
Israeli missiles fired from the Mediterranean struck the Syrian port of Latakia early Tuesday, igniting a fire in the container terminal, Syrian state media reported, in the second such attack on the vital facility this month. It is also a rare targeting of the port handling most imports for Syria, which has been ravaged by a decade-old civil war and western-imposed sanctions. The state news agency SANA quoted a military official as saying that Israeli missiles fired from the west of Latakia hit the port's container terminal, igniting fires that caused major damage. The unidentified official said firefighters were battling the flames for nearly an hour after the attack. Syria's state-run Al-Ikhbariyah TV ran footage showing flames and smoke rising from the terminal. It reported damage to residential buildings, a hospital, shops and some tourist sites near the port. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the missile attacks, which activated Syrian air defenses, according to SANA. The Associated Press said a similar attack was reported on Dec. 7, when Israeli warplanes targeted the container terminal, causing fires and explosions. An Al-Ikhbariyah TV reporter in the area noted that Tuesday's attack appeared to have been larger and the explosions could be heard in Tartus, another coastal city more than 80 kilometers (nearly 50 miles) away. The reporter said ambulances were rushed to the scene but it remained unclear if there were any casualties. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitoring group, said at the time that the Dec. 7 airstrike hit arms shipments for Iran-backed fighters. There was no comment from the Israeli military, which has conducted hundreds of airstrikes on targets inside government-controlled parts of Syria during its 10-year civil war, but rarely acknowledges or discusses such operations. Some past strikes have targeted the main airport in the Syrian capital, Damascus. Israel has acknowledged that it targets bases of Iran-allied militias, such as Lebanon´s militant Hezbollah group, which has fighters in Syria. It says it attacks arms shipments believed to be bound for the militias.

Bennett Says Not Opposed to ‘Good’ Nuclear Deal With Iran
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 28 December, 2021
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Tuesday he is not opposed to a "good" nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, but voiced skepticism that such an outcome would emerge from the current negotiations. Bennett spoke a day after negotiators from Iran and five world powers resumed talks in Vienna on restoring Tehran´s tattered 2015 nuclear deal. He reiterated that Israel was not bound by any accord, leaving it room to maneuver militarily. "At the end of the day, of course there can be a good deal," Bennett told Israeli Army Radio, according to The Associated Press. "Is that, at the moment, under the current dynamic, expected to happen? No, because a much harder stance is needed." Bennett also denied claims by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he had agreed to a policy of "no surprises" with Washington, meaning that it would be frank about its military intentions regarding Iran with its prime ally and thus be potentially hobbled. "Israel will always maintain its right to act and will defend itself by itself," he said. Bennett has urged negotiators to tow a firmer line against Iran. Tehran´s landmark 2015 accord granted Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. But in 2018, then-President Donald Trump withdrew America from the deal and imposed sweeping sanctions on Iran. The other signatories have struggled to keep the agreement alive. The latest round of talks in Vienna, the eighth, opened Monday, 10 days after negotiations were adjourned for the Iranian negotiator to return home for consultations. The previous round, the first after a more than five-month gap caused by the arrival of a new hard-line government in Iran, was marked by tensions over new Iranian demands. Israel considers Iran to be its greatest enemy and it strongly opposed the 2015 deal. It says it wants an improved deal that places tighter restrictions on Iran´s nuclear program and addresses Iran´s long-range missile program and its support for hostile proxies along Israel´s borders. Israel also says that the negotiations must be accompanied by a "credible" military threat to ensure that Iran does not delay indefinitely.

Israel Will Not Allow Iran to Become a ‘Nuclear Threshold Country’
Tel Aviv - Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 28 December, 2021
Israel's Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said on Monday that “Israel will not allow Iran to become a nuclear threshold country."Lapid said Israel presented its allies with "intelligence that proves Iran is deceiving the world in a completely systematic way." "All Iran cares about is that sanctions are lifted, and billions of dollars are poured into its nuclear program, Hezbollah, Syria, Iraq, the terrorist network they have deployed around the world," Lapid told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, according to a press release. “Stopping Iran’s nuclear program is the primary challenge for Israeli foreign and security policy,” he stressed. “In recent months, we’ve engaged in an intensive dialogue with all the countries involved in these negotiations. Naturally, primarily with the United States, but not only. I’ve traveled to Moscow, Paris, London, and of course, Washington. We have told everyone clearly: Israel will not let Iran become a nuclear threshold state. Certainly, we prefer to act through international cooperation, but if necessary – we will defend ourselves, by ourselves,” he underscored. Lapid warned that Israel is prepared to act alone against Iran if needed as nuclear talks resume. "A good agreement is good. We oppose an agreement that does not allow for real oversight... of the Iranian nuclear program." Vice Admiral Eliezer Marom said in this regard that Israel “has the ability to attack Iran, and will soon have no other choice because the proverbial sword is almost on its neck. It appears this moment is fast approaching.”
In an opinion piece published in Israel Hayom newspaper, Marom wrote “We cannot rely on American military intervention, which most likely will not come.” He added that the Israeli Army “must receive a clear directive from the Israeli government, which defines the objective: Significant and devastating damage to Iran's nuclear program; and the target date: fall of 2022.” Marom continued that despite the difficulties, it seems the time has come for the Israeli Army “to prepare a strike plan in conjunction with the country's intelligence services.” He noted that the army “is capable of hitting Iran's nuclear program. The plan should be diverse, include elements that will catch the Iranians off guard, and inflict heavy damage on their nuclear facilities and air defenses.”

Iran is dragging its feet, accelerating nuclear program: US State Department
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/Tuesday, 28 December, 2021
“The last couple rounds also started with new nuclear provocations and then were characterized by, in some cases, vague, unrealistic, unconstructive positions on the part of Iran,” State Department Spokesman Ned Price said. Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/28 December ,2021 Despite optimistic takes from Russia and Iran over the latest round of nuclear talks in Vienna, the US said Tuesday that it was still too early to describe progress and condemned Tehran for continuing to “drag its feet.”“The last couple rounds also started with new nuclear provocations and then were characterized by, in some cases, vague, unrealistic, unconstructive positions on the part of Iran,” State Department Spokesman Ned Price told reporters during a phone briefing. Adding that there had been “some progress” in recent weeks, he said the fundamental solution remained unchanged. “Iran has, at best, been dragging its feet in the talks while accelerating its nuclear escalation. We’ve been very clear that that won’t work. Iran needs exercise restraint in its nuclear program and add real urgency in Vienna,” Price said. The eighth round of indirect talks between Washington and Tehran started on Monday, with Rob Malley leading the US delegation. Earlier Tuesday, Russia and Iran said there had been some progress and positivity during the latest round. But Price said it was still too early to describe the talks. The US still believes that the best way to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is by returning the 2015 deal, Price said. If Iran does not demonstrate seriousness in negotiating a return to compliance with the now-defunct deal, Price said the US was prepared to pursue alternatives with its regional partners and allies.

