English LCCC Newsbulletin For Le

English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For May 07/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

Bible Quotations For today
Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 06/60-71/:”When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, ‘Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But among you there are some who do not believe.’ For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. And he said, ‘For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.’Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. So Jesus asked the twelve, ‘Do you also wish to go away?’Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Did I not choose you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.’He was speaking of Judas son of Simon Iscariot, for he, though one of the twelve, was going to betray him.”

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 06-07/2022
The expatriate vote: 59 percent voted with a distinguished performance for the opposition
Lebanon needs ‘new blood’: Diaspora gears up for 2022 parliamentary election in UAE
Parliamentary Elections - EU Election Observation Mission explains process of overseeing out-of-country voting
Lebanese Abroad Cast Votes in Parliamentary Polls
Presidency Press Office snubs media articles suggesting link between President Aoun's raising of Syrian refugee issue and parliamentary elections
Miqati pleased with expat voting process, hopes new MPs will achieve change
Bou Habib hopes for 70% turnout in expat vote
Mawlawi urges Lebanese to vote for a 'better tomorrow'
LADE objects against Geagea loudspeaker message to KSA delegates
Hizbullah official says electoral rivals won't be able to 'besiege resistance'
Progress in Central Bank case as Lebanese probe receives account data
UK embassy says climate action workshop an opportunity for a greener Lebanon
Rahi meets Pakistan Ambassador
Lebanon: Army Chief Pledges to Complete Impartial Probe into Tripoli Boat Sinking

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 06-07/2022
Congress Fires Its Warning Shot on Iran Nuclear Deal
The Security Council supports a peaceful solution in Ukraine.. Kyiv warns of Russian bombing
War in Ukraine: Latest developments
Ex-spies and diplomats say the Biden administration needs to 'shut-up' after NYT report about US intelligence helping Ukraine kill Russian generals
Moskva sinking: US gave intelligence that helped Ukraine sink Russian cruiser - reports
Russia Says it Will Not Use Nuclear Weapons in Ukraine
Three Israelis killed near Tel Aviv in stabbing attack condemned by Abbas
Israel Launches Manhunt after Deadly Attack in Elad
US condemns Israel’s plans to expand settlements in occupied Palestinian lands
Iraq’s Sadrist Movement, Coordination Framework Bet on Independent MPs for Forming Gov’t
Moscow Ready to Host New Round of Palestinian Dialogue
US Drug Regulator Limits Use of J&J Covid Vaccine
White House warns of ‘unintended consequences’ of Senate’s NOPEC bill

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 06-07/2022
Can the Intelligence Community Tell What’s Brewing in Afghanistan?/Reuel Marc Gerech/Hoover Institution/May 06/2022
Russia and China: The Worst Moment in History Coming Soon/Gordon G. Chang/Gatestone Institute/May 06/2022
Andy Levin’s ‘Two-State Bill’ Won’t Support Middle East Peace/Shany Mor/The National Interest/May 06/2022
Perils of Putin’s Victory Parade/Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 06/ 2022
Iran’s future in a world of shifting sands/Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/May 06, 2022
The collapse of Turkey’s justice system/Ali SarrafThe Arab Weekly/May 06/2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on May 06-07/2022
The expatriate vote: 59 percent voted with a distinguished performance for the opposition
LCCC/May 07/2022
The election day in the Arab countries and Asia ended today, Friday, May 6, with almost complete calm, with a polling process characterized by some minor impurities, which did not affect the proper conduct of the elections. The voter turnout reached 59 percent, after about 18,000 voters out of about 31,000 voted. While the percentage in 2018, in the Arab countries, was about 65 percent. This percentage will determine its equivalent on Sunday, May 8 in Western countries, in addition to the UAE, and later in Lebanon. The low turnout in Saudi Arabia, which is the main weight of the Sunni electorate, seemed remarkable. This, and it is expected that the voter turnout in Western countries will be low, due to the distances that voters have to cross in major countries, and because a large part of the voters do not have Lebanese identities.

Lebanon needs ‘new blood’: Diaspora gears up for 2022 parliamentary election in UAE
Tala Michel Issa, Al Arabiya English/06 May ,2022
Lebanon’s 2022 parliamentary elections will begin with the diaspora voting in their country of residence on May 6 and 8, marking the first electoral test at the national level since mass protests in October 2019 and the infamous 2020 Beirut Port explosion.
Many Lebanese expats in the United Arab Emirates are keen to take to the polls on Friday and Sunday, where they hope to make a difference with their votes due to the Levantine country’s worsening economic crisis, a disappearing middle class, and a history of sectarian government rule characterized by elites that have plunged the majority of the country’s population into extreme poverty. A lot of hope is riding on the Lebanese diaspora to cast their votes and make a difference in this year’s election. Al Arabiya English spoke to some Lebanese expats in the UAE who are gearing up for the voting day.
Politics a ‘taboo subject’ in Lebanon Lebanese expat Mark El Khoury, 27, was born and raised in the UAE and spent his university days in Lebanon where he was exposed to the political opinions of the people around him.
“To be fair, I think it’s about time to vote. Something I learned throughout my time [as a student] in Lebanon was that politics has become such a taboo topic, because no one wants to talk about it,” El Khoury told Al Arabiya English. “The fact is that you have to talk about it, because there is something fundamentally wrong.”
accounting for a three-fold increase in voters from the previous parliamentary elections in 2018 – when out-of-country voting was allowed for the first time.
Lebanese politics – often a sensitive topic for both the diaspora and the country’s residents alike – has long been influenced by religion. Sectarianism has been the basis of Lebanon’s political ecosystem since the French set it up before departing the country in 1936. The system was, in theory, supposed to ensure the influence of all 18 recognized religious groups, some of which now have their own militias, in the government, dividing all public service roles equally amongst them.
However, the quasi-federal religious government, coupled with the 1960s Civil War and incessant nepotism within political parties, has kept Lebanese society deeply divided, causing sectarianism to rule over nationalism and for endemic corruption to continue Echoing El Khoury’s sentiment, Lebanese expat Omar, 34, believes religion and politics should be separated.
“I believe in a Laic country… in a country where power is to the people by their competencies, not by their religion or because they belong to a certain religious group or party,” he told Al Arabiya English.
“I’d rather have people rule the country because they deserve it... Somebody who has achievements, comes from a diplomacy background, is not really affiliated with a certain party. Somebody who is kind of neutral, who is taking action, and not just talking about plans,” he continued, adding that he was vouching for an independent candidate from the civil society.
Omar did not vote in 2018, during the last elections, but chose to take part this time because he is hoping to “at least contribute to a shift in the weight of the voices and votes” in parliament.
Shifting away from traditional political parties
Released earlier this week, the Arab Reform Initiative report which examined the 2018 voting behavior of the diaspora found that their behavior and political attitudes varied based on where they emigrated to and why. Registered diaspora voters at the time were mainly based in Canada, the US, UAE, France, and Australia who mainly supported the Lebanese Forces and Free Patriotic Movement. Voters in Germany and several African countries mainly opted for Shia-majority parties Amal and Hezbollah.
Lebanese expats who voted at the time did not have much of an impact as they only accounted for 3 percent of participants, with less than 6 percent of out-of-country voters choosing candidates on opposition lists. This did not do much to reduce the impact of the long-established sectarian system, according to the joint report by the Arab Reform Initiative and The Policy Initiative.
The scale of the change in voter attitudes to shift away from supporting traditional political parties in the 2022 elections remains uncertain overall, but UAE expats who spoke with Al Arabiya English expressed they were keen to do their part in initiating this shift.
Raed, 34, an expat who works in the aviation industry, said that he moved to the UAE because he was “suffering for years” in Lebanon, and was determined to make a difference with his vote this year. His views changed due to the obstacles he faced in Lebanon, both socially and economically. He said his father used to support one of the country’s traditional political parties, despite their house being bombed during the Civil War, causing injury to his father’s arm.
“I’m voting to make a change. My parents in Lebanon are suffering, they don’t have medical coverage, they don’t know what will happen in their future,” Raed told Al Arabiya English, adding that he no longer supports one of the traditional parties.
“My father basically has one hand. In the civil war, he got injured inside our house… we got bombed. And he’s still following them in one way or another. No one helped him, they [the party he supported] didn’t even look at us at all, we never got anything from them when we needed them, so that’s another reason why I’m against these parties,” Raed said.
“[The sectarian government] needs to be changed. You cannot mix religion with government, or religion with political parties.”
Expat Elie, 30, a first-time voter, said that his family’s struggle in the country has led him to vote.
“I just want Lebanon to become a better country, and considering the recent issues that they’ve been facing like the August 4 [Beirut Port] explosion and the crisis, I love Lebanon and want to see it as a successful country.”
“I’m totally against sectarianism. To change that now, it might be very minimal, it’ll take time, because people are used to it. I’ve always been against these parties because I didn’t like the fact that they worked for their own benefit instead of helping the people.”
El Khoury, 27, also stated that he wants the country’s constitution to be updated.
“Last time I checked, the Constitution was not updated since the 1920s. The fact that you can get an extra 50,000 Lebanese Lira in your salary if you grow a moustache in the internal security and policing forces… this is how outdated our Constitution is… the old existing bodies that have been there for 40 years and have changed nothing, they are still living by these rules, taking advantage of us, creating corruption,” El Khoury said.
He continued: “Hopefully, by voting for someone new, someone with a conscience, they will at least try to change what is currently going on, to fix the current constitution and at least bring it up to date so the country can stand back on its own feet again.”
Lebanese politics needs ‘new blood’
UAE-based expat Rasha, 36, said she’s always voted but wants to convince more people to vote this time “because this is the worst condition Lebanon has ever been in.”
She continued, “it poses a big hope because of what the country has come to, this is a chance for people to vote and bring in new blood [into the government].”
According to Rasha, “old blood” in the government will not make a difference.
“The people our families and ancestors, previous generations used to believe in, they don’t have the same importance or credibility anymore. They don’t have a place [in the government],” she added. “This is our chance to make a change.”
“The biggest mistake is when someone says: ‘it’s not like I’m the only one’ or that the situation ‘doesn’t just rely on my vote.’ But yes, it does. The expats are the majority of the Lebanese population, so I do hope that I’ll be one of those people that are going to go and make a change. The sentiment this year is different, it’s a lot better, people want to help.”
Rasha and many others from the UAE-based diaspora have been helping the consulate in Dubai with the planning and management of voting day. “We all just want to be there to help,” she said.
“Basically, the problem with our government is that it has been the same since 30 years… nothing changed and some of the peoples’ mindsets haven’t changed also so it’s completely corrupt to a point where there is no going back anytime soon,” insurance broker Raphael Daniel, 31, said.
“I think our votes are just going to be a wake-up call for the people that are in place at the moment, it’s just sending a message to the politicians that we’re fed up. The message is going to be as big as the difference we manage to make,” he added.
“In one way or another, we need to move forward. If nobody votes or does anything, nothing will change.”
Citizens in Lebanon will take to the polls on May 15 to elect new members of parliament.
An estimated 1,044 candidates are running for parliament this year in the hopes of winning a position in the 128-seat legislature.