UAE Issues First Civil Marriage License for Non-Muslim Couple
Agence France Presse/Tuesday, 28 December, 2021
The UAE has issued its first civil marriage license for a non-Muslim couple, state media reported, as the Gulf country seeks to keep its edge over regional competitors. The United Arab Emirates -- where foreigners make up 90 percent of the approximately 10-million population -- has been amending its laws to present itself as a modernizing force in a largely conservative region.  The official WAM news agency said a Canadian couple were the first to marry under a new law on the personal status of non-Muslims in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi. The move "contributes to the consolidation of Abu Dhabi's position as a world leading destination for skills and expertise from around the world," WAM said. Civil marriage in the Middle East, the birthplace of Islam, Christianity and Judaism, is uncommon and usually conducted under a religious authority of one of the three monotheistic beliefs. Civil marriages are allowed in Tunisia and Algeria. While some countries in the region allow civil unions based on certain conditions, some only recognize civil marriages conducted abroad and others not at all. Late last year, the UAE revamped an array of laws in a social liberalization drive designed to burnish its progressive brand.
These included lifting a ban on unmarried couples living together, loosening restrictions on alcohol and offering long-term residencies. Earlier this month, the UAE announced it will move to a Western-style Saturday-Sunday weekend. Starting on January 1, 2022, the Emirates will become the only Gulf country not to observe weekends from Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, to Saturday. Competition is hoting up as neighboring Saudi Arabia, seeking to diversify its oil-reliant economy, aims to turn its capital Riyadh into an international hub. Saudi Arabia has lifted a ban on women drivers and eased its strict Islamic dress code. Last year, Riyadh said it would not sign contracts with companies that have their regional headquarters outside the kingdom.

Israel’s defense minister meets with Palestinian president
The Associated Press/29 December ,2021
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas paid a rare visit to Israel on Tuesday for talks with Israel's defense minister, the latest in a series of meetings by top Israeli officials with the Palestinian leader.Israel’s new prime minister, Naftali Bennett, opposes Palestinian independence and has ruled out formal peace talks. But he has said he wants to reduce frictions with the Palestinian Authority and improve living conditions in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Despite these pledges, the area has experienced an increase in violence in recent weeks, with a series of Palestinian attacks on Israelis in the West Bank and east Jerusalem as well as a surge in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians. A senior Palestinian official said the late-night meeting took place at Defense Minister Benny Gantz's home in central Israel. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a closed meeting, said it was the first time Abbas has met with an Israeli official in Israel since 2010. Gantz said he was committed to advancing confidence-building measures, as discussed in an earlier meeting with Abbas, as well as deepening security coordination. Hussein Al Sheikh, a top aide to Abbas, said the meeting “dealt with the importance of creating a political horizon,” as well as “the tense field conditions due to the practices of the settlers.” He said security, economic and humanitarian issues were also discussed. Abbas, whose government administers autonomous areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, seeks an independent state that includes all of the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Israel captured all three areas in 1967, though it withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Two years later, Hamas militants seized the territory from Abbas' forces, leaving the Palestinians divided between two rival governments.
There have been no substantive peace talks between the sides in over a decade.

Iraq's pro-Iran parties lose last lever after attempt to annul elections thrown out by court
The Arab Weekly/December 28/2021
The Iraqi Federal Supreme Court thwarted the efforts of pro-Iran parties to annul the October election results when it rejected their lawsuit submitted and instead approved the results announced by the High Electoral Commission. Analysts said the move removed the last lever wielded by the pro-Iranian parties to prevent the convening of the new parliament and block the formation of a government outside their control, as was previously the case. The ratification follows a delay of more than two months since the October 10 legislative polls won by Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Sadr's movement won more than a fifth of the seats,73 out of the assembly's total 329, well ahead of the 17 seats of the Fatah (Conquest) Alliance, the political arm of the pro-Iran Hashed Al-Shaabi Popular Mobilisation Forces-PMF). That outcome was sharply down from the Alliance's 48 seats in the outgoing assembly. Hashed leaders rejected the result as a "fraud". They took their case to court seeking to have the results annulled because of "serious violations", their lawyer said earlier in December when the hearing began. Iraqi political sources said that the parties of the Coordination Framework Alliance (which includes the pro-Iran Shia parties) are expected to give the impression of acquiescing to the decision of the Federal Supreme Court. However, they will continue their pressures from behind the scenes in order to obtain concessions from the Sadrist bloc which now takes on the formation of the government.
Political sources in Baghdad believe the withdrawal of the protesters who gathered before the announcement of the court's decision is nothing but a ploy concealing the pro-Iran parties' attempt to look for channels to negotiate a deal with the Sadrist movement and pressure it to accept members of the Coordination Framework Alliance as a key government partner rather than relying on support from small and unstable parties. These sources indicated that the greatest pressures on Muqtada al-Sadr are likely to be applied by Iran.
The approval of the results of the October elections opens the way for the new parliament to hold its first session in the next two weeks, to elect a speaker and a president of the republic, before a prime minister is chosen in a process that depends on political negotiations between the different forces.
The Coordination Framework had anticipated the court’s decision by presenting a nine-point alternative initiative, which includes a call to “address the parliamentary imbalance resulting from the flawed election results" by making sure that laws and legislations are not enacted with the exclusion of other parties." The initiative also said the top positions of the three branches of government "should be subject to the agreement of the political forces and take into account the prevailing constitutional customs.” This is a call for consensus-based solutions that guarantee acceptable positions for the coordination framework despite its loss in the elections. Sadr has repeatedly said he intends to name a prime minister from his bloc and to form a majority government.
He has insisted the new government includes members of political parties and blocs which scored highly in the October polls.
The Hashed alliance, which helped defeat the Islamic State (ISIS) extremist group but has since acted more like an Iran proxy than part of the Iraqi military, holds opposing views. It has been said that the choice of a new prime minister should be made through "compromise". Backed by Iran and supported by 160,000 fighters, who are now nominally integrated into the regular armed forces of Iraq, the alliance remains a potentially disruptive force to be reckoned with, despite its losses in the October vote. But analysts do not rule out, however, the emergence of differences within the Shia Coordination Framework, which includes the Al-Fatah Alliance and other Shia political forces, some of whom may decide to form an alliance with Sadr. Judge Jassem Mohamed Aboud of the Federal Supreme Court on Monday said the tribunal "rejects the request of the plaintiffs ... not to ratify the final results of the election". He declared the judgment "binding on all authorities". Aboud called on the next parliament to amend Iraq's electoral law and opt for a manual count of ballots in order to protect the credibility and transparency of future elections. Later the court media officer announced that the body "has ratified the results of the legislative elections". The Hashed launched protests over the preliminary election results. Political tensions soared and in November at least one protester was killed and more than 100 injured when police clashed with demonstrators. The Fatah Alliance alleged the electronic voting system had failed to recognise the fingerprint identification of many voters. On Monday, Fatah Alliance leader Hadi al-Ameri reiterated "the profound conviction that the electoral process was tainted by fraud and manipulations." He said he would accept the court's verdict but accused it of coming under "heavy pressure."Iraqi analyst Ihsan al-Shamari said that was not the case. "The most important thing about the verdict is that the judiciary did not bow to pressure from the losing parties," he said. The prime minister tasked with forming a cabinet line-up will be, according to tradition, chosen by the largest parliamentary coalition.

France Orders Mosque Closed after 'Unacceptable' Preaching
Agence France Presse/Tuesday, 28 December, 2021
France has ordered the closure of a mosque in the north of the country because of the radical nature of its imam's preaching, regional authorities told AFP on Tuesday. The mosque in Beauvais, a town of 50,000 people some 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of Paris, will remain shut for six months, according to the prefecture of the Oise region where Beauvais is located. It said the sermons there incite hatred, violence and "defend jihad". The move on the mosque, which has a congregation of about 400, comes two weeks after Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said he had triggered the procedure to close the site because the imam there "is targeting Christians, homosexuals and Jews" in his sermons. This, the minister said, was "unacceptable". Local authorities were legally bound to observe a 10-day period of information-gathering before taking action, but told AFP on Tuesday that the mosque would now be shut within two days.
Local daily Courrier Picard reported this month that the mosque's imam was a recent convert to Islam. A lawyer for the association managing the mosque told AFP that it had filed for an injunction to overturn the ban. The lawyer, Samim Bolaky, said there would be a court hearing on the appeal within 48 hours. The authorities said the imam, who the association claims had preached only occasionally and had now been suspended, was in fact a regular presence at the mosque, according to the official document citing the reasons for the closure seen by AFP. It said the imam had called the jihad, a term for war against the enemies of Islam, a "duty", and had glorified its fighters as "heroes" who protected Islam against Western influence. He had also labelled non-Muslims as "enemies", it said. "The terrorist threat remains at a very high level" and the closure had "the aim of forestalling acts of terrorism being committed", the document said. The French government announced earlier this year that it would step up checks of places of worship and associations suspected of spreading radical Islamic propaganda. The crackdown came after the October 2020 murder of teacher Samuel Paty who was targeted following an online campaign against him for having shown controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published by the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo during a civics class. The interior ministry said this month that around 100 mosques and Muslim prayer halls out of France's total number of more than 2,600 have been investigated over recent months because of suspicion that they were spreading "separatist" ideology. Six sites were being probed with a view to closing them down on the basis of French laws against extremism and Islamist separatism, it said.

Somali PM Receives Washington's Support for Quick, Credible Vote
Asharq Al-Awsat/Tuesday, 28 December, 2021
The United States has said an attempt to suspend Somalia's Prime Minister Mohammed Hussein Roble was alarming and that it supported his efforts for quick and credible elections. The US State Department African Affairs Bureau said in a tweet late on Monday that it was also prepared to act against those obstructing Somalia's path to peace. On Monday, President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed said he had suspended Roble's powers for suspected corruption, a move the prime minister described as a coup attempt, escalating a power struggle between the two leaders, Reuters reported. "The attempted suspension of ... Roble is alarming and we support his efforts for rapid and credible elections," the bureau said. "All parties must desist from escalatory actions and statements." President Mohamed accused Roble of stealing land owned by the Somali National Army (SNA) and of interfering with a defense ministry investigation. In response, Roble said the action was unconstitutional and aimed at derailing an ongoing election for lawmakers. He also ordered the security forces to start taking orders from him, instead of the president. On Sunday, Mohamed and Roble each accused the other of holding up the parliamentary elections, which began Nov. 1 and were supposed to be completed by Dec. 24, but as of Saturday only 24 of 275 representatives had been elected. The months-long dispute is widely seen as distracting the government of the Horn of Africa country from fighting an insurgency against al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group. It will also raise concerns about the possibility of renewed clashes between factions in the security forces allied to each side.