Parliamentary Elections - EU Election Observation Mission explains process of overseeing out-of-country voting
NNA/Friday, 6 May, 2022
This Sunday, 8 May, the European Union Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) to Lebanon 22 will deploy 16 teams of short-term observers to directly observe the Out of Country Voting, the Mission said in a statement. "The teams, each of them composed by two persons of different nationality, will be present in 13 European countries, namely Austria, Belgium, France (three teams), Germany (two teams), Greece, The Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland," it indicated. "Meanwhile, both today and on Sunday some core team analysts and LTO teams will take shifts at the operation centre, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beirut, to observe the procedures in place. On 15 May, the EU EOM will be present at the counting and tabulation of the ballot boxes coming from abroad," it added. "On Sunday 8 May at noon, the EU EOM Deputy Chief Observer Jarek Domanski will pay a brief visit at the operation centre at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after which he will make a short statement to the press on how the EU EOM has observed the opening of the voting centres," it concluded.

Lebanese Abroad Cast Votes in Parliamentary Polls
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 6 May, 2022
The first phase of Lebanon’s parliamentary elections kicked off on Friday morning, for expats residing in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Syria, Oman, Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq and Iran. The rest of the expatriates will vote in the second phase in 48 other countries on Sunday. Prime Minister Najib Mikati inaugurated on Thursday the operations room for managing and monitoring parliamentary elections abroad, which was established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants. “It is a historic and important moment in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs… It’s a real bridge linking Lebanon with its expats,” he said on the occasion. In Lebanon, the elections will take place on May 15. A total of 103 lists with 1,044 candidates are competing for the 128-seat legislature, which is equally divided between Christians and Muslims. Mikati called on the Lebanese to participate massively in the polls, saying: “When we see that only 220,000 Lebanese expatriates have registered to vote, while they account for millions… we have wished the participation to be much greater.”Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib stressed that the ministry has exerted “all efforts to make the voting process a success” at home and abroad. The parliamentary elections are the first since Lebanon’s economic meltdown began in late 2019. The government’s factions have done virtually nothing to address the collapse, leaving Lebanese to fend for themselves as they plunge into poverty, without electricity, medicine, garbage collection or any other semblance of normal life. Financial difficulties and the collapse of the value of salaries of public sector employees have complicated the preparations for the elections. But according to Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi, these difficulties were surmounted. He stressed that his ministry “met all its duties so that the elections would be perfect.”“We have completed all the logistical and security preparations through successive security meetings, the last of which was the meeting of the Central Internal Security Council. We also secured grants for the military forces participating in the elections,” the minister explained. Mawlawi called on the Lebanese to be “reassured that the elections will be successful,” adding: “The government has pledged in its ministerial statement to hold the elections, and the Ministry of Interior has done everything necessary for this purpose.”

Presidency Press Office snubs media articles suggesting link between President Aoun's raising of Syrian refugee issue and parliamentary elections
NNA/Friday, 6 May, 2022
The Presidency Press Office asserts that what was stated in a number of media articles issued on Friday about the existence of a link between President Michel Aoun's raising of the issue of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and the parliamentary elections is false. The Information Office indicates that these conclusions are baseless because the issue of the return of the displaced has never been absent from the positions of the President of the Republic. The issue of the displaces was raised again in a meeting held yesterday at Baabda Palace with the ministerial delegation participating in a conference in Brussels on May 9 and 10 dedicated to discussing the matter displaced Syrians, with the aim of determining the official Lebanese position on this issue and reporting it to the Brussel conference”.—Presidency Press Office

Miqati pleased with expat voting process, hopes new MPs will achieve change
Naharnet/Friday, 6 May, 2022
Prime Minister Najib Miqati visited the Foreign Ministry Friday afternoon to inspect its administration of the expat voting process in the Arab countries and Iran which had kicked off in the morning.“I was pleased with this tour in which I examined the electoral process and looked into all statistics,” Miqati said after the tour. “I congratulate the Foreign Ministry and the diplomatic corps and I thank the volunteers and I hope the process will be completed successfully,” the premier added. “We hope the new parliament will carry change to the Lebanese,” Miqati went on to say.

Bou Habib hopes for 70% turnout in expat vote
Naharnet/Friday, 6 May, 2022
Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib on Friday expressed his relief over the expat voting process that kicked off in the morning in the Arab countries and Iran as part of Lebanon’s 2022 parliamentary elections. “My heart warmed when I saw this scene and I hope voter turnout will reach 70%,” Bou Habib said from the Foreign Ministry. “Things are good and elections are the only means for change,” he added. The minister added that the Ministry has tried to cut electoral expenses as much as possible and that he has received assurances from Prime Minister Najib Miqati that the funds will be secured. He however noted that the funds might not sufficient at the end of the process. Asked about the controversy regarding expat voter registration, Bou Habib stressed that the Ministry did not show any shortcomings in the distribution of voters on polling stations. “We should have told them that the distribution would happen according to zip code,” the minister added. Bou Habib later announced that voter turnout had reached 27% around 2:20pm Beirut time, adding that voters in the Gulf were expected to increasingly head to polling stations in the afternoon due to the hot weather there.

Mawlawi urges Lebanese to vote for a 'better tomorrow'
Naharnet/Friday, 6 May, 2022
Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said Friday that the expats parliamentary elections are going smoothly and no problems nor major violations have been detected so far. According to Mawlawi, the turnout abroad will be heavy this year as the numbers of those who have registered their names to vote have surpassed the numbers of those who registered in the 2018 elections. Media reports confirmed that the turnout is heavy in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. In Qatar, 1254 out of 7344 registered had already voted before Friday noon. The Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections said it hasn't noted any violations so far. "This is heartwarming," Mawlawi said, as he optimistically urged all Lebanese in Lebanon and abroad to vote "for a better tomorrow."Expatriates began voting at 7:00 am Beirut time on Friday in nine Arab countries and in Iran, while the rest will vote in 48 other countries on Sunday. It is the second time in the country's history that citizens residing abroad are able to vote for their 128 representatives, in elections set to be held at home on May 15. While opposition figures have pinned their hopes on the diaspora, experts said the elections were expected to uphold the status quo, despite years of economic meltdown.

LADE objects against Geagea loudspeaker message to KSA delegates
Naharnet/Friday, 6 May, 2022
The monitors of the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections (LADE) on Friday objected against a video call between Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and LF delegates in KSA that was blasted through a loudspeaker, calling it a breach of electoral silence, al-Jadeed TV reported. “May God give you strength and may you stay this energetic, because we need every minute of work by you until the end of the day,” Geagea is heard telling the delegates in the call, likely outside a polling station in Saudi Arabia.

Hizbullah official says electoral rivals won't be able to 'besiege resistance'
Naharnet/Friday, 6 May, 2022
The deputy head of Hizbullah’s Executive Council, Sheikh Ali Daamoush, announced Friday that the electoral battle is between two projects – one that “has an economic and financial vision and is looking forward to rescue the country,” and another that is “imported from abroad and whose main slogan is besieging the resistance and disarming it.”The rival project is “the project of America’s people in Lebanon,” Daamoush added. “The advocates of this project have evaded their responsibilities toward the people and their crises, and their electoral programs contain nothing but slogans targeted against the resistance. These are unfeasible slogans that are distant from people’s concerns and have nothing to do with Lebanon’s crisis nor with the priorities of the Lebanese,” the Hizbullah official went on to say. He added that Hizbullah is meanwhile running in the elections based on “a national and feasible project that would contribute to overcoming the country’s economic and financial crisis.”“Through understanding and cooperation with the rest of the partners in the country, we are capable of implementing our general national program and of turning some articles into laws or plans in the ministries that we will be in,” Daamoush said. Addressing “all those who are carrying slogans against the resistance,” the Hizbullah official said: “Even if you win the parliamentary majority, you will not be able to implement your slogans and besiege the resistance. You had the majority in a previous period, America and its allies were on your side, some of you were partners in the July 2006 war against the resistance, and yet you did not manage to weaken it.”

Progress in Central Bank case as Lebanese probe receives account data
The Arab Weekly/May 06/2022
The handover of complete information would mark significant progress in the investigations after months of delay. A Lebanese probe into alleged embezzlement and money-laundering by the central bank governor and his brother received new account information on the brother on Thursday, two judicial sources said, in a development that could advance the investigation. Central Bank Chief Riad Salameh is facing judicial probes in Lebanon and at least five European nations into the alleged embezzlement of at least $330 million in public funds by him and his younger brother, Raja. Both have denied the accusations.
On Thursday, the central bank's special investigation commission handed over account information from nine Lebanese banks on Raja Salameh to Lebanon's top prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat, the two judicial sources said. The handover of complete information would mark significant progress in the investigations after months of delay. Riad Salameh had earlier said that the bank's commission, which he heads, had agreed to hand over the information and that he had stepped back from presiding over the body as far as it pertains to his case, "so there is no conflict of interest". Oueidat had previously sent letters to Lebanese banks asking them to provide the Lebanese judiciary with account information on Raja Salameh. The banks had refused, citing banking secrecy laws, and instead provided information to the central bank's commission. The move came as a French judge investigating the Salameh brothers for money laundering and embezzlement visited Beirut on Thursday. French investigative judge, Aude Buresi, met Oueidat and other judges, including prosecutor Jean Tannous, at a Beirut courthouse, in the first such visit by a French judge in Salameh's case. Her visit was aimed in part at increasing pressure on Lebanese authorities to secure account information relating to the Salameh brothers and other persons of interest in the probe, two people familiar with the matter said. Buresi and the Lebanese judges also exchanged details of their investigations. The French Embassy declined to comment, saying it was not involved in the coordination between the two judiciaries.