Deepening Somalia Crisis Sparks International Alarm
Agence France Presse/Tuesday, 28 December, 2021
Somalia's neighbors and Western countries have expressed alarm over an intensifying row between the country's president and prime minister as heavily armed factions patrolled parts of the capital Mogadishu on Tuesday, raising fears that the political crisis could erupt into violence. Soldiers loyal to the prime minister took up positions near the presidential palace a day after President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, better known as Farmajo, announced the suspension of Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, who accused him of an "attempted coup". Relations between the pair have long been frosty, but the latest developments have sparked concerns for Somalia's stability as the country struggles to hold long-delayed elections and fight a jihadist insurgency. On Tuesday, pro-Roble troops paraded the streets, fuelling fear among Mogadishu residents weary of armed confrontations. "They are not far away from the main security checkpoints of the presidential palace, they are armed with heavy machine guns and RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades)," Saido Mumin, a resident, told AFP. Another local, Abdukadir Ahmed, said that although the situation appeared to be calm, he was "really worried" about the potential for violence. International observers have urged both sides to resolve the escalating dispute while some Somali traditional elders and politicians have also sought to calm tempers. "Some politicians and elders (have) started going between the two sides to de-escalate the situation, but these efforts are yet to... bring about a formal resolution", a source in the office of the president told AFP on condition of anonymity. A coalition of opposition presidential candidates on Tuesday urged Farmajo to vacate his office immediately and called for "an urgent investigation and legal charges against Farmajo and anyone who helped him in staging the coup". "This failed coup was an attempt to destroy the constitutional agencies of the country", the coalition said in a statement.
U.S. warning
The Africa Bureau of the U.S. State Department warned Monday that Washington was "prepared to act against those who obstruct Somalia's path to peace." "The attempted suspension of @MohamedHRoble is alarming & we support his efforts for rapid & credible elections. All parties must desist from escalatory actions & statements," it said on Twitter. Farmajo has accused Roble of interfering with a probe into a land-grabbing case and withdrawn his mandate to organize elections. Roble in turn has accused Farmajo of attempting to sabotage the vote. International observers including the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the U.S., the European Union, and the United Nations, released a statement late Monday, urging the political leadership "to put the country's interests first". "International partners have repeatedly expressed growing concern over procedural irregularities and delays in the Somali electoral process," the statement said.
Elections derailed
In April, Farmajo sought to extend his term without holding fresh elections, triggering deadly gun battles in Mogadishu. Roble then brokered a new timetable to a vote, but in the months that followed, the pair's bitter rivalry derailed the polls again. They only agreed to bury the hatchet in October, and issued a unified call for the glacial election process to accelerate. Somalia's elections follow a complex indirect model. Nearly 30,000 clan delegates are assigned to choose 275 MPs for the lower house while five state legislatures elect senators for the upper house. Both houses of parliament then vote for the next president. Elections for the upper house have concluded and voting for the lower house began in early November. But the appointment of a president still appears to be a long way off. Analysts say the election impasse has distracted from larger problems, most notably the Al-Shabaab insurgency.
The Al-Qaida allies were driven out of Mogadishu a decade ago but retain control of swathes of countryside and continue to stage deadly attacks in the capital and elsewhere.

Analysts Predict Hodeidah Port to Lose Immunity Like Sanaa Airport
Riyadh - Abdulhadi Habtor/Asharq Al-Awsat/December, 28/2021
Military analysts believe that the evidence presented by the Saudi-led Arab Coalition on the use of the Red Sea port of Hodeidah in Yemen for the smuggling of weapons has left the seaport at risk of losing its civilian immunity the way the Sanaa airport did. The immunity of Hodeidah port will be lifted after the Arab Coalition clearly demonstrated its use in arms smuggling and the transfer of military experts of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Lebanon’s terrorist Hezbollah group, revealed Brigadier General Fawaz Kasseb. On Sunday, the Arab Coalition released video footage of a Hezbollah member confirming that the sea was the only gateway for support to the Houthis “If we lose the sea, neither support nor fighters will reach Yemen,” said the Hezbollah member in the video. “The immunity of Sanaa airport, which was used militarily, was lifted, and this may be repeated with the port of Hodeidah, which is one of the areas through which Houthi receives weapons and Iranian and Hezbollah terrorist elements,” Brig.Gen. Kasseb told Asharq Al-Awsat. “The port of Hodeidah will lose its immunity after displaying all intelligence information and making the United Nations face the present fait accompli,” he added, noting that the international body was unfortunately was carrying out a policy of long-term containment of the Houthis, a matter that led to humanitarian disasters,” he added. Kasseb predicted that the coming period would witness joint naval operations between the Yemeni National Army, with the support of the Arab Coalition, to liberate the port of Hodeidah. This would completely cut off any smuggling through the port. “Hodeidah is the anchor to the smuggling of Iranian missiles and drones,” confirmed Brig. Gen. Yahya Abu Hatem. “It is a site for reassembling smuggled weapons, and the launching of missiles and drones towards civilian targets in Yemen and Saudi lands,” he added in a tweet.

Libyan Parliament Debates Next Move amid Election Chaos
Asharq Al-Awsat/December, 28/2021
Libya's eastern-based parliament met on Monday to discuss what to do about a presidential election that was postponed last week putting the fate of the interim government and a wider peace process in doubt. The vote fell apart after failure among rival factions, political entities and candidates to agree on basic electoral rules including who should be eligible to run and how disputes should be settled. The electoral commission initially disqualified 25 of the 98 candidates who had registered but was not able to agree on a final list with the judiciary and parliament amid a messy appeals process.
Parliament spokesman Abdullah Belihaq said the chamber would discuss the electoral process and ways to support it. An elections committee set up by parliament recommended the establishment of a new government before any new polling date, according to a report published on Twitter by the parliamentary spokesman. It did not set a new election date but urged the legislature to set out a new roadmap towards elections. UN special adviser Stephanie Williams said in a tweet that Libyans hoped parliament would address questions over electoral legislation and judicial appeals. The electoral commission last week proposed a new Jan. 24 election date but parliament may consider a longer delay to tackle some of the problems that prevented Friday's vote taking place, legislators say.
Parliament is also soon expected to discuss the fate of the interim Government of National Unity (GNU) and Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, whose presidential candidacy was one of the major areas of disagreement in the election process. Some argue that Dbeibah should not have been allowed to run for president after promising when he took office that he would not do so, and that it is unfair for him to take part in the election while still serving as prime minister. Western powers last week said they considered the GNU valid until a handover of power to a new government after a prompt election, but they did not comment specifically on Dbeibah's role as premier. Dbeibah and the GNU were installed in March through a UN-backed roadmap, and they were approved by parliament in a special session that drew together rival factions inside the chamber for the first time in years. Parliament was elected in 2014 in a poll that triggered Libya's split between warring eastern and western factions, and the main group of legislators sided with the east during the war.

The Latest The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on December 28-29/2021
Bennett: Israel can attack even with new Iran agreement
Lahav Harkov/Jerusalem Post/December 28/2021
Israel's gov’t has a great relationship with Biden administration, even if there are disputes; recent Palestinian terror attacks are not yet a major wave, PM says. Israel will be able to act independently even if world powers reach an agreement with Iran, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Tuesday, a day after negotiations for Tehran and Washington to return to the 2015 nuclear deal resumed in Vienna. Furthermore, former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that Israel has committed to “no surprises” for the US and won’t be able to act against Iran is a “total lie,” Bennett said.
“Israel won’t be a side in an agreement and will always keep its right to act and defend itself on its own,” Bennett told Army Radio. At the same time, when asked about comments by the IDF top brass – such as incoming Air Force commander Maj.-Gen. Tomer Bar, who said last week that Israel could attack and severely damage Iran’s nuclear sites – the prime minister referenced Ethics of the Fathers: “I prefer to take a line of ‘say a little and do a lot.’ I don’t think we need to wake up every day and threaten left and right. It is more important to act.”
The prime minister made his comments amid the eighth round of negotiations between world powers and Iran. EU mediator Enrique Mora said on Monday that the talks will be completed in a matter of weeks, while Tehran only talked about lifting US sanctions without limiting its nuclear program, which has gone far beyond activities with credible civilian use. Bennett expressed skepticism that the negotiations could bring the desired result.
“We want a good deal,” he said. “Is this expected to happen in the current parameters? No. Iran is in the talks with very weak cards, but unfortunately, the world is acting like Iran is in a position of power.”
Bennett pointed to major protests in Isfahan, where the Iranian regime has been unable to provide enough water, as well as in other places. “They are a rotten, very extreme regime,” he said. “They are corrupt and not standing on stable legs.”
The prime minister said Israel must prevent Iran from ever reaching nuclear breakout. “We built a very robust strategy to face the Iranian danger,” Bennett told Kan Bet. “Not only the nuclear one but the fact that Iran surrounded Israel for 30 years with a kind of ring of rockets.”
The prime minister pointed out that in the past decade, Iran has armed Hezbollah with over 100,000 rockets.
“We need to roll this business back,” Bennett said.
“We don’t always agree with US policy and sometimes there are disputes,” Bennett admitted, in the context of Iran. That being said, Bennett noted that his government has helped make Israel no longer a partisan issue in the US, garnering support from Democrats and Republicans.
“They are a rotten, very extreme regime,” he said. “They are corrupt and not standing on stable legs.” The prime minister said Israel must prevent Iran from ever reaching nuclear breakout. “We built a very robust strategy to face the Iranian danger,” Bennett told Kan Bet. “Not only the nuclear one but the fact that Iran surrounded Israel for 30 years with a kind of ring of rockets.” The prime minister pointed out that in the past decade, Iran has armed Hezbollah with over 100,000 rockets.
“We need to roll this business back,” Bennett said. “We don’t always agree with US policy and sometimes there are disputes,” Bennett admitted, in the context of Iran.
That being said, Bennett noted that his government has helped make Israel no longer a partisan issue in the US, garnering support from Democrats and Republicans. The prime minister reiterated comments he had made in the Knesset the night before that he opposes the US opening a consulate in Jerusalem to serve the Palestinians. “I clarified very sharply, but not in a confrontational way, that Israel has a capital, it’s called Jerusalem, it’s only the capital of the State of Israel [and] it’s not the capital of another country,” he said. “Therefore, there is no place for a Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem.”
Asked if the eight terror attacks in less than two months constitutes a wave of terror, Bennett told Army Radio that he sees “a trend of terror,” but that it is still small and not comparable to the “stabbing intifada” of 2015.
“We are using the tools we developed in the Shin Bet [Israel Security Agency] and the IDF to stop this thing while it’s early and not to let it raise its head,” he said. “I follow closely with the security forces and I’m on it.”
Bennett slammed the Palestinian Authority for “playing a double game. On the one hand, in these very days, they are sending money to terrorists and families of terrorists. It is unacceptable that to this day there is a price list for murderers – if you murder more, you get more money.”
At the same time, Israel cooperates with the PA’s security forces, the prime minister admitted. “The key to ensuring Israel’s existence is to keep security in the hands of Israel and the IDF. We don’t outsource our security – and whoever did this, failed.” Bennett commented on the fate of Homesh, the outpost where 25-year-old Yehuda Dimentman, killed in a Palestinian terrorist attack last week, studied in yeshiva. Israeli authorities demolished two structures there last week but left the yeshiva standing in the settlement, which was demolished in 2006 as part of Israel’s withdrawal from northern Samaria but has had a near-constant presence of Israelis in violation of the Disengagement Law. “The yeshiva was evacuated a number of times over the years,” Bennett told Kan Bet. “I think the last time was in the Netanyahu-Smotrich government when I was in the opposition… Now, the yeshiva has not been evacuated.”
Bennett said he is in talks with Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Homesh, and that the most important thing to do is to bring calm.