UK embassy says climate action workshop an opportunity for a greener Lebanon
Naharnet/Friday, 6 May, 2022
Last week, the British Embassy in Beirut hosted a climate action workshop for 16 youth innovators in collaboration with the idea innovator company, Ideanco. The UK’s COP26 MENA Ambassador Janet Rogan attended virtually from London and the British Embassy’s Chargé d’Affaires, Alyson King, gave closing remarks, the British Embassy said on Friday. "Tackling climate change is a priority for the UK government, which hosted the COP26 conference in Glasgow last year. COP26 brought countries together to enable all countries to meet global net zero targets and reduce the impacts of climate change, resulting in the Glasgow Climate Pact. To achieve this countries must unlock public and private investment and push for innovative and green solutions," the British Embassy added. After the COP26 conference, the UK announced £50m funding to support energy transition and green infrastructure and growth in the Middle East and North Africa. "Lebanon will be able to apply for funding to help its change to greener energy," the statement said. In November 2021, the British Embassy in Beirut, in partnership with UNDP and the Minister of the Environment Nasser Yassin hosted a roundtable discussion on climate action with COP26 Ambassador Rogan and attended by more than 50 climate innovators, environmental experts, young people, graduates of the UK’s prestigious Chevening scholarship scheme, NGOs and media.
Addressing the workshop attendees, COP26 Ambassador Janet Rogan said that “socioeconomic and sustainability agendas have been set back by the COVID pandemic which is sadly not over yet. Conflicts around the world are also harming our food security, affecting supplies of grain and cooking oil. MENA is one of the regions with significant water shortages which has an impact on biodiversity and food and water security. Fortunately, at COP26, the world came together to shift towards not just plans and meetings but implementation, turning words into action."
Rogan added that the civil society and private sector are part and parcel of this action including in Lebanon. "Working on climate action is about joining hands and not pointing fingers and I am confident that young people here and around the world are key in accelerating climate action and innovation,” she said.
For her part, Chargé d’Affaires Alyson King said that “as countries including Lebanon begin to recover from the Coronavirus pandemic, this presents an opportunity for us to act to tackle climate change at the same time – to build back better, and greener. COP26 was a transformational meeting, as world leaders respond to the urgency of the situation, and begin to build a path towards the future of our children and our planet. Yes, Lebanon is facing many crises. Crisis is also an opportunity. The old ways of doing things won’t work any more."King went on to say that "the British Embassy is proud to support people who are taking action, imagining a better Lebanon, and working together. Action builds hope. I encourage you to ask candidates in the upcoming parliamentary elections to play their part in making Lebanon a cleaner and greener, fairer and better country.”CEO of ideanco, Maher Ezzeddine, said that “whether it’s mobility, biodiversity, air pollution, or food security, the climate and environmental challenges in Lebanon are tremendous but so are the opportunities present to think of creative solutions and help the country fast forward into greener energies. The Art of Curiosity aligned with the UN Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) and in partnership with the UK Government, is the first in Lebanon, but it certainly won’t be the last. Our goal is to reinvent the traditional sectors while creating successful cleantech companies from Lebanon to the world."

Rahi meets Pakistan Ambassador
NNA/Friday, 6 May, 2022
Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rahi on Friday met with Pakistan Ambassador to Lebanon Salman Athar, who came to Bkerki on a protocol visit. Talks reportedly touched on the means to enhance the bilateral relations between Lebanon and Pakistan.

Lebanon: Army Chief Pledges to Complete Impartial Probe into Tripoli Boat Sinking
Beirut - Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 6 May, 2022
Lebanon’s Army Commander, General Joseph Aoun, has urged the families of the victims of the migrant boat that capsized off Tripoli’s coast last month, “not to allow the tragedy to be [politically] exploited”, stressing that investigations would be completed “with all transparency and impartiality.”The boat sank off the coast of Tripoli in northern Lebanon two weeks ago, carrying more than 84 people who were trying to escape across the Mediterranean to Europe. The vessel collided with a Lebanese army boat that was trying to stop it. Forty-five people were rescued, while the army recovered seven bodies, and many are still missing. The Army Commander met on Thursday with a delegation of families of the victims, including a number of survivors, who pointed to the poor economic conditions that pushed them to choose emigration by sea. Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported that the families “renewed their confidence in the military institution and its wisdom in dealing with their case,” and “called for not stopping the search to find the missing persons.”“This tragedy has affected everyone,” Aoun said, noting that the ongoing investigation “will be transparent and impartial.”The Army commander emphasized that the “relationship between the army and the people of Tripoli is solid, and no one can distort it for any goals.”Lebanon was once a transit point for asylum seekers from elsewhere in the Middle East who were hoping to reach the European Union island state of Cyprus, 175 kilometers away. However, with the deteriorating economic and living conditions, the number of Lebanese migrants trying to flee by sea has significantly increased over the past two years. The UN says more than 1,500 migrants have tried to leave Lebanon in this way since the start of 2021.

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on May 06-07/2022
Congress Fires Its Warning Shot on Iran Nuclear Deal
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 6 May, 2022
The US Congress fired a warning shot at the US administration's efforts to return to the nuclear agreement with Iran. A total of 16 Democrats voted with almost all Republicans to approve Sen. James Lankford's motion, easily clearing the 60-vote threshold to reach 62 senators voting that the US should not lift sanctions on Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Lankford said the Senate sent a clear message "tonight that we do not want the United States to make a nuclear deal with Iran that ignores their past behavior and present intentions." While Lankford's proposal is non-binding, the vote alters the administration, especially since votes came from the US president's party, reflecting growing opposition to its efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear agreement. The group of "yes" votes included Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who opposed the 2015 nuclear deal, clearly indicating their dissatisfaction with the progress of the negotiations. The lawmakers' statements show that they have had it with the administration's insistence on moving forward with the agreement without addressing Iran's destabilizing activities in the region and the White House's willingness to delist the IRGC.
Some Democrats, who had previously refrained from publicly criticizing Biden, are warning him against taking such a step. Lankford urged his colleagues to vote with the bill, saying that this proposal deals with Iran's terrorist activities and requests to remove the IRGC from terrorist lists during negotiations with the Biden administration. "The IRGC was attacking our troops in Iraq and facilitating their death," he indicated.
Senator Chris Coons, a top Biden ally, supported the motion to encourage the administration's negotiations to "push for the strongest possible deal that addresses Iran's nuclear weapons program and many other malign activities."The senators approved another proposal made by Senator Ted Cruz, stressing the need to maintain terrorism-related sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran and the Revolutionary Guards. The proposal, which 86 members supported, considers maintaining these sanctions necessary to limit cooperation between Iran and China and necessitates submitting a report to the Congress detailing the nature of the collaboration in the fields of energy, infrastructure, economy, finance, and the diplomatic, military, and banking sectors. "The Biden administration is negotiating to lift terrorism sanctions on the Revolutionary Guards and the Central Bank of Iran," Cruz said while putting the bill to a vote, adding that the "IRGC is responsible for murdering over 600 servicemen and women. The IRGC is actively trying to murder the former Secretary of State and the former security advisor."Then he concluded, addressing the senators: "If you support terrorism sanctions on the IRGC, you should vote yes, and if you want to lift those sanctions, you should vote no." Despite the growing opposition in Congress to the administration's efforts to return to the nuclear agreement, lawmakers know that the White House will not seek congressional approval of the deal if it occurs, as did the administration of former President Barack Obama. However, the administration's position remains oscillating between the possibility of an agreement and other options without specifying them.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the United States is now preparing equally for both a scenario where there is a mutual return to compliance with Iran on a nuclear deal and one in which there is not an agreement. "Because a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA is very much an uncertain proposition, we are now preparing equally for either scenario," Price said in a briefing. A senior Israeli official told the Axios website that Israel and the US are discussing ways to put more pressure on Iran in a scenario where there is no return to the 2015 nuclear deal soon. He indicated that Israeli national security adviser Eyal Hulata, his US counterpart Jake Sullivan and other senior officials met at the White House last week. The talks primarily focused on Iran, including preparation for a possible reality in which there is no return to the nuclear deal.The two national security advisers discussed how to do this without pushing Iran to escalate its nuclear program and enrich uranium to 90 percent purity, the level needed to produce a nuclear bomb.

The Security Council supports a peaceful solution in Ukraine.. Kyiv warns of Russian bombing
The approved statement reflects a unified position for the Security Council for the first time since Russia's attack on Ukraine on February 24.
AFP »/06 May/2022
On Friday, the UN Security Council issued a unanimous statement affirming its "strong support" for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres "in his pursuit of a peaceful solution" to Russia's war in Ukraine, diplomatic sources said. The statement prepared by Norway and Mexico, and seen by AFP, does not go as far as supporting Guterres' mediation, as stipulated a first version of the text that has been negotiated since Thursday. The approved statement reflects a unified position for the Security Council for the first time since Russia's attack on Ukraine on February 24. Shortly after the outbreak of the war, Russia vetoed a resolution condemning it and demanding that it withdraw its army to Russian lands. The very brief text stated that "the Security Council expresses its deep concern in connection with the maintenance of peace and security in Ukraine." In their statement, the 15 members of the Council also reminded that "all Member States have undertaken, under the Charter of the United Nations, to settle their international differences by peaceful means." Finally, the statement asked the Secretary-General of the international organization to submit a report after the statement was adopted. The United Nations, whose mission is to ensure peace in the world, has undertaken no mission as a potential mediator for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine. Its intervention in this country and its neighboring countries is limited to the humanitarian aspect.On the ground, officials of the Ukrainian National Security Council warned the population, today, Friday, of the increased severity of the bombing on Sunday and Monday, coinciding with the Victory Day celebrations in Russia. A Facebook post from the Anti-Disinformation Center of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council urged citizens not to ignore the air raid sirens. "Because the Russian forces cannot boast of any real achievements on the front on D-Day, the massive bombing of Ukrainian cities on that day becomes more and more dangerous," the post said. Separately, on Friday, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that the authorities would not extend the curfew in Kyiv, but that street patrols would be redeployed. Moscow celebrates the day of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II on May 9 of each year.