Lapid warns that Israel will act alone against Iran if needed/The Iran talks resumed in Vienna on Monday.
Tovah Lazaroff/Jerusalem Post/December 28/2021
Israel is prepared to act alone against Iran if needed, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid warned hours before the eighth round of talks to revive the 2015 Iran deal began in Vienna on Monday evening.
“Of course, we prefer to act in international cooperation, but if necessary, we will act alone,” Lapid told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. “We will defend ourselves by ourselves,” he emphasized.
“We have presented our allies with quite a bit of firm intelligence” about Iran’s nuclear program, Lapid said. This was not just “opinions and positions, but concrete intelligence that proves Iran is deceiving the world in a completely systematic way,” Lapid said.
“All they [Iran] care about is that sanctions are lifted and billions of dollars are poured into its nuclear program” and that funds are funneled to “Hezbollah, Syria, Iraq [and] the terrorist network they have deployed around the world,” Lapid said.
“The Zionist occupiers have never hidden their complete opposition to any regional or international arrangements that would lead to the resolution of issues in the region,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.
“The [Zionist] regime is rooted in insecurity and terror,” he said. “The life of this regime lies in terror, insecurity and discord.”
Israel opposed the original Iran deal, known a the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that was signed between Iran and the six world powers: the United States, Russia, China, France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Former US president Donald Trump exited the deal in 2018 and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran. Tehran in turn has halted its compliance with the deal and has inched toward the production of weapons-grade uranium.
US President Joe Biden has sought to revive the deal, with the European Union brokering a process by which seven rounds of indirect talks have been held.
Israel has opposed the revival of the deal and has warned the signatories to the agreement of the dangers of both protracted negotiations, the resumption of the JCPOA or the arrival at a new deal that would fail to halt a nuclear Iran.
“Today, nuclear talks in Vienna resume,” Lapid said. “Israel’s main foreign policy and challenge are to prevent the Iranian nuclear program,” he emphasized to the FADC. “In recent months, we have had an intensive dialogue with all the countries involved in these negotiations.”
Last week, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was in Israel to discuss the talks and met separately with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Lapid. The foreign minister referenced his talks with the US but said he had also been to Moscow, Paris and London to discuss the matter. “We have told everyone clearly: Israel will not let Iran become a nuclear threshold state,” Lapid said.
Israel, he said, supports diplomacy as a preferred option in dealing with Iran. “Israel does not oppose any agreement. A good agreement is good. We oppose any agreement that does not allow for real oversight neither of the Iranian nuclear program, nor of the Iranian money, nor of the Iranian terrorist network,” he clarified.
IN VIENNA, the Russian ambassador to the talks, Mikhail Ulyanov, speculated on Twitter that this could be the final round of talks, as he held a number of meetings in advance of the Vienna negotiations, including with European Union coordinator Enrique Mora, US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley and the delegations of China and Iran. “Today, all parties have agreed to come back to activate the eighth round of negotiations even in [the] Christmas and New Year’s holiday,” China’s top envoy Wang Qun told reporters. “This in itself fully shows a greater sense of urgency on the part of all parties concerned.”
These talks, like past rounds, will be held indirectly. Iran refuses to meet directly with US officials, meaning that other parties must shuttle between the two sides. The United States has repeatedly expressed frustration at this format, saying it slows down the process, and Western officials still suspect Iran is simply playing for time. The 2015 deal extended the time Iran would need to obtain enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb if it so chooses, to at least a year from around two to three months. Most experts now say that time is less than before the deal, though Iran says it only wants to master nuclear technology for civil uses. “The most important issue for us is to reach a point where, firstly, Iranian oil can be sold easily and without hindrance,” Iranian media quoted Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian as saying before the talks resumed.
“The money from the oil [sales] is to be deposited as foreign currency in Iranian banks so we can enjoy all the economic benefits stipulated in Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” he said.
Oil exports, Iran’s main revenue source, have plunged under the US sanctions. Tehran does not disclose data, but assessments based on shipping and other sources suggest a fall from about 2.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2018 to as low as 200,000 bpd currently. One survey put exports at 600,000 bpd in June.The nuclear talks have made scant progress since they resumed last month after a five-month hiatus following the election of hardline Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. “Today, there is an acceptable joint document on the negotiating table that we call the December 1 and December 15 documents,” Amirabdollahian said. Both documents, he said, related to the nuclear issue as well as US sanctions. “From today, our negotiations will start on the basis of this joint document. Guarantees and verification are among the issues on the agenda,” Amirabdollahian said.
Iran’s two draft texts, submitted on November 26 in Vienna, were modified versions of those drawn up in June under the previous Iranian administration. Iran’s position is that all US sanctions must be lifted before steps are taken on the nuclear side, while Western negotiators say nuclear and sanctions steps must be balanced. “This round of negotiations will focus on sanctions-lifting,” China’s Wang said. Diplomats said the last round was focused mainly on nuclear restrictions, though Western powers said too little progress was made.
When the seventh round wrapped up, incorporating some Iranian demands, negotiators from France, Britain and Germany said in a statement, “This only takes us back nearer to where the talks stood in June,” when the previous round ended.
“We are rapidly reaching the end of the road for this negotiation,” they added.
*Reuters contributed to this report.