War in Ukraine: Latest developments
Agence France Presse/Friday, 6 May, 2022
Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:
- Hundreds evacuated from Mariupol -Hundreds of civilians have been evacuated from the devastated city of Mariupol and its besieged Azovstal steel plant in a UN-led rescue operation, the Ukrainian president's office says. "We have managed to evacuate almost 500 civilians," Andriy Yermak, who heads Volodymyr Zelensky's office, said on Telegram. He said Kyiv will "do everything to save all its civilians and military" stuck in the southern port city, adding that the operation was ongoing.
- Mariupol factory ceasefire in doubt -The Russian military had announced a three-day ceasefire starting Thursday at Azovstal, where Ukrainian forces are making a last stand.
But a commander of the Azov regiment that is defending it says in a video on Telegram that "heavy bloody fighting continues", accusing Russia of violating its promise of a ceasefire.President Vladimir Putin says the Russian army is "still ready" to give safe passage to civilians trapped at Azovstal. "As for the militants remaining at Azovstal, the Kyiv authorities must give them an order to lay down their arms," the Kremlin quotes Putin as saying.
- Pentagon denies helping target Russian generals -The US Defense Department denies providing intelligence on the locations of Russian generals on the battlefield so that Ukrainian forces could kill them. "We do not provide intelligence on the location of senior military leaders on the battlefield or participate in the targeting decisions of the Ukrainian military," Pentagon spokesman John Kirby says, responding to an explosive New York Times report on US support for Ukraine's military. Separately, US media reports Washington had shared intelligence that helped Ukraine sink the Russian warship Moskva last month. But a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, tells AFP that the United States does not "provide specific targeting information on ships". - West slowing, not hindering operation: Kremlin -The Kremlin accuses the West of preventing a quick end to Russia's military campaign. "The United States, Britain, NATO as a whole hand over intelligence... to Ukraine's armed forces on a permanent basis," spokesman Dmitry Peskov tells reporters. "Coupled with the flow of weapons that these countries are sending to Ukraine, these are all actions that do not contribute to the quick completion of the operation." But Peskov says the West is "incapable of hindering the achievement" of the Russian operation's goals.
- Donor conference, crowdfunding -More than six billion euros ($6.3 billion) were collected at a Ukraine donors' conference in Warsaw, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki says. Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky launches a global crowdfunding platform -- United24 -- to help Kyiv win the war with Russia and rebuild the country's infrastructure. Ukraine's government in April estimated the cost of rebuilding after the war to be at least $600 billion (570 billion euros).
- Fiji seizes oligarch's yacht -Fiji authorities seize Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov's $300 million yacht after a US request to hold the vessel for violating sanctions and for alleged ties to corruption, the US Justice Department says. The 348-foot (106-metre) "Amadea" was berthed in Lautoka, Fiji in the South Pacific when local authorities took control of it. - Sell seized assets: EU chief -The European Union should confiscate and sell Russian assets it has seized and use the proceeds to rebuild Ukraine, EU chief Charles Michel says, echoing an idea already floated in the United States. The EU said early last month it had frozen 30 billion euros ($31.5 billion) in assets linked to blacklisted Russian and Belarusian individuals.
- Eastern assault continues -The governor of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region Pavlo Kyrylenko says at least 25 civilians were wounded in an overnight Russian strike on the city of Kramatorsk. Moscow seeks to establish "full control" of the regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, and to maintain a land corridor to occupied Crimea.The Ukrainian army meanwhile says it has retaken control of "several settlements on the border of Mykolaiv and Kherson regions". - Russia, Israel and the Holocaust -Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett says Putin has apologized for remarks made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who claimed Adolf Hitler may have had "Jewish blood". The comments had sparked outrage in Israel. A Kremlin summary of the Bennett-Putin call, which came as Israel marked 74 years since the creation of the Jewish state, made no mention of a Putin apology. It did, however, note that the leaders discussed the "historic memory" of the Holocaust. - Zelensky invites German leaders -German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is yet to commit to visiting Kyiv, even after Ukraine's leader invited him and President Frank-Walter Steinmeier -- three weeks after the German president was snubbed by Kyiv. - NATO, Sweden and the Baltic Sea -NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says the alliance could heighten its presence around Sweden and the Baltic Sea to protect the country from Russian interference during a potential membership application.

Ex-spies and diplomats say the Biden administration needs to 'shut-up' after NYT report about US intelligence helping Ukraine kill Russian generals
John Haltiwanger/Business Insider/May 06/2022
This came after a NYT report said US intel was helping Ukraine kill Russian generals.
A veteran diplomat said discussing intelligence used for targeting would bolster Putin's propaganda about Russia being a victim.
Former US officials and diplomats in recent days have sharply criticized the Biden administration over a New York Times report based on conversations with senior officials that said US intelligence was helping Ukraine kill Russian generals.
"Shut up about it," John Sipher, a former CIA officer who served in Russia, said in a tweet on the Times report.
Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia, in a tweet responding to Sipher said, "Exactly. No one should be talking to press about such things."
Striking a similar tone, former US diplomat Aaron David Miller tweeted that the "whole shift in tone" following Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's visit to Ukraine is "worrisome."
"Weakening Russia; winning; and now stories @NYT about killing Russian generals. Why can't we just shut up?" Miller said.
The intel-sharing reports by the NYT and NBC News suggested, without specifying, that the US shared intelligence so precise — such as high-resolution images or transmissions made by radars or radios — that the Ukrainian military could use it to plan strikes. The NYT reported that the "White House finds some value in warning Russia that Ukraine has the weight of the United States and NATO behind it," but the Pentagon insisted that it doesn't provide the location of Russian generals to Ukraine and has no role in Ukrainian decisions about where to strike.
After a trip to Kyiv last month, Austin told reporters, "We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can't do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine."
Austin's frank comments came a few weeks after President Joe Biden was accused of calling for regime change in Russia after he said Russian President Vladimir Putin "cannot remain in power." The White House scrambled to clarify the Biden's remarks, stating, "The president's point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin's power in Russia or regime change."Following up on Austin's comments, a National Security Council spokesperson in a statement to CNN said, "We want Ukraine to win," adding, "One of our goals has been to limit Russia's ability to do something like this again, as Secretary Austin said. That's why we are arming the Ukrainians."
On the heels of the bombshell Times story, a separate report from NBC News said that US intelligence also helped Ukraine sink the Moskva — a guided missile cruiser and the flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet. Richard Haass, a veteran diplomat and president of the Council on Foreign Relations, in a tweet responding to reports on the Moskva said he couldn't "fathom why US officials are discussing US helping Ukraine sink Russian ships or kill its generals."Haass warned that "this bolsters Putin's narrative that Russia is a victim" while distracting "attention from the reality of Russian aggression and its incompetence vs Ukraine."The Biden administration has forcefully pushed back on the notion it has explicitly provided intelligence to Ukraine for the purpose of taking out specific people or targets. National Security Council spokesperson Adrienne Watson on Wednesday said the Times report was framed in an "irresponsible" way."The United States provides battlefield intelligence to help the Ukrainians defend their country. We do not provide intelligence with the intent to kill Russian generals," Watson added. Similarly, Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby on Thursday said the US doesn't "provide intelligence on the location of senior military leaders on the battlefield or participate in the targeting decisions of the Ukrainian military."Kirby in a statement said the US didn't provide Ukraine "specific targeting information for the Moskva," per NBC. "We were not involved in the Ukrainians' decision to strike the ship or in the operation they carried out," Kirby went on to say, adding, "We had no prior knowledge of Ukraine's intent to target the ship. The Ukrainians have their own intelligence capabilities to track and target Russian naval vessels, as they did in this case."Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov seemed to brush off the reports on US intelligence sharing with Ukraine. The Russian military is "well aware that the United States, Great Britain and NATO as a whole are constantly transmitting intelligence and other parameters to the Ukrainian armed forces," Peskov told reporters on Thursday, Reuters reported. Peskov said that the intelligence sharing, combined with the weapons the West is giving Ukraine, doesn't "contribute to the quick completion" of Russia's war. But he added that it also won't hinder Russia's ability to achieve its goals in Ukraine. Contrary to Peskov's claims, which were in line with Moscow's rosy propaganda on the war, the Russian military has struggled to make any significant gains in Ukraine since Putin ordered the invasion in late February. Russia is estimated to have lost up to 15,000 troops. After failing to take Kyiv, Russia has turned its attention to the eastern Donbas region.

Moskva sinking: US gave intelligence that helped Ukraine sink Russian cruiser - reports
BBC/May 06/2022
Unnamed officials said Ukraine had asked the US about a ship sailing to the south of Odesa. The US said it was the Moskva and helped confirm its location. Ukraine then struck it with two missiles. The Pentagon has not commented. But a spokesman said the US gave intelligence to help Ukraine defend itself. The unnamed US officials quoted in media reports said they did not know that Ukraine would target the Moskva after helping determine its location. The 510-crew missile cruiser had led Russia's naval assault on Ukraine, and its sinking was a major symbolic and military blow. At the time, the Russian defence ministry said ammunition on board the Moskva exploded in an unexplained fire and the ship tipped over while being towed back to port. The US is yet to directly address the reports about the Moskva. However Pentagon spokesman John Kirby denied earlier media reports that the US was providing information about the locations of senior Russian generals on the battlefield, so that Ukrainian forces could kill them. "We do not provide intelligence on the location of senior military leaders on the battlefield or participate in the targeting decisions of the Ukrainian military," he said.
Mr Kirby said Ukraine combined information that the US and others provided with their own battlefield intelligence. "Then they make their own decisions, and they take their own actions," he said. The White House National Security Council (NSC) also denied the US was helping Ukraine target senior Russian officers. "We do not provide intelligence with the intent to kill Russian generals," NSC spokesperson Adrienne Watson said. The Biden administration is ramping up support for Ukraine. President Biden has asked Congress for $33bn (£27bn) in military, economic and humanitarian assistance to support Ukraine, while insisting that the US was not "attacking Russia". The sum is more than twice as much as the US has already spent on providing military equipment and humanitarian aid. The BBC's North America Editor Sarah Smith says Mr Biden wants to show he is undeterred by vague threats about the possible use of nuclear weapons, and a warning from Vladimir Putin that there could be retaliatory strikes against countries that intervene in Ukraine. Russia's foreign ministry has said Western military support for Ukraine threatens "the security of the continent".

Russia Says it Will Not Use Nuclear Weapons in Ukraine
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 6 May, 2022
Russia will not use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, foreign ministry spokesman Alexei Zaitsev said on Friday. Zaitsev told reporters the use of nuclear weapons by Russia - a risk that Western officials have publicly discussed – was not applicable to what Moscow calls its special military operation in Ukraine. CIA director William Burns said on April 14 that given the setbacks Russia had suffered in Ukraine, "none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons."