Should the Late Bishop Tutu Get a Statue?
Alan M. Dershowitz/Gatestone Institute/December 28, 2021
He was among the world's most respected figures. His recognizable face—with its ever-present grin—has become a symbol of reconciliation and goodness. But it masks a long history of ugly hatred toward the Jewish people, the Jewish religion and the Jewish state. He not only believed in anti-Semitism, he actively promoted and legitimated Jew-hatred among his many followers and admirers around the world.
He has attacked the "Jewish" – not Israeli – "lobby" as too "powerful" and "scary." He has invoked classic anti-Semitic stereotypes and tropes about Jewish "arrogance", "power" and "money." He has characterized Jews a "peculiar people," and has accused "the Jews" of causing many of the world's problems. He once even accused the Jewish state of acting in an "unChristian" manner.
Let the record speak for itself, so that history may judge Tutu on the basis of his own words — words that he has often repeated and that others repeat, because Tutu is a role model for so many people around the world. Here are some of Tutu's hateful words, most of them carefully documented in a petition by prominent South Africans to terminate him as a "patron" of the two South African Holocaust Centers, because he used his status with these fine institutions as legitimization for his anti-Jewish rhetoric.
He denied that Israel is a "civilized democracy" and singled out Israel—one of the world's most open democracies—as a nation guilty of "censorship of their media." He urged the Cape Town Opera to refuse to perform George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess in Tel Aviv and called for a total cultural boycott of Jewish Israel, while encouraging performers to visit the most repressive regimes in the world.
He was far more vocal about Israel's imperfections than about the genocides in Rwanda, Darfur and Cambodia.
Even in death, his bigotry against Jews must be recounted and considered in any honest reckoning of his decidedly mixed legacy, and in any decision whether to honor him with statues or other forms of canonization, especially at a time of increasing antisemitism throughout the world.
Even in death, Archbishop Desmond Tutu's bigotry against Jews must be recounted and considered in any honest reckoning of his decidedly mixed legacy, and in any decision whether to honor him with statues or other forms of canonization, especially at a time of increasing antisemitism throughout the world. (Photo by Thos Robinson/Getty Images for Shared Interest)
At a time when the statues of good people who had done bad things are being torn down, the world must reckon with the mixed legacy of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, even in the immediate aftermath of his death.
He was among the world's most respected figures. His recognizable face—with its ever-present grin—has become a symbol of reconciliation and goodness. But it masks a long history of ugly hatred toward the Jewish people, the Jewish religion and the Jewish state. He not only believed in anti-Semitism, he actively promoted and legitimated Jew-hatred among his many followers and admirers around the world.
Tutu was no mere anti-Zionist (though Martin Luther King long ago recognized that anti- Zionism often serves as a cover for deeper anti-Jewish bigotry). He has minimized the suffering of those killed in the Holocaust. He has attacked the "Jewish" – not Israeli – "lobby" as too "powerful" and "scary." He has invoked classic anti-Semitic stereotypes and tropes about Jewish "arrogance", "power" and "money." He has characterized Jews a "peculiar people," and has accused "the Jews" of causing many of the world's problems. He once even accused the Jewish state of acting in an "unChristian" manner.
Were he not a Nobel laureate, his long history of bigotry against the Jewish people would have landed him in the dustbin of history, along with a dishonor roll of otherwise successful people, whose reputations have been tainted by their anti-Semitism such as Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh, Patrick Buchanan and Mel Gibson. Tutu's Nobel Prize and many good deeds in the struggle against South African apartheid should not shield him from accountability for his long history of anti-Jewish bigotry.
Let the record speak for itself, so that history may judge Tutu on the basis of his own words — words that he has often repeated and that others repeat, because Tutu is a role model for so many people around the world. Here are some of Tutu's hateful words, most of them carefully documented in a petition by prominent South Africans to terminate him as a "patron" of the two South African Holocaust Centers, because he used his status with these fine institutions as legitimization for his anti-Jewish rhetoric. I have publicized Tutu's words in the past, but now that he is being lionized all over the world, they warrant republication.
He minimized the suffering of those murdered in the Holocaust by asserting that "the gas chambers" made for "a neater death" than did Apartheid. In other words, the Palestinians, who in his incorrect view are the victims of "Israeli Apartheid," have suffered more than the victims of the Nazi Holocaust. He complained of "the Jewish Monopoly of the Holocaust," and demanded that its victims must "forgive the Nazis for the Holocaust," while refusing to forgive the "Jewish people" for "persecute[ing] others."
Tutu asserted that Zionism has "very many parallels with racism," thus echoing the notorious and discredited "Zionism equals racism" resolution passed by the General Assembly of the United Nations and subsequently rescinded. He accused the Jews of Israel of doing "things that even Apartheid South Africa had not done." He said that "the Jews thought they had a monopoly of God: Jesus was angry that they could shut out other human beings." He said that Jews have been "fighting against" and being "opposed to" his God. He has "compared the features of the ancient Holy Temple in Jerusalem to the features of the apartheid system in South Africa." He complained that "the Jewish people with their traditions, religion and long history of persecution sometimes appear to have caused a refugee problem among others." He implied that Israel might someday consider as an option "to perpetrate genocide and exterminate all Palestinians."
He complained that Americans "are scared...to say wrong is wrong because the Jewish lobby is powerful—very powerful." He accused Jews—not Israelis—of exhibiting "an arrogance—the arrogance of power because Jews are a powerful lobby in this land and all kinds of people woo their support."
"You know as well as I do that, somehow, the Israeli government is placed on a pedestal [in the U.S.] and to criticize it is to be immediately dubbed anti-Semitic, as if Palestinians were not Semitic."
He compared Israel to Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Soviet Union and Apartheid South Africa, saying that they too were once "very powerful" but they "bit the dust," as will "unjust" Israel.
He denied that Israel is a "civilized democracy" and singled out Israel—one of the world's most open democracies—as a nation guilty of "censorship of their media." He urged the Cape Town Opera to refuse to perform George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess in Tel Aviv and called for a total cultural boycott of Jewish Israel, while encouraging performers to visit the most repressive regimes in the world.
He claimed that his God sides with Jews, whom he compares to the Israelites under bondage in Egypt, and has sought to explain, if not justify, how Israeli actions lead directly to suicide bombings and other forms of terrorism.
He was far more vocal about Israel's imperfections than about the genocides in Rwanda, Darfur and Cambodia. He repeatedly condemned Israel's occupation of the West Bank without mentioning the many other occupations in the world today.
While attacking Israel for its "collective punishment" of Palestinians—which he claims is worse than what Apartheid South Africa did—he himself called for the collective punishment of Jewish academics and businesses in Israel by demanding boycotts of all Jewish (but not Muslim or Christian) Israelis. (This call for an anti-Jewish boycott finds its roots in the Nazi "Kauft Nicht beim Juden" campaign of the 1930s.) When confronted with his double standard against Jews, he justified it on phony theological grounds: "Whether Jews like it or not, they are a peculiar people. They can't ever hope to be judged by the same standards which are used for other people." There is a name for non-Jews who hold Jews to a double standard: It is called anti-Semitism.
Tutu acknowledged having been frequently accused of being anti-Semitic," to which he has offered two responses: "Tough luck;" and "my dentist's name is Dr. Cohen."
The decent people of South Africa have become aware of Tutu's bigotry because they have seen and heard it up close. The rest of the world must now recognize that the Archbishop is no saint. When it comes to Jews, he is an unrepentant sinner.
Even in death, his bigotry against Jews must be recounted and considered in any honest reckoning of his decidedly mixed legacy, and in any decision whether to honor him with statues or other forms of canonization, especially at a time of increasing antisemitism throughout the world.
*Alan M. Dershowitz is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Emeritus at Harvard Law School and served on the legal team representing President Donald Trump for the first Senate impeachment trial. He is the author of numerous books, including his latest, The Case for Color-Blind Equality in an Age of Identity Politics. His podcast, "The Dershow," is available on Spotify and YouTube. He is the Jack Roth Charitable Foundation Fellow at Gatestone Institute.
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The roots of America's Middle East decline
James J. Zogby/The Arab Weekly/December 28/2021
Since the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan, I have received questions from a number of journalists, both American and Arab. They have asked what the US withdrawal means for the region, for American leadership in the world and which countries will now fill the void left by the absence of the US from the scene. I have no doubt that these questions have been prompted, in no small measure, by the messiness of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the nightmarish and chaotic scenes at the airport, the tragic human stories of those left behind and the speed with which the American-friendly government collapsed followed by the Taliban’s takeover of the country. 
That said, in each instance, I have cautioned those who asked these questions to take note of the fact that America’s problems in the greater Middle East did not begin with the withdrawal. Our decline began twenty years earlier with the reckless, costly and disastrous decisions of the Bush administration to invade both Afghanistan and Iraq followed by the decision to occupy them and attempt to create “democracies” that would support our interests. 
These wars were reckless because in both instances the Bush administration was advised by experts in the intelligence community and career-level State Department and military officials that these were not wars we could win or governments we could fashion to our liking. In both cases, Bush, ignored those who knew Afghanistan and Iraq and listened instead to influential neoconservatives who had become the dominant force in his cabinet. Because these ideologues did not know the culture, make-up or histories of either country, they allowed ideology to trump reality. As a result, these efforts were, from the outset, doomed to failure. 
Both wars were also costly in lives and treasure for the United States, Afghanistan and Iraq. The Iraqi and Afghani losses were incalculable and devastating. In the US case, we lost more than 6,000 troops, with tens of thousands more left physically and/or mentally maimed for life. It is also important to note that in each year since the end of active combat in both Afghanistan and Iraq, we have lost more than 6,000 more US veterans to suicide, an average of 20+ per day! In addition, there are tens of thousands more who have joined the ranks of the homeless and those addicted to drugs, all the result of war-induced trauma. The morale of the military has been affected. These two wars and the treatment of veterans, those maimed, affected by PTSD and addicted, have so far cost us more than three trillion dollars. This is one key reason why the US military leadership was loathing to commit significant ground forces to fight in Syria. 
And these wars were disastrous because they accomplished none of their goals. Extremism was not defeated. Instead, it has metastasised into more lethal forms and spread to many more countries threatening the security and stability of states across the greater Middle East and North Africa and even taking root in some European countries as well. Another disastrous by-product of these wars is the fact that Iran has now been unleashed on the region and become emboldened to meddle in the affairs of others. The prestige of the US has been weakened. And while the goal of the neoconservatives was to decisively win these wars, demonstrating American power and resolve, thereby ensuring a century of US hegemony in a unipolar world, instead we now see the emergence of a multipolar world with regional and other global powers playing out their strategic ambitions in the country after country across the Middle East.
So, whether we stayed in Afghanistan or not, a new reality has already taken hold across the Middle East. Other powers are already either replacing us or competing with us for influence and some key regional allies, wearied by our blunders and miscalculations, are pursuing their own interests independent of ours. As a result, our leverage is more limited than it was. That said, the US cannot be written off as a “has been” power. We still have influence in the Middle East, economic, military and cultural. We remain the world’s most successful economy, we still have significant deterrent capabilities that can defend allies and our too-often underestimated “soft power” remains our most important asset.
As disastrous as the US departure may have been, we had no option but to limit our losses and leave Afghanistan and end our active combat role in Iraq. But making these decisions in no way means we are abandoning the region. It simply means that we recognised the realities neoconservatives tragically ignored. What is needed now is a clear-headed examination of the damage done by both wars and a recalibration of our regional posture that realistically matches our needs with our capacities so that we can best protect our interests and those of our allies.

Collapse of the Libyan electoral process surprised very few
Oussama Romdhani/The Arab Weekly/December 28/2021
Hardly anybody expected the presidential election scheduled for December 24 to go ahead amid the Libyan maelstrom. A European expert compared the downward spiral to “watching a train wreck in slow motion.”
Although no domestic nor foreign actor acknowledged responsibility for the failure, there is a lot of blame to go around.
Western nations, the United States in particular, all along made elections their leading if not their exclusive priority. Although establishing electoral benchmarks is a usual pattern in efforts to resolve international crises, the UN-backed American insistence on holding Libyan elections on time, despite all the obvious obstacles, was particularly intriguing. This inevitably led to the train wreck.
But the whole international community shared responsibility for the fiasco. It often demonstrated a lack of vision or resolve, if not both. It failed to remove foreign fighters and rein in Libyan militias before the elections, even though the Berlin summit of January 2020 had called specifically for “the demobilisation, disarmament of armed groups and militias in Libya.”
There was agreement at that conference to set in motion a “multi-track approach” unifying military and civilian institutions, while UN Security Council resolution 2571 of April 16, 2021, called for the “withdrawal of all foreign forces and mercenaries without further delay.” There was a trickle of departures of foreign fighters but the bulk remained, casting a long shadow of doubt on the credibility of world powers. Some countries, such as Turkey and Russia, spent a lot of time and effort lobbying against the departure of mercenaries, with an eye on keeping their own people in Libya.
Trying to hold elections with thousands of foreign mercenaries or local militiamen roaming the streets of Libyan cities, including Tripoli, proved to be a terrible miscalculation. It created an escalating atmosphere of strife as factions started deploying their gunmen around government offices in the Libyan capital at the end of December.
On the ground in Libya, the UN did not show very much in the way of foresight, failing to predict and help avoid, serious patches of turbulence. Before pulling a yet-to-be fully explained disappearing act, in late November, UN Envoy Jan Kubis gave his approval to a rushed election law passed by Speaker of the House of Representatives Aguila Saleh, who whisked the piece of legislation through, last September, without consultation and much less a vote. The controversy about the law eventually snowballed into a major cause of disruption during the final stretch.
Holding the elections in a country where a real democratic tradition is lacking and tribal affiliations still have a stronger pull than allegiance to the state, is a real challenge. But pushing through the process without prior agreement on the legal and constitutional rules of engagement and turning a blind eye to mercenaries and militias, on top of all other factors, made the process more than hazardous.
This failure is bound to raise questions about the motives and strategies driving foreign actors in Libya. From the start, Western powers, such as France, Italy and Germany, jockeyed for a front row seat in the process. They acted as if they belonged to an exclusive “stakeholders club” and did not hesitate to ignore or marginalise Libya’s neighbours instead of bringing them on board as regional players with a direct stake in Libya’s stability.
It did not take a cynic, all along, to figure out that some of the European powers were eyeing their national interests front and centre. All too often, hidden agendas and the drive to tackle the competition reigned supreme.
But domestic actors also played more than their part in paving the way for the impasse. The eastern based-House of Representatives and the normally consultative Tripoli-based State Council talked at cross purposes further blurring the legislative process.
Making tensions flare up further, the race included some of the most contentious political actors and no potential bridge-builders between the bitterly-divided east and west of the country.
Fractious Libya was represented by its most sharp-edged profiles. There was near certainty that the victory by any of the controversial candidates would be rejected by his rivals and risk sparking a new round of violence.
Physical harassment by militias, suspicion of influence peddling and threats of recourse to armed violence added to the deleterious mix.
Rumours, lawsuits and appeals swirled all around. Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah and Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, in particular, were challenged in courts but were eventually cleared to return to the race.
The aborted election timeline is obviously not the end of hopes in Libya's political process. But the impasse showed that no new chapter can be written in disregard of historical context. During the last seven years since the 2014 election, Libya has not made major strides towards national reconciliation and reunification of the state. The political landscape has remained fragmented and dangerously polarised. A yawning chasm still separates both sides of the Libyan divide.
This last exercise should open the eyes of all stakeholders, local and international, that an election is not a scramble to get there first and claim all the toys. The next train to elections should include among its final destinations the building of a new Libyan state based on unified and integrated institutions, ending the armed militia chaos and anchoring the rule of law.
It is completely the wrong journey when many of the domestic players have their eyes set on preserving a disastrous status quo and foreign stakeholders are betting the farm on simply holding the ballot on time.
A Libyan-free and fair election is not a contradiction in terms. Zero-sum games and democracy are.