Three Israelis killed near Tel Aviv in stabbing attack condemned by Abbas
The Arab Weekly/May 06/2022
Israeli security forces launched a manhunt Friday for two Palestinians suspected of killing three Israelis in an attack that came as the Jewish state marked its founding while Palestinian mourned the anniversary as “Nakba” (catastrophe).
The attack on Thursday night in Elad, a central city mainly populated by ultra-Orthodox Jews, was the sixth in which Israelis have been targeted since March 22.
Witnesses said that two assailants leapt from a car using axes. They killed three Israelis and wounded four, before fleeing in the same vehicle. The attack came hours after clashes between Israelis and Palestinians at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, a highly contested site in Jerusalem's Israeli-annexed Old City that has been the focal point during weeks of violence. It followed a tense period in which the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the Jewish festival of Passover and the Christian holiday of Easter overlapped. Palestinians have been angered by an uptick in Jewish visits to the Al-Aqsa compound, where by long-standing convention Jews may visit but are not allowed to pray. Israel has said the status quo would remain unchanged at the site known to Jews as the Temple Mount. The Elad attack was condemned by the United States.
The US “vehemently” denounced a “horrific” attack, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a press statement Thursday. “This was a horrific attack targeting innocent men and women, and was particularly heinous coming as Israel celebrated its Independence Day,” he said. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose government administers autonomous zones in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and cooperates with Israel on security, also condemned the attack. “The killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians leads only to more deterioration at a time when all of us try to achieve stability and prevent escalation,” the official Wafa news agency quoted him as saying.
The Palestinian militant group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, praised the attack and linked it to violence at the Jerusalem holy site.
“The storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque can’t go unpunished,” Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said. “The heroic operation in Tel Aviv is a practical translation of what the resistance had warned against.”But Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian armed group, praised the attack, calling it a consequence of unrest at Al-Aqsa. Neither group claimed responsibility. "This operation demonstrates our people's anger at the occupation's attacks on holy sites," Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem said of the attack in Elad."The storming of the Al-Aqsa mosque cannot go unpunished."
- 'Pay the price' -
Israeli security forces have mounted a massive search operation for the attackers, identified by the police as Assad Yussef al-Rifai, 19, and Subhi Imad Abu Shukair, 20.
As helicopters and drones roared overhead in search of the perpetrators, young ultra-Orthodox Jewish men in crisp white shirts were seen linking arms and chanting near the scene of the attack. Women gathered on balconies overlooking the site, as masked forensic officers packed the bodies of the dead into bags and police stopped and searched cars. Police asked the public to provide information on the suspects after publishing their pictures and names. They were described as residents of the village of Rummanah near Jenin in the occupied West Bank. Israel's Defence Minister Benny Gantz announced measures to stop them from escaping. Alon Rizkan of the Magen David Adom emergency response service said the "scene of the attack was complex", adding he had seen a 40-year-old man lying dead near a roundabout, another man unconscious at an adjoining park and a wounded man next to him. Both later died of their injuries.The dead were identified by Israeli media as Yonatan Habakuk, 44, and Boaz Gol, 49, both from Elad, and Oren Ben Yiftah, a 35-year-old from the central city of Lod. "We will get our hands on the terrorists... and ensure they pay the price," Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said. The majority of Elad's 50,000 residents are members of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, known as Haredim.Gantz announced a closure of the West Bank -- in place for the anniversary -- would remain in force through Sunday.
- Spate of attacks -
Prior to Thursday's incident, a string of attacks since March 22 had killed 15 people, including an Arab-Israeli police officer and two Ukrainians, in separate attacks inside Israel. Two of the deadly attacks were carried out in the Tel Aviv area by Palestinians.
A total of 27 Palestinians and three Israeli Arabs have died during the same period, among them perpetrators of attacks and those killed by Israeli security forces in West Bank operations. Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said, "the joy of independence day had been interrupted in an instant". For Palestinians, the anniversary of Israel's 1948 declaration of independence marks the “Nakba”, or "catastrophe", when more than 700,000 fled or were expelled during the war surrounding Israel's creation.
Last week, the Gaza Strip's Islamist rulers Hamas threatened Israel with rockets and attacks on synagogues if its security forces carried out further raids on the Al-Aqsa mosque compound. "Whoever has a rifle must have it ready, and whoever does not have a rifle must prepare their knife or their axe," said Yahya Sinwar, Hamas chief in the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian enclave. The latest violence on Thursday at Al-Aqsa came following a tense April, in which nearly 300 people were injured in clashes between police and Palestinians at the site.

Israel Launches Manhunt after Deadly Attack in Elad
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 6 May, 2022
Israeli forces launched a manhunt Friday for attackers who killed three people in the central city of Elad as the country marked independence day. The search -- backed by a large deployment of security personnel, helicopters, drones and roadblocks -- was seeking what police described as "one or two terrorists", who remained at large hours after the attack. Witnesses and emergency responders said the attackers used axes. Police set up roadblocks to try to catch the assailants who fled the scene, about 15 km from Tel Aviv. On television, Elad's mayor urged residents to stay indoors while security forces were still operating. The Magen David Adom emergency response service, which confirmed the deaths, said four others were wounded. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned the attack. The official Palestinian news agency WAFA quoted him as saying "the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians will only lead to more deterioration of the situation." But Hamas and Islamic Jihad praised the Elad attack, calling it a consequence of unrest at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound. Neither group claimed responsibility. There have been a spate of Arab street attacks in Israel in recent weeks. Prior to Elad, Palestinians and members of Israel's Arab minority had killed 15 people, including three police officers and a security guard, in attacks in Israel and the West Bank that have mostly targeted civilians. Israel has responded with arrest raids in Palestinian towns and villages which have often sparked clashes and brought the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of the year to at least 40. The casualties include armed members of militant groups, lone assailants and bystanders.

US condemns Israel’s plans to expand settlements in occupied Palestinian lands
Joseph Haboush, Al Arabiya English/ 07 May ,2022
The Biden administration on Friday strongly condemned Israel’s plans to build new settlements in occupied Palestinian territories after Israeli officials said they would approve 4,000 new housing units in the West Bank. The State Department’s deputy spokesperson, Jalina Porter, said that the US was aware of Israel’s decision to announce the move on May 12. “We strongly oppose the expansion of settlements which exacerbates tensions and undermines trust between the parties,” Porter told reporters during a phone briefing. “Israel’s program of expanding settlements deeply damages the prospect for a two-state solution,” Porter said. “The Biden administration has been clear from the outset.”US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides told Axios that “he and other Biden administration officials have made it clear to the Israeli government that the administration is opposed to new building in the settlements and asked it not to move ahead with it.”The Axios report also cited Israeli officials telling US counterparts that Israel’s fragile government could collapse if the settlements were not approved. But the Israeli decision is expected to exacerbate tensions and violence which have escalated in recent weeks between Palestinians and Israelis. Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound has been the scene of renewed clashes while multiple attacks have been carried out against Israeli civilians. On Thursday, two Palestinians killed three Israelis and wounded four more in an attack inside Israel. Porter condemned the “terrorist attack” and said it was “particularly heinous coming as Israel celebrated its Independence Day. “We remain in close contact with our Israeli friends and partners and stand firmly with them in the face of this attack.”

Iraq’s Sadrist Movement, Coordination Framework Bet on Independent MPs for Forming Gov’t
Baghdad – Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 6 May, 2022
Sadrist Movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr concluded the forty-day deadline he granted his opponents (the Coordination Framework) to form the government, with a surprising tweet. A day after the Coordination Framework announced an initiative to solve the political impasse in the country, seven months after holding “early” elections, throwing the ball into the court of the independents to form a government, Sadr announced his plan to form a government. Sadr declared on Wednesday that the Coordination Framework had “failed” to form a government in the period they were provided, and called on the legislature's 43 independent members, to form a government “within a maximum period of 15 days.”“Independent deputies will, within two days, present their vision on the issue of the political impasse and the proposed initiatives,” independent MP Hussein Arbab, coordinator of the “Independent Iraq Alliance,” told Asharq Al-Awsat.Arbab declined to comment on the independents' position with either initiative presented by Sadr and the Coordination Framework. However, he acknowledged the existence of “different views among independent representatives regarding the possibility of participating in the government and holding executive positions or not.”For his part, Chairman of Iraq Advisory Council Farhad Alaaldin identified the categories of independents in the Iraqi parliament. “Those who are truly independent are less than seven,” tweeted Alaaldin, adding that those who say they are independent but side with the Coordination Framework are at least ten. Independent lawmakers influenced by Sadr are between seven and ten. Between 24 and 30 independent lawmakers are either influenced or funded by some party or politician, added Alaaldin. Given what has been mentioned, Alaaldin predicted the stalemate to last. While the Coordination Framework’s initiative stipulated that everyone sit at one dialogue table, Sadr cut off any path to dialogue with his opponents and called on independent representatives to join his alliance and promised to give them more space to form a government.

Moscow Ready to Host New Round of Palestinian Dialogue
Moscow - Raed Jaber/ Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 6 May, 2022
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and North Africa Mikhail Bogdanov held on Thursday a comprehensive round of talks with a visiting Hamas delegation in Moscow. The Russian diplomat said the meeting was useful and constructive, according to the official Tass news agency. He added that the delegation included three members from the Hamas leadership, including Deputy Chairman of the Hamas Political Bureau Mousa Abu Marzouk. “Everyone understands the importance of traditionally friendly Russian-Palestinian relations, and we maintain contact with all the leading political and social forces in Palestine,” Bogdanov was quoted as saying. He noted that the discussions touched on the Palestinian reconciliation, underlining that his country has renewed its call for a new round of negotiations between the Palestinian factions in Moscow. The deputy minister explained that Russia has repeatedly reiterated its willingness to make additional efforts in this regard. “We are always ready to present the Moscow platform for public meetings, bilateral or trilateral talks, based on the request of the Palestinians themselves,” he stated. Bogdanov continued as reported by Tass: “We, on our part, reaffirmed our unwavering principled stance - to support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the borders of 1967 with the capital in East Jerusalem. And this position is based exactly on the well-known international legal framework of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement.”The Russian official went on to say that Thursday’s meeting tackled developments in Jerusalem, where Russia emphasized the need to stop the escalation. The Hamas delegation, which includes Marzouk, Fathi Hammad and Hussam Badran, in addition to the movement's representative in Moscow, held other meetings with parliamentarians and representatives of Russian social organizations.

US Drug Regulator Limits Use of J&J Covid Vaccine
Asharq Al-Awsat/Friday, 6 May, 2022
The US said Thursday only adults who "have personal concerns" about mRNA vaccines, access issues or medical reasons for refusing them may now receive the Johnson & Johnson Covid shot, which has been linked to a rare but serious clotting condition. The vaccine, which was authorized as a single shot, is less protective than those developed by Pfizer and Moderna, and in December the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised the public to steer clear, said AFP. Thursday's decision by the Food and Drug Administration builds on that recommendation by limiting the J&J vaccine's emergency use authorization. "Today's action demonstrates the robustness of our safety surveillance systems and our commitment to ensuring that science and data guide our decisions," said FDA scientist Peter Marks in a statement. Sixty US cases of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS), which produces rare and potentially life-threatening blood clots with low levels of blood platelets, had been reported by March 18, with nine deaths. Symptoms begin approximately one to two weeks following administration, and the condition -- which can cause life-long impacts even when not fatal -- occurs more frequently in premenopausal women. Concerns over the vaccine have already limited uptake: Only 18.7 million doses have been administered in the United States, or about 3.2 percent of the total 577 million. But the FDA stopped short of an outright de-authorization, with Marks acknowledging the impact a ban might have on global use of the vaccine, as well as concerns some may have specifically against mRNA vaccines, rather than the adenovirus vector platform J&J uses. There are certain health-based justifications for not taking an mRNA vaccine -- such as rare instances of heart inflammation in adolescent males and young men -- although these are usually transient in nature and the vast majority affected recover completely. However, anti-vaccine groups have also raised more general objections against mRNA vaccines, which are tied to conspiracy theories. Although those types of concerns are not rooted in evidence, the exemption to use J&J's shot nonetheless extends to "individuals who have personal concerns with receiving mRNA vaccines and would otherwise not receive a Covid-19 vaccine," the FDA's statement said.

White House warns of ‘unintended consequences’ of Senate’s NOPEC bill
Reuters/Arab News/May 06, 2022
RIYADH: Anti-OPEC legislation going through the US congress could harm President Joe Biden’s efforts to bring stability to the oil markets, the White House has warned
A spokesperson for the administration said there are concerns over the “unintended consequences” of the move, which would give powers to US prosecutors to sue organizations for perceived anti-competitive actions in the oil markets.
When Congress passed a version of the bill in 2007, it died under veto threat from President George W. Bush who said it could lead to oil supply disruptions as well as “retaliatory action against American interests.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee has voted 17:4 to approve the No Oil Producing and Exporting Cartels Act, in a signal of the growing tension between the US and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, known as OPEC+.
The organization has been resisting calls from the US to sign off a dramatic increase in output amid a surge in energy prices.
On Thursday, OPEC+ agreed to stick to plans for a gradual oil output increase — amounting to 432,000 barrels per day in June.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was quoted by Bloomberg as saying that while Biden does not outright oppose the bill, “the potential implications and unintended consequences of this legislation require further study and deliberation.”
“We are taking a look at it and certainly have some concerns about what the potential implications could be,” she added.
Concerns over the bill — forms of which have been around for around 20 years — were also voiced by Mike Sommers, president of American Petroleum Institute.
He agreed there could be “serious, unintended consequences”, including giving OPEC members the green light to issue such measures on US firms.
The growing tension between the US and OPEC+ prompted former Saudi Intelligence chief Prince Turki Al-Faisal to insist it is the policies of the White House that are responsible for the country’s energy price rises.
In an interview with Arab News' Frankly Speaking with Katie Jensen, the Prince said: “When you say that Saudi Arabia has not budged on the issue of the oil problems that America is facing, basically America itself is the reason for the state that they’re in because of their energy policy.”
This view was shared by Republican senator Ted Cruz, who spoke out during a debate on the legislation.
“It is important for the American people to understand that the cause of the high prices at the gas pump right now is not Opec,” he said, saying the Democrats "desperately trying to find a bad guy” for high oil prices.
Another Republican senator, John Kennedy, said Biden “does not want America to produce its oil and gas,” which has given increased market power to OPEC.
The decision by OPEC+ to sign off a modest production rise came a day after the EU proposed a phased oil embargo on Russia in its toughest measures yet to punish Moscow for its war in Ukraine.
EXPLAINER-Why NOPEC, the U.S. bill to crush the OPEC cartel, matters
WHAT IS THE NOPEC BILL?
The bipartisan NOPEC bill https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/977 would change U.S. antitrust law to revoke the sovereign immunity that has long protected OPEC and its national oil companies from lawsuits.
If signed into law, the U.S. attorney general would gain the ability to sue the oil cartel or its members, such as Saudi Arabia, in federal court. Other producers like Russia, which works with OPEC in wider group known as OPEC+ to withhold output, could also be sued.
It is unclear exactly how a federal court could enforce judicial antitrust decisions against a foreign nation. But several attempts at NOPEC over more than two decades have worried OPEC's de facto leader Saudi Arabia, leading Riyadh to lobby hard every time a version of the bill has come up.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to pass the most recent version of the bill on Thursday.
To become law, the bill would then have to pass the full Senate and House and be signed by the president.
The White House has not indicated whether President Joe Biden supports the bill, and it is not clear whether the bill has enough support in Congress to get that far.
WHAT'S CHANGED NOW?
Previous versions of the NOPEC bill have failed amid resistance by oil industry groups like the American Petroleum Institute.
But anger has risen lately in the U.S. Congress about soaring gasoline prices that have helped fuel inflation to the highest level in decades, raising the chances of its success this time.
OPEC producers have rebuffed requests by the United States and allies to open the oil taps by more than gradual amounts as global consumers emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine keep oil prices boiling.
Russia, which typically has produced about 10% of the world's oil, could see crude output drop as much as 17% this year as Moscow struggles with Western sanctions.
POTENTIAL BLOWBACK
Some analysts said that rushing a bill through could lead to unintended blowback, including the possibility that other countries could take similar action on the United States for withholding agricultural output to support domestic farming, for example.
"It's always a bad idea to make policy when you are angry," said Mark Finley, a fellow in energy and global oil at Rice University's Baker Institute and former analyst and manager at the Central Intelligence Agency.
OPEC nations could also strike back in other ways.
In 2019, for example, Saudi Arabia threatened to sell its oil in currencies other than the dollar if Washington passed a version of the NOPEC bill. Doing so would undermine the dollar's status as the world's main reserve currency, reduce Washington's clout in global trade, and weaken its ability to enforce sanctions on nation states.
The kingdom could also decide to buy at least some weapons from countries other than the United States, hitting a lucrative business for U.S. defense contractors.
In addition, the kingdom and other oil producers could limit U.S. investments in their countries or simply raise their prices for oil sold into the United States - undermining the basic aim of the bill.
The United States and its allies are already facing big challenges securing reliable energy supplies, said Paul Sullivan, a Middle East analyst and non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center. "The last thing we need to do is to throw a grenade into this."
U.S. OIL INDUSTRY OPPOSED
The top U.S. oil lobby group, the American Petroleum Institute, has also come out against the NOPEC bill, saying it could hurt domestic oil and gas producers.
One industry concern is that NOPEC legislation could ultimately lead to overproduction by OPEC, bringing prices so low that U.S. energy companies have difficulty boosting output. Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries have some of the world's cheapest and easiest reserves to produce.
A wave of oil from OPEC producers, even at a time of concerns about Russian supply, "could chill drilling activity in the U.S. oil patch, potentially putting both domestic energy security and domestic economic recovery at risk," said ClearView Energy Partners, a nonpartisan research group in a note to clients.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on May 06-07/2022
Can the Intelligence Community Tell What’s Brewing in Afghanistan?
Reuel Marc Gerech/Hoover Institution/May 06/2022
Whenever the United States gets traumatized by the unexpected abroad, discussions inevitably start about the inadequacy of American intelligence collection and analysis. There is truth behind this reflex response: US intelligence organizations, particularly the two largest and most consequential, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Agency (NSA), the latter of which is responsible for the bulk of America’s intercept of foreign communications and other digital treasure troves, often don’t perform as envisioned. Criticisms of the NSA usually revolve around timeliness—seeing and analyzing the intercepts soon enough—and the unavoidable mathematical problems that give encryption an advantage over decryption. And Langley has a way of confidently repackaging establishment biases, in both analysis and operations, which makes it comfortable speaking “truth” to power except when conventional wisdom fails. Weapons of mass destruction—seeing them when they’re not there, not seeing them when they are—revolutionary movements, and religious terrorism have been challenging subjects for Langley to get ahead of. And the Directorate of Operations, the outfit that makes the CIA special among America’s intelligence services, has long-standing problems with agent recruitment—a chronic inability to put the right operatives on difficult targets long enough to develop creative approaches and a promotions system that rewards case officers who recruit by volume not quality—that may well have given us, among other things, nearly useless agents against the Taliban and Al-Qa’ida.
The debacle in Afghanistan has produced continuing recriminations among those in political circles, who are, if in power, always willing to blame foreign messes on poor intelligence and not on policies and the politicians who advance them. It is becoming clear that both the Pentagon and Langley knew enough and warned enough about the fragility of the Afghan army for the Biden administration to know that a pretty quick collapse was possible. The early assumption of many observers—that the US military and the CIA didn’t have a decent grasp of the Taliban’s capacity—appears now to have been mostly misplaced. Langley saw the shah surviving the tumult in 1978; military and intelligence officers thought the Afghan army and the Kabul government could go down in under six months. We should, perhaps, still hesitate in rendering final judgment since “cover-your-ass” recollections, which is what journalists often hear, are baptismal in public service. When we see the official paper trail—the classified cables and emails—we will know clearly who knew what when about the ugly end.
Predicting accurately what was going to happen, however, shouldn’t have taken much analytical prowess; it required a map and pins to mark all that had fallen to the Taliban over the preceding year. And knowing how fast the Afghan army was likely to crack isn’t the most interesting question. It helps little with the salient counterterrorist concerns still before us. Another 9/11 might still happen. The age of mass-casualty Islamic terrorism, though likely evanescing, may not be over. And Afghanistan and Pakistan—the two should probably be viewed as a tandem couple—are still the two most likely spots to serve as headquarters for an anti-American, mass-casualty attack.
*Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former Iranian-targets officer in the Central Intelligence Agency, is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Follow him on Twitter @ReuelMGerecht. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, non-partisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.
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Russia and China: The Worst Moment in History Coming Soon
Gordon G. Chang/Gatestone Institute/May 06/2022
Russia has a nuclear doctrine known as "escalate to deescalate" or, more accurately, "escalate to win," which contemplates threatening or using nuclear weapons early in a conventional conflict.
It cannot be a good sign that Russia, China, and North Korea at the same time are threatening to launch the world's most destructive weaponry.
Because the Western democracies have largely stood down and are clearly not fighting in Ukraine, Beijing and Pyongyang want similar successes.
"Like Vladimir Putin, the Communist Party of China has lost its fear of American power... China's nuclear threats expose... perceived American weakness, expose the risk of the lack of a U.S. regional nuclear deterrent, and expose the inadequacy of U.S. leadership." — Richard Fisher of the Virginia-based International Assessment and Strategy Center, to the author, March 2022.
Whatever the reason for the threats, Putin and Xi have told everyone what they intend to do. Unfortunately, Western leaders are determined not to believe them.
In response to Russian threats, President Joe Biden on February 28 said the American people should not worry about nuclear war. On the contrary, there is every reason to worry.
In line with Western thinking, presidents and prime ministers have almost always ignored nuclear threats, hoping not to dignify them. Unfortunately, this posture has only emboldened the threat-makers to make more threats. The later the international community confronts belligerent Russians, Chinese, and North Koreans, the more dangerous the confrontations will be.
The world, therefore, looks like it is fast approaching the worst moment in history.
Russia has a nuclear doctrine known as "escalate to deescalate" or, more accurately, "escalate to win," which contemplates threatening or using nuclear weapons early in a conventional conflict. It cannot be a good sign that Russia, China, and North Korea at the same time are threatening to launch the world's most destructive weaponry. Pictured: Mobile intercontinental ballistic missile launchers at a military parade in Moscow, Russia, on June 24, 2020. (Photo by Sergey Pyatakov - Host Photo Agency via Getty Images )
On May 1, on Russian TV, the media executive often called "Putin's mouthpiece" urged the Russian president to launch a Poseidon underwater drone with a "warhead of up to 100 megatons." The detonation, said Dmitry Kiselyov, would create a 1,640-foot tidal wave that would "plunge Britain to the depths of the ocean." The wave would reach halfway up England's tallest peak, Scafell Pike.
"This tidal wave is also a carrier of extremely high doses of radiation," Kiselyov pointed out. "Surging over Britain, it will turn whatever is left of them into radioactive desert, unusable for anything. How do you like this prospect?"
"A single launch, Boris, and there is no England anymore," said Kiselyov, addressing the British prime minister.
The threat followed one on April 28 made by Aleksey Zhuravlyov, chairman of Russia's pro-Kremlin Rodina Party. On the "60 Minutes" program carried on Channel One, Russian TV, he urged Putin to nuke Britain with a Sarmat, the world's largest and heaviest missile.
The program noted that a missile launched from Russia's Kaliningrad enclave would take 106 seconds to hit Berlin, 200 seconds to reach Paris, and 202 seconds to obliterate London.
The NATO designation of the Sarmat is "Satan II."
Putin himself has gotten in on the fun. Just before sending his forces across Ukraine's border, he warned of "consequences you have never encountered in your history." On February 27, he put his nuclear forces on high alert. On March 1, the Russian leader actually sortied his ballistic missile submarines and land-based mobile missile launchers in what was called a drill. On May 4, the Russian Defense Ministry announced "electronic launches" in Kaliningrad of its nuclear-capable Iskander mobile ballistic missile.
Russia has a nuclear doctrine known as "escalate to deescalate" or, more accurately, "escalate to win," which contemplates threatening or using nuclear weapons early in a conventional conflict.
China, which on February 4 issued a joint statement with Russia about their no-limits partnership, has this century been periodically making unprovoked threats to destroy the cities of states that have somehow offended it. In July of last year, for instance, the Chinese regime threatened to nuke Japan over its support for Taiwan. In September, China issued a similar threat against Australia because it had joined with the U.S. and U.K. in the AUKUS pact, an arrangement to maintain stability in the region. This March, China's Ministry of Defense promised the "worst consequences" for countries helping Taiwan defend itself. The threat appeared especially directed against Australia.
This month, North Korea said that, in addition to using nuclear weapons to retaliate against an attack, it might launch nukes to attack others.
It cannot be a good sign that Russia, China, and North Korea at the same time are threatening to launch the world's most destructive weaponry.
Why are the planet's most dangerous regimes all making such threats?
First, Putin showed the world these warnings in fact intimidate. As Hudson Institute senior fellow Peter Huessy told me in March, escalating to win assumes nuclear threats will "coerce an enemy to stand down and not fight." Because the Western democracies have largely stood down and are clearly not fighting in Ukraine, Beijing and Pyongyang want similar successes.
Second, Putin and Chinese ruler Xi Jinping could make such threats because they do not respect nations perceived as enemies. "The bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan and the unwillingness to effectively support Ukraine since our 1994 guarantee and especially over the past year have led nuclear-armed enemies to ratchet up threats to the U.S. and its allies," Huessy, also president of GeoStrategic Analysis, said to Gatestone at the beginning of this month. "They sense a growing American weakness."
"Like Vladimir Putin, the Communist Party of China has lost its fear of American power," Richard Fisher of the Virginia-based International Assessment and Strategy Center said to me shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. "China's nuclear threats expose the Party's arrogance in the face of perceived American weakness, expose the risk of the lack of a U.S. regional nuclear deterrent, and expose the inadequacy of U.S. leadership."
Third, internal considerations may make such threats easy to make. Many say the most dangerous moment since World War II was the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. Perhaps even more perilous was the Checkpoint Charlie standoff in Berlin the preceding October. Yet both Kennedy and Khrushchev knew there must never be a nuclear exchange. The issue today is whether Putin and Xi know that as well. Maybe they do not.
These threats may reveal that the leaders of these regimes share a last-days-in-the-bunker mentality. Both Russia and China, albeit in different ways, are ruled by regimes in distress, which means their leaders undoubtedly have low thresholds of risk.
Whatever the reason for the threats, Putin and Xi have told everyone what they intend to do. Unfortunately, Western leaders are determined not to believe them.
In response to Russian threats, President Joe Biden on February 28 said the American people should not worry about nuclear war. On the contrary, there is every reason to worry.
In line with Western thinking, presidents and prime ministers have almost always ignored nuclear threats, hoping not to dignify them. Unfortunately, this posture has only emboldened the threat-makers to make more threats. The later the international community confronts belligerent Russians, Chinese, and North Koreans, the more dangerous the confrontations will be.
The world, therefore, looks like it is fast approaching the worst moment in history.
"A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought," Biden stated in June of last year. Maybe. Putin, who jointly issued those words with the American president, may think he can wage one and even win.
*Gordon G. Chang is the author of The Coming Collapse of China, a Gatestone Institute distinguished senior fellow, and a member of its Advisory Board.
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Andy Levin’s ‘Two-State Bill’ Won’t Support Middle East Peace
Shany Mor/The National Interest/May 06/2022
On statehood, there is nothing left to discuss. Israel’s concession on this issue in 2000 is now a starting point for negotiations, and there is no expectation that the Palestinian side should give anything for it (for example, a full recognition of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state that might constitute a termination of claims). On borders, Levin’s bill again leaves little room for negotiation, insisting that every inch of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem are “occupied Palestinian territories,” an ahistorical determination that successive U.S. administrations have always avoided. On settlements, the bill insists that U.S. policy should view them all as violations of international law, even though the Oslo Accords leave settlements as an issue to be negotiated and explicitly stipulate continued Israeli control over them in the interim. The bill’s designation of all of Jerusalem beyond the 1949 armistice line as “Palestinian”—including, for example, the Jewish Quarter of the Old City and disputed holy sites—is perhaps its most thoughtless overreach. It is particularly curious in light of the pieties heard only just recently about the dangers of American statements on Jerusalem when the previous administration moved the U.S. Embassy there.
On other final-status issues, the bill is curiously silent. Not a word about security arrangements once two states are achieved. Nothing about mutual recognition or termination of claims. And absolutely nothing on the refugee issue. If it is U.S. policy that any Israeli civilian presence beyond the 1949 armistice line is illegitimate, it seems reasonable for it to be U.S. policy that any resettlement of descendants of Palestinian refugees within the armistice lines is equally illegitimate.
And in fact, it is self-evident that improving the terms for the Palestinians since they rejected Israel’s Camp David peace offers can’t possibly bring either side closer to resolution. In any confrontation, a mediated compromise is viable only if it is better for both sides than what either side could realistically hope to attain in open conflict.
And yet, since 2000, the consensus among the think tank crowd, as well as among self-appointed experts, has been to meet each Palestinian rejection with terms that are better for the Palestinians and worse for Israel. There is no historical precedent for mediation that offered a sweeter deal to the side that rejected a previous offer or status quo, initiated a violent confrontation, and was defeated. It’s easy to see why. No winning side in a conflict would agree to such a resolution, because that side would be better off just continuing to fight. And no losing side would agree, either, because it, too, would be better off rejecting and fighting as it receives better and better terms.
It is astonishing to realize that the accepted view of learned opinion on Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy since the failure of the Oslo process runs so counter to any tried and tested conception of peacemaking. An agreement between any two belligerent parties—warring nations, labor and management, a divorcing couple—is possible only when the proposed agreement is better for both parties than the result of open confrontation could be for either.
The current approach to peacemaking can only incentivize further conflict. If the losing side can get better terms by rejection and violence, it will keep rejecting and pursuing violence. If the winning side gets worse terms by making peace than by maintaining the status quo, it will seek to maintain the status quo. None of this is new or particularly insightful. It is how the expert class approaches every conflict in the world—except for the one involving the Jewish state.
This is an elementary principle of conflict mediation, yet it is always abandoned in Palestinian-Israeli peacemaking, with entirely predictable results.
Metaphysics of Occupation
In the absence of any coherent concept of conflict resolution, we are instead treated to a metaphysics of occupation. The occupation looms large over the entire bill and the entire output of expert analysis that underlies it. It is always cause and never effect. An FAQ accompanying Levin’s bill links to only one news article, a New York Times piece that labels the occupation as the “heart of the conflict.”
This, too, flies in the face not just of accumulated knowledge about conflict resolution in general, but also the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The occupation, in this rendering, exists on its own and explains everything in its wake. But this is nonsense. Occupations don’t cause war; they are the result of war. When two sides clash in an armed conflict, it is not unusual that at the end of the conflict, one or both sides (usually the winner, but sometimes both) is occupying territory previously held by the other. Ordinarily, this is where negotiations begin for a diplomatic settlement (an armistice, a truce, or even a full peace treaty). And once a new line is agreed upon (sometimes even the same as the line before the war, especially if that line was an internationally recognized border, which was not the case in 1967), both sides redeploy to opposite sides of it.
But to acknowledge this truth would mean acknowledging the twin truths of how the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza began and why it has lasted so long. The occupation began with the defeat of a coalition of three Arab armies in their attempt to wipe Israel off the map. The occupation’s persistence lies in the refusal, initially of the defeated Arab states and later of the self-governing Palestinians, to accept any peace deal that would require full reconciliation with the existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East.
The way to end this occupation is the same way previous occupations ended, by reaching some sort of diplomatic agreement that either ends the conflict completely or at least effects some sort of agreed-upon truce.
Levin’s bill, were it enacted, would never achieve its ostensible goal. It could achieve only two things. Between Israel and the Palestinians, it would actually entrench the conflict further by incentivizing precisely those actions that have made reaching a final peace accord difficult over the past two decades. In the United States, it would merely provide a basis for further moral disengagement from Israel within mainstream liberal politics and for additional demonization of Israel just outside of it.
*Shany Mor is an adjunct fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Follow him on Twitter at @ShMMor.

Perils of Putin’s Victory Parade
Amir Taheri/Asharq Al-Awsat/May 06/ 2022
What do you do when you have called a victory parade but have no victory to parade?
This is the question that Russian President Vladimir Putin faces as his faction factory prepares to churn out a gigantic street show in Moscow with Tsarist eagles with varvels bearing Volodya’s coat of arms.
The answer is that Putin is likely to keep the parade on May 9 and invent a victory to go with it. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, an erstwhile chum of Putin, even claims that Tsar Vladimir will declare victory in his war against Ukraine in tune with his cheat-and-retreat tactic of one step backwards to prepare for the next two steps forward.
We shall soon know whether Orban’s prophesy is anything but wishful thinking. Rather than signaling the end of hostilities, Putin may announce a widening of the perimeters of a war he no longer controls.
But one thing is certain: Putin has used partial or even imaginary victories before to camouflage tactical defeats. He did that in 2008 after invading Georgia and annexing South Ossetia and Abkhazia and repeated the tactic in 2014 after invading Ukraine and annexing Crimea. This time, however, Putin may find his cheat-and-retreat tactic more problematic. In invading Ukraine again he made two big mistakes. First, he set himself the goal of conquering and reshaping Ukraine as a whole as a vassal state if not a mere province of Mother Russia.
Secondly, he marketed his aggression as a defensive imperative against Western “conspirators” trying to carve Russia into several mini-states.
The invasion has led to an unexpected strengthening of creaking political and military bonds among Western powers and whetted their appetite for regime change in Moscow, something that many, perhaps even most, would have shied away from before Putin began raining his missiles on Kiev.
Thus even if Putin were to declare victory and thus signal the end of hostilities, at least for the time being, there is no guarantee that Western powers would simply abandon their declared, at times contradictory, war aims.
US President Joe Biden has publicly called for ending Putin’s domination of Russia. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says the Western aim is to so weaken Russia that it is never again able to invade another country. French Minister of Finance and Economy Bruno Le Maire says the aim of the war is to “destroy the Russian economy.” Other senior Western officials speak of bringing Putin and his close associates to justice on charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The British government has already asked a commission to start working on that scheme.
Just a few months ago all the talk in Western capitals was about a possible ceasefire followed by negotiations to bring a quick end to hostilities as a priority. Now, however, that priority has faded into diplomatic fog as Western leaders compete with each other to supply more weapons to Ukraine and impose more sanctions and Russia, moves that are bound to prolong rather than shorten the war.
The problem is that, though regime change in Moscow seems to be the ultimate aim of Western leaders, none has spelled out a credible strategy to achieve it. This may be due to a desire to use diplomatic ambiguity as a political weapon against Putin. But its side effect could be the prolongation of a war that cannot produce total victory for either side. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s address to the Ukrainian parliament the other day signaled a worrying confusion in Western policymaking circles which seem unable to treat the need to end the war and the necessity of regime change in Moscow as two separate, though obviously interlinked, issues.
Denying Putin a way out of the hell-hole he has dug for himself, may be prolonging the war and the humanitarian tragedy it has created. Whether we like it or not Putin is still capable of using his looming defeat in Ukraine as a prop in a narrative of victimhood thus prolonging his own hold on power.
However, by focusing on the need to end the war as quickly as possible, even if that might save Putin’s face, we would leave him with a severely weakened military machine, a crippled economy and a partially deflated ego balloon. This does not mean abandoning regime change as a strategic goal. It is clear that without closing the Putin chapter, Russia will not be able to return to the international family of nations as a normal member obeying at least some of the rules. The aim is not to humiliate let alone crush Russia, a nation that will ultimately pay the price of Putin’s misguided adventures.
We have witnessed similar dilemmas before.
Throughout the 1990s some Western analysts argued that Iraq under Saddam Hussein was a permanent threat to regional security or even world peace and that regime change in Baghdad ought to be treated as a priority. But once Saddam had triggered the Kuwait war the priority became the end of the war and of Iraqi occupation. Regime change was relegated to a lower rung but not forgotten, and eventually achieved once Saddam Hussein, thanks to his megalomaniac management of misery as a life-style, had lost much of his domestic constituency. When the time came for regime change even his elite Presidential Guard went awol. In former Yugoslavia, too, regime change was postponed as a priority in favor of ending the Serbian war against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. The Clinton administration unrolled the red carpet for Slobodan Milosevic, alias “the butcher of Belgrade” and even offered him a sort of victory on a diplomatic platter in Daytona. Ultimately, however, it was clear to all that there could be no end to wars in the Balkans without sending Milosevic and his associates to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
Like Saddam and Milosevic, Putin dreams of surrounding Russia with countries with regimes that resemble his, ignoring the fact that reality was developing in the opposite direction with Russia or Iraq or Serbia, ending up resembling the geopolitico-cultural sphere in which fate or events of history has located them. Putin invaded to prevent Ukraine from becoming European, not knowing that Russia itself will eventually have to bury its Slavophil illusions and adopt the “Westernization” strategy supported by such unlikely partners in a dream as Peter the Great, Herzen, Turgenev and Belinsky.
So, if Putin’s parade could be a prelude to peace no one, not even Volodymyr Zelensky, whom Tsar Vladimir dismissed as a Merry Andrew if not a clown, should try to rain on it. One is curious to see if the letter Z, the symbol of Putin’s elusive victory, features in the Moscow Victory Parade or will Tsar Vladimir remember Shakespeare’ naughty line: "The whoreson Z, the unnecessary letter!”

Iran’s future in a world of shifting sands
Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib/Arab News/May 06, 2022
Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s visit to Saudi Arabia last month ushered in a new era of cooperation between the two countries. The UAE, once an adversary of Turkey, is also now its friend. Meanwhile the US is preoccupied with the war in Ukraine, and a revived nuclear deal with Tehran, which seemed imminent only a few weeks ago, is now elusive. What do all these changes mean for Iran?
Tectonic shifts are underway in the region. The main trend is the dissolution of axes that were formed at the beginning of the so-called “Arab Spring” in 2010, when Turkey supported Islamist movements and Saudi Arabia and the UAE were vehemently opposed. The Gulf diplomatic spat with Qatar, which began in 2017,deepened that rift with Turkey. Tension manifested itself in the Libyan conflict, where the two axes supporting opposing sides.
Recently, however, things have changed. The main trigger came when Ankara realized the futility of siding with the Muslim Brotherhood, whose narrative has been faltering — and as the Islamist wave lost its popular appeal, it was no longer a threat to the Gulf states. The Erdogan government realized that animosity toward Saudi Arabia and the UAE was counterproductive, and had a negative effect on the Turkish economy, with its currency in freefall. When Turkey extended its hand for reconciliation, the UAE immediately accepted it, and in November last year it set up a $10 billion fund for investment in Turkey. Add to that Erdogan’s visit to Saudi Arabia during Ramadan, and it is clear that the two axes are dissolving. Turkey is reconciling with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and this is being reflected in deescalating regional conflicts. In Libya, despite the hurdles facingthe UN-led peace process, there are signs of progress.
All of this is bad news for Iran, which thrives on conflict. The Turkish-Arab rivalry gave it room to maneuver, butnow that this rivalry is dissipating the Iranian regime has less oxygen. In addition, Iran is no longer at the center of global attention. The US is busy with Ukraine and seems to have had enough of catering to the whims of Tehran. The Biden administration was ready to revive the nuclear deal, but at the last minute the Iranians demanded the removal of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the US list of foreign terrorist organizations. However, Iran is no longer the diva of world geopolitics, and seems to be losing its power to blackmail the international community. Global nervousness about Iran becoming a nuclear power has been replaced by concern about Russian escalation on NATO’s eastern borders. Nevertheless, Iran is unwilling to relinquish its role as regional troublemaker. It needs belligerence to feed its narrative, its concept of being arevolution rather than a state. As the former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once observed: “Iran has to take a decision whether it wants to be a nation or a cause.” There is no sign of its choosing the former.
Iran knows that the ongoing reconciliation is not in its interest, because it will lead to coordinated policies that will greatly weaken Iranian influence in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon.
Iran is also unlikely to join the reconciliation club with Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Talks in Iraq between Saudi Arabia and Iran handled only tactical issues such as the number of Iranian pilgrims for Hajj and Umrah, and restoring embassies; there was no progress at a strategic level because the two countries have diverging goals. However, the Iranians are uncomfortable that a possible Arab-Turkish rapprochement will further entrench their regional and international isolation. Turkey is Iran’s gateway to Europe, and the average Iranian sees how neighboring countries are reconciling while Iran is stuck on the outside looking in.
Iran wants to spread its influence in the region. It seeks a complete departure of the US from the Middle East,while the Gulf states see the American presence a buffer against Iranian domination. Iran wants to remain relevant, to keep up the pressure, to maintain the threat. Its influence is threatened in Iraq, where Tehran seems unable to control the government, so the best it can do is block the process of forming one. In Yemen, the Houthis are exhausted by the war and have agreed to a truce. In Lebanon, there is a strong movement against Hezbollah, and the electorate’s main concern in this month’s parliamentary election is to vote them out.
As it loses political influence, Iran will compensate with more hard power. It is creating a base for Hamas in Lebanon. Iran knows that the ongoing reconciliation is not in its interest, because it will lead to coordinated policies that will greatly weaken Iranian influence in Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon.
Nevertheless, it is not all bad news for Iran. Russia, facing international isolation over the war in Ukraine, needs Iran more than ever. Will the agreement between Moscow and Tel Aviv allowing Israel to strike Iranian targets inside Syria still hold? We have yet to see. However, Russia’s increasing isolation definitely plays in Iran’s favor. In a nutshell, we do not yet know how these changes in regional and global alliances will play out.
• Dr. Dania Koleilat Khatib is a specialist in US-Arab relations with a focus on lobbying. She is co-founder of the Research Center for Cooperation and Peace Building, a Lebanese nongovernmental organization focused on Track II.

The collapse of Turkey’s justice system
Ali SarrafThe Arab Weekly/May 06/2022
When you hear of someone sentenced to life in prison, with no possibility of parole, you come to think they committed several murders.
However, when a political activist and a philanthropic millionaire receive a similar sentence, you realise there is something wrong with the judicial system of that country.
When you discover that the person in question had already been imprisoned for four and a half years without trial, that a court acquitted him of a charge of espionage and that before he reached home he was rearrested and tried again on additional trumped-up charges, you cannot escape the thought that the judicial system itself is corrupt and that the political system that controls it is deeply anchored in tyranny.
Osman Kavala was accused of plotting a coup because he participated in the 2013 Gezi Park protests in Istanbul against the corrupt rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's regime. The real coup attempt took place three years later. Kavala was then accused of participating in that. From one trial to another, the man remained in custody. When a court session finally took place, the judges did not ask him where he was on the night of the coup. Because the accusation was based on mere suspicion, it did not need any evidence from the judges' point of view. The man is an opposition member after all and this was enough for the magistrates to see him as a participant in all the coups that have taken place and that have not yet taken place.
This injustice did not occur to Osman Kavala alone. It has happened to hundreds of thousands of Turks who have been tried and convicted on suspicion of involvement in the failed military coup in 2016.
The accused did not need to prove their grievances against the authoritarian regime. The barbaric acts that characterised the regime's reactions to the attempted coup provided sufficient evidence of that regime’s very nature.
Hundreds of thousands were arrested and lost their jobs in all state institutions. A comprehensive purge was carried out in the education, judiciary, army and media sectors. Writers, social figures, journalists and political activists of all tendencies were arrested. Parliamentarians were stripped of their seats and organisations and parties were banned and their leaders imprisoned.
What Erdogan probably did not realise was that his massive crackdown was the cause of an economic decline that is now putting Turkey on the edge.
Turkey has gone through a series of economic crises since 2016. All his attempts to stop inflation, high unemployment, a severe shortage of foreign currency and a decline in exports have failed. One might think there is no direct link between the economy and the justice system. But Turkey offers a striking example of how the condition of a justice system can determine whether a country’s economy can achieve progress or conversely, edge towards collapse. When a justice system collapses, rights collapse, trust in the value of work itself collapses and corrupt connections become the only “tool” for institutions and companies to pursue their activities. Erdogan is now trying to get support from anywhere. But he has already lost the confidence of the Turkish people, not only in him, but in his entire system and in the ability of the economy to survive in a country whose judiciary has become a branch of the intelligence service, and the intelligence service is working as a branch of the ruling party, and the ruling party simply fulfils the desires of the president.
This way, Turkey will not survive. It is on an irreversible path towards collapse, not because its economy is unable to overcome its recurring crises, but because its justice system has turned into a system of violence and cruelty, operating according to political criteria, not according to the standards or values of the law.Kavala will not spend the rest of his life in prison. Nor will the hundreds of thousands who have fallen victim to a justice system mired in fear and cruelty. The elections scheduled for next year will bring down this regime, without the need for a coup. If not, the collapse of the economy will provide the answer. Then the judges who sentenced Kavala and others will have to overturn their unjust sentences, to try to atone for the shame and disgrace they have brought upon themselves “for life, without the possibility of parole.”